March 2025: Power BI Updates with Soheil

Here are my highlights for this month.

1. Style presets for visuals
2. Create semantic models from multiple Fabric artifacts in direct lake mode
3. Semantic model version history now in Pro workspaces (preview)
4. Copilot and AI capabilities now accessible to all paid Fabric SKUs

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1. Style Presets for Visuals

Productivity boost for report authors.

A small but highly practical feature – you can now apply style presets to visuals in Power BI Desktop. This allows for quick and consistent formatting of visuals without manually adjusting individual properties.

Why it matters:

• Saves time when building or updating reports.
• Encourages visual consistency across dashboards.
• Great for both developers and business users who build reports.

If you’re aiming to keep reports tidy and on-brand, this is a helpful addition.

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2. Create Semantic Models from Multiple Fabric Artifacts in Direct Lake Mode

Major modelling enhancement (requires Fabric capacity).

Power BI Desktop now supports creating Direct Lake semantic models - we all know that. But using multiple Fabric sources, such as Lakehouses and Warehouses, in the same model is a game changer. Previously, you were limited to just one source, which made Direct Lake storage mode less practical.

Why it matters:

• Greater modelling flexibility.
• Simplifies data integration from different Fabric items.
• Enables scalable modelling for enterprise-grade solutions.

This update removes one of the key limitations of Direct Lake and is a game-changer for larger data teams.

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3. Live Semantic Model Editing and Version History Now in Pro Workspaces in Power BI Service (Preview)

A development win for Pro users.

Live editing Semantic Models and version history for semantic models were previously restricted to Premium workspaces (Fabric workspaces or PPU). These are now available in Pro workspaces too.

This means more Power BI users can use their web browser to open and view the underlying data model and make changes if desired. In addition, Power BI developers with Pro licenses can now track these changes, compare versions, and restore older models when necessary. The change history tracking currently keeps only the last 5 changes, which becomes handy to quickly roll back changes to a more stable version when required. Therefore, it is quite clear that this feature is not intending to replace source control mechanisms.

Why it matters:

• Brings version control to teams without Fabric or Premium licences.
• Supports safe collaboration and model auditing.
• Makes troubleshooting easier by live editing the data models right from the web browser without needing to open Power BI Desktop, make those changes, save and re-publish the entire solution to Power BI Service.

As you can imagine, this feature can provide a development boost for organisations running on Power BI Pro.

Here’s a short demo video demonstrating how it works and how you can use it effectively:

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4. Copilot and AI Capabilities Now Accessible to All Paid Fabric SKUs

Wider access to AI-powered insights.

Microsoft has announced that Copilot and AI features in Microsoft Fabric are now available across all paid SKUs, including Power BI Premium Per User (PPU), F-SKUs, and Capacity Units (CU). Previously, these capabilities were limited to a smaller set of users.

Why it matters:

• AI-powered productivity is now accessible to more teams.
• Helps business users ask data questions more naturally.
• Supports faster insight generation with less manual work.

You can read more about this announcement here.

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Summary

These four updates reflect Microsoft’s continued investment in usability, governance and scalability. Whether you’re a report builder or managing enterprise models, there’s something this month that will help you move faster and make better decisions.

Until next time…