Formulas and macros
Describe your columns and the goal: “Column A is date, B is customer, C is amount. I need the monthly total per customer.” Ask for the formula, an explanation of each part and a test example. For Excel, say your version and language — function names differ in Slovenian Excel.
Cleaning messy data
AI is excellent at spotting duplicates, inconsistent spellings, mixed date formats and missing values. Ask it to describe the problems first and propose rules, then apply the rules in Excel or Power Query — so the process is repeatable and checkable.
Analysis: patterns yes, causes carefully
AI quickly finds trends and outliers in an export. But it tends to invent convincing explanations. Treat every “because” as a hypothesis you verify with people who know the business.
Check the numbers
- Compare totals with the source (sum, count, min, max)
- Recalculate two or three rows by hand
- Ask the AI to show the calculation, not only the result
- Watch for rounding, VAT and currency mix-ups
Personal data in spreadsheets
Customer lists, salaries and patient data don’t belong in free chatbots. Often you don’t need them at all: share the column structure and a few fake rows, get the formula, and apply it to the real data yourself.