power bi and ai - for everyone else.
I'm Alan, and burningsuit is me. There's a lot of noise about AI and Power BI at the moment, and most of it feels aimed at the people who are already knee-deep in 'agents'. I'm interested in everyone else - the people who just want to get their job done well and would rather not have to turn into a nerd to do it. Which is fine by me - I'm more than happy to be the nerd in the room, so you don't have to.
i start from what people can do
I've got a fairly stubborn belief that, with the right instruction and a bit of encouragement, almost anyone can learn almost anything - so I won't turn up assuming a team's behind, or that the people are the problem. Most of the teams I meet are more capable than they've been given credit for; they're just busy with the day job, a bit wary of the latest thing, and short on someone to think it through with.
What I do these days is embedded Power BI and Fabric advisory, done with you - I work alongside your team on your real problems, so they come out owning what we build rather than being handed it. If you'd sooner see that than read about me, there are a few case files.
the part that isn't really technical
The nuts and bolts of Power BI I can do, and I've done it a long time. But that's honestly not usually the thing that makes the difference. It's much more about whether people who are busy, and a bit sceptical, actually feel like having a go - and whether, by the end, your team reckons I get how they work, rather than someone turning up to tell them they've been doing it wrong. That's really the part I care about getting right.
I've spent about five years working with organisations getting to grips with Power BI and Fabric, and before that a decade or so in software delivery - large systems, some of it for government. I also give a talk at a few user groups, called "we're all middle management now", about being responsible for work you've handed off to something that can't be held responsible for it. The thing that's stuck with me through all of it is that these projects mostly succeed or fail on the people side, well before the technology really comes into it.
where burningsuit comes from
burningsuit was my parents' Power BI training business. They handed it over last year and they're properly retired now, so it's me. I've taken it somewhere a bit different from where it started - these days it's more about advising and designing alongside teams than running courses - but the reason it exists hasn't really changed.
As my mum said, burningsuit was for "everyone else" - normal people, basically. Not the nerds, not the people who are always online performing their work - just someone trying to get a job done. And that's still the focus.
and the dog
Last thing: this is Zelda, who I'm told is Chief Morale Officer. She's no use at all with the DAX, but she's very good at making me get up and go outside now and then, which honestly does more for the work than you'd think.
