Raising children in an AI world & Introduction to Power BI MCP

Agenda:
5-Min Community Talk
Time: 5.15pm-5.20pm

Title: 5 Special Power BI Features Every Beginner Should Know
In this 5-minute talk, I will highlight five powerful yet beginner-friendly features in Power BI Desktop that help users move from raw data to insights quickly and confidently. The session is designed for a general audience, including those who are new to Power BI or prefer low-code, intuitive analytics.
The features covered include:

• Column by Example – Quickly create new columns by providing sample outputs, without writing formulas.
• Decomposition Tree – Interactively break down a KPI to understand contributing factors during analysis or live discussions.
• Key Influencers – Automatically identify the key drivers that impact an outcome using built-in AI analysis.
• Q&A Visual – Ask natural-language questions and instantly generate visuals from the data.
• Smart Narrative – Automatically generate plain-English explanations of trends and insights from reports.

Attendees will gain a practical understanding of how these features reduce complexity, save time, and make insights accessible to both technical and non-technical users. By the end of the session, participants will be able to confidently apply these capabilities in their own Power BI reports.

Speaker: Sneha Jayachandran - Business/Data Analyst - Zhamatix
Hi, I’m Sneha, a recent data graduate with a strong focus on Power BI, data analytics, and AI. I hold the Microsoft PL-300: Power BI Data Analyst certification and the Microsoft AI-900: AI Fundamentals certification.
I’m passionate about applying practical, beginner-friendly approaches that make data analysis more intuitive and accessible. I enjoy using Microsoft tools to transform raw data into meaningful insights and sharing what I learn with others along the way.
Outside of data, I volunteer with Mercy Care as a social companion, and I enjoy board games, movies, travelling, and spending quality time with family.
Looking ahead, I aspire to grow my career in data analytics and AI, building solutions that empower people and organisations to make better, data-driven decisions.

Time: 5.25pm-5.45pm
Title: Raising children in an AI world

As a parent, I’m raising children in a world where artificial intelligence is already part of their everyday lives—shaping how they learn, play, and see the world. As a father, I feel the weight of guiding them responsibly: protecting their innocence while also preparing them to grow into thoughtful, resilient young people who can stand tall in a digital age. Come learn and discover with us.

Speaker: Zac Hiew/ Technical Specialist – Insight |Software Developer & Owner – Progressionem Pty Ltd
Zac is a DevOps-focused solutions consultant with extensive experience in Agile development methodology, Azure and the Microsoft stack and mobile development.
Throughout his experience, he has built a reputation as a trusted mentor and leader, and has cultivated a number of high performance technical teams; outside of his work, he prides himself on being a dedicated husband, father and son.
Follow Zac on LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachiew/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachiew/)

Time: 5.45pm-6.00pm
Title: Introduction to Power BI MCP
Microsoft has opened Power BI to AI agents through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), with two server experiences that are especially useful for data professionals. In this short session, Sergio will introduce what MCP is, why it matters for Power BI, and demonstrate the difference between the two Microsoft Power BI MCP servers:

• Remote Power BI MCP Server – lets AI agents query semantic models using natural language, generate DAX, and return insights.
• Power BI Modeling MCP Server – lets AI agents help build and modify semantic models, including measures, naming conventions, refactoring, and documentation.

Through a quick live demo in VS Code with GitHub Copilot, Sergio will show how MCP can be used to both ask questions of a model and assist with model engineering using natural language prompts.

This session is ideal for BI analysts and model developers who want a practical introduction to Power BI MCP and a clear understanding of how to get started.

Speaker: Sergio Zenatti Filho
Chief Cloud Solution Architect – Cloud & AI Platforms - Microsoft

Sergio is a Chief Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft with over 20 years of experience designing and delivering Data and Analytics Solutions. He has worked internationally around Australia, Brazil and New Zealand, including Government, Healthcare, Telecom, Finance Services, Retail, Manufacture, Automotive, Mining, Oil & Gas, Dairy and Facility Management. Sergio is passionate about learning new technology and helping customers to define the best solution for their business. He has extensive experience in the Microsoft Data and Analytics Platform in the cloud and also on-premises.
Follow Sergio on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergiozenatti/