Copilot in Power BI: what it can and can’t do for your reports
Copilot in Power BI is Microsoft’s generative AI assistant for reports. It can summarise a report page, answer questions about the data in plain language, suggest and build report pages, and help write DAX measures. It needs a paid Fabric capacity (F2 or higher) or Premium capacity (P1 or higher); a Pro or Premium Per User licence on its own is not enough. Answer quality depends heavily on how clean and well described your semantic model is.
What is Copilot in Power BI?
Copilot in Power BI is a generative AI assistant built into the Power BI service and Power BI Desktop. It runs on Azure OpenAI models and works over your semantic model, the layer that holds tables, relationships and measures. Report readers use it to understand a report; report authors use it to build faster. Microsoft documents the requirements and features in its Copilot for Power BI overview.
It is not the same as Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word or Teams, although the two are connected through Fabric data agents and Fabric IQ. For a wider view of Microsoft’s assistants, see our comparison of Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT.
What can Copilot do in Power BI?
- Summarise a report page: Writes a short summary of what the visuals show, which readers can copy into an email or meeting note.
- Answer data questions: Readers ask in plain language, such as “which region grew fastest?”, and get an answer with a visual.
- Draft report pages: Authors describe the page they want and Copilot proposes visuals and a layout from the model.
- Help with DAX: Suggests measures, explains existing formulas and helps fix errors.
- Write narrative text: The narrative visual can use Copilot to produce commentary that updates with filters.
- Describe the model: Generates descriptions for measures, which helps both people and Copilot itself.
Each of these saves time, but none removes the need for someone who understands the data. Copilot drafts; people check.
What can’t it do well?
| Limit | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| It only knows your model | If a figure is not in the semantic model, Copilot cannot find it or will guess from nearby fields |
| Vague names confuse it | Columns called Amt2 or Flag_X lead to wrong or vague answers |
| Complex business rules | Measures with many exceptions still need an experienced DAX author |
| Design judgement | Suggested pages are a starting point; layout, hierarchy and colour still need a designer |
| Sovereign clouds | Copilot is not available in sovereign clouds |
| Trial capacity | Fabric trials and free SKUs do not support it |
The most common complaint is an answer that sounds confident but uses the wrong measure. The cause is almost always the model, not the AI.
What licence and capacity do you need?
Microsoft states that Copilot needs a paid Fabric capacity at F2 or above, or Power BI Premium at P1 or above. A Power BI Pro or Premium Per User licence alone does not switch it on. The workspace holding the report must sit on that capacity, the capacity must be in a supported region, and an admin must keep the tenant setting “Users can use Copilot and other features powered by Azure OpenAI” turned on.
Capacity is billed by the hour, so a small F2 can be enough to trial Copilot with a few report authors before you size up. Copilot use draws on the same capacity units as refreshes and queries, so monitor usage once more people start asking questions.
How do you prepare your data model for Copilot?
- Rename for people: Use business names such as “Net revenue” instead of technical codes.
- Add descriptions: Describe every measure and important column in one plain sentence.
- Hide what readers should not use: Hide helper columns, keys and staging tables.
- Use Prep data for AI: Set an AI data schema, add instructions and verified answers so Copilot uses the right fields.
- Test with real questions: Collect 20 questions leaders actually ask and check each answer against the report.
Good modelling habits help every reader, not only Copilot. Our guide to designing data-heavy apps covers naming and hierarchy from the interface side.
What happens to Power BI Q&A?
Microsoft is retiring Q&A, the older natural-language feature. The retirement was first set for December 2026 and was moved to February 2027 in a September 2026 update on the Fabric community blog. After that date, reports that still contain a Q&A visual show an error in its place. Q&A Setup, including synonyms and “teach Q&A”, is replaced by Prep data for AI. We compare the two approaches in Power BI Q&A vs a custom AI assistant.
When is Copilot worth switching on?
For teams in the second column, the best first step is model clean-up and access rules. Our guide to Power BI governance and row-level security covers the access side.
What does this look like in a real project?
In our work on executive dashboards for Mashreq NEO, leadership wanted to see the whole bank on one screen and ask questions about it. The data model agreed six performance pillars and their weightings first, so every visual and every AI answer read from the same definitions. That order of work, definitions then model then AI, is what makes Copilot-style answers trustworthy.
How UIUX Studio helps
We design and build Power BI reports, semantic models and AI assistants for leadership and operations teams, from KPI definitions to the final report pages. See our Technology Advisory and Agentic AI & Automation services, or read how we built one Power BI suite for Omantel.
Frequently asked questions
Is Copilot included with Power BI Pro?
No. It needs a paid Fabric capacity at F2 or above, or Premium P1 or above.
Can Copilot write DAX?
Yes. It suggests and explains measures, but complex logic still needs review.
Does Copilot see data I am not allowed to see?
No. It respects the permissions and row-level security on the semantic model.
Does Copilot work in Power BI Desktop?
Yes, when connected to a workspace on a supported capacity.
What replaces Q&A?
Copilot in reports, standalone Copilot and Prep data for AI.