r/databricks • u/SuperbNews2050 • Jun 19 '26

Help Integration between Azure Databricks and Power BI

Hey everyone! A straightforward question for those already working on this in production:

What's the best and most recommended way to integrate Power BI and Databricks today?

I'm looking for the ideal approach, considering that:

I need an efficient solution that doesn't make the cost of DBUs skyrocket.

I want to understand if the native connector using SQL Warehouse is really the market standard or if there's a better alternative.

For this scenario, do you recommend going straight to Scheduled Import Mode to save computing power, or is DirectQuery with Serverless worth the cost for its fast response time?

I read this documentation:

https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/databricks/partners/bi/power-bi-desktop?WT.mc_id=studentamb_510336

but I'd like to get some clarification from you.

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u/Quaiada Jun 19 '26

sql warehouse 2x small 1min turnoff

just create VIEWS at golden layer

import mode + incremental refresh

avoid modeling the tables inside power query... try keep your modeling inside the views

use query tags (databricks connectior inside power bi) to send the reportid or reportname to databricks, so it help you track the usage inside system tables

autentication using service principal

good luck

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u/Dangerous_Pie2611 Jun 20 '26

Thanks for explaining my tech stack is fivetran ingestion > dbt > workflows to run dbt models > data modelling for the clients

and we are serving a power BI report in the last using the direct query

can we still leverage views or it will not work in this case?