Explicit Measures Podcast
Episodes
534: CI/CD Automation with Agents in Fabric
04 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into CI/CD automation with agents in Microsoft Fabric, exploring how agentic workflows are reshaping deployment pipelines, whether A...
533: Claude Design & Power BI Embedded
02 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into Claude Design meets Power BI Embedded, exploring whether AI-generated UX is a shortcut or a quality risk, how semantic models s...
531: You are Wasting your Time!
26 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy tackle Microsoft Fabric hints to work faster, exploring whether teams are wasting time due to self-inflicted bad workflows, poor reuse, a...
530: Agentic Skill & Report Design
22 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy explore agentic skill and report design, diving into the "Five Minutes to Wow" framework and whether AI agents accelerate great design or...
529: Does AI Drive Your CoE?
19 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into whether agentic tooling should be driving your Knowledge Center, exploring if docs, support, and governance content can—or sh...
528: The Importance of Skills for the Fabric Developer
14 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy explore the importance of agentic skills for the Fabric developer, weighing whether Skills are a productivity breakthrough or another gov...
527: Semantics Layer Genie & Data Agents
12 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into Databricks Genie and the growing hype around data agents, exploring whether the real challenge is natural language chat or the ...
526: Stop Using Bookmarks
12 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy weigh in on whether bookmarks in Power BI are still worth the maintenance burden, exploring how field parameters, slicers, and modern fea...
525: Less Guessing? More Building!
06 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into Building Agentic Tools for Microsoft Fabric With Alex Powers, exploring Microsoft's Alex Powers' new tool 'Taskflow Assistant' ...
524: Our Most Underrated Fabric Features
30 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike and Tommy review the most underrated Fabric features based on buzz and client usageGet in touch:Send in your questions or topics you want us to d...
520: Overfed and Sick Golden Datasets
29 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy tackle the overfed golden dataset problem—when a single "source of truth" becomes a 100-table, 400-measure monster that takes four minu...
519: Tools & Strategies for Marketing Insights Integration
29 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Explicit Measures, we tackle a critical "last mile" problem in Business Intelligence: how do you add narrative context to Power BI report...
523: Databricks, Fabric, Devleopment and Vibe
28 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy weigh in on whether Databricks and Microsoft Fabric are converging into direct competitors, exploring how Databricks' push into BI with G...
522: Improving Your AI Skills Your Fabric
23 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into improving AI skills for Fabric developers, exploring whether to start with prompt engineering or semantic modeling fundamentals...
521: Looking at AI Assisted Development
22 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into Joachim's repo-based golden semantic model architecture, exploring whether AI-assisted development is making the classic thin-r...
518: FabCon 2026 Recap Part 2
14 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy recap their experiences at FabCon 2026, sharing key takeaways from sessions, conversations with the community, and highlights from the se...
517: FabCon 2026 Recap Part 1
07 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We are covering ALL of Fabric Con 2026 and highlighting the updates.Context:FabCon and SQLCon 2026 AnnouncementMajor Fabric Updates - ALLOneLake Updat...
516: Subscriptions as a Silent Hero
02 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into Power BI subscriptions as proactive workflow tools, exploring whether automated data nudges can outperform interactive dashboar...
515: DAX Complexity & Power Query ETL Tips
31 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into DAX complexity and Power Query ETL tips, tackling how to structure complex measures that balance readability and performance ac...
514: Help! How Do We CI/CD with TMDL + PBIR in Azure DevOps
26 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy tackle the messy reality of CI/CD for Power BI in the age of TMDL and PBIR, weighing whether Fabric Deployment Pipelines or Azure DevOps—...
513: Git Best Practices: Diff Noise & Naming
24 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy tackle Git best practices for Power BI teams, exploring how to reduce diff noise from slicer selections and matrix expansions, whethe...
512: Publish to Web vs. Embedded – Security & Public-Facing Reports
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy tackle the critical security distinctions between Publish to Web and Power BI Embedded when exposing reports publicly, questioning wh...
511: Mailbag! Scaling a Power BI Side Hustle – Marketing & Growth as a Family Man
17 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Description:In this mailbag episode, we tackle a question from Jacob, a BI Manager and father of three who's been building his Power BI consulting sid...
510: "What's Next?" – Building a 3-Year Power BI Roadmap After a Successful Rollout
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into what comes after a successful Power BI rollout, exploring whether the next phase is about building more reports or maturing the...
509: Fabric Ideas That Stick & Reading What's Next
10 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy tackle how to submit Fabric ideas that actually get noticed, exploring what separates impactful feedback from noise, why most suggestions...
508: Kicking Off Fabric the Right Way
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy tackle the challenge of kicking off Fabric with a clean slate, exploring how to prevent model fragmentation and build a culture of sh...
507: AI-Assisted TMDL Workflow & Hot Reload
03 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy tackle AI-assisted TMDL workflows and the hot reload problem, exploring whether direct file editing with AI tools like Copilot is the...
504: Living in a Direct Lake Only World
27 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Are we only Direct Lake now? With Microsoft Fabric's ability to use Direct Lake with Semantic Models, where is the need for Import in Power BI, or...
506: Mailbag! Filter Overload
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this mailbag episode, we tackle a common challenge in Power BI report design: filter overload. When 15-20 slicers consume a third of your report pa...
505: Excel vs. Field Parameters
24 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we tackle a critical gap between Power BI's Field Parameters and Excel's live connection capabilities. Inspired by a mailbag submissi...
503: Hiring the Report Developer
18 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Mike and Tommy explore whether the traditional "Report Developer" role still exists in the age of AI and Microsoft Fabric. They discu...
502: Trusting In Microsoft Fabric
13 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy weigh in on whether Microsoft Fabric has earned the same trust as Power BI, exploring if it's truly dependable for small businesses and e...
501: Central BI & Workspace Strategies
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy explore how central BI teams should structure Microsoft Fabric workspaces, weighing medallion architecture patterns against deploymen...
500: We Made It!
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We made it 500! Get in touch:Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submi...
499: MAILBAG! Late Adopter Advantage? AI Readiness
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy explore whether being late to the data game is actually an advantage in the AI era, questioning if organizations building fresh Fabric im...
498: MAILBAG! Define the Problem Before Tools?
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy tackle the classic BI trap of falling in love with tools before understanding the problem, exploring why organizations rush to adopt Copi...
497: MAILBAG! Remote Fabric Jupyter & Local VSCode?
28 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy tackle a listener's question about connecting local VSCode to remote Fabric Jupyter kernels, exploring whether Fabric's architecture is f...
496: MAILBAG! Experience Overuse
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy tackle a listener's challenge with Microsoft's overuse of "experience" in Fabric, questioning whether calling notebooks, pipelines, and c...
495: Do You Really Need Fabric?
21 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into Microsoft Fabric licensing strategy, questioning whether organizations actually need Fabric or are falling into the same over-p...
494: MCP Your Fabric Data
16 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy explore Microsoft's new MCP servers for Power BI and Fabric, questioning whether teams should immediately enable these AI agent i...
493: AI Drives Microsoft Fabric Success
13 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into whether Microsoft Fabric's success is driven by AI innovation or if it would thrive on its own merits, exploring how AI inv...
492: The 2025 Fabric Made Up Awards
08 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
492: Fabric Made Up AwardsMike & Tommy hand out the first annual Fabric Made Up Awards, debating hilarious categories from "Most Likely to Be...
491: Our Fabric Resolutions
06 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy start the new year with their own Microsoft Fabric ResolutionsGet in touch:Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by...
490: Revisiting Dataflows Gen 2
01 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into Revisiting Dataflows Gen 2, exploring the tension between initial skepticism and current capabilities after major updates, and ...
489: Why Fabric IQ Will Cause Friction
30 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into the challenges posed by Microsoft's Fabric IQ, exploring the friction it creates within organizations as they redefine semantic...
488: Fabric Gift Exchange
25 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
it is that time of year - the fabric gift exchange.Get in touch:Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips](h...
487: The Intelligence Developer
24 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into the concept of the "Intelligence Developer," exploring whether this new role is emerging from shifts in Microsoft Fabric IQ and...
486: Backward Ontology
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into "Backward Ontology," exploring whether Fabric IQ can facilitate a bottom-up approach to defining enterprise semantics. They dis...
485: 1-Click Notebooks For Semantic Models
16 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into 1-Click Notebooks, exploring how to start using them and the various customizations available. They discuss why these notebooks...
484: Data Governance in the Age of Fabric IQ
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into "Data Governance in the Age of Fabric IQ," exploring whether Fabric IQ is truly the missing link for effective data governance ...
483: Let’s Talk Semantic Modeling on the Web
09 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into semantic modeling on the web, exploring whether this new feature signals the decline of Power BI Desktop and discussing the imp...
482: Microsoft Ignite & Fabric IQ
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into the AMAZING new features and incredible impact they will have on businesses and our careers. First half is AI then we dive ...
481: From Fragmented Models to Unified Semantics
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy explore from fragmented import models to unified Fabric semantics, examining how to lead cultural change when teams resist moving fro...
480: Kill Your Data Team - Why Product Teams Should Own Data
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy tackle the controversial idea of killing your data team, questioning whether centralized BI teams have become expensive bottlenecks, ...
479: Mailbag! Tracking App Usage at Scale
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into tracking app usage at scale, exploring how education consultants can monitor dashboard engagement across 70 school districts an...
478: MAILBAG! Untangling Workspace, Branching, and Artifact Chaos
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy untangle workspace, branching, and artifact chaos, exploring how to organize Fabric environments amid conflicting advice from Microso...
477: Mailbag! Start With Why
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike and Tommy go through another great mailbag:I just finished listening to Adopting Copilot Standalone for Power BI - Ep.428. You may have addressed...
476: New Feature Announcement - Semantic Bridge
14 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy explore the new Tabular Editor feature Semantic Bridge, investigating how this technology bridges the gap between different semantic ...
475: Source Control in BI - Necessary, Painful, or Both?
12 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy tackle source control in BI, exploring whether serialization formats like database.json and TMDL solve more problems than they create...
474: Modeling Without the Keyboard
07 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into TMDL, Tabular Editor, and AI automation for semantic modeling, questioning why typing less gets so much attention when it&#...
473: DevEx for Pros - UDFs, TI, and the Tools That Stick
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy unpack developer experience for Power BI pros, exploring how UDFs, enhanced time intelligence, and specialized tools transform data m...
472: Getting Started with Real Time Intelligence
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy break down Real Time Intelligence in Fabric, exploring what Power BI pros need to know to get started with this feature, and how to b...
471: Data Modeling in Event Driven Architectures
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into Data Modeling in Event-Driven Architectures, exploring how Power BI skills apply to Real-Time Analytics in Microsoft Fabric...
470: Measure Total Shenanigans
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy finally weigh in on the measure total debate that's been heating up online, exploring why totals don't add up as expected, wh...
469: PBIX or PBIP?
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy debate the new Power BI Project (PBIP) format, questioning whether source control and Git integration are worth the added complexity,...
468: Action Systems & AI Applications
20 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy are joined by Microsoft's Chris Schimdt on utilizing real time with actual applications in and outside Microsoft Fabric.Get in to...
467: What Is Real-Time Intelligence in Microsoft Fabric?
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy explore Real-Time Intelligence in Microsoft Fabric, questioning whether event-driven analytics is a genuine business need or just tec...
466: Data Agents & Semantic Models
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive more into Data Agents... but are Semantic Models the preferred data source?Get in touch:Send in your questions or topics you wan...
465: Mailbag! More Email Subscription Use Cases
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy have another great mailbag from YOU on utilizing Power BI subscriptions being proactive and efficient. Get in touch:Send in your ques...
464: Is Microsoft Fabric Actually Business Intelligence?
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Wow! we have a doozy of an episode today. Mike & Tommy ask the question if Microsoft Fabric the evolution of business intelligence or something di...
463: The Impact of User Defined Functions in DAX
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We are talking about the buzz! Mike and Tommy wrap their heads around User Defined Functions (UDFs) in DAX and what implementation looks like. Get in ...
462: Microsoft Fabric Feature Pyramid
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy rank the BEST features in the Microsoft Data Platform, from level 1 the TOP to what is essential to what they do. Get in touch:Send i...
461: FabCon Vienna Draft!
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into the major updates from FabCon Vienna and what it means for Power BI & Microsoft Fabric users alike.https://blog.fabric....
460: Mailbag! Composite Models vs Reusable Datasets: Are We Sending Mixed Messages?
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy go through a great mailbag question on composite models and reusable models, along with how this changes in Fabric.Whoa! I think I...
459: Initial Impressions of Data Agents
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy give their thoughts on the state of Microsoft Fabric Data Agents.https://blog.fabric.microsoft.com/blog/new-in-fabric-data-agent-data...
458: The Fabric Magic Wand
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Stephanie joins Mike and Tommy to talk about those "magic wand" moments everyone experiences while working with Power BI. After polling soci...
457: Planning Your Microsoft Fabric Capacity
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy are joined by Stephanie once again diving into the gotchas of the new Microsoft Fabric Capacity SKUs, how rolling it out differs than...
456: Rolling Out & Managing Accessibility; - Adoption & Methods
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tommy & Mike are joined by Stephanie Bruno tackling how to provide Accessibility in Power BI to your organization.Get in touch:Send in your questi...
455: What & Why is Power BI Accessibility?
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy are joined by Stephanie Bruno as we shed light to what to cover in Power BI accessible reporting, creating a checklist, and what to b...
454: Looking at the Data Warehouse Roadmap
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy are joined by Brad Schact at Microsoft to review what is new & upcoming in the Microsoft Fabric Data Warehouse. Get in touch:Send...
453: Creature Comforts of Data Warehouse
26 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy are joined by Brad Schacht on the Data Warehouse team for Microsoft to dive into how to get eased and comfortable with the Warehouse ...
452: Mailbag! Calculation Groups in Practice
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy discuss a mailbag all around the use cases for Calculation Groups, how often they use them, and how essential they are to reporting. ...
451: Lets Talk SQL & New Features
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With the major and new updates coming with the SQL Analytics Endpoint, how much should this shift our cognitive model on what SQL Endpoints mean for t...
450: The End of Line for Datamarts
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Brad talk about the retirement of Datamarts in October and preparing for the new focus.https://powerbi.microsoft.com/blog/unify-data...
449: Lakehouse or Warehouse?
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy are joined by Brad Schacht on the Microsoft team to see if they could get to the bottom of the issue of Lakehouses vs Warehouse.Get i...
448: The Easier the Worse It is? Simple UI & Gotchas
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy break down the balance between having nice, easy UI in Fabric for complex features. Get in touch:Send in your questions or topics you...
447: Translytical Is So Much More
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy unbox the new Translytical Task Flows in Microsoft Fabric and debunk what they are, and what they are not. They are more than writeba...
446: AI In Power BI - Are We Now Ready?
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy dive into another great article on SQLBI by Kurt Buhler and discuss what is our current state of AI, implementation for creators and ...
445: The Evolution & Future of the Analyst
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy reflect once more (last time we promise!) how navigating the waters in the data space as never been more important. sk-IOxHzsjuLZGT3o...
444: Mailbag! Optimal Power Bi Architecture in the Fabric Era
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy run through a GREAT question by one of our listeners on what to do with Power BI & Fabric development.In the Pre-Fabric era, as f...
443: Mailbag! Future-Proofing Excel - Dashboards to Power BI
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy have a great conversation on how do we still build for Excel? Thanks for the mailbag!I’m building Excel sheets for my company to us...
442: What's Up with DAX?
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy review the relevance of DAX in the age of Fabric. Is it still #1 in Power Rankings??Get in touch:Send in your questions or topics you...
441: What Is Your Numeracy?
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy talk about requirements for the business to understand their numbers.Get in touch:Send in your questions or topics you want us to dis...
440: A Reflection of 10 Years of Power BI
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy look back at working in Microsoft Power BI for over a decade. Get in touch:Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by...
439: Microsoft Fabric June 2025 Feature Draft
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy run through some of the major updates from the June 2025 updates and pick their favorites.Get in touch:Send in your questions or top...
438: Mailbag! Who Owns the Connection? Managing and Chaos in Fabric Pieplines
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy run through another great mailbag question around how to get a handle on Fabric Data Connections and working with your team.Get in to...
437: Mailbag! Small Business with Power BI & Fabric
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy run through a great mailbag question on how do you deal with organizations not willing to take the plunge to Fabric. Get in touch:Sen...
436: Deep Dive on CI/CD Branching Strategies
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy are joined one last time by Mathias as they talk technical process and strategy.Get in touch:Send in your questions or topics you wan...
435: DataOps is the Future of Power BI Teams
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy are joined by Mathias as they take on a hot take about if Data Ops is the future of BI Teams.Get in touch:Send in your questions or t...
434: Top Down & Bottom Up for DevOps
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike & Tommy are joined again by Mathias as they talk about running through approaches to getting DevOps started right.Get in touch:Send in your q...