Paul Barnhurst argues that AI is not killing Excel but exposing it: AI agents often use coding and more complex approaches that differ from human thinking, which means users need deeper Excel knowledge—not less—to understand and work with those agents. He highlights the ironic dichotomy between claims that Excel will die and the reality that expertise matters more.
Every new app is an Excel killer. The reason with AI Excel is dead. And I kind of laugh, and I don't know if you've played much with the agents, but what I find is you actually need to know Excel better, not less, because the agents don't think like a human. They're often coding. They're often using more complex solutions than we typically use. It's been really fascinating to watch, and so you have to know really well to understand it. And I find it kind of ironic that everybody's saying it's going to die, but what we're seeing right now with the agents, obviously not your tool you're coming with, but with these agents, you almost have to know Excel better. It's a fascinating dichotomy.
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