With the latest change, Copilot is available at all paid capacity sizes in Fabric. What does that mean for you especially coupled with FCC (Fabric Copilot Capacity)?
It means if you are on Pro or PPU, you can turn on Copilot for your organization with less than $300//month by turning on a F2 and designating that as your designated Fabric Copilot Capacity.
You should enable your executives to securely chat with their data, rather than uploading it to Chat GPT and risking confidentiality. This will save them time by quickly providing summaries or answering ad hoc questions.
This article provides a comprehensive guide on enabling Copilot in Pro and PPU workspaces using the innovative Fabric Copilot Capacity (FCC) feature.
Why This Matters?
Key capabilities include:
- Executives gain instant insights and faster decision-making by naturally interacting and summarizing their Power BI reports using plain language.
- CXOs can independently answer ad-hoc questions, significantly reducing their reliance on technical teams.
- Additionally, developers and report authors benefit from automated documentation, measure descriptions, and guided report design, accelerating the report creation process.
Prerequisites
Before implementing Copilot for your organization, ensure you have these essential elements in place:
• Supported region: Your Fabric capacity must be in a ‘region’ where Copilot is available. Currently, Microsoft has enabled Copilot by default in commercial regions like the US and EU. If your tenant’s home region falls within these areas, you’re set. For other regions (e.g., Asia-Pacific), Copilot might be disabled by default, requiring an admin to enable the “allow data to be processed outside your region” setting.
• Admin rights: Appropriate administrative privileges are required for this configuration. This includes access to the Fabric Admin Portal as a Fabric admin (or Power BI admin) to modify tenant settings, along with capacity admin rights for configuring capacities. Regular users cannot adjust these settings, contact your tenant admin if needed. Admins will enable Copilot organization-wide, designate a capacity for it, and can restrict access to specific users or security groups as necessary.
• At least one Fabric capacity (F2 or higher): The system requires an actual Fabric capacity in the background to host the Copilot workload. Microsoft has made Copilot available on even the smallest paid capacity (F2), provided it’s a paid SKU. The capacity acts as the Copilot Capacity to which usage is billed.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Ready to implement Copilot for your Pro and PPU users? Follow these detailed steps to configure Fabric Copilot Capacity (FCC) and enable Copilot in your environment:
1. Enable Copilot in Tenant Settings
Navigate to the Admin Portal.
- If you are a Tenant Admin, you will find under Tenant settings, locate the section for “Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service”.
- If you are not a Tenant Admin but a “Capacity Administrator” then you can locate the section for “Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service” from the Delegated Tenant Settings under Capacity Settings.
Verify or enable these critical switches:
• “Users can use Copilot and other features powered by Azure OpenAI” – Ensure its Enabled (enabled by default in most instances, but verification is recommended). Enabling this permits your users to access Copilot features. You can apply this setting organization-wide or restrict it to specific security groups directly in this dialog.
• “Capacities can be designated as Fabric Copilot capacities” – This setting is disabled by default and must be turned On. Enabling this allows your capacity to function as the Copilot host for Pro/PPU usage. Activate this option and decide whether it applies to the entire organization or only certain admins/groups.
2. Designate a Fabric Copilot Capacity
With the tenant prepared, designate the capacity that will serve as Copilot’s foundation. Access the Capacity settings section of the Admin Portal. For multiple capacities, select the one intended for Copilot (e.g., your F64 trial or a capacity named “FCC”). Within the capacity’s settings page, find the option to “Designate this capacity as a Fabric Copilot capacity” and enable it. This action identifies that capacity as the one to which all Copilot usage for specified users will be charged. After enabling this setting, confirm or save the change.
After making these assignments and saving, no further action is needed on a per-workspace basis. Users included in the allowed list and working in Pro or PPU workspaces should begin seeing the Copilot icon and features in Power BI Service and Desktop following the next refresh cycle (which may not be instantaneous).
Common Pitfalls & Limitations
Before deployment, be aware of these key considerations:
- Regional availability: Copilot auto-activates only in US/EU regions. Other regions require manual cross-region data processing permission.
- Environment requirements: Copilot works only when workspace type, user license, and FCC assignment properly align. Supported in Pro, PPU, and Fabric Capacities.
- Feature maturity: While core Copilot functions are generally available, many features remain in preview with expected limitations.
- Data governance: Since Copilot sends data to Azure OpenAI, implement appropriate security controls and user training.
- Activation timing: Allow up to 24 hours for Copilot to appear after enabling FCC.
Conclusion
Fabric Copilot Capacity (FCC) effectively bridges the gap between standard Power BI licensing and premium AI features, allowing organizations to selectively provide Copilot capabilities to Pro/PPU users without requiring full Fabric Premium adoption. This targeted approach centralizes AI resource billing while maintaining existing workspace structures, effectively delivering premium functionality within a standard environment.
If you’d like to see exactly how to turn this on, join us for a LinkedIn Live in June 11, 2025, where we’ll walk through setup and configuration step-by-step. And if you’re curious about what you can build once FCC is running, tune in to our “Crafting Value: Leveraging Fabric Copilot in Power BI” session on July 9, 2025. We’ll demonstrate real-world use cases and best practices. Don’t miss out on either opportunity to unlock AI-powered insights in your organization.
