Excel + AI: From Raw Data to Real Insights
AI tools are changing how finance teams work with data. The problem is not whether to use them — it is knowing how to use them well and when to verify the output. This workshop gives your team the skills to work with Microsoft Copilot and AI tools effectively, with a clear framework for checking results before they go into a board presentation.
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"Verify, don't trust" — a practical AI framework for finance.
- Microsoft Copilot in Excel — what it can and cannot do today. Use Copilot to generate formulas, summarise data, and draft variance commentary. Understand its limitations in a finance context.
- AI for variance analysis — use AI to identify anomalies, generate first-draft explanations of budget variances, and surface patterns in large transaction sets that would take hours to spot manually.
- Prompt patterns finance professionals actually use — specific prompts for P&L analysis, budget commentary, and financial narrative. Learn to write prompts that produce usable output, not generic text.
- Verifying AI output before you act on it — a practical checklist for reviewing formulas, numbers, and narrative generated by AI. Know what to check, why it can go wrong, and how to fix it quickly.
- PDPA considerations when using AI on financial data — understand what data you can and cannot put into AI tools, and how to protect sensitive financial information when working with cloud-based AI services.
Finance professionals ready to use AI — carefully and correctly.
This workshop is for any finance professional using Microsoft 365 who wants to use AI tools in their day-to-day work without the risk of acting on incorrect output. No prior AI experience is required. If your team is already experimenting with Copilot but not sure how to verify what it produces, this workshop addresses that directly.
The "verify, don't trust" philosophy runs through everything. Finance professionals cannot afford to submit AI output without checking it. This workshop builds that verification habit from the first exercise.
Practical, grounded, and finance-specific.
Half day or full day
This programme runs as a half-day introduction or a full-day deep-dive depending on your team's current experience with Excel and AI tools. We agree the format upfront.
Run at your premises
Participants stay in their own environment, on their own laptops, with their own Microsoft 365 accounts. Real-world conditions from the first exercise.
Finance-specific examples
Every example is drawn from real finance tasks: variance commentary, budget analysis, management report drafting. Not generic marketing copy or customer service scripts.
HRD Corp claimable
All programmes are eligible for HRD Corp funding for registered employers. I can assist with the SBL-Khas application if needed.
Your understanding of finance topics makes you relate very well the usage of Excel functions to company reporting and analyses. Your teaching stresses the application, backed by good examples.
Goh Bee Khian, Senior Finance Manager, Rohde & Schwarz Malaysia
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Ready to bring this to your team?
Tell me about your team's current AI usage and I will tailor the programme accordingly.
Enquire about this workshop