Copilot in Power BI: Admin

In this Pragmatic Works training video, Justin Vogel walks administrators through the exact steps required to enable Copilot in Microsoft Fabric and Power BI using the current 2026 configuration. This video addresses one of the most common issues organizations face: Copilot appearing in the interface but not actually working. Justin explains why this happens and provides a clear, step by step checklist to ensure Copilot is fully operational from an admin perspective.

Why Copilot May Appear But Not Work

Justin begins by clarifying a common misconception. The presence of the Copilot icon does not guarantee that Copilot is enabled or functional. Copilot depends on several backend requirements, and if even one is missing, users may see the interface without having access to AI capabilities.

According to Justin, Copilot requires all of the following:

• A Microsoft Fabric capacity at F2 or higher, not a trial
• A workspace assigned to that Fabric capacity
• The Copilot tenant setting enabled in the admin portal
• A supported region for Fabric capacity

Missing any of these requirements will prevent Copilot from functioning correctly, even if the button is visible.

Creating a Fabric Capacity in Azure

Justin emphasizes that Fabric capacity must be created in the Azure portal, not in the Fabric or Power BI admin portals. This step requires Azure subscription access, typically with owner or contributor permissions. Being a Fabric admin alone is not enough.

The key steps include:

1. Open the Azure portal and create a new Microsoft Fabric resource
2. Select an existing subscription and resource group
3. Choose a capacity size of F2 or higher
4. Assign an administrator for the capacity
5. Select a supported region carefully

Justin notes that region selection is critical because Copilot support depends on where the capacity is deployed, not where the tenant is located. Deploying capacity in an unsupported region will prevent Copilot from working.

Managing Cost and Capacity State

Once the Fabric capacity is created, administrators can pause it to save costs. However, Justin warns that pausing a capacity immediately disables Copilot for all workspaces tied to it. When capacity is paused, there is no AI compute available.

This makes capacity monitoring and scheduling an important part of Copilot administration, especially for organizations managing budgets.

Assigning a Workspace to Fabric Capacity

The next step is workspace configuration. Justin demonstrates how to create a new workspace in Fabric and assign it directly to the newly created Fabric capacity. This ensures that all content published to the workspace can use Copilot.

For existing workspaces, administrators can update the workspace type in settings and switch it from shared, Pro, or Premium capacity to Fabric capacity.

Justin highlights two critical best practices:

• Copilot does not work on shared capacity
• Workspace naming and strategy matter to avoid user confusion

Clearly labeling AI enabled Fabric workspaces helps users understand where Copilot is available.

Enabling Copilot Tenant Settings

Even with capacity and workspace configured, Copilot is disabled by default at the tenant level. Justin shows how to enable the required setting in the admin portal under tenant settings.

The most important toggle is:

• Users can use Copilot and other features powered by Azure OpenAI

This single setting enables Copilot across Power BI, dataflows, notebooks, pipelines, and semantic models. There are no separate toggles per workload.

Governance and Security Considerations

Justin strongly recommends piloting Copilot with a limited security group before enabling it tenant wide. This allows organizations to validate behavior, gather feedback, and adjust governance policies.

Copilot respects row level security and sensitivity labels and does not bypass existing security models. However, admins should still coordinate with governance teams, especially when Microsoft Purview sensitivity labels are in use.

Validating Copilot Functionality

To confirm everything is working, Justin publishes a report to the Fabric enabled workspace and uses Copilot to summarize the report and generate a year over year sales measure. Copilot successfully responds with explanations and visuals, confirming that the setup is complete.

Common Gotchas to Watch For

• Copilot consumes Fabric capacity compute and may require scaling
• Paused capacity disables Copilot instantly
• The Copilot button may appear even when functionality is limited
• Reassigning or deleting capacity changes Copilot behavior immediately

Justin concludes with a simple checklist: ensure the capacity is running, the workspace is assigned correctly, tenant settings are enabled, the region is supported, and capacity usage is monitored.

This admin focused walkthrough provides a clear and practical guide for enabling Copilot in Microsoft Fabric the right way. For more deep dives on Power BI and Fabric, Justin encourages viewers to explore additional Pragmatic Works training resources.


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