Copilot
in Power BI reports, Desktop, apps and mobile — one tenant setting covers them all
Chats with people about an open report or app, summarises report pages, builds report pages, writes DAX queries and descriptions for measures, and helps authors improve semantic models. Microsoft: “In Power BI, Copilot helps you use generative AI to get the most from your data.” It answers from the semantic model where the question is about that data, and otherwise from the language model's general knowledge. Microsoft: “Copilot is enabled by default, but your admin might turn it off.”
standalone Copilot
the full-screen Power BI Copilot that finds and answers questions across everything a person can access
A full-screen Copilot, opened from the Power BI navigation, that finds reports and semantic models, summarises them and answers data questions across all of them. Microsoft: “Unlike the Copilot pane, which only answers questions about the report you currently have open, the standalone Copilot finds and answers questions about any data you have access to.” Microsoft also calls it the Power BI agent, and it is in preview.
Insights
Power BI finds anomalies, trends and notable values in reports and explains them
Analyses the data behind a report's visuals for anomalies, trends and KPI values that stand out, and shows possible explanations for each one. Microsoft: “Power BI automatically runs insights analysis when you open a report.” It can notify people when it finds top insights, and Microsoft lists related insights features that use AI for single visuals, dashboard tiles and whole datasets (Quick Insights).
- Where to check the switch
- No switch found — look in your Microsoft settings or ask your administrator
Power BI visuals
the four that use AI: decomposition tree, key influencers, smart narrative and anomaly detection
Four report visuals that analyse the data for the reader: the decomposition tree's AI picks the next dimension to drill into, key influencers ranks the factors that drive a chosen metric, smart narrative writes text summaries of trends and takeaways, and anomaly detection flags spikes and dips in line charts. Microsoft: “These visuals use artificial intelligence to help you explore and understand your data.”
Q&A
ask a question about the data in everyday words and get a visual back
People type a question about a semantic model in everyday words, on a dashboard or in a Q&A visual in a report, and Power BI answers with a visualization, suggesting questions before and as they type. Microsoft: “The Q&A features in Power BI let you explore your data in your own words by using natural language.” Microsoft is retiring Q&A and recommends Copilot instead.
