Turning Semantic Models into Insights, Automation and AI | Sue Bayes

In this Vancouver Power BI & Modern Excel User Group meetup, Sue Bayes presents Turning Semantic Models into Insights, Automation, and AI. Sue explores the many ways a Power BI semantic model can become more than just the source for a report. She shows how semantic models can support scheduled refresh, row-level security, multiple connected reports, Excel analysis, PowerPoint presentations, paginated reports, Teams integration, Fabric notebooks, and AI-powered workflows. The session begins with a simple Power BI model and explains how semantic models can bring together data from different sources into one trusted structure. Sue demonstrates how row-level security can be used to control what different users see, and how the same model can safely feed reports, Excel outputs, pivot tables, and other business-facing tools. Sue also shows several practical ways to connect Excel to Power BI data, including exporting data from visuals, creating connected Excel files, using Excel to pull from Power BI semantic models, and using Power Query and Power Pivot to reshape and analyze the results. The session also covers Power BI apps, paginated reports for printable and scheduled outputs, embedding Power BI content in PowerPoint, and using semantic models with Fabric notebooks for documentation and exploration. In the final section, Sue discusses why semantic models are becoming increasingly important for AI. She explains that AI tools may understand public knowledge, but they do not automatically understand your business. A well-built semantic model can provide business context, definitions, measures, relationships, and trusted data that help AI tools produce more useful results. The session also includes a short demonstration of preparing data for AI in Fabric, including simplified schemas, verified answers, AI instructions, and data agents. This session is especially useful for Power BI developers, Excel users, analysts, and business teams who want to get more value from their semantic models and prepare their data for automation and AI. This meetup is hosted by Ken Puls for the Vancouver Power BI & Modern Excel User Group, with updates from Skillwave Training, Excelguru, and Monkey Tools. Learn more: https://skillwave.training/ https://www.excelguru.ca/ https://monkeytools.ca/