Introduction to Business Data Analysis with Excel Copilot AI
Ask questions of your data in plain English and let Copilot build the analysis. The full Pivot Tables course is included.
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Data analysis with AI
Dashboards with AI
Your dashboard answers the questions you planned for. AI answers the ones you didn't.
I teach business professionals to get their data ready, build the dashboard with Claude, and then ask their data. A new question gets a new tab, not a wait. No code.
400,000+learners taught
4.6 / 5rating across every course
20+ yearsgetting people to change how they work with data
Model it once, ask anything
Working with data is splitting into two layers. One is done carefully, once. The other happens every time someone has a new question.
Layer 1
Get the data right
Connect, clean and model the data, the same way every time. This is where the figures get their meaning.
- Relationships between tables
- Calculated fields and measures
- Business rules, written down
Layer 2
Answer the question
Template dashboards and reports stay for the regular view. When someone asks something new, AI builds a new tab or report to answer it.
- Dashboards for monitoring
- AI for the questions nobody planned for
- A check on every new answer
AI can draw any dashboard in seconds. It cannot decide what "revenue" means.
You define it. You check it. You own the answer.If every answer is generated fresh, two people asking the same question can get two different numbers. That happens when nobody has defined revenue, or an active customer, or a return. So the first layer comes first. Once it is done, AI gives you the same answer twice, and you can trust the new tabs it builds.
How it works, in three steps
The same method whether the dashboard is for you, your manager or your director.
1
Get your data ready
One clean table, plus a short context file: what each column means, how each measure is worked out, and the business rules. Put them in a Claude Project and the AI works from your definitions.
The check: ask the same question twice and get the same number.
2
Build the dashboard with Claude
Give Claude the table and ask for an interactive dashboard. Change it in plain English until it shows what the reader needs. You need a paid Claude plan (Pro or above).
The check: the headline totals match your source file.
3
Ask your data
When a new question comes up, ask it. Claude adds a new tab to answer it, built on the same definitions as the rest of the dashboard.
The check: one you design yourself, before you share the answer.
Claude leads. The same method works in Copilot in Excel.
Start on Udemy today
Start with Copilot to build an Excel dashboard with AI. The other three courses cover the layer underneath: data that is clean, modelled and ready. Each has lifetime access and Udemy's 30-day money-back guarantee.
Complete Introduction to Excel Pivot Tables
Build the regular-view dashboard: summaries, slicers and charts, with no formulas.
Enrol on UdemyComplete Introduction to Excel Power Query
Get your data ready: connect, clean and reshape it once, then refresh it in one click.
Enrol on UdemyComplete Introduction to Excel Power Pivot
Model it once: relationships between tables and measures written with DAX.
Enrol on UdemyComing in 2027
Two new ways to learn the method on your own data. There is nothing to sign up for yet. This page will say when they open.
Free starter
Spreadsheet to Dashboard: Five Days with AI
Five short lessons that take one sample spreadsheet from a raw file to a dashboard you can check, then repeat it on your own data.
It follows the three steps, with Claude: get the data ready, build the dashboard, then ask your data and check the answer.
Community
Dashboards with AI, step by step
A membership for people who want to work this way every week, with Claude first:
- Get your data ready
- Build your first dashboard with Claude
- Ask your data, with checks you design
- Beyond dashboards: one-page reports and explainers
- The same method in Copilot in Excel
Questions people ask
Short answers first. The courses go into the detail.
Can Claude build a dashboard from an Excel file?
Yes. Upload the workbook to Claude and ask for an interactive dashboard, and it builds one in a few minutes. You need a paid Claude plan (Pro or above). Before you share it, check the headline totals against your source file.
How do I get AI to give the same answer twice?
Give it the same definitions every time. Keep a clean table and a short context file that says what each column means, how each measure is worked out and the business rules. Put both in a Claude Project or skill, and every question about revenue uses your definition instead of a fresh guess.
Are dashboards dead now that AI can answer questions?
No. Dashboards are for monitoring and AI is for questions. Your template dashboard gives the regular view everyone relies on. When someone asks something new, AI builds a new tab or report to answer it.
What does AI-ready data mean?
One clean table per subject, plus a context file that explains the figures. The table has one row per record, clear column names and no merged cells or subtotals. AI can tidy data, but it cannot decide what your figures mean. That part is yours.
Can I build an Excel dashboard with Copilot?
Yes. Copilot in Excel can build PivotTables and charts from your data, and it works best when the data is formatted as an Excel table. The method is the same as with Claude: get the data ready, build the dashboard, then ask and check.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. You ask in plain English. Claude may write code behind the scenes to build the dashboard, and you judge the result by checking it against figures you already trust.
Twenty years of helping people change how they work
There is no shortage of people who will show you what AI can do. Far fewer have spent twenty years getting people to actually change how they work. That is what I do. My courses have reached more than 400,000 learners, and I teach the same way I always have: plain English, one step at a time, on data that looks like yours, and always with a way to check the answer.
- Ian Littlejohn
What learners say
Real reviews from real students★★★★★
“This is a great, quick course to give you the basics of how to use Excel Copilot with data. I appreciated the easy examples and it really helped me realize that stepping through is a big asset.”Shelly Excel Copilot course
★★★★★
“I liked the course because the basic features of pivot tables were explained thoroughly, and the concepts introduced earlier were reinforced through later exercises. I also appreciated the pace and the way the topics were divided into short chapters.”Zdenka Pivot Tables course
★★★★★
“Fantastic course - really helpful starter course for learning Power Query.”Harriet Power Query course
Build the model once. Let the dashboards follow.
Start with the Copilot course on Udemy and build your first Excel dashboard with AI this week. Lifetime access and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
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