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Power BI Interview Questions in Chennai

36 practice questions with answers for Power BI interviews in Chennai.

Power BI jobs in Chennai

Chennai is a long-standing IT-services and SaaS hub along OMR, with strong demand for testing, data and support-engineering roles. Many companies here hire freshers in large batches and train them on the job.

Below are 36 questions that match the mix of service, product and domain employers hiring power bi developers in Chennai.

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01

What is a snowflake schema and should you avoid it in Power BI?

Data ModellingMedium
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A snowflake schema normalises dimensions into several related tables, such as Product linked to Subcategory linked to Category. It saves little space in Power BI because columnar compression already handles repetition, and it adds relationships, longer filter paths and a more confusing field list. Usually it is better to flatten these into one Product dimension in Power Query, keeping the model a clean star.
02

What are paginated reports and when would you use them?

Power BI FundamentalsMedium
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Paginated reports, built with Power BI Report Builder, are pixel-perfect, print-ready reports that can span many pages, such as invoices, statements or regulatory reports with long tables. They are ideal when users need exact layout, export to PDF or Excel, or detailed row-level listings. Interactive Power BI reports are better for exploration. Paginated reports can run in the Service with Pro, PPU or Fabric capacity.
03

What is the difference between Power BI and Excel for reporting?

Power BI FundamentalsEasy
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Excel is flexible for ad hoc analysis and small models but struggles with large data, version control and secure sharing. Power BI handles millions of rows with a compressed columnar engine, central semantic models, scheduled refresh, row-level security and interactive web and mobile sharing. They work together: Power Query and Power Pivot exist in both, and users can analyse Power BI models in Excel.
04

What is a role-playing dimension and how do you handle it?

Data ModellingMedium
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A role-playing dimension is one dimension used in several roles, such as Date acting as Order Date, Ship Date and Delivery Date. Options are one Date table with one active and other inactive relationships used through USERELATIONSHIP in measures, or separate copies of the date table for each role so users can slice by each date independently. The second is easier for users but increases model size slightly.
05

How do you set up an app with different audiences?

Power BI Service, Sharing and SecurityMedium
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In the workspace choose Create app or Update app, add the reports and dashboards, then in the Audience tab create audiences such as Sales Managers and Finance, choose which content each audience sees and grant access to the right Entra ID security groups. Publish the app and share the link. Remember RLS still controls rows inside reports; audiences only control which items are visible.
06

How do you sort a month name column correctly?

Data ModellingEasy
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By default month names sort alphabetically, April first. In the Date table add a Month Number column, select the Month name column, then choose Column tools, Sort by column, Month Number. The same applies to weekday names and fiscal months. The sort column must have one value per name value, otherwise Power BI shows an error.
07

Write a measure for percentage of grand total sales.

DAX FundamentalsMedium
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Sales % of Total = DIVIDE( [Total Sales], CALCULATE([Total Sales], REMOVEFILTERS('Product')) ) This gives each product's share of total across all products. Use ALLSELECTED('Product') instead if the denominator should respect slicer selections on products.
08

What are tooltips and report page tooltips?

Visualisation and Report DesignMedium
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Default tooltips show field values when hovering over a data point. Report page tooltips let you design a small custom page, set as a tooltip page type, showing extra visuals like a mini trend chart for the hovered category. They add detail without cluttering the main page. Keep tooltip pages light because they run queries on every hover.
09

What are the most useful table functions in DAX?

Advanced DAX and Time IntelligenceMedium
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Key table functions include FILTER, ALL, VALUES, DISTINCT, SUMMARIZE and SUMMARIZECOLUMNS for grouping, ADDCOLUMNS to add calculated columns, TOPN for top rows, CROSSJOIN, UNION, EXCEPT, INTERSECT, GENERATESERIES and TREATAS for virtual relationships. They return tables used inside iterators, CALCULATE filters or calculated tables. ADDCOLUMNS over SUMMARIZE is a common pattern for reliable grouped results.
10

What is Power Query and where is it used?

Power Query and Data TransformationEasy
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Power Query is the data connection and transformation engine in Power BI, Excel, dataflows and Fabric Data Factory. It lets you connect to hundreds of sources and shape data with a recorded series of steps, such as removing columns, changing types, merging and unpivoting. Behind the interface each step is written in the M language. Steps re-run automatically on every refresh, making cleaning repeatable.
11

What is a decomposition tree and when is it useful?

Visualisation and Report DesignMedium
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The decomposition tree is an AI visual that lets users break down a measure across several dimensions in any order, for example splitting a sales drop by region, then category, then channel. It can also suggest the next split automatically using high value or low value analysis. It is useful for root-cause exploration by business users, though it is less suited to fixed reporting.
12

What is context transition?

DAX FundamentalsHard
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Context transition happens when CALCULATE, or a measure reference which implicitly wraps CALCULATE, is evaluated inside a row context. The values of the current row are converted into filters on the model. For example, in a calculated column on Customer, [Total Sales] returns that customer's sales because the row becomes a filter. It is powerful but can be slow over large tables and surprising with duplicate rows.
13

Two queries return the same data from different systems, and totals do not match. How do you investigate?

Power Query and Data TransformationHard
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I would compare row counts and totals at a high level first, then drill down by date and key dimensions to find where the difference starts. Merge both tables with a full outer join on the business key and use anti joins to list missing rows, then compare values on matched rows. Common causes are different cut-off times, filters, duplicates, time zones or currency conversions.
14

What is the difference between Group By in Power Query and summarising in DAX?

Power Query and Data TransformationMedium
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Group By in Power Query aggregates rows at refresh time and stores only the summarised table, reducing model size, which is useful when detail is never needed. Summarising in DAX through measures keeps detail in the model and aggregates dynamically for any filter at query time. Use Power Query grouping for fixed summaries such as monthly snapshots, and DAX measures when users need flexible slicing.
15

A measure shows the same value on every row of a table visual. Why?

DAX FundamentalsMedium
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The measure is probably ignoring the filter context of the rows, for example using ALL on that column or table, or the row field comes from a table that is not related to the fact table, so its filter cannot reach the data. I would check relationships in model view, the direction of filtering, and any ALL or REMOVEFILTERS in the measure.
16

Create a calculated column that categorises customers by their lifetime sales.

DAX FundamentalsMedium
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Customer Band = VAR s = CALCULATE(SUM(Sales[Amount])) RETURN SWITCH(TRUE(), s >= 500000, "Platinum", s >= 100000, "Gold", s > 0, "Silver", "No Purchase") This is a column on the Customer table; CALCULATE triggers context transition so each row gets its own customer's sales.
17

Users need to filter a report by 5,000 product names using a slicer, and it is slow. What do you do?

Performance Optimisation and AdministrationMedium
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A slicer with thousands of values sends heavy queries and is hard to use. I would add a hierarchy so users pick category and subcategory first, enable the slicer search box, and consider a text filter visual for direct search. Apply buttons in query reduction settings stop queries on every click. If the slicer depends on a measure-filtered list, I would simplify that logic.
18

Tell me about a time you redesigned a data model.

Data ModellingMedium
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Situation: a finance report took 40 seconds per page with a 2 GB file built on joined flat tables. Task: improve speed. Action: I split it into a star schema with Date, Account, Cost Centre and fact tables, removed unused columns, turned off auto date/time and replaced bi-directional filters with single direction. Result: model size dropped to 450 MB and pages loaded in under 4 seconds.
19

What are bookmarks and how are they used?

Visualisation and Report DesignMedium
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Bookmarks capture the current state of a report page, including filters, slicers, visual visibility and sort order. They are used for storytelling, toggling between chart and table views with buttons, creating custom navigation, and resetting filters. Combined with the selection pane, they show and hide visuals. Too many bookmarks become hard to maintain, so field parameters are often a simpler alternative for switching measures.
20

Write an M query that filters rows, removes columns and changes types.

Power Query and Data TransformationMedium
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let Source = Sql.Database("server", "SalesDB"), Orders = Source{[Schema="dbo", Item="Orders"]}[Data], Filtered = Table.SelectRows(Orders, each [OrderDate] >= #date(2024, 1, 1)), Kept = Table.SelectColumns(Filtered, {"OrderID", "OrderDate", "CustomerID", "Amount"}), Typed = Table.TransformColumnTypes(Kept, {{"Amount", Currency.Type}, {"OrderDate", type date}}) in Typed All these steps fold to SQL on a database source.
21

A YTD measure returns blank for future months on a chart. Users want the line to stop at today. How?

Advanced DAX and Time IntelligenceMedium
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The issue is the opposite for many teams: YTD repeats the last value for future months. I would add a condition so the measure returns BLANK when the period starts after the last date with data, for example IF(MIN('Date'[Date]) > [Last Sales Date], BLANK(), TOTALYTD(...)). Alternatively add a column flagging dates up to today in the date table and filter the visual on it.
22

Write a measure that counts customers with sales above 10,000.

DAX FundamentalsMedium
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Big Customers = COUNTROWS( FILTER( VALUES(Customer[CustomerID]), [Total Sales] > 10000 ) ) Iterating VALUES of the customer key keeps the loop small and respects current filters such as year or region.
23

Write YTD, previous year and YoY growth measures.

Advanced DAX and Time IntelligenceEasy
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Sales YTD = TOTALYTD([Total Sales], 'Date'[Date], "31/3") Sales PY = CALCULATE([Total Sales], SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR('Date'[Date])) YoY % = VAR cur = [Total Sales] VAR py = [Sales PY] RETURN DIVIDE(cur - py, py) The "31/3" argument makes YTD follow an April to March fiscal year.
24

How do you use Performance Analyzer in Power BI Desktop?

Performance Optimisation and AdministrationEasy
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Open View, Performance Analyzer, click Start recording and then Refresh visuals or interact with the page. Each visual shows total duration split into DAX query, visual display and other. Sort by duration to find the slowest visuals, expand them and choose Copy query to paste into DAX Studio for deeper analysis. Clear the cache between tests so timings are realistic.
25

Each regional manager must see only their region, and the CEO must see everything. How do you implement this?

Power BI Service, Sharing and SecurityMedium
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I would build dynamic RLS with a security table of Email and Region, related to the Region dimension, and a role filter Security[Email] = USERPRINCIPALNAME(). The CEO and other full-access users get an 'All' flag handled in the rule, or are placed in a separate role with no filter. I would test with View as role in Desktop and in the Service before publishing the app.
26

What licence types exist for Power BI?

Power BI FundamentalsMedium
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Power BI Free lets a user build in Desktop and use My workspace but not share content. Power BI Pro is needed to publish to shared workspaces and share with other Pro users. Premium Per User adds larger models, more refreshes and premium features per user. Fabric capacity (F SKUs) provides dedicated capacity; at F64 and above, viewers with a free licence can consume shared content.
27

Your organisation has 500 report viewers. How would you plan licensing?

Power BI FundamentalsMedium
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Giving all 500 viewers Pro licences is one option. If there are many viewers and heavy models, Fabric capacity at F64 or above lets free-licence users view content in workspaces on that capacity, while report creators still need Pro or PPU. I would compare costs, workload size and features like larger models with IT, and recommend the option that fits usage, without assuming one choice fits all.
28

What modelling practices reduce Power BI model size?

Performance Optimisation and AdministrationEasy
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Remove unused columns and rows, avoid high-cardinality columns like GUIDs and datetime with seconds by splitting date and time or rounding, use integer surrogate keys, prefer measures over calculated columns, turn off Auto date/time, and choose the right data types, such as fixed decimal. Load only the history users need, and summarise data where detail is not required.
29

What is the difference between static and dynamic RLS?

Power BI Service, Sharing and SecurityMedium
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Static RLS hard-codes values in each role, such as one role per region, which becomes hard to manage as regions grow. Dynamic RLS uses one role with a filter based on the logged-in user, such as Users[Email] = USERPRINCIPALNAME(), with a security mapping table linking users to the regions or managers they may see. Dynamic RLS scales better and is driven by data rather than role edits.
30

What is a semantic model in Power BI?

Power BI FundamentalsEasy
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A semantic model, earlier called a dataset, is the published data model behind reports: tables, relationships, measures, hierarchies, security roles and refresh settings. Many reports can connect to one shared semantic model, which keeps business logic and numbers consistent across teams. Certified or promoted endorsements help users find trusted models. Build permission controls who can create new reports on it.
31

What is a dataflow and how is it different from Power Query in Desktop?

Power Query and Data TransformationMedium
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A dataflow runs Power Query transformations in the Power BI Service and stores the result in the cloud, so multiple semantic models can reuse the same cleaned tables. Desktop Power Query logic lives inside one model only. Dataflows Gen2 in Fabric can also write output to lakehouses or warehouses. Dataflows centralise preparation logic, reduce duplicate source load and separate data prep from modelling.
32

What is the difference between ISFILTERED, ISINSCOPE and HASONEVALUE?

Advanced DAX and Time IntelligenceHard
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ISFILTERED returns true if a column has a direct filter. HASONEVALUE returns true when exactly one value is visible, useful before SELECTEDVALUE. ISINSCOPE returns true when a column is the current grouping level in a visual hierarchy, which is the most reliable way to detect subtotal versus detail rows in matrices. For example, IF(ISINSCOPE('Product'[Product]), [Sales], BLANK()) hides subtotals.
33

How do you control how visuals interact with each other?

Visualisation and Report DesignMedium
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By default, selecting a data point cross-filters or cross-highlights other visuals on the page. Use Format, Edit interactions to choose filter, highlight or none for each visual pair, for example stopping a slicer from affecting a target KPI card. Slicers can also be synced across pages with the Sync slicers pane. Clear interaction design prevents confusing behaviour.
34

A business user asks to merge customer and sales into one table to make it easier. How do you respond?

Data ModellingEasy
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I would explain that a star schema with separate Customer and Sales tables is easier for them in practice: slicers are cleaner, totals are correct and reports run faster. To keep it user-friendly I would hide key columns, organise measures in display folders and name fields in plain language. I would show them the field list so they see simplicity on the surface.
35

What are visual calculations?

Advanced DAX and Time IntelligenceMedium
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Visual calculations are DAX calculations defined directly on a visual and computed on the visual's own aggregated data, rather than on the model. They make running totals, moving averages, percent of parent and comparison with previous rows simpler using functions like RUNNINGSUM, MOVINGAVERAGE and PREVIOUS. They do not add measures to the model, so they suit visual-specific logic but cannot be reused across visuals.
36

What is cross-filter direction and why is bi-directional filtering risky?

Data ModellingMedium
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Cross-filter direction controls which way filters travel across a relationship. Single direction, from the one side to the many side, is the default and safest. Bi-directional lets the fact table filter the dimension too, which can be useful for slicers showing only relevant values, but it can cause ambiguous paths, unexpected results and slower queries. Prefer single direction and use CROSSFILTER inside specific measures when needed.

Companies with offices in Chennai (10)

IT services

TCS

Power BI interview questions

  • 30 questions
  • 4 rounds

Mumbai, Chennai, Pune +2

View questions
IT services

Infosys

Power BI interview questions

  • 30 questions
  • 4 rounds

Bengaluru, Mysuru, Pune +2

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IT services

Wipro

Power BI interview questions

  • 30 questions
  • 4 rounds

Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune +2

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IT services

Cognizant

Power BI interview questions

  • 30 questions
  • 4 rounds

Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune +2

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IT services

Capgemini

Power BI interview questions

  • 30 questions
  • 4 rounds

Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune +2

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IT services

HCLTech

Power BI interview questions

  • 30 questions
  • 4 rounds

Noida, Chennai, Bengaluru +2

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IT services

Tech Mahindra

Power BI interview questions

  • 30 questions
  • 4 rounds

Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru +2

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IT services

LTIMindtree

Power BI interview questions

  • 30 questions
  • 4 rounds

Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru +2

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Analytics

Tiger Analytics

Power BI interview questions

  • 30 questions
  • 5 rounds

Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad

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Banking & finance

HDFC Bank

Power BI interview questions

  • 30 questions
  • 4 rounds

Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru

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Frequently asked questions

Which companies hire Power BI professionals in Chennai?

Companies with large offices in Chennai include TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant, Capgemini, HCLTech, Tech Mahindra, LTIMindtree, Tiger Analytics, HDFC Bank. Use their company pages below to practise employer-specific sets.

Are Power BI interviews in Chennai different from other cities?

The questions depend more on the company than the city. Chennai's mix of employers decides the style: Many companies here hire freshers in large batches and train them on the job

How do I find Power BI jobs in Chennai?

Shortlist companies with Chennai offices, keep your CV focused on Power BI projects, apply on company career pages and job portals with the Chennai filter, and practise the questions on this page before each interview.

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