From spreadsheet jockey to strategic advisor: My journey with AI-powered Google Sheets

Two years ago, I shared my experience as a long-time finance leader who made the switch from Microsoft Office to Google Workspace. I was stunned by Sheets’ ability to outdo my long-time favorite, Excel.

But the role of a finance director has evolved. We’re more than financial experts now — we’re also expected to be strategic partners who provide insights grounded in our unique business reality that is only accelerating in the AI era.

As my role has grown, I’ve had to face new challenges, and Gemini’s abilities have helped me meet them. From analyzing spreadsheet data to communicating my findings org-wide, Gemini helps me complete routine tasks and allows me to amplify my experience where it matters most.

AI where I’m already working

As a finance leader, I spend a lot of my time digesting data, running what-if analyses, and creating visualizations. While some of the work needs my expertise, a lot doesn’t. Data cleanup and consolidation, for example, is a time-consuming task that my team and I used to do manually.

Gemini is available where I’m already working, so AI assistance is only a few clicks away. Now, I don’t need to write a formula to turn a weekly cost spreadsheet into an organized breakdown at the end of the quarter. Gemini has secure access to the information I work with, and the AI insights are grounded in my data and context.

Using Gemini’s strengths to support my own

AI-generated charts to uncover insights

With Gemini, I can easily create complex visualizations in minutes. Behind the scenes, Gemini writes Python code to create custom visualizations for whatever I need. Often, I don’t need the full range of fine-tuning I could do with code, so Gemini gives me a middle ground that maximizes speed without sacrificing customizability.

If I want to see predicted vs. actual spending by department for the past year, I can tell Gemini to build a bar chart showing the predicated and real values grouped by department. Even if my sheet includes multiple years’ worth of data, Gemini can filter for only what I want to see. And if I need to expand my range, it’s as easy as writing another prompt.

When it’s time to bring my findings out of spreadsheets and into meetings, Gemini is there to help, too. I can have Gemini create charts that communicate key insights to get a jump-start on presentations. Gemini can also help me create a script to explain my data and provide a real-time teleprompter in meetings. That means polished presentations, faster.

Secure, specific data for better performance

For AI to work best, it needs access to the right information at the right time. Accessing strategic documents, financial files, and existing data allows for tailored, context-informed output. I can point Gemini to the files I want it to use. If I want to extract summary data from a sheet, I can reference a file and ask Gemini to compile info and export to a new document. Less manual entry is always a win.

That information access can be concerning for financial leaders — we want to make sure our data is secure. With Gemini, I know it is. What I share with Gemini isn’t used for training. So my data always stays with me.

Gemini supports your growth

Gen AI isn’t just for saving time. It also allows me to redistribute my energy to where I’m most effective. With functionality like Gems, which work across my Workspace apps, Gemini handles routine work, like basic data analysis, so I can use my years of experience to interpret its findings and help steer our business strategy.