Microsoft Power BI Desktop for Business Intelligence (Udemy.com)
Master Power BI Desktop for data prep, data analysis, data visualization & dashboard design w/ top Power BI instructors!
Created by: Maven Analytics
Last updated September 2026
Our take
Based on the ratings of 196,667 students, a sample of their written reviews and the syllabus, as the course stood in September 2026. No course pays to be reviewed.
Maven Analytics built this around one long project: you play a BI analyst at a fictional bike maker, AdventureWorks, and take raw data through Power Query, a star schema data model, DAX measures, and finished dashboards. It runs 17 hours across 200 lectures, with a second bonus project at the end. The audience is Excel users and aspiring analysts who want the full workflow rather than a tour of the charts menu. Chris Dutton and Aaron Parry do the teaching, and reviewers consistently call the explanations clear, even when the material gets dense.
With nearly 200,000 reviews and a 4.6 rating, the praise is steady: hands-on assignments, pro tips that carry into daily work, and content that stays current. The last update was September 2026, and a whole section covers new Power BI features. The complaints are real too. Two reviewers say the DAX section, at nearly four hours, is where beginners get lost, with jargon piling up faster than it is explained. One found the early sections slow and basic. One two-star review complains about audio glitches, another says there is no face cam or pointer, which makes long stretches feel disconnected. That same reviewer calls the course outdated and shallow, and a four-star student struggled to reproduce exercises on a newer Power BI build. One student hit a missing measure in the bonus project.
It carries Udemy's Bestseller badge and about 806,000 students, and it sits beside Microsoft Power BI - The Practical Guide in our Data Analysis list. It is Windows only, so Mac users should look elsewhere. For Excel people who want to build proper reports and are willing to slow down and take notes through the DAX chapters, this is an easy recommendation.
Pros
- One continuous AdventureWorks project runs through prep, modeling, DAX and reports, plus a bonus Maven Market project
- Updated September 2026 with a dedicated section on new Power BI features and a short AI tools section
- Reviewers say explanations are clear and the pro tips transfer straight into daily work
- Assignments help the logic stick, according to one four-star review
Cons
- The DAX section runs nearly four hours and two reviewers say it is hard to follow, one calling the jargon mind numbing
- No face cam or on-screen pointer, and one reviewer reports audio glitches throughout
- Windows only; one reviewer calls it outdated and another could not reproduce exercises on a newer Power BI build
Very Knowledgeable trainer, clear practices and lot of information to get you to use PowerBI as an expert.
Listed as all levels, but it really suits Excel users starting from zero; the DAX stage will test true beginners.
Featured in our guide: The 10 Best Data Analysis Courses on Udemy in 2026
What you will learn
- Build professional-quality business intelligence reports from the ground up
- Blend and transform raw data into beautiful interactive visuals & dashboards
- Design and implement the same tools used by professional data analysts and data scientists
- Showcase your skills with two full-scale course projects (with step-by-step solutions)
- Explore powerful artificial intelligence tools and advanced data analysis & visualization techniques
- Learn from a #1 best-selling instructor and professional Power BI developer
Course content
11 sections · 200 lectures · 17 hours of video 5 quizzes, 9 articles
- 1Getting Started 4 free previews7 lectures · 14 min
- 2Introducing Microsoft Power BI Desktop 3 free previews6 lectures · 1 quiz · 19 min
- 3Connecting & Shaping Data 1 free preview34 lectures · 1 quiz · 3.2 hours
- 4Creating a Data Model 2 free previews25 lectures · 1 quiz · 1.7 hours
- 5Calculated Fields with DAX 2 free previews43 lectures · 1 quiz · 3.9 hours
- 6Visualizing Data with Reports 3 free previews57 lectures · 1 quiz · 4.2 hours
- 7Artificial Intelligence (AI) 1 free preview6 lectures · 47 min
- 8Power BI Optimization Tools7 lectures · 30 min
- 9New Power BI Features & Updates9 lectures · 2 hours
- 10BONUS PROJECT: Maven Market5 lectures · 9 min
- 11BONUS LESSON 1 free preview1 lecture · 2 min
Who it is for
The instructor says it suits
- Anyone looking for a hands-on, project-based introduction to Microsoft Power BI Desktop
- Data analysts and Excel users hoping to develop advanced data modeling, dashboard design, and business intelligence skills
- Aspiring data professionals looking to master the #1 business intelligence tool on the market
- Students who want a comprehensive, engaging, and highly interactive approach to training
- Anyone looking to pursue a career in data analysis, analytics or business intelligence
What you need before you start
- Microsoft Power BI Desktop (free download)
- This course is designed for PC/Windows users (currently not available for Mac)
- Experience with Excel Power Query, Power Pivot & DAX is a plus, but not required
How it compares
Against the other 371 rated Udemy courses in Data Analysis on CourseDuck:
- Rating4.6 out of 5higher than 73% of them
- Reviews196,667#1 of 372 by number of reviews
- Length17 hourslonger than 88% of them
- Last updatedSeptember 2026more recently than 91% of them
Course Description
Welcome to the #1 best-selling Power BI Desktop course!
If you’re a data professional or aspiring analyst looking to learn the top business intelligence platform on the market, you’ve come to the right place. With more than 250,000 perfect 5-star reviews from students around the world, this is the course you’ve been looking for.
Throughout the course, you’ll learn from top instructors on the Maven Analytics team and put your skills to the test with hands-on projects and unique, real-world assignments.
THE COURSE PROJECT:
You’ll play the role of Business Intelligence Analyst for AdventureWorks Cycles, a fictional manufacturing company. Your role is to transform raw data into professional-quality reports and dashboards to track KPIs, compare regional performance, analyze product-level trends, and identify high-value customers.
But don’t worry, we’ll be here to guide you along every step of the way, with intuitive, crystal clear explanations and helpful pro tips to take you from zero to expert – guaranteed.
This course is designed to follow the key stages of the business intelligence workflow (data prep, data modeling, exploratory data analysis, data visualization & dashboard design) and simulate real-world tasks that data professionals encounter every day on the job:
STAGE 1: Connecting & Shaping Data
In this stage we’ll focus on building automated workflows to extract, clean, transform, and load our project data using Power Query, and explore common data connectors, storage modes, profiling tools, table transformations, and more:
Data connectors
Storage & import modes
Query editing tools
Table transformations
Connecting to a database
Extracting data from the web
QA & Profiling tools
Text, numerical, date & time tools
Rolling calendars
Index & conditional columns
Grouping & aggregating
Pivoting & unpivoting
Merging & appending queries
Data source parameters
Importing Excel models
STAGE 2: Creating a Relational Data Model
In stage 2 we’ll review data modeling best practices, introduce topics like cardinality, normalization, filter flow and star schemas, and begin to build our AdventureWorks data model from the ground up:
Database normalization
Fact & dimension tables
Primary & foreign keys
Star & snowflake schemas
Active & inactive relationships
Relationship cardinality
Filter context & flow
Bi-directional filters
Model layouts
Data formats & categories
Hierarchies
STAGE 3: Adding Calculated Fields with DAX
In stage 3 we’ll introduce data analysis expressions (DAX). We’ll create calculated columns and measures, explore topics like row and filter context, and practice applying powerful tools like filter functions, iterators, and time intelligence patterns:
DAX vs. M
Calculated columns & measures
Implicit, explicit & quick measures
Measure calculation steps
DAX syntax & operators
Math & stats functions
Conditional & logical functions
The SWITCH function
Text functions
Date & time functions
The RELATED function
CALCULATE, FILTER & ALL
Iterator (X) functions
Time intelligence patterns
STAGE 4: Visualizing Data with Reports
Stage 4 is about bringing our data to LIFE with reports and dashboards. We’ll review data viz best practices, building and format basic charts, and add interactivity with bookmarks, slicer panels, parameters, tooltips, report navigation, and more:
Data viz best practices
Dashboard design framework
Cards & KPIs
Line charts, trend lines & forecasts
On-object formatting
Table & matrix visuals
Conditional formatting
Top N filtering
Map visuals
Drill up, drill down & drillthrough
Report slicers & interactions
Bookmarks & page navigation
Numeric & fields parameters
Custom tooltips
Importing custom visuals
Managing & viewing roles (RLS)
Mobile layouts
Publishing to Power BI Service
We’ll also introduce brand new features as they are released, powerful artificial Intelligence tools like decomposition trees, key influencers, smart narratives and natural language Q&A, and performance optimization techniques to keep your reports running smoothly at scale.
Ready to get started? Join today and get immediate, lifetime access to:
17 hours of high-quality video
200+ page Power BI ebook
25 homework assignments & solutions
Downloadable course project files
Expert Q&A support forum
30-day money-back guarantee
If you’re looking for the ONE course to help you build job-ready Power BI skills, you’ve come to the right place.
Happy learning!
-Chris & Aaron (Maven Analytics)
See why this is one of the TOP-RATED Power BI courses in the world:
Instructor Details
- 4.6 Rating
196,667 Reviews
Maven Analytics
Maven Analytics is an award-winning platform where individuals and teams build new skills, showcase work, and connect with experts around the world.
We've helped more than 2,000,000 learners around the world build job-ready data & AI skills, master tools like Excel, SQL, Power BI, Tableau and Python, and build the foundation for successful careers.
Start learning for free!
More courses by Maven Analytics
Microsoft Excel: Advanced Excel Formulas & Functions (2026)
4.6 (120,271 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 9.4h
$199.99
Microsoft Excel: Data Analysis with Excel Pivot Tables (2026)
4.7 (78,818 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 6.8h
$199.99
Microsoft Excel: Data Visualization w/ Excel Charts & Graphs (2026)
4.6 (61,560 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 4.6h
$199.99
Microsoft Excel: Business Intelligence w/ Power Query & DAX (2026)
4.7 (29,351 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 7.3h
$17.99
Microsoft Power BI Desktop: Advanced DAX for Data Analysis (2026)
4.7 (15,632 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 11.5h
$139.99
Microsoft Power BI: PL-300 Certification Prep (Data Analyst) (2026)
4.6 (13,023 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 8.6h
$129.99
More Data Analysis courses
Complete neural signal processing and analysis: Zero to hero (2026)
4.8 (2,013 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 46.9h
$12.99
Excel for Business Analysts Online Course (2023)
4.8 (636 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 9.3h
$74.99
Alteryx Designer Advanced Certification Mega Bundle (2023)
4.8 (468 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 16.9h
$69.99
Reviews
By Artiom P on 8/21/2026
This was my first Power BI course, and I got exactly what I expected from it. I learned the basics, as well as some useful pro tips. During the course, you naturally come up with quite a few questions about how to do this or that, which then leads you to search for answers on Google or with the help of AI. And I think that is actually the main value of the course — it gives you a solid foundation and, more importantly, the motivation and curiosity to explore, learn, and improve on your own.
By David.Y.Lin on 8/19/2026
This is a course suitable for business professionals using Excel daily but believe there is a more efficient way to get business insights from the data. Most contents in the course are easy to understand, but some contents of advanced DAX etc. in the last two sections are qutie hard to even follow teacher's elaboration. Rather than spending much time to dig into these tools, I take these parts as "good to know". Overall, this is a course worth recommending!
By Alan Joao Diaz on 8/18/2026
It was a good class, not a bad class.There was a lot of good information in this course. For it to be a 5 star review, I felt there were certain steps that were skipped. For example, in the Bonus Project it was instructed to use the "Start of Month" measure but I didn't see that was in the data. I would suggest if alot of hours is going to be spent in this course, to ensure that no step is missing so that incorrect data would be showing.
By Sunil Dodda on 7/25/2026
This is one of the best Power BI courses I've taken. The instructor explains concepts step by step, starting from the basics and gradually moving to advanced topics like DAX, CALCULATE, filter context, time intelligence, data modeling, and report design. The hands-on exercises and real-world examples made it easy to understand and apply the concepts. I now feel much more confident using Power BI for data analysis and dashboard development. I highly recommend this course to anyone who wants to learn Power BI from scratch or strengthen their existing skills.
By Cindy Molitor on 7/17/2026
I came in cold to Power BI and I feel that I have the background I need to tackle projects in my workplace. The only weakness I found is that the training on Visuals needs to be updated. The current version of Power BI is different enough from the version used in this training that it took a significant amount of time in some cases to pause the video and try to find where the formatting options that the instructor was referencing in his version were located in mine, and how they worked in my newer version. This also applies to the section on new card functions in the "Updates" section. I would still recommend this course though.
By James Ward on 7/12/2026
I have been working with BI for several years off and on and in different capacities. Overall this is a good course fro someone who has limited exposure and wants to gain addtional insight into how to leverage the tool. I wish there was more instances of time intelligence, especially as it relates to business data analytics, but overall a solid course and one I would reccommend.
By Vicky Sharma on 7/7/2026
The course is very well structured and easy to follow. The concepts are explained clearly with practical examples, making it suitable for both beginners and those looking to strengthen their Power BI skills. I especially liked the hands-on approach and the real-world use cases. The only reason I'm giving 4.5 stars instead of 5 is that I would have loved a bit more depth on some of the newer Power BI features and a few more advanced practice exercises. Overall, it's an excellent course and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in learning Power BI.
By Hamza Anwar on 6/19/2026
Outstanding course! The lessons are clear, practical, and easy to follow. I gained valuable hands-on experience with Power Query, DAX, data modeling, and dashboard creation. This course has significantly improved my Power BI skills and confidence in building professional reports. Highly recommended.
By Thobeka Mthenjana on 6/2/2026
Thank you for the Power BI training videos. As a beginner, I found them easy to follow and very informative. The explanations were clear and the practical examples helped me understand the concepts better. The training has given me a good foundation in Power BI and increased my confidence in using the tool. Thank you for the effort put into creating the course.
By Marvin Battley on 5/21/2026
This course was really amazing! The information was presented in a clear, organized way, the project was fun, and the content covered much more than I expected. I learned so much! Thanks to the guys at Maven who clearly put a ton of work into designing the course and keeping it up-to-date.
Quality Score
No CourseDuck member has rated this course yet. Taken it? Give each part a thumbs up or down.
Overall Score : 92 / 100












