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

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.

Filter Overload – Ep. 506

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.

Excel vs. Field Parameters – Ep. 505

Feb 25, 2026

Excel vs. Field Parameters – Ep. 505

Mike and Tommy debate the implications of AI on app development and data platforms, then tackle a mailbag question on whether field parameters hinder Excel compatibility in semantic models. They explore building AI-ready models and the future of report design beyond Power BI-specific features.

Living in a Direct Lake World – Ep. 504

Feb 20, 2026

Living in a Direct Lake World – Ep. 504

Mike and Tommy dive deep into what it means to live in a Direct Lake world, exploring the practical realities of building semantic models on top of Fabric lakehouses. They cover the trade-offs, gotchas, and best practices for teams making the shift from Import mode to Direct Lake.

Hiring the Report Developer – Ep. 503

Feb 18, 2026

Hiring the Report Developer – Ep. 503

Mike and Tommy unpack what a report developer should know in 2026 — from paginated reports and the SSRS migration trend to the line between report building and data modeling.

Trusting In Microsoft Fabric – Ep. 502

Feb 13, 2026

Trusting In Microsoft Fabric – Ep. 502

Mike and Tommy dive deep into whether Microsoft Fabric has earned our trust after two years. Plus, the SaaS apocalypse is here, AI intensifies work, and Semantic Link goes GA.

Being a Data Analyst in the Era of AI

Feb 4, 2026

Being a Data Analyst in the Era of AI

Mike Carlo and Eugene Meidinger discuss how AI is reshaping the data analyst's toolkit with practical frameworks for adopting AI in your daily workflow.

Define the Problem Before Tools – Ep. 498

Jan 29, 2026

Define the Problem Before Tools – Ep. 498

Mike and Tommy tackle a mailbag question about defining problems before choosing tools — and why goal setting matters more than ever in a world where AI lets you build anything. Plus, the January 2026 Fabric feature updates drop with 17 noteworthy items.

Remote Fabric Jupyter & Local VS Code – Ep. 497

Jan 28, 2026

Remote Fabric Jupyter & Local VS Code – Ep. 497

Mike and Tommy dive into a listener mailbag question about connecting a local VS Code desktop to a remote Fabric Jupyter kernel — unpacking the tradeoffs of local vs. cloud development, custom environments, cost optimization, and why OneLake File Explorer might be the missing piece. Plus, AI-generated music as a metaphor for the future of data engineering.

Experience Overuse – Ep. 496

Jan 23, 2026

Experience Overuse – Ep. 496

Mike and Tommy tackle a listener mailbag question: is the word 'experience' being overused in the Fabric and Power BI world? Plus, a surprise January Power BI Desktop release and Mike gushes about deployment pipeline improvements nobody announced.

Do You Really Need Fabric? – Ep. 495

Jan 21, 2026

Do You Really Need Fabric? – Ep. 495

Mike and Tommy unpack a viral LinkedIn article where a consultant saved a client $57,000 per year by moving from Fabric F64 to Premium Per User — sparking a bigger conversation about when Fabric actually makes sense, licensing confusion, and the tipping points that justify the investment.

MCP Your Fabric Data – Ep. 494

Jan 16, 2026

MCP Your Fabric Data – Ep. 494

Mike and Tommy unpack Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers for Power BI and Fabric — what they are, how to use them, and whether organizations should be turning them on today. Plus, a deep dive on what makes AI agents actually useful versus just impressive.

AI Drives Fabric Success – Ep. 493

Jan 14, 2026

AI Drives Fabric Success – Ep. 493

Mike and Tommy kick off 2026 asking the big question: will AI drive Fabric's success? They share their real AI toolkits, debate the future of consulting in an agent-powered world, and brainstorm how Claude Code and agent skills could transform their daily workflows.

Fabric Awards – Ep. 492

Jan 9, 2026

Fabric Awards – Ep. 492

Mike and Tommy hand out their completely made-up Fabric Awards for 2025 — from 'Most Likely to Be Disabled by IT' to 'This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things.' Plus, Marco Russo confirms what they've been saying all along: notebooks win.

Our Fabric Resolutions – Ep. 491

Jan 7, 2026

Our Fabric Resolutions – Ep. 491

Mike and Tommy share their 2026 Fabric resolutions — from doubling down on Power BI embedding and data warehouses to validating AI-generated code and building custom workloads. Plus, Microsoft acquires Osmos to bring agentic AI to Fabric data engineering.

Revisiting Dataflows Gen 2 – Ep. 490

Jan 2, 2026

Revisiting Dataflows Gen 2 – Ep. 490

Mike and Tommy revisit Dataflows Gen 2 after giving it a hard time for months — and the verdict? It's actually good now. New parallelization, modern query evaluation, and smarter pricing make it a real option again. Plus, the PBIR format admin setting and creative image visual tricks.

Why Fabric IQ Will Cause Friction – Ep. 489

Dec 31, 2025

Why Fabric IQ Will Cause Friction – Ep. 489

Mike and Tommy unpack Fabric IQ's new ontology feature and why it will create friction in organizations—from cultural resistance to political turf wars over data definitions. They explore MCP vs. IDE workflows and debate whether businesses are mature enough for enterprise-wide semantic alignment.

Power BI Secret Santa – Ep. 488

Dec 26, 2025

Power BI Secret Santa – Ep. 488

Mike and Tommy exchange Power BI and Fabric feature wishlists in a holiday Secret Santa format, proposing everything from sticky notebook cells to integrated Python notebooks in desktop. A fun Christmas special packed with product ideas that could reshape the developer experience.