CoPilot Function: could it replace financial analysts?

Is the CoPilot function the earthquake for finance?

I first saw the news in a LinkedIn post and thought, “A function!?! How does that work?”

I quickly went to YouTube and did a search on Kevin Stratvert to see if he got the news since he was a former Microsoft employee.

And yep, sure enough, he did a video on it.

The beginning of the video implied that the CoPilot function just pulled the name of the cookies out of thin air because his formula did not reference a table or database. He just asked the question “give me 3 cookie types”.

And out of the blue the function gave him 3 cookie types.

My brain was not fully functional at that moment so I was wondering where it was pulling the “data” from. It took a second viewing, a couple of days later, to realize he did not ask “what were 3 types of cookies sold by Kevin Cookie Company” or “list the different types of cookies produced by Kevin Cookie Company”. He asked “give me 3 cookie types”.

Subtle difference.

But, it is amazing to see how you can use CoPilot the function.

It is very possible that you can ask CoPilot to develop the formulas for you or to analyze the P&L statement or do sentiment analysis, all by just typing in the questions.

Other videos on CoPilot function to watch

Here are some more videos on the CoPilot function so you can see the potential.

What does this mean?

I’m not totally sure but here are some of my thoughts on it.

• Those who were not proficient in Excel now do not need to know how to set up formulas; CoPilot function can do that for you.
• Those who were a whiz at setting up models now have competitors biting at their heels – they are not so special anymore.
• If you business unit partner or program manager can just ask Excel to do the analysis for them via writing or speaking a question, why would they need you?
• Is your business partner or program manager comfortable with financial numbers that he will want to delve into the numbers because now he can skip past the formulas or is he the type to shy away from the numbers? If he loves to delve in, he may not see the need for you because he has a partner in CoPilot function.
• Is this the case similar to the secretaries who used to type out the dictated letter where Word transferred the letter writing to the managers because Word made it easy to type the letter? Or is this situation different from of the secretaries?

What about the other CoPilot?

There is a “Analyze Data” and CoPilot found in the Home menu. My initial assessment was they weren’t as dazzling as I had thought although they could be useful. There was a limit of how many rows or columns both could handle. I typically use hundreds of thousands of rows, more than “Analyze Data” or CoPilot could use.

Unfortunately, I’m not in a situation right now where I have access to beaucoup data to really fully deploy either function and get a good sense of their use. They just didn’t wow me, and I did wonder if my business partner/project managers found much use from then either.

And I wonder if that was why the CoPilot function was developed?

Can the CoPilot function replace financial analysts or other analysts?

That remains to be seen.

The answer will lie in whether the financial analysts’ work easily done simply with the CoPilot function, much like the secretaries typing efforts replaced by Word.

It is also going to depend on the proclivities or skillsets of the business partner/program manager: will they love delving into the numbers and what ifs without the assistance from financial analysts?

But financial analysts definitely need to level up their skills from manual work to something else, something more strategic or higher level thinking. Their days may be numbered.