

Explicit Measures Podcast
PowerBI.Tips
Hosted by Mike Carlo, and Tommy Puglia, the Explicit Measures Podcast is a Power BI focused show that is like being around a Power BI Pro’s Water Cooler. With so many available resources in the community that focuses on the “how” in Power BI (how to do Drill Through, how to use DAX, etc.,), the Explicit Measures Podcast is all around the WHY. Why use a particular feature, does it make sense for my users?
Build the toolset, learn the how, and then come to the Podcast to the listen to the why in situations we all experience as Power BI Pros.
Build the toolset, learn the how, and then come to the Podcast to the listen to the why in situations we all experience as Power BI Pros.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 9, 2025 • 1h 2min
466: Data Agents & Semantic Models
Dive into the world of data agents and discover if semantic models are the new MVP of data sourcing. Explore the integration of Microsoft Dynamics and Power BI, revealing their strengths and reporting capabilities. Learn how data agents generate queries through natural language processing and why they differ from Copilot. Engage with the debate on semantic models for enhancing large language models and gain insights into crafting effective prompts. Finally, get practical tips on testing agents while managing capacity.

Oct 7, 2025 • 1h 3min
465: Mailbag! More Email Subscription Use Cases
Mike & Tommy have another great mailbag from YOU on utilizing Power BI subscriptions being proactive and efficient. Get in touch:Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitipsSubscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVvSubscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tipsFollow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Oct 2, 2025 • 1h 7min
464: Is Microsoft Fabric Actually Business Intelligence?
Wow! we have a doozy of an episode today. Mike & Tommy ask the question if Microsoft Fabric the evolution of business intelligence or something different altogether. How should one position the themselves in the industry?Get in touch:Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitipsSubscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVvSubscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tipsFollow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Sep 30, 2025 • 1h 7min
463: The Impact of User Defined Functions in DAX
We are talking about the buzz! Mike and Tommy wrap their heads around User Defined Functions (UDFs) in DAX and what implementation looks like. Get in touch:Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitipsSubscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVvSubscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tipsFollow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Sep 25, 2025 • 1h 13min
462: Microsoft Fabric Feature Pyramid
Mike & Tommy rank the BEST features in the Microsoft Data Platform, from level 1 the TOP to what is essential to what they do. Get in touch:Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitipsSubscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVvSubscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tipsFollow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Sep 23, 2025 • 57min
461: FabCon Vienna Draft!
Mike & Tommy dive into the major updates from FabCon Vienna and what it means for Power BI & Microsoft Fabric users alike.https://blog.fabric.microsoft.com/en-US/blog/september-2025-fabric-feature-summaryGet in touch:Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitipsSubscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVvSubscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tipsFollow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Sep 18, 2025 • 1h 3min
460: Mailbag! Composite Models vs Reusable Datasets: Are We Sending Mixed Messages?
Mike & Tommy go through a great mailbag question on composite models and reusable models, along with how this changes in Fabric.Whoa! I think I'm triggered after listening to both your composite model episode and your managing multiple dataset episode. Isn't a fair bit of the question similar however much of the discussion seems different between episodes... In one sense- the gold standard seems to be thorough with data modeling/dataset development to build a dataset that can be used in multiple thin reports as needed. But the use of composite models seems to be somewhat discouraged - even though this is another way to re-use key datasets to answer business questions without re-doing the exact same transforms. It was alluded to but not explored that Fabric has better ways of doing this.With the data warehouse or Lakehouse... can you expand on that?Thanks for the podcast. Even though I consider myself skilled at Power BI - I'm constantly learning from you guys! Get in touch:Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitipsSubscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVvSubscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tipsFollow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Sep 16, 2025 • 1h 1min
459: Initial Impressions of Data Agents
Mike & Tommy give their thoughts on the state of Microsoft Fabric Data Agents.https://blog.fabric.microsoft.com/blog/new-in-fabric-data-agent-data-source-instructions-for-smarter-more-accurate-ai-responses/?WT.mc_id=DP-MVP-5002621#https://blog.fabric.microsoft.com/blog/fabric-data-agents-microsoft-copilot-studio-a-new-era-of-multi-agent-orchestration/?WT.mc_id=DP-MVP-5002621#Get in touch:Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitipsSubscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVvSubscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tipsFollow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Sep 12, 2025 • 58min
458: The Fabric Magic Wand
Stephanie joins Mike and Tommy to talk about those "magic wand" moments everyone experiences while working with Power BI. After polling social media, Stephanie shares the trends people seemed to wish for, sparking a lively discussion within the group.Get in touch:Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitipsSubscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVvSubscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tipsFollow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Sep 12, 2025 • 1h 2min
457: Planning Your Microsoft Fabric Capacity
Mike & Tommy are joined by Stephanie once again diving into the gotchas of the new Microsoft Fabric Capacity SKUs, how rolling it out differs than Power BI, and putting a gameplan together.Get in touch:Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitipsSubscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVvSubscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tipsFollow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/