What is the initial step in creating a report in Power BI?

The initial step in creating a report in Power BI is to connect to a data source. This is foundational because all reports are built on data, and before any analysis, visualization, or design can occur, the necessary data must be imported into Power BI. By establishing a connection to a data source, users can then begin to manipulate and visualize the data in meaningful ways.

Without this crucial first step, other actions like designing layouts, choosing visualization types, or setting user permissions cannot be implemented effectively, as there would be no data to work with. Once the data source is connected and the data is loaded into Power BI, users can then proceed to create visualizations and develop the layout of their reports based on the insights drawn from that data.