What can an AI agent do with Excel?

An Excel AI agent can list your workbooks, read worksheets and tables, pull data from specific cell ranges, append new rows, update cells, and create new sheets - all via Microsoft Graph. It handles data-heavy tasks like daily reporting, budget tracking, and cross-tool data sync automatically. Write actions always require your approval.

Does this work with desktop Excel or only Microsoft 365?

It works with workbooks stored in OneDrive or SharePoint via the Microsoft Graph API. Files saved only to a local disk are not accessible until synced to the cloud.

Can my agent modify formulas or just values?

Your agent can read and write cell values, including formula strings. Updating a cell with a formula string will recalculate it in Excel. Complex formula authoring should be reviewed before applying.

How is an Excel AI agent different from Power Automate?

Power Automate runs fixed if-then flows. An Excel AI agent reasons about your data: it reads context, decides what to update, writes summaries in plain language, and can act across other tools like Slack or Outlook in the same run.