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Velocity6.3

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Power BI deepens Copilot reach and lands write-back analytics with Translytical GA.

copilottranslyticaldirect-lakemobile-bitheme-customizationfabric-integration
Current state
Power BI's monthly drumbeat is consolidating around three threads. Copilot keeps expanding into new surfaces — in-report Copilot is now in Power BI mobile preview, conversational chat is on the way, and a Power BI Copilot is landing inside the Excel add-in. Translytical task flows have moved to general availability, opening write-back from reports. Visual and theming work continues with modern visual defaults, slicer layout improvements, and ongoing Direct Lake calc-column previews.
Where it's heading
Microsoft is pushing Power BI from a read-only BI surface into a place where users both query and act on data, with Copilot narrating both directions. Translytical going GA is the load-bearing move — it converts reports into operational front-ends, not just dashboards. Direct Lake calc columns continue eroding the historical line between Power BI semantic models and Fabric storage.
Prediction
Expect in-report Copilot in mobile to GA, more Fabric-tied features arriving as Power BI features (mirrored databases, more user-context-aware modeling), and Translytical task flows getting governance and audit features as enterprise customers scale write-back use cases.

Recent moves

  1. 2mo ago

    Deprecation of old file picker experience in Power BI Desktop

    Old file picker in Power BI Desktop is removed in the SU04 release; the updated picker becomes the only experience. Cleanup of a deprecated path that users were already migrated off of.

  2. 2mo ago

    Modern visual defaults and customize theme improvements (Preview) The Customize current theme dialog now includes a base theme switcher (…

    Modern visual defaults and customize-current-theme improvements land in preview. Theming had been a friction point for enterprise reports; this is meaningful polish on a long-standing pain area.

    View source ↗
  3. 2mo ago

    layout for card, button slicer, and list slicer visuals Card, button slicer, and list slicer visuals now support a Fixed size option in t…

    Layout improvements for card visuals, button slicers, and list slicers. Tactical UX work on the most-used visual types in Power BI reports.

    View source ↗
  4. 2mo ago

    Power BI March 2026: Translytical task flows go GA

    ⚡ SPARK

    March 2026 update lands Translytical task flows at general availability, alongside Direct Lake calculated columns in preview and broader Copilot reach. Translytical going GA is the structural move — reports can now drive operational write-back, not just visualize.

    View source ↗
  5. 2mo ago

    Copilot in Power BI mobile: expanded features In-report Copilot in Power BI Mobile apps now supports conversational chat grounded in the…

    In-report Copilot in Power BI mobile apps gains expanded features in preview. Microsoft continues normalizing Copilot as the default lens regardless of surface — mobile, Excel, web report.

    View source ↗
  6. 2mo ago

    Description Currently in preview Upcoming deprecation of old file picker experience in Power BI Desktop Deprecation is planned for the o…

    Companion announcement of the upcoming file-picker deprecation, published in preview before the SU04 cutover. Same change as the GA entry above.