FAST-11 Reading List: AI-Assisted Analytics and Business Intelligence

Provider: 7formations | Course: FAST-11 | Instructor: Wadood Chaudhary | Links verified by fetch or search as of Oct 2026

Readings are short, practical documentation for the tools you will use plus two public guides to chart design. Read the items for your tool track (Microsoft, Tableau, or Google) and skip the others. Tool features change often; each item is the vendor's current page as checked in October 2026.

How to use. Required readings take 20 to 45 minutes per session and are done before (or right after) the session they support. Optional readings go deeper. 'Living page' means the publisher updates it continuously; read the current version. Reading times are estimates for the parts that matter to this course, not the whole document.

Session 1: Prepare the data

Required

• 201 CMR 17.00: Standards for the Protection of Personal Information of MA Residents
  Publisher: Mass.gov, Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation | Date: Regulation page dated 10/19/2017 (in force since 2010) | Reading time: about 10 min
  URL: https://www.mass.gov/regulations/201-CMR-1700-standards-for-the-protection-of-personal-information-of-ma-residents
  Why read: 201 CMR 17.00, section 17.02 definitions. Know what counts as personal information before you load any file into an analysis feature.

• What is Power Query?
  Publisher: Microsoft Learn | Date: Current documentation | Reading time: about 10 min
  URL: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-query/power-query-what-is-power-query
  Why read: What Power Query is and where it appears (Excel, Power BI). The repeatable way to clean data.

• Applied Steps (Power Query)
  Publisher: Microsoft Learn | Date: Current documentation | Reading time: about 8 min
  URL: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-query/applied-steps
  Why read: Applied Steps: every transformation recorded in order. Your W1 log can mirror this list.

Optional

• Get started with Copilot in Excel
  Publisher: Microsoft Support | Date: Living page | Reading time: about 10 min
  URL: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/copilot/get-started-with-copilot-in-excel
  Why read: Microsoft track: getting started with Copilot in Excel, including asking for formulas and highlights.

• Guidance Regarding Methods for De-identification of Protected Health Information in Accordance with the HIPAA Privacy Rule
  Publisher: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights | Date: Content last reviewed February 3, 2025 | Reading time: about 15 min
  URL: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/special-topics/de-identification/index.html
  Why read: Healthcare data: why removing names is not de-identification under HIPAA.

Session 2: Ask and verify

Required

• Copilot for Power BI overview
  Publisher: Microsoft Learn | Date: Living page | Reading time: about 10 min
  URL: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/create-reports/copilot-introduction
  Why read: Microsoft track: Copilot for Power BI, the natural-language path going forward.

Optional

• Learn how to use natural language to explore data with Power BI Q&A (Q&A retires February 2027)
  Publisher: Microsoft Learn | Date: Current documentation | Reading time: about 8 min
  URL: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/natural-language/q-and-a-intro
  Why read: Power BI Q&A, scheduled to retire in February 2027. Read the note on moving to Copilot if your reports use Q&A visuals.

• Data analysis with ChatGPT
  Publisher: OpenAI Help Center | Date: Living page | Reading time: about 10 min
  URL: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8437071-data-analysis-with-chatgpt
  Why read: Alternate track: data analysis in ChatGPT. Note how it shows the code it ran, which helps you verify.

• Collaborate with Gemini in Google Sheets
  Publisher: Google Docs Editors Help | Date: Living page | Reading time: about 8 min
  URL: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/14356410
  Why read: Google track: Gemini in Google Sheets.

• Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier (Dell'Acqua et al.), HBS Working Paper 24-013
  Publisher: Harvard Business School | Date: September 2023 | Reading time: about 15 min
  URL: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=64700
  Why read: Why AI help is uneven across tasks: the reason every answer gets a check.

Session 3: Visualize

Required

• Data visualisation: charts
  Publisher: UK Government Analysis Function (ONS) | Date: May 2022 | Reading time: about 20 min
  URL: https://analysisfunction.civilservice.gov.uk/policy-store/data-visualisation-charts/
  Why read: UK Government Analysis Function chart guidance: titles, labels, sources, and chart choice. Public-sector guidance that works for any business chart.

• Accessible charts: a checklist of the basics
  Publisher: UK Government Analysis Function (ONS) | Date: May 2023 | Reading time: about 8 min
  URL: https://analysisfunction.civilservice.gov.uk/policy-store/charts-a-checklist/
  Why read: A one-page accessible-charts checklist: declutter, label, title with the message.

Optional

• About Tableau Pulse
  Publisher: Tableau Help (Salesforce) | Date: Living page, checked October 2026 | Reading time: about 10 min
  URL: https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/pulse_about.htm
  Why read: Tableau track: what Tableau Pulse is and how metrics and insights are delivered.

• Key influencers visualizations tutorial
  Publisher: Microsoft Learn (Power BI) | Date: Living page | Reading time: about 10 min
  URL: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/visuals/power-bi-visualization-influencers
  Why read: Microsoft track: key influencers visual. Read the caution that influence is not causation.

• Anomaly detection tutorial for Power BI
  Publisher: Microsoft Learn (Power BI) | Date: Living page | Reading time: about 10 min
  URL: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/visuals/power-bi-visualization-anomaly-detection
  Why read: Microsoft track: anomaly detection in line charts.

Session 4: Explain

Required

• The Insights Platform and Insight Types in Tableau Pulse
  Publisher: Tableau Help (Salesforce) | Date: Living page, checked October 2026 | Reading time: about 10 min
  URL: https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/pulse_insights_platform_insight_types.htm
  Why read: Tableau track (useful for all): how Pulse generates natural-language insights about drivers, trends, and outliers. Compare its wording with what your data supports.

• Plain language guide
  Publisher: Digital.gov (U.S. General Services Administration) | Date: Living page | Reading time: about 10 min
  URL: https://digital.gov/guides/plain-language
  Why read: Plain-language guidance for the data story: answer first, short sentences, active voice.

Optional

• When AI Gets It Wrong: Addressing AI Hallucinations and Bias
  Publisher: MIT Sloan Teaching & Learning Technologies | Date: Living page | Reading time: about 8 min
  URL: https://mitsloanedtech.mit.edu/ai/basics/addressing-ai-hallucinations-and-bias/
  Why read: Why AI text can sound certain and be wrong, with practical checks.

Session 5: Share safely and present

Required

• Sensitivity labels in Power BI
  Publisher: Microsoft Learn | Date: Current documentation | Reading time: about 12 min
  URL: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/enterprise/powerbi/service-security-sensitivity-label-overview
  Why read: Sensitivity labels in Power BI: labels classify and protect exports; permissions control access in the service.

• Row-level security (RLS) with Power BI
  Publisher: Microsoft Learn | Date: Current documentation | Reading time: about 12 min
  URL: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/security/service-admin-row-level-security
  Why read: Row-level security: roles, testing with View as, and who bypasses RLS.

Optional

• Configure a secure and governed foundation for Microsoft Copilot
  Publisher: Microsoft Learn | Date: Living page | Reading time: about 15 min
  URL: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/configure-secure-governed-data-foundation-microsoft-365-copilot
  Why read: Microsoft 365 data governance foundations for Copilot: oversharing and labels.

• General Laws Chapter 93H: Security Breaches
  Publisher: The 194th General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts | Date: Current statute text | Reading time: about 8 min
  URL: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXV/Chapter93H
  Why read: G.L. c. 93H: breach notice duties if a shared report exposes personal information.

Link verification

Links verified by fetch or search as of Oct 2026. Links that could not be confirmed were dropped and are not listed. The instructor re-checks links before each cohort.