Explicit Measures Podcast 505: Excel vs. Field Parameters
5 snips
Feb 24, 2026 A deep dive on why Power BI field parameters can break the Excel live-connection experience and what that means for model design. A debate about single semantic models versus thin, report-specific layers. Practical tradeoffs for serving Excel users and when to keep parameter logic out of the core model.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Models Must Be AI Ready Not Just Report Ready
- AI is forcing data builders to make models AI-ready, not just report-ready.
- Mike and Tommy emphasize adding 'hooks' so AI can query models and write DAX or SQL against them.
Field Parameters Are A Report-Only Solution
- Field parameters solve a specific Power BI report problem: letting a slicer swap columns or measures to pivot visuals dynamically.
- Tommy and Mike note this is report-centric and can break Excel/other consumers because it's not part of the core semantic model.
Tommy's Field Parameter Hype And Reality
- Tommy expected field parameters to be a game changer and widely used but found adoption stayed low and situational.
- He estimates less than ~20% of listeners actually use them routinely despite initial excitement.