And you know what I realized?

All those months I spent studying macros, memorizing VLOOKUP, and wrestling with the mysterious =IF(AND(…))… well, it feels just like learning to drive a stick shift.
Once upon a time it was essential: master the hill start, don’t burn the clutch, shift gears smoothly — or stall and embarrass yourself at the traffic light. But now? In a big city, almost nobody drives manual anymore.

Excel is heading the same way: formulas and macros are quickly becoming a kind of nostalgic retro skill.

How it works now

• Type in a cell: =COPILOT(B2:B20, “Explain the sales trend”)
• Excel replies: “Sales grew in February, dipped in March, and recovered strongly in April.”
• Need a forecast? =COPILOT(B2:B20, “Forecast next 3 months”)
• Want a text summary? =COPILOT(B2:B20, “Summarize in a short paragraph”)

In short, it’s no longer just formulas — it’s like having a mini chat with AI inside your spreadsheet.


Where this is going

• Spreadsheets will stop being calculators and will turn into full-blown analysts.
• The old “if — then — else” logic will fade into the background. What matters most is the ability to ask the right questions.
• In a few years, we won’t be “learning Excel” — we’ll just be “negotiating with Excel” in plain language.

Still, one thing remains
Just like with automatic transmissions, you still need to know how to drive.
Same here: for Copilot to understand you, you need logical thinking and a sense of how the machine interprets prompts. Otherwise, you might end up with Excel writing a Harry Potter novel instead of a quarterly report.


The world is moving toward a reality where routine skills become obsolete, and the real value lies in the ability to think clearly and formulate tasks well.
Now excuse me while I erase all those “=SUMIFS” and “=VLOOKUP” formulas from my memory. Let’s keep just one command: =COPILOT. 🚀