Spreadsheets are where most business data lives. AI assistants, including the ones built into spreadsheet apps, can help you clean data, write formulas, find patterns and explain results in plain English.
Write formulas from a description
Describe your columns and what you want: "Column A has dates, B has customer names, C has amounts. I want total sales per customer for the last 30 days." Ask for the formula, an explanation and a version for both Excel and Google Sheets.
Clean messy data
AI can suggest steps to fix inconsistent dates, extra spaces, duplicates and mixed text and numbers, or write formulas and scripts that do it for you.
Find insights
Upload a file (if your tool supports it and the data isn't sensitive) or paste a summary, and ask:
- "What are the top trends and outliers?"
- "Which products grew fastest month over month?"
- "What questions should I ask about this data?"
Build charts and pivot tables
Ask which chart best answers your question and how to build it step by step. For example, use a line chart for trends over time, a bar chart for comparing categories and a scatter plot for relationships.
Explain results to others
Turn numbers into a short summary for your manager or client: what happened, why it matters and what to do next.
Check the maths
AI can misread columns or make calculation errors, especially with large datasets. Spot-check totals, test formulas on a few rows you can verify by hand, and remove sensitive personal data before uploading anything.