Mike & Tommy recap their experiences at FabCon 2026, sharing key takeaways from sessions, conversations with the community, and highlights from the second day of the conference. They discuss standout moments, emerging trends in the Fabric ecosystem, and what these developments mean for practitioners working with Power BI and the broader Microsoft data platform.

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

We are covering ALL of Fabric Con 2026 and highlighting the updates.

Context:

• FabCon and SQLCon 2026 Announcement
• Major Fabric Updates - ALL
• OneLake Updates
• Power BI March 2026 Feature Summary

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike & Tommy dive into Power BI subscriptions as proactive workflow tools, exploring whether automated data nudges can outperform interactive dashboards for busy professionals. Using a real-world data quality monitoring example, they question when the best BI solution is the one users never open, examining the balance between "push" alerts and "pull" exploration, and how subscription-driven reports can save hours while maintaining data hygiene.

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike & Tommy dive into DAX complexity and Power Query ETL tips, tackling how to structure complex measures that balance readability and performance across nested time intelligence, dynamic filters, and multi-grain data. They explore advanced Power Query techniques for reducing refresh times in Fabric Dataflows Gen2 and SharePoint integrations, with practical advice on optimizing step folding and reusing logic across queries.

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

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—or both—offer the right path forward. They explore why selective file commits feel impossible despite text-based artifacts, when each approach makes sense, and whether mixing deployment methods creates more problems than it solves. The conversation cuts through DevOps hype to reveal what actually works for BI teams navigating source control, pull requests, and environment promotion.

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike & Tommy tackle Git best practices for Power BI teams, exploring how to reduce diff noise from slicer selections and matrix expansions, whether renaming visual folders is brilliant or risky, and how small teams can maintain clean, readable source control without losing their minds. They weigh practical tactics like commit checklists, folder naming conventions, and the trade-offs between tracking every click versus only intentional changes.

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike & Tommy tackle the critical security distinctions between Publish to Web and Power BI Embedded when exposing reports publicly, questioning whether Embedded actually provides meaningful protection over Publish to Web when authentication isn't required. They explore how Row-Level Security behaves differently in each approach, whether URL filters can be locked down, and what organizations should actually do when building public-facing dashboards—including when to aggregate data upstream, disable granular access entirely, or reconsider whether the data should be public at all.Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

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 side hustle since late 2023. With a full-time role, a stay-at-home spouse, and limited time to market his services, Jacob asks: How do you scale a consulting business while balancing family responsibilities? We discuss marketing strategies for time-strapped consultants, targeting small to mid-sized businesses, pricing and positioning, and the tension between growth and sustainability. Whether you're considering a side hustle or already running one, this episode offers practical advice on building a consulting practice that fits your life.

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

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 data platform beneath them. They question if 200 users and 300 KPIs signal maturity or hidden sprawl, discuss the shift from tool deployment to organizational capability, and outline a practical 3-year roadmap focused on governance, scalability, and turning BI into the company's decision engine.

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike & Tommy tackle how to submit Fabric ideas that actually get noticed, exploring what separates impactful feedback from noise, why most suggestions get ignored, and how to read Microsoft's roadmap for emerging opportunities. They discuss new data types, future-proofing data engineering beyond AI hype, and practical strategies for becoming a better feedback citizen in the Fabric ecosystem.

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/