AI Act (EU)
The AI Act is the European Union regulation that governs artificial intelligence. It sorts AI systems by risk and places obligations on anyo...
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Data Dictionary
Data dictionary.
Explore our comprehensive data dictionary to understand key data concepts, definitions, and relationships
A
AI agent
An AI agent is an AI system that autonomously plans and executes multiple steps to reach a goal. It uses a language model as its brain and c...
Read definitionArtificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence is technology that teaches computers to learn, reason, and make decisions from data instead of following hand-writte...
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Bias
Bias in AI is a skew that creeps into models through data, algorithms, or human choices. It is not always harmful, but it has to be managed ...
Read definitionBottleneck analysis
Bottleneck analysis finds the step in a process where work gets stuck waiting, the step that dictates total throughput time. You spot bottle...
Read definitionBusiness Process Model and Notation (BPMN)
BPMN is a visual standard for mapping business processes clearly. With a fixed set of symbols you can see at a glance who does what, where d...
Read definitionC
Calculation group
A calculation group applies one DAX pattern to every measure in your model. You write YTD, MTD and YoY% once instead of repeating them for e...
Read definitionCase ID
A case ID is the key that ties all events of one process run together. Think of an order number, a ticket number or a patient file. Without ...
Read definitionChange Data Capture (CDC)
Change Data Capture (CDC) is the practice of detecting every change in a source system and forwarding it to downstream systems. It keeps you...
Read definitionConformance checking
Conformance checking compares how a process actually runs against how it is supposed to run. It is the second pillar of process mining along...
Read definitionContext window
The context window is the amount of text a language model can see and process in a single call. It sets how many instructions, documents, an...
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Data contract
A data contract is an explicit agreement between the producer and the consumers of a dataset: which schema, which quality, which frequency, ...
Read definitionData lineage
Data lineage shows the full journey data takes inside an organisation. From the original source to the final report, with meaning and contex...
Read definitionData mesh
Data mesh is an organisational model for data in which each business domain owns its datasets and offers them as products. It breaks with th...
Read definitionData warehouse
A data warehouse is a central database that collects data from many source systems and structures it for reporting and analysis. It's optimi...
Read definitionDAX (Data Analysis Expressions)
DAX is the formula language behind Power BI, Excel Power Pivot and Analysis Services. You use it to build calculations like totals, margins ...
Read definitionDelta Lake
Delta Lake is an open storage format that extends plain Parquet files with transactions, schema enforcement, and time travel. It forms the f...
Read definitionDeployment pipeline
A deployment pipeline is the built-in ALM tool of Microsoft Fabric. You build in a Development workspace, test in a Test workspace, and roll...
Read definitionDigital twin
A digital twin is a digital copy of a physical object, process, or system, fed by live data. You use it to run simulations, test scenarios, ...
Read definitionDirect Lake
Direct Lake is a storage mode for Power BI that reads straight from Delta tables in OneLake. You get the speed of Import without the refresh...
Read definitionDirectQuery
DirectQuery is a storage mode in Power BI and Fabric that keeps no copy of the data and instead sends every query straight to the source. Yo...
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Embeddings
Embeddings turn words, sentences, or images into numbers that capture their meaning. Neural networks learn them from huge amounts of text. T...
Read definitionETL / ELT
ETL and ELT stand for Extract, Transform, Load and Extract, Load, Transform. They are two ways of moving data from source systems into a cen...
Read definitionEvent log
An event log is the foundation of process mining. It records every step that happens in a process, showing what was done, when, and to which...
Read definitionF
Fabric capacity (F-SKU)
A Fabric capacity is the compute pool that Power BI, lakehouses, notebooks and pipelines run on in Microsoft Fabric. The F-SKUs run from F2 ...
Read definitionFine-tuning
Fine-tuning is the practice of further training an existing AI model on your own data so it handles a specific task, tone, or domain better....
Read definitionG
Generative AI
Generative AI (GenAI) is technology that produces new content on its own, things like text, images, code, or music. It learns patterns from ...
Read definitionGPU
A GPU is a powerful chip built for fast, parallel calculations. It runs thousands of small operations at the same time, which makes it ideal...
Read definitionH
Hallucination
A hallucination is when an AI model says something that sounds plausible but isn't true. The model invents details that aren't in any source...
Read definitionHappy path
The happy path is the ideal route through a process or system, without exceptions, errors or detours. It describes what happens when everyth...
Read definitionHuman-in-the-Loop (HITL)
Human-in-the-loop (HITL) means that people stay actively involved in decisions and processes that are partly handled by AI. They review, cor...
Read definitionI
Incremental refresh
Incremental refresh is the Power BI and Fabric feature that processes only new or changed data at refresh time instead of reloading the whol...
Read definitionIntelligent Process Automation (IPA)
Intelligent Process Automation (IPA) combines automation with artificial intelligence to make business processes smarter and more efficient....
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Lakehouse
A lakehouse combines the flexibility of a data lake with the structure and performance of a data warehouse. You store raw and processed data...
Read definitionLarge Language Model (LLM)
A Large Language Model (LLM) is an AI model trained on enormous amounts of text that understands and generates language. LLMs are the engine...
Read definitionM
MCP (Model Context Protocol)
MCP, short for Model Context Protocol, is an open standard from Anthropic that lets AI models talk to tools and data in a uniform way. One p...
Read definitionMedallion architecture
Medallion architecture organises a lakehouse into three layers: bronze for raw data, silver for cleaned data, and gold for business-ready ta...
Read definitionMicrosoft Copilot
Microsoft Copilot is the family name for every AI assistant Microsoft builds into its products, from Word and Excel through to Power BI and ...
Read definitionMicrosoft Fabric
Microsoft Fabric is an all-in-one cloud platform that brings data storage, transformation, and reporting together in one place. It connects ...
Read definitionMLOps
MLOps is the way of working that brings machine learning models reliably into production and keeps them healthy there. It combines elements ...
Read definitionModel drift
Model drift happens when an AI model gets worse at predicting because data or real-world patterns shift over time. Regular retraining and co...
Read definitionN
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Natural Language Processing (NLP) is the umbrella name for techniques that let computers understand human language. You use it every day wit...
Read definitionNeural network
A neural network is a computer model that learns by working through examples, loosely inspired by the human brain. It is built from layers o...
Read definitionO
Object Level Security
Object Level Security hides entire tables or columns in your data model from specific users. When sensitive fields like salaries, margins or...
Read definitionObject-centric process mining (OCPM)
Object-centric process mining is an approach where events are not tied to a single case but to several business objects at once: an order, t...
Read definitionOCR (Optical Character Recognition)
OCR, short for Optical Character Recognition, is technology that reads text inside an image or scanned document. It turns letters and number...
Read definitionOneLake
OneLake is Microsoft’s central data storage system within Microsoft Fabric. It serves as the single, unified location where all business dat...
Read definitionOneLake shortcut
A OneLake shortcut is a pointer from your Fabric lakehouse or KQL database to data that lives somewhere else, without copying it. Internal O...
Read definitionP
Parquet
Apache Parquet is a columnar file format designed for analytical queries on large datasets. It is the storage layer under almost every moder...
Read definitionPower Automate
Power Automate is a Microsoft tool that lets you automate repetitive tasks and processes without writing code. You build flows visually that...
Read definitionPower Bi
Power BI is Microsoft’s business intelligence tool that helps people understand their data through interactive dashboards and reports. It co...
Read definitionPower BI Embedded
Power BI Embedded lets you build Power BI reports straight into your own software or website, so users see insights without ever opening Pow...
Read definitionPower BI Enhanced Report Format (PBIR)
PBIR is the new default file format for Power BI reports. Instead of storing everything in one large JSON file, a report is now split into m...
Read definitionPower BI Project (PBIP)
PBIP is the folder-based project format for Power BI. Instead of storing everything in one PBIX file, a PBIP project splits the semantic mod...
Read definitionPower Query
Power Query is Microsoft's transformation language for data. You use it visually in Power BI, Excel, and Fabric Dataflows, with M as the und...
Read definitionProcess automation
Process automation is the use of software to take over repetitive tasks that people would normally do by hand. It connects systems, moves da...
Read definitionProcess discovery
Process discovery is the step in process mining that automatically draws a process map from your event log. No workshops or interviews, just...
Read definitionProcess mining
Process mining helps companies see how their processes truly run by using real data from their systems. It turns digital traces from tools l...
Read definitionPrompt engineering
Prompt engineering is the craft of writing instructions for an AI model so it produces useful output. A good prompt largely decides whether ...
Read definitionR
RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
RAG or Retrieval-Augmented Generation is a technique where an AI model first looks up relevant information in a dedicated knowledge base bef...
Read definitionReinforcement learning
Reinforcement learning is a form of machine learning where systems learn by experience. They try things, get feedback, and gradually get bet...
Read definitionRework loop
A rework loop is a pattern where the same activity runs more than once within a single case: an invoice that gets re-created, a file that go...
Read definitionRow Level Security (RLS)
Row Level Security makes sure users only see the rows of your dataset they are allowed to see. It is a clean way to share one dataset safely...
Read definitionRPA (Robotic Process Automation)
RPA, or Robotic Process Automation, is a technology that uses software bots to perform repetitive computer tasks automatically. It helps bus...
Read definitionS
Self-service analytics
Self-service analytics gives people in the business the tools to work with data themselves, without depending on IT for every question. With...
Read definitionSemantic model
A semantic model is a layer on top of your data that translates tables, relationships, and calculations into business language. It's the bri...
Read definitionSlowly Changing Dimensions (SCD)
Slowly Changing Dimensions (SCD) is the set of patterns for storing changes in dimension data (customers move, products change category) cor...
Read definitionSnowflake
Snowflake is a modern cloud-based data warehouse that helps organisations store and analyse large volumes of data efficiently. It separates ...
Read definitionSpeech-to-text (STT)
Speech-to-text (STT) turns spoken words into readable text. You can use it to convert calls, recordings, or meetings into notes and reports ...
Read definitionStar schema
A star schema is a data model where one central fact table is surrounded by dimension tables. It is the standard pattern for BI and delivers...
Read definitionSupervised learning
Supervised learning is a way for computers to learn from examples that already include the right answer. The model studies thousands of labe...
Read definitionT
Task mining
Task mining captures how work happens on the desktop: mouse clicks, keystrokes, window switches and application use at the employee's own ma...
Read definitionText-to-speech (TTS)
Text-to-speech (TTS) turns written text into spoken audio. It evolved from clunky mechanical machines to modern AI voices that sound almost ...
Read definitionThroughput time
Throughput time is the time between the start event and the end event of a case: the full clock on an order, request or ticket, including ev...
Read definitionTokens
A token is the smallest unit of text an AI model processes, usually half a word or a punctuation mark. Tokens drive both the bill on every A...
Read definitionTransformer architecture
The transformer architecture is the engine behind modern AI. It processes text, images and sound by understanding the relationships between ...
Read definitionV
Variant analysis
Variant analysis shows how many different routes the same process actually takes. You see which sequence of steps is most common, how long e...
Read definitionVector database
A vector database stores embeddings and searches them at high speed on meaning rather than exact words. They form the memory layer under RAG...
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