Jorge Carrascal González

The arrival of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has completely transformed how we work with data, and this has led many to wonder whether tools like Power BI will become obsolete. The truth is that they are not going away. In fact, they are becoming even more relevant. AI is not here to replace Power BI, but to enhance it. What used to take many hours of manual analysis can now be initiated with just a few clicks: identifying patterns, explaining variations, answering questions in natural language, or generating draft reports. These features speed up the process, but they don’t eliminate the need to interpret what’s happening. AI detects signals. People give those signals meaning. AI detects signals. People give those signals meaning. The synergy between Power BI and AI: beyond automation Even if a model can identify the likely cause of a drop in sales or suggest influencing factors, it still doesn't understand the context of an organisation. It doesn't know whether an issue stems from an internal decision, an operational change, or something external that isn't reflected in the data. This is where human judgment remains essential. Power BI is not losing relevance because of AI. On the contrary, it is gaining depth, because it now allows professionals to focus their time on thinking, rather than on preparing data or building visualisations from scratch. Moreover, the tool itself is evolving as part of a broader ecosystem. With Microsoft Fabric, Power BI becomes the entry point to a complete environment that integrates data engineering, storage, advanced analytics and machine learning. Rather than being replaced, Power BI has become the layer where everything is visualised, interpreted and turned into decisions. No matter how powerful the AI engines running in the background may be, someone still needs to translate the results into useful insights. Power BI has become the layer where everything is visualised, interpreted and turned into decisions. Power BI as the hub for intelligent analysis and decision making This isn’t entirely new. Power BI already included intelligent features such as Key Influencers, the Decomposition Tree, and anomaly detection. It also allowed users to build predictive models with AutoML and to ask questions using natural language. What has changed is that these features are now more accessible, more intuitive, and integrated with generative models. AI is increasingly present, but always within a workflow that depends on human analysis. AI automates steps, but it does not replace the ability to reason, contextualise or make informed decisions. The role of data professionals is also evolving. Less time is spent on mechanical tasks and more on critical thinking. The key skill is no longer just building a dashboard, but understanding the data, questioning the outputs generated by AI, clearly communicating insights, and linking analysis to real business needs. AI automates steps, but it does not replace the ability to reason, contextualise or make informed decisions. The human value in the era of advanced analytics That’s why, when we ask whether AI is going to replace Power BI, the answer is simple: no. It is transforming it, enhancing it, and making it more capable. AI does not eliminate analysis. It makes it deeper. The same applies to the role of those who work with data. AI does not eliminate analysis. It makes it deeper. It doesn’t reduce work. It changes the nature of the work. And it doesn’t diminish the value of professionals. It enhances it, because now the expectation is to spend less time preparing data and more time understanding what the data means. The future is not AI instead of BI. It is BI powered by AI. And Power BI is precisely at that point where artificial intelligence stops being an abstract concept and becomes a practical tool that helps make better decisions, faster and with greater clarity. Telefónica Tech #WomenWithTech: Marta y Carmen combine creativity and analytics in digital marketing November 19, 2025