AI TRAINING
Making Excel Smart with AI
Walk away able to automate data cleaning, formula writing, and reporting inside Excel using AI tools.
What it covers
This hands-on workshop teaches analysts, finance, and operations staff how to supercharge their existing Excel workflows using AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot in Excel, ChatGPT Code Interpreter, Rows, and Equals. Participants learn to auto-clean messy datasets, generate complex formulas from plain-language prompts, build dynamic charts, and produce written summaries automatically. The format is practice-first: every concept is immediately applied to real spreadsheet scenarios brought by participants. By the end, attendees can reclaim hours of repetitive spreadsheet work each week.
What you'll be able to do
- Use Copilot in Excel or ChatGPT to generate a working complex formula from a plain-English description
- Clean and standardise a real messy dataset in under five minutes using AI-assisted tools
- Build a dynamic chart and auto-generated written summary from a data table without manual formatting
- Construct a personal prompt library that covers the five most frequent spreadsheet tasks in your role
- Evaluate which AI spreadsheet tool (Copilot, Code Interpreter, Rows, Equals) fits a given task best
Topics covered
- Using Microsoft Copilot in Excel to generate and explain formulas
- Cleaning and transforming messy data with ChatGPT Code Interpreter
- Automating chart creation and visual summaries from tabular data
- Writing natural-language prompts that produce accurate spreadsheet logic
- Using Rows and Equals for AI-native spreadsheet analysis
- Generating written narrative summaries from data tables
- Spotting and fixing formula errors with AI assistance
- Building a reusable prompt library for recurring spreadsheet tasks
Delivery
Delivered in-person or live-virtual as a one-day workshop (6-8 hours). Participants must bring their own laptop with access to at least one of the covered tools pre-installed or trialled. The session is 80% hands-on exercises using real or anonymised participant data, with short concept intros between blocks. A shared prompt-library template and exercise workbooks are provided. Remote delivery uses breakout rooms for pair exercises.
What makes it work
- Participants bring real work files so exercises map directly to their actual pain points
- A shared prompt library is maintained and expanded collaboratively after the workshop
- Managers visibly endorse time spent on AI-assisted tasks during the first two weeks post-training
- A short 30-minute follow-up session is scheduled two weeks later to troubleshoot real-world blockers
Common mistakes
- Expecting AI to replace Excel knowledge entirely — prompts still require the user to recognise a correct output
- Using generic prompts without providing context about the data structure, leading to wrong formulas
- Skipping data validation after AI-generated cleaning steps, introducing silent errors
- Adopting one tool for all tasks rather than matching the right AI tool to each use case
When NOT to take this
This workshop is not the right fit for teams that do not yet have access to Microsoft 365 Copilot licences or cannot trial any of the covered tools before the session — without hands-on tool access the exercises cannot run and value drops to near zero.
Providers to consider
Sources
This training is part of a Data & AI catalog built for leaders serious about execution. Take the free diagnostic to see which trainings your team needs.