Spreadsheet Automation with AI
An AI assistant can write spreadsheet formulas, cleanup steps, and even scripts in seconds, but everything it returns looks correct whether it is or not. This course teaches you to describe spreadsheet tasks precisely, read what comes back, and test it before you trust it. You'll learn to clean and restructure messy data, build reconciled summaries and honest charts, and run AI-written scripts safely. You'll finish with a five-step habit and a plan for your first self-checking template workbook.
Course details
Duration
1h 01m 35s
Lectures
15
Video
1 hour
Quizzes
1
Level
Beginner
Course Description
You no longer need to remember formula syntax: you describe what you want and an AI assistant writes it, in whichever spreadsheet tool your company uses. This course teaches the skills that make that safe: describing tasks without gaps, reading the result, testing it, and building automation you can defend.
What you'll learn
- The five-part formula brief, and reading a formula for range, condition, and aggregation
- Lookups, cleanup formulas, and debugging that fixes the cause, not the symptom
- Restructuring report-shaped sheets into tidy tables, with counts checked at every step
- Resolving duplicates and blanks, reconciling pivot summaries, and building honest charts
- Reading AI-generated scripts for scope, deletions, and external calls before running them
- Control totals, difference checks, and sharing data safely with approved tools
Who it's for
Analysts, coordinators, operations and finance staff, and anyone who builds or inherits spreadsheets and wants AI help without trusting results blindly.
15 short video lessons in three modules: Formulas Without the Syntax, Data Cleanup and Structure, and Automation and Trust.
Module 1: Formulas Without the Syntax
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1.1 Describing What You WantPlain-language requests that produce correct formulas — naming columns, ranges, and edge cases.
In this lesson:
- Describe a spreadsheet task so the assistant produces the right formula
- Name columns, ranges, and edge cases explicitly
- Read a returned formula before pasting it
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1.2 Everyday Formulas
Sums, counts, averages with conditions — reading the formula the assistant gives you before pasting it.
In this lesson:
- Get conditional sums, counts, and averages from a description
- Read a returned formula for range, condition, and aggregation
- Test a formula on a known subset before applying it
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1.3 Lookups and Matching
Combining tables, finding matches, and handling the not-found case.
In this lesson:
- Describe a lookup so the assistant builds the right one
- Handle no-match and multiple-match cases explicitly
- Verify a lookup with a spot-check of known rows
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1.4 Dates, Text, and Cleanup Formulas
Splitting names, fixing formats, trimming spaces, and extracting parts of text.
In this lesson:
- Get text and date cleanup formulas from a description with examples
- Handle the variations that break cleanup formulas
- Verify cleanup on the messiest rows, not the cleanest
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1.5 Debugging with the Assistant
Pasting an error or a wrong result and asking why — the three questions that find most bugs.
In this lesson:
- Give the assistant enough context to diagnose a formula problem
- Use the three debugging questions
- Fix the cause, not the symptom
Module 2: Data Cleanup and Structure
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2.1 Messy to Tidy
One row per record, one value per cell — letting the assistant plan the restructure and you execute it.
In this lesson:
- Recognize the tidy structure and why formulas depend on it
- Have the assistant plan a restructure step by step
- Execute the restructure on a copy and verify counts
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2.2 Duplicates, Blanks, and Inconsistencies
Finding and resolving them with AI-generated steps — without deleting what matters.
In this lesson:
- Detect duplicates, blanks, and inconsistent values with helper formulas
- Decide how to resolve each type before removing anything
- Keep a log of what was changed
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2.3 Summaries and Pivot Logic
Asking for the summary table you need, building it, and checking totals against the raw data.
In this lesson:
- Describe a summary table by rows, columns, values, and filters
- Build it as a pivot or with formulas, as the assistant advises
- Reconcile summary totals to the raw data every time
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2.4 Conditional Formatting and Validation
Rules that flag problems and prevent bad entries, described in plain language.
In this lesson:
- Describe conditional formatting rules that surface problems
- Set up data validation to prevent bad entries
- Keep rules simple enough to maintain
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2.5 Charts from Spreadsheets
The right chart for the question, built and labeled with the assistant's help.
In this lesson:
- Choose the chart type from the question being asked
- Prepare the summary range a chart needs
- Specify labels, axes, and formatting for an honest chart
Module 3: Automation and Trust
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3.1 Repeatable Tasks
The weekly report, the monthly import — describing the routine and getting steps or a script.
In this lesson:
- Document a repeating spreadsheet routine as steps
- Decide which steps become formulas, which become a script, and which stay manual
- Build the routine so it runs the same every time
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3.2 Scripts and Macros: Read Before You Run
What AI-generated automation can do to a workbook — and the read-through habit before running anything.
In this lesson:
- Understand what a script can do to a workbook, including the irreversible
- Read an AI-generated script for scope, destructive actions, and external calls
- Run scripts safely: on a copy, with a dry run, within policy
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3.3 Verification Habits
Control totals, spot checks, and a second version before overwriting the original.
In this lesson:
- Build control totals into every workbook
- Run spot-checks proportionate to the stakes
- Never overwrite an original without a verified second version
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3.4 Sharing and Sensitive Data
What leaves the workbook when you paste into an assistant — aggregation and anonymization first.
In this lesson:
- Recognize what a pasted range actually contains
- Reduce data to samples, structure, or aggregates before asking for help
- Follow the approved-tools rule for any spreadsheet content
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3.5 The Spreadsheet Habit
Describe, get, read, test, verify — the checklist and your first automation; the finale.
In this lesson:
- Recall the five-step spreadsheet habit
- Apply the course checklist to real spreadsheet work
- Complete Spreadsheet Automation with AI
Spreadsheet Automation with AI — Final Exam
Learn at your own pace
Study the materials at your convenience, you can always return to them to repeat
Certificate of completion
Complete every lesson and pass the final exam to earn a RiseCert certificate of completion you can download and share.
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Spreadsheet Automation with AI
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For demonstrated knowledge and successful completion of all course requirements for:
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Got Questions? We've Got Answers!
Answers to the most common questions about this course.
What is the Spreadsheet Automation with AI course?
Spreadsheet Automation with AI is a RiseCert online course on using an AI assistant to write formulas, clean and restructure data, build summaries and charts, and automate repeating spreadsheet routines, while reading, testing, and verifying everything it produces. It includes 15 video lessons (about an hour of video) and a final exam.
Who should take a course on AI for spreadsheets?
Anyone who spends real time in spreadsheets: analysts, coordinators, operations and finance staff, managers who build weekly reports, and anyone who inherits messy workbooks. It suits people who know what they want a spreadsheet to do but not the formula syntax, and people who want AI help without trusting results blindly.
Do I need to know formulas or coding to take this course?
No. Spreadsheet Automation with AI assumes no formula syntax and no coding. You describe what you want and the assistant writes the formula or script; the course teaches you how to describe it precisely and how to read what comes back. Basic comfort opening a spreadsheet, selecting ranges, and pasting is enough.
Which spreadsheet software does the course use?
The course is tool-neutral and works with whichever spreadsheet application your company uses. It teaches you to name your tool in every request so the syntax matches, and it does not endorse any spreadsheet product or AI assistant. The habits, from the formula brief to control totals, apply in any tool.
How do I get AI to write the right spreadsheet formula?
Give it a formula brief with five parts: the tool, where the data is (sheet, column header, and column letter), what to calculate in words, the edges (blanks, zeros, text, duplicates, no match), and where the result goes. Ask for the formula plus a one-line explanation, then read both against the brief.
Can I trust a formula that an AI assistant writes?
Only after you read and test it. The course teaches checking every formula for range, condition, and aggregation, including mismatched row spans, the most common silent error. Then test it on a small known subset whose answer you computed by hand. A formula that matches the brief and the hand count can be trusted.
Is it safe to paste company spreadsheet data into an AI tool?
Usually you don't need to. The course teaches three safer ways to share: the header row only for formula questions, a synthetic sample with fake values for debugging, and an aggregated summary for analysis. Company spreadsheet content, even headers, goes only into AI tools your employer has approved.
What will I be able to do after completing the course?
You'll be able to get conditional sums, counts, averages, and lookups from plain descriptions; clean names, dates, and text; debug formulas; restructure report-shaped sheets into tidy tables; build reconciled summaries and honest charts; set validation rules; read AI-generated scripts before running them; and build a template workbook with a Checks sheet.
What topics does the course cover?
Three modules. Formulas Without the Syntax covers the formula brief, everyday formulas, lookups, cleanup formulas, and debugging. Data Cleanup and Structure covers tidy tables, duplicates and blanks, pivot summaries, conditional formatting and validation, and charts. Automation and Trust covers repeatable routines, scripts and macros, verification, sensitive data, and the spreadsheet habit.
Are AI-generated macros and scripts safe to run?
Not until you've read them. Spreadsheet Automation with AI teaches you to check any script for scope, destructive actions such as delete or clear, and external calls that send data out. Follow your company's script policy first, then run on a copy, use a dry run, verify counts and totals, and keep a backup.
How is this different from a general Excel or spreadsheet course?
A general course teaches functions and menus. This course assumes the AI assistant writes the syntax and teaches the skills around it: describing tasks without gaps, reading output against your description, testing on known subsets, reconciling totals, and building automation with built-in checks so you can defend the numbers.
How long does the course take to complete?
The course has about an hour of video across 15 lessons, plus a final exam. Lessons run about four minutes each and are organized into three modules: Formulas Without the Syntax, Data Cleanup and Structure, and Automation and Trust. Many learners finish in one or two sittings.
Is the course online and self-paced?
Yes. Spreadsheet Automation with AI is 100% online and self-paced, and your access does not expire. You can start, pause, and resume any time on a computer, tablet, or phone with a modern web browser. There is nothing to install to watch the lessons.
Is there a final exam?
Yes. The course ends with a 30-question multiple-choice final exam covering all three modules. You need 80% or higher (24 of 30) to pass, and you can retake the exam as many times as you need. Complete all 15 lessons and pass the exam to finish the course.
Will I get a certificate of completion?
Yes. After you complete all 15 lessons and pass the final exam, you can download a RiseCert certificate of completion. It is a course completion certificate, not a license, a professional certification, or a continuing education (CE) certificate.
Can I earn CPE or continuing education credit for this course?
No. Spreadsheet Automation with AI is not currently approved or accredited for continuing education credit, including CE, CPE, or CEU credit, by any state, licensing body, or accrediting organization. If you need credit hours for a license or designation, take a course approved by the body that governs it.
Is this course accounting or financial advice?
No. The course is educational and is not accounting, financial, or legal advice. It teaches general spreadsheet and verification practices. Your employer's AI and data policies, your finance and data owners, and applicable rules govern how you handle real workbooks, approve reports, and move money.
How much does the course cost, and can I enroll my team?
Spreadsheet Automation with AI costs $99 per learner as a one-time purchase, with no subscription or recurring fees. To enroll a team, a department, or a whole organization, contact RiseCert through the Contact Us page at risecert.org.
What is the refund policy?
All sales are final and no refunds are issued, as stated in the RiseCert Terms of Use. Please review the course description, the lesson list, and these FAQs before you purchase, and contact RiseCert first if you have any questions about whether the course fits your needs.
What is tidy data in a spreadsheet?
Tidy data, as taught in this course, means one row per record, one column per attribute, one value per cell, headers in row one, and no subtotal rows inside the data. Formulas, lookups, pivots, and charts all assume it. Report-shaped sheets, with months across the top or merged headers, can be restructured step by step.