Welcome to my Site

March 26, 2016 By Mike Carlo

Welcome to PowerBI.tips, this blog is dedicated to learning and developing visualizations for PowerBI desktop, PowerBI.com and for data modeling in excel.

I’ve been a PowerBI user for almost two years. My background is in mechanical engineering, and I’ve been migrating into a data analytics and data scientist role. As a mechanical engineer part of your job is to develop a test, collect data, and summarize the results. In the collecting data phase engineers can collect gigs of data from sensors. Thus, there is a need to digest that data into what I would call an executive summary. I need to convey what I tested and did my device or product pass the tests.

My Journey to Power BI

In the past I’ve used access to collect data and summarize. Then using connections or data extracts to excel to produce charts or summary visualizations.

All of which brought me to where I am today. I’ve had the technical know how of databases and excel but I lacked the complete tool to build repeatable data to visualization products. This is the perfect fit for PowerBI.

Why This Blog?

This is why I’ve decided to share what I’ve learned about data and data visualization to help you get up to speed with the amazing PowerBI tools.

Hope you enjoy my blog, Mike

Mar 6, 2026

Kicking Off Fabric the Right Way - Ep. 508

Mike and Tommy break down what it really means to start a Fabric implementation the right way, from setting expectations early to choosing practical first moves that won't box teams in later. They also cover a coming permissions change for Fabric data agents that makes semantic models easier for more people to use.

Mar 4, 2026

AI-Assisted TMDL Workflow & Hot Reload – Ep. 507

Mike and Tommy explore AI-assisted TMDL workflows and the hot reload experience for faster Power BI development. They also cover the new programmatic Power Query API and the GA release of the input slicer.

Feb 27, 2026

Filter Overload – Ep. 506

Mike and Tommy dive into the February 2026 feature updates for Power BI and Fabric, with a deep focus on the new input slicer going GA and what it means for report filtering. The conversation gets into filter overload — when too many slicers and options hurt more than they help.