(Updated) Power BI integration with Microsoft 365 Copilot

🚨 The Signal: Microsoft 365 Copilot will integrate with Power BI, allowing users to query reports and semantic models using natural language. This expands Copilot's data access, grounding responses in Power BI content while respecting existing permissions.

The Impact

Organizations using Copilot and Power BI face increased data exposure risk if Power BI permissions are not meticulously managed.

  • Security Teams: Risk of inadvertent data exposure via Copilot if Power BI permissions are overly permissive.
  • Data Owners: Need to validate Power BI report and semantic model permissions for Copilot access.
  • Compliance Teams: New audit trail considerations for AI-driven data queries and responses.
  • End Users: Enhanced data access, but potential for misinterpretation if data context is not clear.

The Action

  1. Review all Power BI report and semantic model permissions to ensure least privilege is enforced.
  2. Educate users on responsible data querying with Copilot and understanding data sensitivity.
  3. Monitor Copilot usage logs for Power BI interactions to identify potential data access anomalies.
  4. Consider disabling the feature if Power BI data governance is not mature enough via Power BI Admin Portal > Tenant settings > 'Allow Copilot to access Power BI data'.

Domain: Agentic-AI · Impact: high · Workload: Other · Essential Eight: Restrict Administrative Privileges · ISM: ISM-0445, ISM-1175, ISM-1380, ISM-1507, ISM-1508, ISM-1509, ISM-1647, ISM-1648, ISM-1650, ISM-1686, ISM-1688, ISM-1689, ISM-1883, ISM-1897, ISM-1898