Explicit Measures Podcast

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/

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/

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/

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/

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/