Question

How does Power BI’s Smart Narrative feature handle KPIs or targets?
In my report, I use KPIs with defined targets and thresholds (e.g., sales vs. goal). I want the Smart Narrative to automatically include performance commentary, such as whether a metric is above or below target. How effectively can Smart Narrative incorporate KPIs or target logic, and how should I structure the data or measures for it to work reliably?

Answer 1

KPIs and target logic can be successfully incorporated into Power BI's Smart Narrative, but meaningful performance commentary requires some setup using custom DAX measures. Smart Narrative can reflect this context if your measures are designed to clearly communicate it, even though it does not automatically interpret "target vs. actual" logic on its own.

To incorporate insights pertaining to the target:

• Develop DAX metrics, such as variance (Actual - Target) and percentage achievement (Actual / Target), that contrast actual and target.
• Use conditional DAX logic to add performance status indicators (such as "Above Target," "Below Target," and "On Track"). These can be added to the story as dynamic values.
• Use the "Add value" option in Smart Narrative to reference these custom measures within a custom-written commentary (e.g., "Sales are currently [Sales vs. Target Status], with total sales at [Total Sales] against a goal of [Target]").