The Biggest Improvements Announced at FabCon, and the Ever-Widening Gap Between Adoption and Capabilities
Raw Data By P3 Adaptive
What’s the value of a long-awaited feature? Well, that depends. Have you ever tried explaining a fiscal calendar that doesn’t believe in months? This week, Rob Collie and Justin Mannhardt dive into the latest Microsoft Fabric updates, including the long-rumored, almost-mythical custom calendar support in DAX, the highly requested user-defined functions, and the Copilot expansion that might finally be worth the hype. These updates aren’t just bells and whistles; they’re fixes to problems that have been quietly driving your team up the wall for a decade. And while the tech is cool, the...
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Data, Data, and Metadata: Letting ChatGPT Interpret Power BI Output
Raw Data By P3 Adaptive
What happens when you hand off your Power BI output to ChatGPT and ask it to make sense of your world? You might be surprised. This week, Rob shares a deeply personal use case. One that ties together two major themes we've been exploring: Gen AI is reshaping the way we think about dashboards. To get real value out of AI, you need more than just data. You need metadata. And yes, that kind of metadata—the kind you create in Power BI when you translate raw data into something meaningful. Along the way, we revisit the old guard of data warehousing. The mighty (and now dusty?) ETL priesthood....
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AI Agents, Business Bros, and Snake Oil
Raw Data By P3 Adaptive
AI agents are making big waves, but are they the future of business or just another passing trend? In this episode, Rob Collie and Justin Mannhardt explore the rise of AI agents, what they actually do, and why the excitement might be a little premature. They unpack the risks, the rewards, and how leaders can navigate the hype with a bit of caution and a lot of curiosity. Rob and Justin discuss the fine balance between automation and human oversight, tackling questions about when it's smart to embrace AI and when it might be better to pause. They also share thoughts on the current SaaS...
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One Data Model to Rule them All?
Raw Data By P3 Adaptive
Listener John sent in a classic question: should you build one all-encompassing data model, or should each part of your business have its own? If you think the answer is black and white, well, welcome to the world of data modeling, where nuance reigns supreme. Rob and Justin dive deep into the pros, cons, and inevitable mistakes of both approaches. Along the way, they call out the biggest modeling traps, expose the myths that make projects stall, and introduce a revolutionary new acronym: JGS (Just Get Started). Because, spoiler alert, the best data model is the one that actually gets built....
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Miller's Theorem: A Principle for Getting Off the Fence
Raw Data By P3 Adaptive
Ever find yourself overthinking a problem until you’ve thought yourself right into a corner? Yeah, we’ve been there too. But what if there was a way to cut through the noise and just know when something is a good idea? Enter Miller’s Theorem, a simple but sneaky-effective thought experiment that’s been kicking around in our conversations for years. It’s the kind of thing that sounds like nonsense at first until it doesn’t. In this episode, we unpack how a casual visit to a bougie home décor store in Seattle turned into an existential crisis over tariffs, pricing psychology, and...
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Rethinking the ROI of Dashboards
Raw Data By P3 Adaptive
For years, dashboards have been the go-to for business intelligence. Built with the best intentions, loaded with visuals, and meant to empower decision-makers. But are they actually delivering? A recent Reddit thread raised a tough question: "Has anyone here moved away from dashboards as their main source of insights?" It’s not the usual “Dashboards are dead” hype. It’s a real challenge from BI pros who build them. The problem? Analysts say dashboards can’t keep up with how they really explore data. Executives and business users aren’t using them as intended, leading to more ad...
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Why the Data Gene is (Still) Under-Represented in Management
Raw Data By P3 Adaptive
Ever sat in a meeting, watching a decision unfold that makes zero sense—bad for business, bad for employees—while the data that should be guiding the way is ignored? You’re not alone. In this solo episode, Rob Collie takes on a question that’s been circling for years: why aren’t more people with a data-driven mindset in leadership positions? The answer isn’t as simple as “because they should be.” There are deep-rooted reasons why persuasion often wins over precision and why data folks get stuck in support roles instead of calling the shots. But here’s the thing, change is...
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The Data Gene Transforms Non-Football Fans into Fantasy Football Devotees, w/ Adam Harstad
Raw Data By P3 Adaptive
What happens when you mix fantasy football, data analytics, and a little bit of chaos? You get a conversation that refuses to follow a straight line—but somehow lands exactly where it needs to. Rob Collie welcomes back fantasy football guru Adam Harstad for his third appearance on Raw Data, alongside first-time guests and Molly Ferguson, two self-proclaimed newcomers who are anything but casual. They dive into the unexpected ways fantasy football rewires your brain, from strategic obsession to the unshakable belief that your lucky jersey actually controls the game. Adam breaks down the...
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What Drives Costs for Data Projects, and How are They Changing Over Time?
Raw Data By P3 Adaptive
What if we told you that, before Power BI, most of the money spent on data projects didn’t go where you thought it did? In this episode, Rob Collie and Justin Mannhardt peel back the layers of inefficiency, miscommunication, and just plain bad luck that have haunted data projects for decades. Spoiler: it’s not all doom and gloom. Some of those old headaches are finally getting the boot, thanks to tools like Power BI and the rise of generative AI. Rob and Justin take an honest look at how data projects have changed over the years, sharing hard-earned lessons and surprising insights from...
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Power BI is Back on the Menu, plus The Importance of Usage Data, w/ Gil Raviv
Raw Data By P3 Adaptive
has spent years shaping how we use data. From his early days at Microsoft, where he played a key role in developing Power Query, to his work refining how dashboards serve their users, Gil’s career is a masterclass in making data tools both practical and powerful. In this episode, we sit down with Gil to dig into why usage data is the missing ingredient for truly effective BI. He explains how understanding what users do with your dashboards can completely change the way you design and deliver them. We also talk about his journey through the world of business intelligence, the lessons he...
info_outlineThis week on Raw Data, Justin’s flying solo and catching up with Brian Julius, a true data veteran with a unique journey from government work to AI exploration. Brian’s path has been anything but typical. Starting in high-stakes federal roles, he later moved into management; only to find himself pulled back to his roots in hands-on analytics, just as AI started turning the industry on its head.
Brian digs into the moments that shaped his career and how curiosity led him back to data. Now, he’s diving into AI, pushing the tools to see how far they can go, and discovering where human intuition still has the edge. In this conversation, he and Justin explore what it means to keep evolving in a field that doesn’t stand still, and why staying open and curious might just be the most important skill.
With Rob away this week, Justin and Brian take a deeper dive into what it’s like to adapt to constant change, and why there’s more to data than just knowing the latest tools. It’s an honest, down-to-earth look at the power of a lifelong learner’s mindset in an era of rapid transformation.
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