How Microsoft is Making Excel an AI-Powered Platform with Product Manager Brian Jones

In this episode of Financial Modeler’s Corner, host Paul Barnhurst sits down with Brian Jones, Vice-President: Microsoft Excel, Forms, Office Platforms, to discuss how Excel is evolving in the era of AI and large language models. They explore how Copilot, agent mode, and AI-driven features are reshaping how professionals build, analyse, and improve spreadsheets. Brian also shares insights into how AI can assist financial modelers, automate tedious spreadsheet tasks, and help users understand complex workbooks faster.

Brian Jones is the Vice-President: Microsoft Excel, Forms. He has worked at Microsoft since 1999 across several productivity platforms, including Word, Office Forms, and developer extensibility tools. In his current role, Brian leads the Excel product team as they integrate AI capabilities like Copilot and agent mode to expand what users can accomplish inside spreadsheets.

Expect to Learn

1. How AI and Copilot are changing the Excel user experience
2. What “agent mode” means for automating spreadsheet tasks
3. How AI can help analyse and improve financial models
4. Why Excel still requires strong modeling and formula knowledge
5. How skill sheets and templates can guide AI inside workbooks

Here are a few quotes from the episode:

1. “Excel really is like a developer tool. When you're writing formulas, you're essentially coding.” – Brian Jones
2. “One of the strengths of Excel is that the work is visible. You can see the formulas, the logic, and how the result was produced.” – Brian Jones

Brian explains how AI is transforming Excel from a traditional spreadsheet tool into a more collaborative environment where users can interact with their data through conversation. Copilot can analyse spreadsheets, suggest formulas, correct errors, and even rebuild broken references automatically.

Follow Brian:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brijones/

Website: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/brian_jones/

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In today’s episode:

[02:53] – Brian’s Background at Microsoft

[03:09] – Returning to the Excel Team

[04:24] – The Rise of AI and LLMs in Excel

[07:08] – Customer Questions About Copilot

[10:39] – AI Rollouts and Product Updates

[12:03] – How modelers Are Using Excel AI

[17:52] – What Skill Sheets Are and Why They Matter

[23:07] – Power Query and Excel Programming Languages

[30:51] – Do We Still Need to Learn Formulas

[36:07] – Getting the Most Out of Copilot

[38:40] – Favorite Excel Shortcut and Functions

[41:31] – Where to Follow Brian