AI for Power BI
Do your Power BI work faster with free AI assistants, the AI already built into Power BI, and the agentic frontier (MCP). No Copilot licence required.
One-time payment, lifetime access
- Intermediate level
- 7 modules
- 16 lessons
- 1.6h of reading
- 32 knowledge checks
- Self-paced, learn anytime
- Lifetime access
About this course.
A deep, practical course on using AI to simplify real Power BI work, written for professionals who do not have, and do not want to pay for, a Copilot Enterprise licence. You will learn to pair a free AI assistant (ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini) with Power BI to write and fix Power Query and DAX, design a clean model, and turn a chart into a clear narrative. You will also learn the AI features that already ship free inside Power BI Desktop and Pro, no Copilot needed. The last section takes you to the frontier: what the Model Context Protocol (MCP) is, how an AI assistant can talk to your semantic model, agentic BI, and how to keep sensitive data private with a local model. Every lesson is layman-first, then technical, with copy-ready prompts, real code, and a knowledge check.
What you'll be able to do.
- ✓Pair a free AI assistant with Power BI and get useful, correct output instead of confident nonsense
- ✓Write, fix, and explain Power Query (M) and DAX with AI, then verify it the right way
- ✓Use AI to design and critique a star-schema model before you build the wrong thing
- ✓Use the AI features already free in Power BI: Q&A, Smart Narrative, Key Influencers, Decomposition Tree, anomaly detection, and forecasting
- ✓Explain in plain language what MCP and agentic BI are, and connect an assistant to your own model
- ✓Keep confidential data private with a local model, and apply a verification habit that protects you from AI mistakes
Who this course is for.
- ✓Power BI users (analysts, finance, operations, marketing) who want to work faster without a paid Copilot licence
- ✓Professionals who already know the basics of Power Query and DAX and want AI to remove the grunt work
- ✓Team leads evaluating where AI genuinely helps a BI workflow, and where it does not
- ✓Anyone curious about the agentic frontier (MCP, local models) but tired of hype and demos
What you'll cover.
7 modules · 16 lessons · ~1.6h read
Preview free lessons are readable without paying. The rest unlock with access.
01Get started3 lessons
- 1What "AI for Power BI" really means (and why you don't need Copilot)
- 2Your free AI toolbox, and the one rule that keeps you safe
- 3How to talk to AI about your data (the prompt patterns that work)
02AI for getting data in (Power Query)2 lessons
- 1Generate and fix Power Query (M) with AI
- 2The AI already inside Power Query (no Copilot needed)
03AI for the data model2 lessons
- 1Use AI to design and critique your star schema
- 2Generate a Date table and relationships with AI
04AI for DAX3 lessons
- 1Write measures from plain English (and the verify loop)
- 2Debug and explain DAX with AI
- 3Refactor and optimise DAX with AI
05AI built into the report (free, no Copilot)2 lessons
- 1Q&A, Smart Narrative, and Quick Insights
- 2The AI visuals: Key Influencers, Decomposition Tree, anomalies, forecasting
06The frontier: agentic BI and MCP3 lessons
- 1What MCP (Model Context Protocol) is, in plain language
- 2Connect an assistant to your model, and where agentic BI is heading
- 3Keep it private: local models for sensitive data
07Govern, verify, and put it to work1 lesson
- 1Accuracy, privacy, and a workflow you can trust
What learners say.
“I was rewriting the same Power Query steps every month. Now I describe the mess to an assistant, paste back the M, and check it. The verify-first habit from this course is what stopped me trusting it blindly.”
“The DAX debugging lessons paid for the course on their own. Pasting an error plus the model structure and getting a real explanation saved me hours on an inherited report nobody understood.”
“I came for the free-AI angle and stayed for the MCP section. It finally explained agentic BI in plain words. We are not deploying it yet, but now I understand what the vendors are actually selling.”
Questions, answered.
Do I need a Copilot or Fabric licence for this course?
No, and that is the point. Copilot in Power BI needs a paid Fabric capacity or per-user add-on. This course is built around what you already have: free general AI assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini), the AI features that ship free in Power BI Desktop and Pro, and free open tools. Where a feature does need a paid licence, the lesson says so plainly.
Which AI assistant should I use?
Any of the major free tiers works for almost everything here: ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. The course uses prompts that are not tied to one tool, and it explains where each one tends to be stronger. You do not need a paid plan to follow along.
Is this safe to use with my company data?
It can be, if you follow the rules the course sets out. You will learn what you can and cannot paste into a public assistant, how to share schema and structure without leaking real records, and how to run a fully local model when the data is sensitive. There is a full lesson on privacy and Malaysian PDPA context.
How much Power BI do I need to know already?
You should be comfortable loading data, writing a basic measure, and building a simple report. This course is about making that work faster with AI, not about teaching Power BI from zero. If you are new, start with our foundations and DAX courses first.
What is MCP, and will it be out of date quickly?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard for letting AI assistants connect to tools and data. It is new and moving fast, so the course teaches the durable idea (how an assistant talks to your model and acts on it) rather than one vendor's button that may change. You will understand the concept well enough to evaluate whatever ships next.
Will AI replace the analyst?
No, and the course is honest about this. AI is fast at drafting and bad at being sure. The skill that keeps its value is judgement: framing the question, checking the number, and knowing when the answer is wrong. The verification habit you build here is the whole job, accelerated.