Have you already tried AI tools in Power BI?

Data-driven decision-making has taken a giant leap forward with AI. Power BI is no longer just a data visualization tool. Microsoft's Copilot and natural language AI prompts bring a flexibility to Power BI reporting that seemed like a distant future just a moment ago. It can change the way marketing and business data is explored.

AI-based analytics and the power of prompts

AI-powered prompts, the ability to instruct a system in natural language, have taken centre stage in BI analytics. When you use Copilot in a Power BI environment, creating reports and interpreting data becomes much easier. 

For example, users can ask the AI to create a view that compares the success of marketing campaigns across channels. The system automatically suggests the best visualisation methods and highlights key observations. This speeds up ad hoc analysis in particular, where answers are needed to rapidly changing, perhaps completely new questions.

Prompting vs. traditional dashboards

AI prompts are ideal for situations where you want to freely explore data or look for explanations for unexpected changes. For example, if there is an unexpected change in website traffic, you can simply ask the AI what might be causing it. 

Still, most data needs should be met with traditional, standard dashboard views. Strategic key performance indicators, which are tracked day-to-day in the same pattern, should be kept as fixed reports. The idea is that fixed views provide the organisation with an unchanging reference point and ensure that everyone is looking at the same, pre-agreed figures.

Advanced AI capabilities address deeper data needs

If you want a quick overview of the success of your latest campaign, for example, you can ask Copilot to "Create a page that compares ROI across advertising channels (Facebook, Google Ads, LinkedIn), shows conversion trends on a timeline and highlights the best performing ad groups." Within seconds, Copilot creates a visual summary that can be fine-tuned as needed. Power BI's Smart Narrative function can then analyse the visualisations and write a summary.

With Power BI's Q&A function you can also ask in-depth questions. Simply type "What was the cost per click (CPC) by country last month?"  in the search box and Power BI will immediately respond by displaying a map visualisation or a bar chart. The Key Influencers visualization uses machine learning to find the factors that most influence the fulfillment of specific goals. Power BI's AI can also predict future trends based on historical data and alert you if a figure deviates from the norm.

AI in Power BI saves time and provides deeper insights without requiring the user to be a coder or statistician. In marketing, this means more precise targeting, better budget utilisation and ultimately better results – provided that the data has first been organised into a format that AI can use effectively.

High-quality groundwork is a prerequisite for reliable AI analytics

For Copilot's answers to be reliable, the underlying data sources must be clean and carefully organized. This means that data must be collected, edited and combined carefully before the AI is allowed to analyse the whole.

Clear goal setting will guide the AI to produce data that actually serves the decision-making process, rather than just looking good on the surface.

So rather than replacing traditional analytics, AI complements it by providing a flexible way to process data. The most impactful outcomes come from combining a robust data foundation, agreed KPI metrics, standardised tracking views and the agility that AI offers. 

AI-assisted work lowers technical barriers and enables experts to focus more on interpreting results and enhancing operations.

Want to talk more about goal setting, designing analytics views or leveraging AI? Contact us!