Explicit Measures Podcast

By PowerBI.TipsBusiness

Explicit Measures Podcast episodes

July 23 548: Can We Trust AI Pipelines
Mike & Tommy tackle the uncomfortable truth about AI-generated data pipelines — how code that looks clean and runs without errors can still deliver confidently wrong results. Drawing from this article, they explore why silent failures in joins, filters, and business rules are harder to catch than broken code, and what Power BI and Fabric teams must do to validate outputs before bad data reaches their reports.
Also in the news: Bringing Power BI Insights to Every Copilot User.
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/
1 hr
July 21 547: The Hype of RayFin
Mike & Tommy dive into Microsoft's RayFin, weighing in on whether this new code-first app experience inside Fabric is a genuine shift in how teams deliver data insights — or just another layer of hype. They explore the tension between RayFin and Power BI reports, tackle who actually owns these apps in the enterprise, and break down what BI professionals should do right now before the next wave hits.
Learn more about RayFin: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-fabric/features/rayfin
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/
1 hr 12 min
July 16 546: Teaching Orgs to Question Themselves
Mike & Tommy dive into why data literacy might be missing its most important lesson — not how to read a chart, but how to question the story it's telling. Drawing from a Nightingale article on graph literacy and self-skepticism, they explore whether polished dashboards are quietly building cultures of data compliance over data curiosity.
They break down how motivated skepticism, biased interpretation, and over-trusted KPIs show up in real Power BI environments — and what BI teams can do to become critical-thinking coaches, not just report builders.
News this week:
https://www.meetup.com/chicagolandpowerbi/events/315485409/?eventOrigin=attendee_list
https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Fabric-Updates-Blog/Use-User-Data-Functions-to-securely-call-Fabric-REST-APIs/ba-p/5294590
https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Fabric-Updates-Blog/Streamlining-orchestration-with-smarter-pipelines-and-deeper/ba-p/5280154
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/
57 min
July 14 545: Agents Helping with Data Governance
Mike & Tommy tackle whether AI agents can solve what the Power BI admin portal can't—giving you a true tenant-level, workspace-free view of who can access what in Fabric. They break down Taylor B.'s real-world agent that stitches together audit logs, model APIs, grants, direct links, and app audiences into a central governance store, and weigh in on whether Microsoft's native governance story is ready or still a DIY puzzle.
From Purview's role to the risks of letting agents reason over permissions, they explore what it would take to make data governance in Fabric actually feel complete—and what builders like Taylor should ship now versus wait for.
Mailbag question from Taylor B.: OneLake Architectural Guidance | Fabric Task Flow Studio | Chicagoland Power BI Meetup
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/
1 hr 12 min
July 09 544: Using Harnesses for Fabric Projects
Mike & Tommy tackle the often-overlooked "outer context" problem in agentic Fabric development — exploring why request tracking systems like Notion, GitHub Issues, or even ADO matter more than most teams realize, and how building a proper project harness could be the difference between an agent that delivers and one that drifts.
They break down how to map these workflows across corporate tool stacks — Loop, OneNote, SharePoint — and what a minimum viable harness actually looks like in practice.
Inspired by this mailbag question: @HerrHipp
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/
1 hr 14 min
July 07 543: Tracking App Usage in Fabric
Mike & Tommy tackle the surprisingly tricky problem of tracking Power BI app usage at scale, exploring why app-level telemetry is harder to surface than report-level metrics and how teams can map usage back to districts using Entra ID, Admin APIs, and audit logs.
They break down which telemetry sources are actually viable, how to avoid common pitfalls like audience filters hiding true reach and shared devices skewing counts, and lay out a scalable architecture for ~9,000 users across 70 districts built around a centralized semantic model with incremental refresh.
Resources mentioned: Chicagoland Power BI Meetup, Fabric Runtime Release Channels, Deep Dive into Tooltip Options in Power BI Visuals
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/
1 hr 3 min
July 02 542: Orgs Slow on AI Adoption
Mike & Tommy tackle why organizations are still dragging their feet on AI adoption even with Microsoft Fabric sitting right in front of them — weighing in on whether the real blockers are skills, data quality, governance, or just unclear ROI.
They break down what "AI-ready" actually looks like in a Fabric and Power BI environment, how to tell AI strategy from AI theater, and what a realistic 30/60/90-day plan looks like to move from experimentation to production.
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/
1 hr 8 min
June 30 541: Helping Leaders Speak Data
Mike & Tommy tackle the question of whether it's time to hold CEOs and CFOs accountable for data literacy, not just the analysts building the reports. Inspired by a mailbag from jedc at bi.fo, they explore why leaders so often ask for A when the business actually needs B, and what it really takes to build a shared data language across the org.
They also cover the latest on AI-powered Power BI reporting from design to deployment: https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Power-BI-Updates-Blog/AI-Powered-Power-BI-reporting-From-design-to-deployment-with/ba-p/5190703
Mailbag from jedc: http://bi.fo
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/
1 hr 10 min
June 25 540: Self Service with AI Part 2 - Governance, Skills, & Validation
Mike & Tommy dive into the second half of the AI self-service analytics story, tackling governance, skills, and validation — and why giving everyone the ability to ask questions of data raises the stakes, not just the speed.
They break down what a "Skill" actually means in Power BI terms, who owns the wrong answer when Claude writes the query, and how BI teams can build validation checkpoints that create trust without grinding the business to a halt.
Also discussed: Replit's Microsoft partnership and Skills for Fabric in other harnesses.
https://claude.com/blog/how-anthropic-enables-self-service-data-analytics-with-claude
https://open-semantic-interchange.org/
https://replit.com/partners/microsoft
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/
1 hr 4 min
June 23 539: Self Service Analytics with AI
Mike & Tommy dive into self-service analytics with AI, exploring how tools like Claude are changing the way business users interact with data — and whether speed and access come at the cost of trust and governance.
They break down what semantic models need to look like when chat is the primary interface, who owns accountability when AI gives a wrong answer, and what practical guardrails BI teams should put in place before scaling AI-assisted analytics.
Read more: https://claude.com/blog/how-anthropic-enables-self-service-data-analytics-with-claude
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/
1 hr 9 min

About Explicit Measures Podcast

From the publisher's feed

Hosted by Mike Carlo, and Tommy Puglia, the Explicit Measures Podcast is a Power BI focused show that is like being around a Power BI Pro’s Water Cooler. With so many available resources in the community that focuses on the “how” in Power BI (how to do Drill Through, how to use DAX, etc.,), the Explicit Measures Podcast is all around the WHY. Why use a particular feature, does it make sense for my users?