TMW #190 | Beyond Excel: Analytics in an LLM world

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Beyond Excel: Analytics in an LLM world

LLMs are hitting our data, and it’s getting weird.

Microsoft Excel is five years older than me. In technology terms that’s very old; for a sprightly Millennial dad, not so much (well at least I hope so). 

A big difference between me and Excel, though, is that in all that time, Excel hasn’t really changed all that much. But I’ve cycled through three different careers, got married, had kids, and launched a startup (hint: You’re reading it right now!). 

Before Excel there was this: The commercial failure of Microsoft Multiplan that came out in 1982. As you can see, it’s just rows and columns and not much more. 

The first commercial version of Microsoft Excel appeared in 1985 – in an Apple machine of all places! It was the first program to provide a graphical display of data on a consumer technology product, and it was a huge success. 

Since these humble beginnings, Excel has become the go-to software for how most people analyze data. Try to find a marketer who hasn’t done at least a little bit of data analysis in an Excel file. You’d be hard-pressed. 

The adoption of Excel has not slowed down either; in fact, it’s only growing. In 2023, Excel had between 1.1 to 1.5 billion people use this aging program. And its carbon copy, Google Sheets, has more than 900 million people using it every month. 

There are two reasons that the columns and rows of 1982 have become the prevailing method by which most of us analyze data. The first is the ubiquity of Microsoft machines and Office applications: The more people use Excel, the easier it becomes to collaborate with others. If I send you a .csv or .xlsx file, chances are you can download it and pick up from where I left off. 

The second is the unparalleled flexibility of Excel. From financial reports, to automation, to artwork, the grid makes managing, analyzing, and using data possible across most use cases. It’s a rare example of software that can bend to the will of the user in almost every single way. 

If Excel was a paradigm shift for data analytics back in the 80s, perhaps the next wave of LLMs present another, yet very different shift in how we use technology to manage information and find insight. 

What I’m going to propose is that with the adoption and maturation of LLMs, we also have a significant platform shift on our hands, and it’s rolling out in three ways:

• Synthetic Reporting: Replacing the interface for insight from a grid to a chat box
• Synthetic Management: Using AI to clean, orchestrate and enrich data 
• Synthetic Data: Fabricating insight from pattern-matched data about your customers

Let’s dive into the first one.

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Want to share something interesting or be featured in The Martech Weekly? Drop me a line at juan@themartechweekly.com.