Microsoft is clearly proud of the fact that it has added support for putting in Python code in its Excel spreadsheet app. It first announced this support for Microsoft Insiders in August. Just a few days ago, it also announced a new and experimental Python Editor for Excel as well.
Today, as part of the company"s many Copilot generative AI announcements today, Microsoft also announced that Excel users will be able to use Copilot for Python in the very near future.
Microsoft stated in a blog post that Copilot in Excel will allow Python code programmers to analyst their code and even have Copilot write Python code on its own. Here are some of the features and ways Copilot can be used in Excel with Python:
- Use natural language for data analysis with Python. Simply describe the analysis you want to do, and Copilot will generate and insert Python code for you. For example, you can type “Forecast sales for the next 4 quarters" and Copilot will produce a Python cell with the code and the forecast.
- Access popular libraries and visualizations. You don"t need to know Python to get started. Copilot leverages the power and flexibility of Python and its popular libraries, such as pandas, matplotlib, and scikit-learn to name a few. You can use Copilot to perform advanced analytics such as forecasting, clustering, optimization, causal models, statistical tests, classification, sampling, and more. You can also create a variety of charts that are not available in Excel alone, such as boxplots, network graphs, and pairplots.
The Copilot features for Python in Excel will be available for users in a preview program later in 2023. Microsoft also plans to launch Microsoft 365 Copilot, which includes its Office apps like Excel, for enterprise customers starting on November 1, with the price of $30 a user per month.