Ask Copilot about your numbers: Power BI data in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat

Staff with a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot licence can now ask Copilot Chat and Cowork plain-English questions about your Power BI reports, through a connector Microsoft calls Fabric IQ. As of November 2026 it is generally available and on by default. It respects row-level security and supports Pro workspaces. UK tenants need one extra admin setting.

That makes it a different decision from Copilot inside Power BI, which runs in the Power BI app and needs a Fabric or Premium capacity. This guide covers the Microsoft 365 side: who can use it, what to switch on or off, and how to get answers you can trust.

What is Fabric IQ in Copilot Chat?

It is the link between Microsoft 365 Copilot and your Power BI content. Microsoft's Fabric IQ in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat page (updated September 2026) describes it as bringing Power BI data answers into Copilot Chat, alongside the user's files, chats and emails. A sales manager can ask "how did the North region do against target last month?" in the same Copilot window they use for email, without opening Power BI.

Microsoft announced it as generally available in its 28 September 2026 data announcement, timed for FabCon Europe, and said it is on by default for Fabric and Power BI customers. Our FabCon Europe 2026 summary has the rest of that week's news.

The same connector also works in Copilot Cowork, Microsoft's agent-style assistant that carries out multi-step tasks. Microsoft's Cowork page (updated October 2026) gives the example of finding significant changes in last week's figures and emailing them to a manager.

What licence do you need?

There are three Copilot routes into Power BI data, and each one is licensed differently. As of November 2026, Microsoft's documentation says:

	Copilot Chat (Fabric IQ)	Copilot Cowork (Fabric IQ)	Copilot in Power BI
Where it runs	Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat	Microsoft 365 Copilot Cowork	Inside Power BI
Status	Generally available	Generally available	Generally available; the standalone, cross-report version is in preview
User licence	A paid Microsoft 365 Copilot licence (Microsoft's page calls it a "Microsoft 365 Copilot Premium license")	A Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, plus usage-based Cowork billing enabled	Power BI licence; no Copilot seat licence
Capacity	Pro, Premium Per User, Premium and Fabric models supported; Embedded (A and EM SKUs) not supported	No extra capacity beyond what your Power BI content already needs	Paid Fabric F2+ or Premium P1+, or a Fabric Copilot capacity
Source	Microsoft Learn	Microsoft Learn	Microsoft Learn

The capacity row is the one that matters for most SMEs. A business on Power BI Pro alone cannot use Copilot inside Power BI, but Microsoft's documentation says its Pro-workspace reports can be queried from Copilot Chat by staff who hold a Copilot licence. The user also needs permission to view the report and its semantic model. They do not need access to Copilot in Fabric.

Microsoft's licensing pages don't make clear whether the free Copilot Chat that comes with Microsoft 365 gets this, and the Fabric IQ page says the paid licence is required for every user. So plan on paid seats only. For seat prices and how they fit a budget, see our AI planning guide for 2027.

Is it already switched on in your tenant?

Probably, so the first job is to check. Three settings are involved, according to Microsoft Learn:

• Microsoft 365 admin centre: "Fabric data available in M365 Copilot". Turns Power BI context in Copilot answers on or off for the tenant. It is on by default.
• Fabric admin portal: "Share Fabric data with your Microsoft 365 services". Controls whether Copilot suggests reports and shows them in its attachment menu. With it off, users can still paste a report link or name a report.
• Fabric admin portal: "Data sent to Azure OpenAI can be processed outside your capacity's geographic region…". This is the UK setting. Microsoft's Copilot in Fabric overview (updated September 2026) lists the UK as processed in the EU Data Boundary and says UK tenants must enable cross-geo processing. The Fabric IQ page says the same of any tenant outside the US and EU.

Turning on cross-geo processing is a data protection decision as well as a technical one. Record it, and the reason, in your DPIA. Our GDPR and AI checklist walks through what that assessment should cover.

How do you keep a sensitive model out of Copilot?

Every semantic model has its own switch. In the model's settings, under the Copilot section, Microsoft's semantic models guidance (updated September 2026) describes a setting that allows any person with only read permissions to use AI on the model and its reports. It covers Copilot in Power BI, Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat and Cowork, data agents and Microsoft's MCP tools.

Three details catch people out:

• It is on by default. A payroll or HR model is reachable through Copilot unless someone turns this off.
• Anyone with write permission on the model can change it. That may be more people than your IT lead expects.
• It is not inherited. A model built on top of a restricted model needs its own setting.

Does it respect your security and permissions?

Yes, within limits. Microsoft says Copilot Chat respects the row-level security and object-level security on the model, so answers only reflect data the user is allowed to see. It honours sensitivity labels, and data loss prevention policies apply.

Cowork differs in two ways. Microsoft's Cowork page says data loss prevention isn't currently supported there, and that Cowork's answers don't yet cite the source report or model. Microsoft's Cowork setup page also says Cowork can optionally use Anthropic models as a subprocessor. If your data protection terms list subprocessors, check that before staff start using Cowork on customer data.

In our view, this is the real risk for most SMEs. Copilot doesn't widen access, but it makes existing access much easier to use. A report shared with "everyone in the company" three years ago becomes a question anyone can ask.

What can it answer, and where does it fall short?

Microsoft lists retrieving figures, slicing and filtering, trends, comparisons and summaries, combined with the user's own files and emails. The documented limits, as of November 2026:

• Answers reflect the last refresh, not live data.
• Paginated reports, dashboards and org apps aren't supported, and report share links can't be used.
• Finding reports is still improving. Microsoft suggests pasting a link, attaching the report or naming it.
• Semantic models aren't in the attachment menu. You can paste a model URL, but the answer then has no report visuals to anchor on.
• Answers can be wrong. Microsoft's semantic models page says Copilot isn't guaranteed to produce a correct answer, and that it struggles with calculation groups, DAX variables and some newer DAX functions.

How do you get answers you can trust?

Mostly by fixing the model. Copilot reads your table names, column names and descriptions, so a tidy model gets better answers. Microsoft's guidance comes down to:

1. Use a star schema with plain, human-readable names, and avoid abbreviations. Our star schema guide shows the shape.
2. Write short descriptions that tell similar fields apart. Microsoft notes that descriptions entered in DAX view are cut off after 200 characters.
3. Hide what Copilot shouldn't use. Hidden fields are left out of grounding.
4. Add verified answers for the questions people ask most. Microsoft's Prep data for AI feature (preview, updated September 2026) lets someone with authoring permission tie trigger phrases to a chosen visual.
5. Test against a number you already know. Ask for last month's revenue and check it against the finance figure before anyone relies on the tool.

A worked example

Here is an illustrative case. A 40-person distributor runs Power BI Pro with a sales model and an HR model. Ten managers have Microsoft 365 Copilot licences.

• Week one: the admin confirms the tenant setting is on, enables cross-geo processing after updating the DPIA, and turns off read-only AI access on the HR model.
• Week two: the report owner renames cryptic columns, adds descriptions to the ten measures managers use most, and sets verified answers for "sales vs target" and "top customers this month".
• Week three: each manager asks three questions they already know the answers to. Any answer that doesn't match the report goes back to the model owner.

None of this needs new capacity. It does need someone who owns the model.

Should an SME use it?

If you already pay for Microsoft 365 Copilot seats and have a reasonably clean Power BI model, yes. This is one of the few Copilot features that gets more out of something you have already built, without new capacity. If you have neither, it isn't a reason to buy Copilot seats on its own. Start by checking which models are exposed by default, because that applies whether or not anyone uses the feature.

If your models need tidying before Copilot can answer reliably, that is the kind of work our Power BI and Fabric consultancy does. You can also see how AI fits across the business on our AI services page.

Frequently asked questions

Can Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat answer questions about my Power BI reports?

Yes. As of November 2026, Microsoft lists Power BI data answering in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat as generally available, through Fabric IQ. Users need a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot licence and permission to view the report and its semantic model. Answers reflect the last refresh, not live data.

Does it work if we only have Power BI Pro?

Microsoft's documentation says semantic models in Pro, Premium Per User, Premium and Fabric capacities are supported, and the user does not need access to Copilot in Fabric. That differs from Copilot inside Power BI, which needs an F2 or P1 capacity.

Is it switched on by default?

Yes. The Microsoft 365 admin centre setting "Fabric data available in M365 Copilot" is on by default, and so is the per-model setting that lets read-only users reach a model through AI. UK tenants must also allow cross-geo processing, because Microsoft processes these requests in the US or the EU Data Boundary.

Does Copilot Chat respect row-level security?

Yes. Microsoft says Copilot respects the row-level and object-level security on the semantic model, so answers only show data the user is allowed to see. It cannot fix permissions that are already too broad, so check who can see each report before you rely on this.

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