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Jul 9, 2026
A mailbag question about request tracking turns into the clearest description yet of what a working harness contains: skills, agents, organized context, and the ability to talk to other harnesses. Plus Mike hits real Rayfin limitations trying to build a simple forms app.
Jul 7, 2026
"I built 35 reports this year." "Did anyone look at them?" Mike and Tommy dig into measuring app usage properly — active users over a rolling window rather than raw opens, tied to the business outcome the app was supposed to move.
Jul 2, 2026
A mailbag question about 30-60-90 day AI plans turns into an honest accounting of why organizations are stuck: IT doesn't know what an agent is, nobody has bought into the value yet, and there is essentially no training. Mike and Tommy separate AI strategy from AI theater and each give a real 30-60-90.
Jun 30, 2026
Executives run on hunches and twenty years of experience, and "increase revenue" is too fuzzy to build a report against. Mike and Tommy cover how to get leadership and the BI team speaking the same language — plus Microsoft's new report-authoring skills and a request for an AI folder in semantic models.
Jun 25, 2026
Part two picks up at the skills and validation layers of Anthropic's analytics stack, and Tommy arrives at a hot take he'll defend: no agentic solution on your Fabric data until governance is in place. Along the way — why perspectives are Power BI's most untapped feature and why Microsoft needs skills for models.
Jun 23, 2026
Anthropic published how they run self-service analytics internally, and the answer starts with dimensional modeling and a semantic layer — not with the agent. Mike and Tommy read it as validation that everything Power BI professionals already do well is now the thing that makes AI work at all.
Jun 18, 2026
Agent skills live on your laptop, which is fine until three people on your team each have their own version of the same one. Mike and Tommy work out which skills should be governed, which should stay personal, and why nobody has a good answer yet for measuring whether a skill is any good.
Jun 16, 2026
If agents write the DAX and the Python, the job shifts from producing code to vetting it — and that makes you a professional reviewer. Mike and Tommy work through what still has to be in your head to review well, and the uncomfortable question of how juniors become seniors when the MCP server is doing the junior's job.
Jun 11, 2026
Rayfin lets you build full applications on top of Fabric, and Mike calls it the biggest Microsoft release since Power BI Desktop. This episode covers what Rayfin actually is, why the semantic model matters more than ever, and the handoff problem nobody on your team has solved yet.
Jun 10, 2026
Mike and Tommy recap Microsoft Build 2026 through a Power BI and Fabric lens, focusing on the announcements that matter most for report builders, semantic models, and agent-driven app development. They unpack why Rayfin, Replit integration, OneLake, and new Fabric skills signal a shift from asking AI for answers toward using agents to create real production artifacts.
Jun 5, 2026
Mike and Tommy explore how agents can simplify CI/CD in Fabric by helping teams work through Git workflows, merge conflicts, validation, and deployment automation. They also compare deployment pipelines with Git-based approaches and explain why small, testable automations are the safest way to start.
Jun 3, 2026
Mike and Tommy explore how Claude Design, agentic workflows, and HTML wireframes could reshape report prototyping for Power BI teams. They also debate where today’s tooling still falls short, especially for Power BI Desktop users who need practical ways to turn context, design ideas, and embedded experiences into working reports.
May 29, 2026
Mike and Tommy break down the habits, tools, and modeling decisions that help Power BI developers move faster without creating more technical debt. You’ll learn practical ways to speed up report design, organize semantic models, and prototype more effectively so teams can ship better work with less rework.
May 27, 2026
Stop wasting time in Fabric by identifying inefficient workflows and adopting better practices. Mike and Tommy discuss OneLake storage reporting, Fabric Jumpstart accelerators, and practical ways to speed up your Fabric development.
May 22, 2026
Episode 530 explores how agentic coding is reshaping report development, from faster prototyping to new expectations for model and visual design. Mike and Tommy connect the May 2026 Power BI updates to a practical question: which skills still matter most when AI builds more of the stack.
May 20, 2026
AI can strengthen a Center of Excellence, but only when it is applied to clear business goals, known pain points, and a defined maturity baseline. Mike and Tommy explain where AI can genuinely reduce friction, where it creates noise, and how teams can prove it is making the COE better rather than just bigger.
May 15, 2026
In this episode, Mike and Tommy dig into why building the right skills matters for Fabric developers and how that thinking changes what you learn first. They also discuss how to evaluate skill depth, avoid tool-chasing, and create a plan for steady growth.
May 13, 2026
Mike and Tommy explore what ‘semantic layer genies’ and data agents could mean for Fabric and Power BI teams, from metadata-driven modeling to assisted development workflows. They break down where agents help today, what needs governance, and how to stay practical as the hype accelerates.
May 8, 2026
In Episode 526 of Explicit Measures, Mike Carlo and Tommy Puglia unpack the latest Power BI and Microsoft Fabric topics from the show. You’ll get a quick read on the episode’s biggest ideas, why they matter, and where to dig deeper in the full conversation.
May 6, 2026
In Episode 525 of Explicit Measures, Mike Carlo and Tommy Puglia unpack the latest Power BI and Microsoft Fabric topics from the show. You’ll get a quick read on the episode’s biggest ideas, why they matter, and where to dig deeper in the full conversation.
May 1, 2026
In Episode 524 of Explicit Measures, Mike Carlo and Tommy Puglia unpack the latest Power BI and Microsoft Fabric topics from the show. You’ll get a quick read on the episode’s biggest ideas, why they matter, and where to dig deeper in the full conversation.
Apr 29, 2026
In Episode 523 of Explicit Measures, Mike Carlo and Tommy Puglia unpack the latest Power BI and Microsoft Fabric topics from the show. You’ll get a quick read on the episode’s biggest ideas, why they matter, and where to dig deeper in the full conversation.
Apr 24, 2026
In Episode 522 of Explicit Measures, Mike Carlo and Tommy Puglia unpack the latest Power BI and Microsoft Fabric topics from the show. You’ll get a quick read on the episode’s biggest ideas, why they matter, and where to dig deeper in the full conversation.
Apr 22, 2026
In Episode 521 of Explicit Measures, Mike Carlo and Tommy Puglia unpack the latest Power BI and Microsoft Fabric topics from the show. You’ll get a quick read on the episode’s biggest ideas, why they matter, and where to dig deeper in the full conversation.