Welcome to the second installment of our collectible series. If in the first volume we conquered the art of words, today we are going to conquer the language of numbers. In today's business environment, there is no lack of information; what is lacking is the time to process it. Most professionals spend 80 percent of their day cleaning data in Excel and only 20 percent analyzing results. We are going to flip that balance.
Artificial intelligence has proven to be an unstoppable force when it comes to recognizing patterns, structuring chaotic tables, and suggesting financial projections. However, if you simply ask the AI to "analyze this file," you will get a generic and superficial response. The 10 prompts you will see below are designed under data science principles to force the AI to dive deep into the metrics that actually move the needle for your business.
1. The Chaotic Data Cleaner
The first step of any analysis is cleaning. This prompt helps identify inconsistencies and prepares the database for success.
Act as a senior data analyst. I am going to provide you with a sample of my [Type of Data] database. Identify potential formatting errors, duplicate entries that are not obvious, outliers that could skew the analysis, and suggest how I should normalize this data so it is useful in a pivot table. Do not make the change yet; just present me with a cleaning audit.
2. The Complex Formula Architect
Do you need a nested formula that crosses three different sheets and conditions the result? This prompt is your personal engineer.
I need an Excel formula that performs the following task: [Describe task in natural language]. The result should be looked up in Sheet A, compared with Sheet B, and if the value is greater than X, apply a progressive discount. Explain the logic of the formula to me step-by-step and tell me what common reference errors I should avoid when pasting it into my workbook.
3. The Trends and Seasonality Analyst
Ideal for sales departments that need to know if their billing peaks are a coincidence or a recurring pattern.
Analyze this historical sales series from the last 24 months. Identify seasonality patterns, months of organic growth, and those where there were negative anomalies. Based on this data, predict the behavior for the next 3 months applying a simple exponential smoothing model and tell me what external factors I should monitor to adjust this prediction.
4. The Strategic Dashboard Creator
A good dashboard is not the one with the most charts, but the one that tells the right story.
I am designing an Excel control dashboard for a [Department Name] department. Suggest the 5 most critical KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that should be on the main screen. For each KPI, describe which type of chart is most suitable (bar, line, gauge) and what slicers I should include so that management can filter information by region and category.
5. The Executive Language Data Translator
This is the prompt that will make you stand out in management meetings. It turns rows of numbers into impact paragraphs.
I have these quarterly financial results: [Paste data]. Transform this information into a 3-paragraph executive report. The first paragraph should highlight the most important achievement, the second should point out a critical risk hidden in the numbers, and the third should propose three immediate actions based exclusively on this data. Avoid unnecessary technical jargon.
6. The VBA Macro Generator for Automation
If you perform the same task in Excel every day, you need this prompt for the AI to write the code for you.
Write a VBA code for an Excel macro that automates the following: every time I paste new data into Sheet 1, the macro should filter rows with negative values, move them to a new sheet called "Alerts," and format them in red. Make sure to include comments in the code so a beginner can understand what each line does and how to activate it.
7. The Hidden Correlation Analyst
Sometimes, the increase in one variable explains the decrease in another, but it’s not obvious at first glance.
Act as a data scientist. Examine these two columns of data: [Variable A] and [Variable B]. Is there a statistical correlation between them? Explain to me if it is a positive correlation, a negative correlation, or if there is no relationship at all. If there is a relationship, suggest a possible hypothesis of causality that we can investigate with further business experiments.
8. The Scenario Simulation Prompt (What-if)
Prepare for the best and the worst by simulating changes in your key variables.
Create a scenario simulation model for my business plan. What would happen to my net profit margin if the customer acquisition cost increases by 15 percent but retention improves by 5 percent? Present the results in three levels: optimistic scenario, base scenario, and pessimistic scenario, highlighting the break-even point in each one.
9. The Pivot Table Optimizer
Get the most out of Excel's most powerful tool with a superior logical structure.
I have a database with the following columns: [List columns]. Suggest the best configuration for a pivot table that allows me to see profitability by salesperson and by quarter simultaneously. What fields should I put in rows, which ones in columns, and what value field should I use to quickly identify who is below the sales average?
10. The Integrity and Security Auditor
Before sending an important file, use this prompt to avoid information leaks or calculation errors.
Act as a data security expert. Review the structure of my Excel workbook. What steps should I follow to protect critical formulas from accidental changes while allowing users to enter data? Also, tell me how I can audit precedent and dependent cells to ensure there isn't a circular reference ruining my final calculations.
The Power of Data in Your Hands
Mastering these 10 prompts means stopping being a spreadsheet operator to become an information strategist. The power of Excel combined with AI reasoning is probably the most undervalued competitive advantage in the workplace today. We encourage you to not only copy them but to experiment by changing the variables to adapt them to your specific challenges.
But the road to total mastery does not end here. In our next installment, we will take a leap toward time management and daily operations. We will teach you the 10 prompts for Project Management and Productivity that will allow you to plan weeks of work in minutes and eliminate the chaos from your inbox. Are you going to keep managing your tasks with a paper list, or are you going to build a system that works for you? Volume 3 has the answer.
