Excel Beyond the Basics: Modern Tools, Analysis & AI
About Course
- Format: Online +Live sessions Course
- Course Date: 1st – 2nd June 2026
- Course Facilitator: Industry Expert
- Course Duration: 2 Days
Course Overview:
- This isn’t a productivity workshop—it’s a mindset reset. is a two-day experience that transforms assistants into strategic partners. Using structured frameworks, real-time simulations, and AI tools, participants will learn to navigate ambiguity, act with clarity, and lead without formal authority.
Why Attend?
• Critical thinking is the foundation for sound decisions.
• Leadership is how you show up, not what you’re called.
• Your executive needs insight, not just support.
• Influence grows when you think strategically.
• Trust is built by owning outcomes, not just tasks.
Who should Attend?
- Who should Attend:
EA, Executive PA, Office Managers of CEO, COO, CFO, CLO, CRO,
CIO and all HOD’s,
• Personal Assistants
• Executive Assistants
• Senior Secretaries
• Administrative Assistants
• Office managers
• Admin officers
• Admin Team leaders
• Executive / Business support
Day 1 : Data, Modern Excel & Core Analysis
1. Introduction & Modern Excel Mindset
- What’s changed in Excel (last 3–6 years)
- From manual to dynamic workflows
- Course roadmap and outcomes
2. Structuring Data for Reliable Analysis
- Tables vs ranges (why it matters more than ever)
- Clean, consistent and structured datasets
- Trimmed ranges and Spill ranges
- Preparing data for formulas, PivotTables, and AI
3. Modern Lookups & Dynamic Filtering
- Moving beyond VLOOKUP
- Using:
- XLOOKUP
- XMATCH
- FILTER
- Creating dynamic outputs driven by user input
- Spill behaviour and referencing
Exercise: Build a filter-driven report
4. Sorting, Shaping and Extracting from Arrays
- UNIQUE, SORT, SORTBY
- TAKE / DROP for report shaping
- CHOOSE, CHOOSECOLS and CHOOSEROWS
- Vertically and horizontally stacking arrays
- Building auto-updating outputs
Exercise: Shape and extract data from the filter-driven report
5. PivotTables for Fast Insight
- When PivotTables are the fastest solution
- Building PivotTables from structured data
- Sorting and grouping (dates, categories)
- Slicers for interactivity
- Comparing PivotTables vs formula solutions
Exercise: Build a quick summary report with slicers
6. Introduction to AI in Excel
- Overview of Microsoft Copilot
- Where AI fits in real workflows
- Using AI to:
- Generate formulas
- Clean data
- Summarise datasets
- Prompting basics (what works / what doesn’t)
7. Day 1 Wrap-Up
Day 2 : Analysis, Reporting & Automation
1. Recap & Quick Challenge
2. Advanced Array Thinking
- The power of iterative calculations
- The GROUPBY and PIVOTBY functions
- BYROW / BYCOL
- SCAN (running totals, streaks)
- When these are worth using (and when not)
Exercise: Getting a feel for iterative calculation formulas
3. Power Query for Repeatable Data Prep
- Importing from files and folders
- Cleaning messy data
- Combining datasets
- Refreshing workflows
- Build once, update forever mindset
Exercise: Get and transform data into Excel
4. Charts & Visual Reporting
- Choosing the right chart for the task
- Building charts from:
- Tables
- PivotTables
- Creating clean, professional visuals
- Dynamic formatting and titles to take your charts further
Exercise: Build a dynamic and interactive visual
5. Using AI to Accelerate Your Workflow
- Using Microsoft Copilot for:
- Insights and summaries
- Chart suggestions
- Formula assistance
- Using ChatGPT or other models as alternatives to Copilot alongside Excel:
- Writing and refining formulas
- Explaining results
- Getting advice
- Assistance on step-by-step Excel processes
Key message: AI supports your workflow – it doesn’t replace understanding
6. Bringing It All Together
End-to-end scenario:
- Import data (Power Query)
- Structure it (Tables)
- Analyse it (formulas + PivotTables)
- Present it (charts + dynamic outputs)
