Semantic Layers: The foundation of enterprise AI
If you haven’t already, check out Arun Ulag’s hero blog “FabCon and SQLCon 2026: Unifying databases and Fabric on a single, complete platform” for a complete look at all of our FabCon and SQLCon announcements across both Fabric and our database offerings.
Power BI is the decision layer for millions of users because it doesn’t just visualize data—it standardizes meaning. Semantic models capture the definitions that businesses run on the measures people trust, the relationships that provide context, and the governance that keeps answers consistent. Microsoft Fabric IQ builds that same semantic layer, extending trusted Power BI definitions into a broader, connected context that can support analytics and AI with fewer gaps and less guessing.
Here’s how customers are already putting that vision into action:
“Power BI Copilot coupled with trusted data products have become the common language of insight across the enterprise — connecting teams, data, and decisions through a single, trusted analytics platform.”
Paul Wellman, Vice President, Enterprise Data & Analytics Platforms, TD Bank Group
We’re announcing new capabilities that make Power BI more open, more powerful, and more deeply integrated into the way you work while strengthening the semantic foundation that AI relies on to deliver consistent, trustworthy answers What’s new in Power BI Translytical Task Flows (Generally Available) Power BI has evolved from a reporting tool to an operational surface. With translytical task flows, users can act directly from reports: update records, trigger workflows, or resolve data issues in real time. There’s no need to move into another system or submit a request and wait. Insight and execution now happen in the same place, at the same time. To learn more, visit our translytical task flows documentation.
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Figure: Translytical task flows in Power BI—take action directly from a report to update records and move work forward without leaving the analytics experience.
Modern visual defaults (Preview) With Modern visual defaults, new reports start out looking polished and consistent—so teams spend less time tweaking formatting and more time surfacing insights. The updated base theme aligns with Fluent 2 design, creating a professional visual style across charts, slicers, buttons, and tables right out of the box. Charts, slicers, and buttons also have style presets available, for quick style changes in a couple of clicks, ensuring everyone can present data with clarity and impact from day one.
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Figure: Modern visual defaults (Preview) in Power BI Desktop—updated Fluent 2 styling and a refreshed base theme give new reports a polished look by default.
Report Copilot for Mobile (Preview) Whether you’re in a meeting or on the move, you can now ask questions using voice or text in the Power BI mobile app and receive instant answers or visuals from Copilot.
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Figure: Copilot in the Power BI mobile app answers a question and generates a visual.
TMDL View in the Web (Preview) Tabular Model Definition Language (TMDL) View on the Web is launching in preview soon, bringing a code‑first semantic modeling experience directly to the browser. Developers will be able to view, edit, and apply changes to all semantic model metadata using TMDL, enabling greater transparency, efficiency, automation, and more consistent model development.
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Figure: Editing semantic model metadata in a code-first TMDL experience in the browser.
Direct Lake on OneLake (Generally Available) Reduce refresh overhead and keep data in open formats. Power BI is standardizing open-data formats by adopting Delta Lake and Parquet to help you avoid vendor lock-in and reduce data duplication. Direct Lake storage mode accelerates time to data-driven decisions by unlocking incredible performance directly from OneLake.
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Figure: Creating a semantic model with Direct Lake on OneLake.
Direct Lake on OneLake, now generally available, provides compatibility with OneLake security, more modeling features, and faster query performance. Refer to Direct Lake on OneLake documentation to learn more.
Table Visual Updates (Generally Available) We’ve added polish where it matters most. You now have greater control over totals in table visuals, along with cleaner, modern default styles that improve readability. These enhancements may seem small—but across thousands of reports, they save time and elevate the user experience at scale. Direct Lake calculated columns (Preview) You asked, and we listened. Calculated columns for Direct Lake tables will soon be available in preview. When adding columns upstream isn’t feasible (such as when data preparation in OneLake is owned by another team) you can extend Direct Lake tables by creating calculated columns. We are also introducing the ability to make calculated columns user-context aware by dynamically responding to DAX functions including UserCulture(), UserPrincipalName(), CustomData(). This enables new scenarios like data translations, and we’re excited to see the creative ways the community will use this!
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Figure: Creating a calculated column for a Direct Lake table in the semantic model
We’re just getting started—join us! As you explore these updates, continue to follow this space for more deep dive blogs on these feature releases over the next couple of weeks.
We’d love to keep the conversation going with you. If you’re joining FabCon Atlanta 2026, build your agenda and attend the Power BI and Fabric sessions that map to your role. Come find us in the Community Lounge or at Ask the Experts to share what’s working and what else you want to see in the product.
If you’re not onsite, you can still participate. Post questions and feedback in the Power BI Community forums and influence the product roadmap by sharing and upvoting ideas.
Let’s shape the future of data and AI together.
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