Here is how to bring AI to spreadsheets

Executive Summary 

This edition highlights key tech updates, including OpenAI's ChatGPT 4.5 release, Microsoft's decision to shut down Skype, Tesla's sales decline in Europe, and introduces Quadratic AI as an innovative Excel enhancement tool.

News

 🌟OpenAI launched ChatGPT 4.5. Link

• The latest version is not the smartest model ever developed, rather the main change is in the style.

• OpenAI claims GPT 4.5 offers a more "natural" experience by better spotting patterns and making connections, benefiting writing, programming, and problem-solving.

• Right now, it's rolled out only to Pro users, but don't worry — Plus users will get access in a couple of weeks.

 🚪Microsoft is shutting down Skype on May 5. Link

• Microsoft explains this shift as a prioritisation and focus on Teams. This decision is supported by numbers. Microsoft reports a fourfold increase in consumer calling minutes on Teams over two years, indicating strong user acceptance.

• Skype has been around for over 23 years, but it started to decline in 2016 when Teams was introduced. The most recent user figures were at 36 million daily users in 2023, a significant drop from its peak of 300 million users.

• To keep all your data, log in to Teams with your Skype account.

 📉 Tesla sales have dropped sharply in the European market. Link

• Tesla sales in Europe plummet 45% year-over-year in January 2025, despite overall EV market growth of 37%.

• Multiple factors contribute to Tesla's sales drop, including delayed cheaper models, pending Model Y updates, and intensifying competition from Chinese automakers like SAIC Motor, which saw a 36.8% increase.

• Elon Musk's controversial political activities, have sparked public outcry and potential boycotts, possibly impacting sales.

AI tool of the week

Quadratic AI

If you ever thought about replacing Excel with something fancy because of its old-school vibe, we have bad news. Your future might still be connected to this mammoth, but in a more modern, elephant style-body.

Enter Quadratic AI, a tool that modernises Excel without replacing it entirely.

The main feature is to be able to translate your written instructions into Excel functions, and provide ready made insights. In addition, it provides more advanced capabilities of Python, SQL and database integrations. Learn more here.

Whereas Quadratic definitely ads value and is capable of properly analysing some datasets, it struggles to gain context from several spreadsheets at once.

If this what you are looking for, you might need a proper data infrastructure (we can help with this 😎).

Our service

Do you need help with your data ecosystem? Reply directly to this email or reach out to [email protected]. More information about our service is available here.