Streamlining Your Workflow with Columns AI
One day, my manager, Tom, asked me to send him the growth data for the final quarter. I pulled the data from our SQL database and exported it into a Google Sheet. That’s when the trouble began.
After sharing the sheet with him, we dove into an endless email thread, trying to iron out all the details he needed to create charts for his presentation. I still remember some of the exchanges:
- “What does this field mean?” — “It’s a country code.”
- “How can I view a weekly trend?” — “You’ll need this formula to sum the user count.”
- “How do I make the pie chart look professional?” — “Try using this color palette.”
It felt like a never-ending back-and-forth between my inbox and the shared spreadsheet. By the time we were done, I was completely drained.
Looking back now, I can’t blame Tom for not being a spreadsheet expert — after all, should every manager be a Spreadsheet master? But it did leave me wondering: Wasn’t there a simpler way to save us all that time and effort?
A few years later, I founded Columns AI — a data storytelling project designed to make it effortless to understand and present a sheet of data. Let me give you a quick overview with three key features:
- Chat: Analyze data and generate graphs with ease.
- Design: Customize and style graphs to make them presentation-ready.
- Share: Seamlessly share your graphs or provide access to an interactive data explorer.
Chat
By fully embracing AI, my goal is to empower everyone to create beautiful data stories for impactful presentations. Whether you’re a spreadsheet master or not, you should be able to get exactly what you need — effortlessly — through a simple chat.
Design
Columns AI goes beyond providing analytical charts — it offers a design canvas where you can effortlessly enhance your selected chart. Using a variety of design tools like text annotations, arrows, and widgets, you can customize and bring your data story to life with ease.
Share
Columns AI offers multiple ways to share your designed graphs:
- Make it public: Share a viewable link with anyone.
- Embed it: Integrate the graph seamlessly into your product using an embeddable link.
- Add to a dashboard: Create a collective view by including the graph on a dashboard page.
But that’s not all — you can also share the same data explorer with your clients through a secure link. For business owners, this is a game-changer. It empowers clients to explore the data on their own, saving time and fostering transparency. The process is simple:
- Prepare the data connection for your client.
- Validate the dataset to ensure accuracy.
- Share the secure link with your client.
That’s it — you’re done!
Data storytelling is a valuable and enjoyable skill that helps professionals communicate more effectively while saving time. I hope Columns AI can make a positive impact in this space and empower more people to share their data stories with ease.
Thank you for reading!
