For years, the workflow was always the same: open Power BI, build the visual, export to Excel, adjust the spreadsheet, and finally send it to the manager. A process that ate up time and created the classic "these numbers are already outdated" situation.
Microsoft just changed that cycle. With the July 2026 update, Copilot in Excel gained Power BI grounding support, alongside synced connectors now available for everyone. In practice, you analyze governed Power BI data directly in Excel using natural language, without exporting anything.
It sounds simple. And it is. But there are a few important details that determine whether things work smoothly or turn into a headache.
What Power BI Grounding Means in the Copilot Context
"Grounding" is the process of giving the Copilot language model real-world context. Without it, the AI answers based on general knowledge. With it, it answers based on your data.
In Excel, Copilot can now import a snapshot of a Power BI report's data and use that content as the foundation for answering questions, generating tables, creating charts, and producing summaries. All of this inside Excel, in plain language.
One important note: it is not a live connection. Copilot imports a one-time snapshot of the report. If the data has changed since the last import, you need to add the report again to the Copilot panel to get the updated version.
How to Connect a Power BI Report to Copilot in Excel
The process is straightforward:
- Open Excel and access the Copilot panel.
- In the prompt field, click the "+" icon to add content.
- Select "Add work content" and then "Other."
- A list of your recently accessed Power BI reports will appear.
- Select the desired report and confirm.
From there, Copilot uses that report as the basis for answering your questions. You can ask for analyses, comparisons, bullet-point summaries, or editable pivot tables ready to work with. Responses are traceable: Copilot indicates where each piece of data came from.
Another route, if you prefer to start in Power BI: open the service, find the semantic model, click the options menu, and choose "Analyze in Excel." Power BI generates and downloads an Excel file already connected to the model.
Synced Connectors: The Other Side of the Update
Beyond Power BI grounding, the July update made Synced Copilot Connectors generally available for everyone. These work differently: instead of report data, they bring organizational content directly into Excel, such as support tickets, CRM records, work items, and corporate documents.
That content lands straight in the Excel grid. From there, Copilot analyzes everything in natural language. The difference is between having a static report and having the ability to cross-reference data from completely different sources inside a single spreadsheet.
What the Semantic Model Needs to Work Properly
This is where the catch lives. Copilot is only as good as the model it queries. A disorganized model returns inaccurate answers or refuses to respond at all.
Well-defined measures. Copilot relies on model metadata to generate responses. If measures are there, named properly and with clear descriptions, the AI knows what to use. If they are not, it guesses, and it usually gets it wrong.
Readable table and column names. "fct_vnd_v2_final_REAL" helps no one. "Sales" does.
Row-Level Security configured before enabling Copilot. If you have sensitive data, RLS needs to be in place. Copilot respects model permissions, but only if they exist.
A simplified model. Unnecessary relationships and unused tables slow down Copilot just as much as they slow down any analyst.
Licensing and Capacity: What You Need
Copilot in Excel with Power BI grounding requires:
- A Microsoft 365 license with Copilot enabled.
- A Power BI workspace on Fabric F64+ capacity or Power BI Premium.
- Copilot enabled at the tenant level by your administrator.
Power BI Pro alone does not enable the Copilot panel for these advanced features. This point tends to catch teams off guard when it is time to deploy.
A Note on Power BI Q&A
Microsoft announced that it will retire the Power BI Q&A feature in December 2026. This includes Q&A visuals, dashboard tiles, and embedded experiences. The recommended migration path is precisely to Copilot. Anyone relying on Q&A today needs to plan that transition ahead of time.
Why This Matters for People Who Work with Data
The point is not to replace Power BI. The report stays there, governed, with the right measures and security in place. What changes is the consumption layer.
An analyst who lives in Excel can now query data from the semantic model without depending on the BI developer to build every visual or export every table. Ask the question in plain language, Copilot searches the report, and the answer lands directly in the spreadsheet.
For teams still fighting over "who has the latest version of the file," this integration is a concrete answer. The data comes from the model. The model has an owner. The owner maintains quality. The consumer analyzes it in the environment they prefer.
It is not magic. It is architecture working the way it should have worked a long time ago.