Announcements from the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference

A ton of new features for Microsoft Fabric were announced at the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference (FabCon Atlanta 26) last week (see the FabCon keynote here). There were 8000 attendees! Here are all the new data-related features that I found most interesting, but there were many more announcements that you can find in the “More info” section below:

Generally Available (GA)

OneLake security (GA soon) (more info)
OneLake security introduces centralized, consistent access control across all Fabric engines (Spark, SQL, Power BI, etc.) using a single security model. This eliminates the need to manage permissions separately per engine and ensures data is secured once and enforced everywhere. It’s a foundational step toward true “write once, secure once” governance in Fabric.
OneLake Catalog Govern tab (GA) (more info)
The new Govern tab brings governance insights directly into the OneLake Catalog, including ownership, lineage, sensitivity labels, and policies. It helps users understand not just what data exists, but whether it’s trusted and compliant. This bridges the gap between discovery and governance without leaving Fabric.
Mirroring: SAP and Oracle (GA) (more info)
Mirroring now supports enterprise systems like SAP and Oracle, continuously replicating data into OneLake with minimal latency. This allows organizations to analyze operational data in near real-time without complex ETL pipelines. It’s a major step toward making OneLake the central analytics hub.
Shortcut transformations (GA) (more info)
Shortcut transformations let you apply transformations directly on data accessed via shortcuts without copying it into OneLake. This enables a true “virtual data” pattern where you can shape and prepare external data in place. It reduces duplication while still enabling analytics-ready datasets.
Materialized Lake Views (GA) (more info)
Materialized Lake Views provide precomputed, optimized views over lakehouse data for faster query performance. They automatically stay in sync with underlying data while improving performance for BI workloads. Think of them as bringing warehouse-like performance to lakehouse data.
Graph in Fabric (GA) (more info)
Graph capabilities enable modeling and querying relationships between entities (like customers, products, or networks) directly in Fabric. This opens the door for use cases like fraud detection, recommendation engines, and relationship analysis. It extends Fabric beyond tabular analytics into connected data scenarios.
Maps in Fabric (GA) (more info)
Native mapping capabilities allow you to visualize geospatial data directly within Fabric dashboards and real-time analytics. This makes it easier to analyze location-based trends, logistics, and operational data. It eliminates the need for external mapping tools in many scenarios.
Fabric Data Agents (GA) (more info)
Data Agents allow users to interact with their data using natural language, powered by AI grounded in Fabric data. They can answer questions, generate insights, and automate analysis across datasets. This brings conversational analytics directly into the platform.
Direct Lake in OneLake (GA) (more info)
Direct Lake enables Power BI to query data directly from OneLake without importing or duplicating it. This delivers near real-time performance with in-memory speed while maintaining a single copy of the data. It’s a key pillar of Fabric’s “one copy of data” vision.
Workspace tabs (GA) (more info)
Workspace tabs improve navigation by allowing users to organize and quickly switch between commonly used items. This enhances productivity, especially in large workspaces with many artifacts. It’s a simple but impactful UX improvement.
SQL audit logs (GA) (more info)
SQL audit logs provide detailed tracking of database activity for compliance and security monitoring. Organizations can now capture who accessed what data and when. This is critical for enterprise governance and regulatory requirements.
Dataflow Gen2 preview-only steps (GA) (more info)
Previously preview-only transformations in Dataflow Gen2 are now fully supported in production. This expands the range of data prep capabilities available for enterprise pipelines. It simplifies building robust, reusable data transformations.
Dataflow Gen2 ADLS Gen2 and Lakehouse destinations (GA) (more info)
Dataflows can now write directly to ADLS Gen2 and Fabric lakehouse files, expanding storage flexibility. This enables better integration with existing data lakes and hybrid architectures. It also supports more scalable and cost-efficient data pipelines.

Public Preview / Coming Soon

End-to-End CI/CD upgrades (public preview) (more info)
New Git integration enhancements bring deeper CI/CD support across Fabric items. Developers can version, deploy, and manage Fabric assets more consistently across environments. This makes Fabric much more enterprise-ready for DevOps practices.
Capacity Events in Real-Time Hub (public preview) (more info)
Capacity events provide real-time visibility into Fabric capacity usage and performance. Admins can monitor spikes, throttling, and system behavior as it happens. This helps proactively manage workloads and avoid performance issues.
Capacity overage billing (public preview) (more info)
Overage billing allows workloads to continue running even when capacity limits are exceeded, with pay-as-you-go billing. This prevents failures due to throttling while giving organizations flexibility. It’s especially useful for unpredictable or bursty workloads.
Workspace-level surge protection (public preview) (more info)
Surge protection now allows admins to control how individual workspaces consume capacity during spikes. This prevents one workspace from impacting others. It adds a new layer of workload isolation and governance.
Mirroring: SharePoint Lists & Azure MySQL (public preview) (more info)
Additional mirroring sources expand Fabric’s reach into operational systems like SharePoint and MySQL. This enables more data sources to flow into OneLake in near real-time. Support for Azure Monitor and Dremio is also on the roadmap.
Extended mirroring capabilities (public preview) (more info)
Enhancements to mirroring provide more flexibility in how data is replicated and managed. This includes options for performance tuning and selective replication. It makes mirroring more adaptable to enterprise needs.
Shortcut to Excel in SharePoint (public preview) (more info)
You can now create shortcuts directly to Excel files stored in SharePoint or OneDrive. Fabric automatically treats them as structured data for analytics. This turns everyday business files into analytics-ready data without ingestion.
Databricks reads from OneLake (public preview) (more info)
Databricks can now directly access data stored in OneLake, enabling interoperability between platforms. This reduces data duplication across ecosystems. It supports a more open and unified data architecture.
Data Factory Migration Assistant (public preview) (more info)
This tool helps migrate existing Azure Data Factory and Synapse pipelines into Fabric. It automates much of the conversion process, reducing manual effort. This accelerates adoption of Fabric for existing customers.
Custom SQL Pools (public preview) (more info)
Custom SQL pools allow more control over compute resources for SQL workloads in Fabric. This provides better performance tuning and workload isolation. It brings more flexibility similar to dedicated SQL pools in Synapse.
Agents Skills for Fabric in GitHub Copilot CLI (public preview) (more info)
Developers can use GitHub Copilot CLI to generate and manage Fabric assets using natural language. This includes building pipelines, models, and queries. It’s a big step toward AI-assisted development in Fabric.
Planning in Fabric IQ (public preview) (more info)
Planning in Fabric IQ (called Plan in Fabric IQ in the documentation) introduces forecasting and scenario modeling capabilities built on Fabric data. It allows organizations to plan budgets, simulate outcomes, and use AI to reason about future scenarios. It integrates with Fabric’s semantic layer and ontology. Reminds me of the discontinued product Microsoft Forecaster.
SQL database in Fabric: Engine parity and enterprise readiness (public preview) (more info)
Fabric SQL databases now offer much deeper parity with the Microsoft SQL Server engine, bringing familiar capabilities and performance to the platform. They are designed to be enterprise-ready by default, with built-in high availability, security, and scalability. This makes Fabric a viable destination for both new applications and modernized database workloads.
SQL database in Fabric: Migration and database agents (public preview) (more info)
New tooling makes it easier to adopt Fabric databases, including migration assistants for moving existing SQL Server workloads with minimal friction. Database Agents introduce AI-powered capabilities that can help automate tasks, optimize performance, and provide insights directly within the database experience. This lowers the barrier to modernization while improving day-to-day database operations.
Database Hub in Fabric (early access) (more info)
Fabric is expanding its role as the central access point for enterprise data with the Database Hub in Fabric, now available in early access. The Database Hub provides a unified database management experience that brings together databases across edge, cloud, and Fabric into a single, coherent view. Teams now have one place to explore, observe, govern, and optimize their entire database estate—including Azure SQL, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, SQL Server (enabled by Azure Arc), Azure Database for MySQL, and Fabric Databases—without changing how each service is deployed. This is a big step toward treating Fabric as a complete database platform, not just an analytics layer. See video.
Azure Data Factory & Azure Synapse pipelines migration assistant (public preview) (more info)
Expanded migration tooling helps organizations move both data integration and analytics workloads into Fabric. It simplifies transitioning from legacy architectures. This supports a smoother path to a unified platform.
Copilot for data engineering & data science (public preview) (more info)
Copilot assists with building notebooks, writing code, and generating transformations in Fabric. It accelerates development for engineers and data scientists. This reduces the barrier to working with Spark and advanced analytics.
Fabric Data Warehouse recovery (public preview) (more info)
Recovery capabilities allow restoring data warehouse states after failures or data loss. This improves reliability and disaster recovery. It’s an important step for enterprise-grade resilience.
Live connectivity in Migration Assistant (public preview) (more info)
Migration tools now support live connectivity scenarios during transitions. This reduces downtime and enables phased migrations. Organizations can move workloads incrementally instead of all at once.
Copilot for real-time dashboard visuals (public preview) (more info)
Users can generate dashboard visuals using natural language directly in real-time analytics. This makes it easier to explore streaming data without manual configuration. It brings AI-driven BI into operational scenarios.
Dataflow Gen2 Snowflake & Excel destinations (public preview) (more info)
Dataflows can now write to Snowflake and Excel, expanding integration options. This supports multi-platform data strategies. It also enables easier sharing of curated data with business users.
Dataflow Gen2 failure notifications (public preview) (more info)
Email alerts notify users when dataflow refreshes fail. This improves monitoring and operational awareness. It helps teams quickly respond to pipeline issues.
SSIS package activity in Fabric Data Factory (public preview) (more info)
You can now run SSIS packages directly within Fabric pipelines. This helps organizations reuse existing investments while transitioning to Fabric. It simplifies hybrid migration scenarios.

Note the next FabCon conference is in Barcelona, Spain Sept 28-Oct 1 (more info). Be sure to book your ticket at the best possible price – the Super Early Bird Sale ends April 15th.

More info:

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Power BI March 2026 Feature Summary

FabCon and SQLCon 2026: What’s new in Microsoft OneLake

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