Automating Excel spreadsheet tasks with AI agents

I invest in paid AI tools because the landscape is moving so fast. I use all five almost daily and each brings something different to my workflow. Here's what's changed recently in the tools I depend on:

ChatGPT Pro: Extended thinking on GPT-5.2 restored to full strength, file uploads expanded from 10 to 20 per message, and the new ChatGPT Agent rolling out for unified agentic workflows.

Claude Pro: Claude Sonnet 4.6 launched with major upgrades to coding, computer use, long-context reasoning, and design work. One million token context window now in beta for Pro users.

Google Gemini Pro and Ultra: Gemini 3.1 Pro arriving with expanded limits for paid users. Lyria 3 music generation now creates custom 30-second tracks from text or images. Direct scientific citations now stpreamline research.

Microsoft Copilot Pro: Agent Mode now live in Excel for autonomous spreadsheet tasks. Expanded grounding means Copilot pulls from more of your Microsoft 365 data. Text selection in Word lets you highlight any passage and ask Copilot to rewrite, explain, or expand it.

Google NotebookLM Plus: Now powered by Gemini 3.1 Pro. Video overviews turn your sources into short explainer clips. Interactive data tables let you query your documents like a database. And Google Classroom integration makes it a serious tool for educators.

The pace of improvement is relentless. If you're not staying current, you're falling behind.

And the free plan users are around 12 months behind everyone else.

Which of these tools do you use, and what's been your biggest win with AI this year?

Microsoft released Agent Mode in Excel.

Think Copilot, but instead of just suggesting, it acts inside your workbook.

It builds, edits, and reasons step by step.

I put together a full guide for CFOs, Finance, and FP&A teams on how to use this new AI capability for finance:

https://lnkd.in/eaFuD7vH

And a video guide: https://lnkd.in/eWjVxGrG

It also includes a step by step on how to "download" it.

This way you can see what has been tested and know if it can help you to automate reporting, forecasting, and even build valuation models!

If you want me to send the Excel file with the results just comment "AI Agent Mode" and I can send!

Here’s what Agent Mode can do live in your workbook:

✅ Automate budget roll-forwards across tabs
✅ Merge messy data into clean Pivot-ready tables
✅ Generate full variance analysis with commentary
✅ Build multi-tab models like DCFs & 3-statement forecasts
✅ Iterate until the output matches CFO-level standards

Also remember before submitting a prompt, you can select which model you prefer to use, Agent Mode in Excel supports the latest Anthropic and Open AI models available to you.

To switch between models, use the model picker dropdown.

And the best part? Everything stays editable.

Some sample prompts you can try right now:

"Build a 5-year DCF model with revenue, OPEX, EBITDA, FCF, and terminal value. Format outputs in CFO-ready style."

"Consolidate actuals from multiple sheets into one clean variance-to-budget report with conditional formatting."

"Generate a revenue forecast with 3 growth scenarios (Base, Optimistic, Downside) and plot a chart of outcomes."

"Draft a month-end financial summary with key drivers, risks, and opportunities based on this dataset."

"Reshape this dataset into a management-ready P&L with standard financial formatting and subtotals."

Hope this guide helps!

Some notes from Microsoft's announcement:

How to try it

1. Use https://excel.new to quickly create new Excel workbooks.

2. Select Home > Copilot and open Copilot chat.

3. Select the Tools menu and choose Agent Mode.

4. Start with an outcome-based simple prompt, like “Build a loan calculator that computes monthly payments based on user inputs for loan amount, annual interest rate, and term in years. Generate a schedule showing month, payment, principal, interest, and remaining balance. Present the results in a clear, formatted table.”

Tell me in the comments if you have questions or what was your result! :)

Notes from Microsoft's website on Availability

Agent Mode in Excel requires either a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription (with an AI credits plan), a Microsoft 365 Premium subscription, a commercial Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription, or a Copilot Chat-eligible Microsoft 365 or Office 365 business or enterprise subscription.