Editorial
I have personally witnessed multiple generations of technological transformation, each wave reshaping industries, business processes and society itself.
Today, as Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum defines it, we are firmly in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, but I have lived through portions of three other industrial revolutions. When I was twelve, I learned to use a slide rule — only to be told weeks later to forget it. Texas Instruments had just announced the first calculator, rendering my new skill obsolete overnight. Years later, while earning my MBA, I studied management information systems, where we were taught flowcharting, punch cards and terminal programming.
Yet, when I briefly worked in financial analysis — a role that was not my true calling — we prepared financial plans on paper, relying on calculators rather than computers. Five years later, returning for a second master’s degree in strategic planning, I found the landscape had shifted dramatically. Flowcharts, punch cards and terminal-based programming were all gone, replaced by Lotus 1-2-3 and minicomputers for complex data analysis and modeling.
The shift to spreadsheets revolutionized public accounting and financial planning, automating complex tasks and increasing efficiency. However, even as dedicated applications emerged to manage everything from budgeting to forecasting, data leaders found themselves competing against the enduring power and flexibility of spreadsheets.
Pervasive Use of Spreadsheets Remains
Regardless of technology change, it would seem spreadsheets are ubiquitous. Ask any business analyst — or even the broader user community — and most will tell you that spreadsheets are essential to their work. Despite decades of efforts to marginalize them, research shows that spreadsheet usage remains remarkably high, at 85%.
Meanwhile, data leaders who have attempted to eliminate spreadsheets from their analytics mix often find themselves playing a never-ending game of “Whack-A-Mole.” No matter how many times they try to suppress them, spreadsheets resurface — sometimes in unexpected places.
John Hagerty, Distinguished Analyst at Dresner Advisory Service, said, “Rather than treating them as a necessary evil, organizations should recognize where spreadsheets add strategic value and align well with users' skills.” In fact, organizations that make analytic content easy to find have significantly higher strategic use of spreadsheets (61%) compared to those where content is difficult to locate. Instead of waging war on spreadsheets, forward-thinking data leaders should integrate spreadsheets into a broader analytics strategy, ensuring they enhance — not hinder — decision-making and innovation. But how to do this?
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The Problems With Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets do have problems. When they are misused as clandestine data dumps or temporary fixes for bad data, they can create more problems than they solve. Here, instead of addressing data quality issues at the source, organizations often resort to repeatedly cleansing incorrect data in spreadsheets — leading to competing versions of the truth, wasted time and an increased risk of errors. Nowhere is this more true than in finance with quarter close. And these challenges are just the beginning. Without proper synchronization technology, ensuring data timeliness in spreadsheets is difficult, further complicating decision-making.
As spreadsheets grow in complexity, so do the risks. Errors become harder to detect, and multiple versions of the same dataset can circulate unchecked. I once received a multi-table, multi-spreadsheet financial model from a public accounting firm to help plan a startup’s forecast and financial plan. It took weeks to find and fix the errors — made even harder by the lack of named ranges or defined formulas. Instead of clear, readable logic, we were left navigating a maze of “B1 + B2” calculations, where even minor mistakes could cascade into significant miscalculations.
Compounding this issue, spreadsheet proficiency remains low. Only about 20% of users understand even basic functions, making powerful insights inaccessible to most. Yet, spreadsheets are a staple of business operations, with an estimated 750 million people worldwide using Excel or Google Sheets. The challenge is not just spreadsheet errors, it is ensuring that organizations use them wisely, strategically and in ways that enhance, rather than hinder, data-driven decision-making.
Can AI Solve These Issues?
A new startup, Sourcetable, aims to revolutionize spreadsheets by integrating AI-driven natural language processing on top of Excel and Google Sheets. Instead of manually navigating formulas, pivot tables and complex functions, users can simply tell the spreadsheet what they want, whether by typing or using hands-free voice control. With AI managing the heavy lifting, the goal is to create a “self-driving” spreadsheet that democratizes data analysis and boosts productivity.
The potential is game-changing. Natural language commands can make it easier for users to build and edit financial models, generate spreadsheet templates, clean and enrich data, create charts and graphs and even analyze entire workbooks — tasks that typically require advanced spreadsheet expertise.
Early adopters are already seeing the possibilities. Simar Singh, co-founder of Butternut AI, predicts a future where “humans won’t be doing spreadsheet grunt work, and will defer to AI instead.” If successful, this could redefine how many businesses interact with data, making sophisticated analysis accessible to everyone — regardless of technical skill.
Hagerty said, "The killer app here is having the GenAI interface interact with the spreadsheet in place — that can potentially minimize the challenge of data proliferation in multiple toolsets — similar to multi BI tools doing the same thing which causes business and IT to pull their hair out and cost more money than necessary."
Part of a Bigger Trend
Generative AI is not just reshaping how enterprises deliver value to customers — it is already revolutionizing the personal productivity of business managers. In my review of the "HBR Guide to Generative AI for Managers," I explored how GenAI is transforming management itself. The authors argued that AI can serve as a “co-thinker” for managers in organizations of all sizes, assisting with problem-solving and decision-making. This shift has profound implications for personal productivity. By automating routine managerial tasks, GenAI enables managers to focus on higher-value strategic work. It enhances time management, streamlines workflows and reduces the cognitive load of everyday decision-making.
As an essential tool for modern management, GenAI is already starting to optimize key functions such as plan creation, data analysis, visualization, project status reporting and information retrieval. By integrating AI into these areas, organizations can empower managers to work smarter, make better decisions and drive greater impact — without getting bogged down in administrative complexity.
Related Article: Generative AI Is Your Co-Pilot — Are You Ready to Take Off?
Reinventing the Spreadsheet for an AI Era
Spreadsheets have long been an indispensable tool for businesses, but they come with challenges, including errors, inefficiencies and limited accessibility for those without advanced skills. Despite decades of attempts to marginalize them, spreadsheets remain deeply embedded into modern business processes. Now, generative AI is emerging as a potential game-changer, promising to automate complex tasks, improve accuracy and make data analysis more accessible to all.
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AI-driven solutions like Sourcetable represent an evolution of spreadsheet technology, allowing users to interact through natural language and voice commands rather than relying on formulas and manual data manipulation. This shift could eliminate much of the “spreadsheet grunt work” and redefine how businesses manage data-driven decision-making.
More broadly, generative AI can transform personal productivity. It has the potential to become a strategic co-thinker for managers, streamlining workflows, automating planning and enhancing decision-making. As AI continues to evolve, spreadsheets may no longer be a source of frustration but instead a powerful, intelligent ally in management analysis.
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