Will the spreadsheet outlive every AI tool we're building right now?
Every few years someone declares the spreadsheet dead. Notion was going to kill it, then Airtable, then a hundred AI tools, and now agents are supposedly going to make it obsolete too.
But Excel is 40 years old and still runs most of the actual decisions at most actual companies. I'd bet it outlasts almost everything launching on this site this year, including a lot of stuff I love.
My theory on why: the spreadsheet got a few things exactly right and never had to walk them back.
Instant feedback. You type, you see the result, no build step, no waiting.
The grid is a universal format. Everyone already knows how to read one.
It's a blank canvas. It doesn't assume what you're doing, so it never gets in your way.
The newer tools usually beat it on one axis (collaboration, AI, visualization) but lose on flexibility or familiarity, so people keep one foot in the spreadsheet anyway. I see this constantly. Teams have a slick tool for the dashboard nobody opens and a messy .xlsx where the real work happens.
So I've mostly stopped trying to replace it. We just launched Basedash for Excel (check it out!) which reads an .xlsx and builds dashboards from it, then lets you export back out to a spreadsheet. Working with the format instead of against it felt like the only honest bet.
But I could be wrong. Maybe agents really do make the manual grid feel as dated as a fax machine in a few years.
Replies
I also used excel to create my software databases. Debates were many that I use SQL or csv but I refused because I had one goal since I'm creating a software for a hospital can the medical staff deal with this without need for programmers and the answer is yes for excel.
Basedash: AI data analyst
@namujumbi_maria yup, great use case. If people already know how to use spreadsheets, it's much easier than trying to teach them new software.
@maxmusing true in situations where the users need real time updates excel is better that is why I have decided to make SeptaMind in excel and leave it open and not an executable. Because sincerely speaking even in universities and tertiary institutions all yr1 sem 1 they study Microsoft excel herre in Uganda
Hey @maxmusing - I actually just launched Salestrics a few weeks ago and launched on Product Hunt today. We have incorporated our own spreadsheet system within the application that's connected to the pipeline data, which itself is connected to Salestrics AI.
I think Spreadsheets and AI can live together in harmony. But implementation matters more here. What you're doing at Basedash is an incredible example of solid implementation.
@maxmusing @austin_buhl true it depends what are you using it for and how much data you're handling. If you want a non editable database then I think no need to but an editable one ios easily managed by excel as long as the data is less.
The Spreadsheet, "the grid" in its primitive form, is such a foundational productivity tool, I don't see its core being replaced. Reconceived, Enhanced, Extended, yes - like your Basedash for Excel. Elegant in form and function. Open a new sheet and it's ready to receive your data, your ideas, no setup, no configuration.
The spreadsheet isn't competing with AI. It's competing with rigid workflows. Until software becomes as flexible as a blank grid, people will keep coming back to it.
Excel is like the constant for many people. Trustable, reliable and familiar.
Excel was always there, and we moved to Google Sheets, but the core remained the same.
I think Excel was made to last the test if time :)