Query BigQuery Iceberg Tables from Microsoft Fabric (Shortcuts + Automation)

In this video, I walk through how to use Microsoft Fabric shortcuts to access Google BigQuery Iceberg tables—without copying or moving data. Link to repo with scripts: https://github.com/robkerr/fabric-data-integration-scripts/tree/main/gcs_shortcuts We go end-to-end, including a simple automation script that prepares the Google Cloud side so you don’t have to manually configure everything in the console. On the GCP side, the script handles: ✅ Service account creation ✅ IAM permissions ✅ Required access for BigQuery and Iceberg tables From there, we move into Fabric to: ✅ Configure the BigQuery connection ✅ Create shortcuts to Iceberg tables ✅ Query the data directly from Fabric Along the way, I explain how Fabric shortcuts work: ✅ No data replication or duplication ✅ Direct access to external data ✅ Works seamlessly with SQL, Power BI, and other Fabric workloads What you’ll learn: ✅ How Fabric shortcuts work with BigQuery Iceberg tables ✅ How to automate the required GCP setup ✅ How to configure and use shortcuts in Fabric ✅ When to use shortcuts vs. mirroring 🔗 The automation script used in this video is available in the linked GitHub repo. If you’re working with Iceberg tables in BigQuery and want fast access from Fabric—without building pipelines or copying data—this is a clean approach. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 0:25 Fabric Shortcuts 0:45 BigQuery Tables 1:09 Architecture 1:53 Confirm Iceberg Tables 2:15 GCS Security 3:03 Fabric Connection 3:33 Manual Shortcut 4:03 Scripted Shortcuts 4:45 Final Test 4:57 Summary