Enterprise CI/CD for Semantic Models in Microsoft Fabric

Semantic models sit at the heart of every analytics solution. Yet they are often the least disciplined part of the CI/CD process. In Microsoft Fabric, teams quickly discover that treating semantic models like simple artefacts leads to collaboration issues, unreliable deployments, and production-breaking changes.

This session focuses on how to design, collaborate on, and deploy semantic models at scale in Microsoft Fabric. You’ll learn architectural patterns for structuring workspaces and repositories to support multiple teams working on shared models, and how different semantic model save formats impact version control, collaboration, and automation.

We’ll explore ways of working for semantic model development, including branching strategies, pull request reviews, and ownership boundaries that reduce friction between data engineers, BI developers, and analytics teams. Particular attention is given to validation and testing, showing how semantic models can be checked, reviewed, and verified as part of CI/CD pipelines before deployment.

Using real-world automation patterns inspired by production Fabric platforms, the session demonstrates how semantic models can be deployed safely across environments while avoiding common pitfalls such as breaking downstream reports, inconsistent configurations, and environment drift.

Attendees will leave with practical, battle-tested patterns for managing semantic models in enterprise CI/CD - designed for teams, governance, and long-term maintainability.

- Practical patterns for structuring workspaces and repositories around semantic models at scale - A clear understanding of semantic model save formats and their impact on collaboration and CI/CD - Techniques for validating, testing, and safely deploying semantic models across environments