With generative AI, we are getting closer to the promise of true “democratization” of data. This means that anyone can make data-driven decisions, not just highly skilled data scientists.
The problem is this: The amount of data in the world is growing exponentially. And at the heart of all that information is information that can potentially help us do everything from curing cancer to discovering new sources of clean energy to improving our health and fitness to growing our businesses.
So the problem is not that we lack information on these topics, but that we have too much and we don’t know where to start!
Traditionally, extracting insights and value from data required two things: very smart, highly skilled people and a lot of time.
AI has proven to be very useful in this area. Over the past decade, we’ve used deep learning algorithms to crunch numbers much faster than any human, spotting patterns and extracting insights. It also allows us to find clues hidden in unstructured data, such as text, video, and audio.
Now, generative AI can translate this information into advice and instructions that anyone can easily understand, as well as create and interpret graphs, charts and statistics.
So here’s my roundup of what I consider to be the most useful tools for anyone interested in applying generative AI to data analysis, whether they’re an enthusiastic hobbyist or an expert in the field.
The Alteryx platform now includes a no-code AI studio that allows users to build their own analytics applications from custom business data. The data can then be queried through a natural language interface, which includes access to models such as OpenAI’s GPT-4.
Built on its Alteryx AiDIN engine, the platform sets itself apart from its competitors with a user-friendly approach to predictive analytics and insight generation. One of its key features is its workflow summarization tool, which interprets complex workflows into easy-to-understand natural language explanations and summaries. You can also specify how you want your reports to be generated, such as in email or PowerPoint format, to target the desired audience.
Overall, Alteryx is a great choice for analysts and SMB users looking for a comprehensive platform to build custom analytics applications and generate predictive insights.
It’s an industry-standard analytics package that’s been enhanced with the power of generative AI, leveraging Microsoft’s Co-Pilot technology and models developed with OpenAI, including custom versions of its powerful GPT-4 models.
The platform integrates many technologies, including Microsoft’s AI-based analytics framework Fabric, as well as Azure Synapse, which allows it to seamlessly integrate with data warehouse and other big data technologies like Apache Spark. This creates an end-to-end analytics solution suitable for the largest enterprise workloads, enabling everything from simple analytics to building and deploying your own machine learning models on Azure. It’s a good choice for enterprise users who need flexible cloud integrations and need to manage large data workloads.
Tableau is one of the world’s most popular data visualization tools and now offers Tableau Pulse, powered by Salesforce’s Einstein models, for AI-driven insights. Its Insights platform enables automated analysis of datasets, extracting insights and trends in natural language while generating visualizations. The package aims to facilitate data-driven decision-making and improve productivity by giving business users access to deep analytics at their fingertips. Security and ethics are also important when working with data. Salesforce has therefore integrated its Einstein Trust Layer safeguards into Tableau Pulse for peace of mind in this regard. Ideal for decision makers who want to create user-friendly and detailed visualizations.
Another well-established data and analytics platform now allows users to integrate AI-driven generative analytics content into their reports and dashboards with its Qlik Answers assistant. It offers automated summaries of key data points, natural language reporting, and a host of integrations with third-party tools and platforms. A particular focus is on explainability to ensure it can always support its insights with sources and citations. The Qlik platform is particularly useful for users who want to analyze large volumes of unstructured data like text or video, and now, with Qlik Answers, this can all be done in natural language.
Sisense now lets you embed conversational analytics directly into your BI tools and applications. This simplifies the automation of processes, including data preparation and the creation of analytics dashboards and reports. Sisense is a widely used platform with a user base that ranges from researchers to business analysts. It is designed to make analytics accessible to everyone, regardless of their level of expertise. This makes it a useful tool for anyone who needs a powerful analytics engine that can be deployed quickly and efficiently.
Other AI Generative Data Analysis Tools
New analytics tools based on genAI technology are emerging almost every day. Here are a few worth checking out.
Generative BI platform that enables predictive modeling and insight generation.
Coefficient automates the import of live data from platforms like Hubspot or Salesforce into Excel or Google Sheets and can interface with ChatGPT to query your data in natural language.
Domo uses natural language conversations to guide you through the process of deploying analytics and extracting insights.
The plugin provides custom connectivity with Excel for ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini Pro.
Talk directly to your data to get expert insights, analysis, and customized reports.
Generative AI assistant provides quick answers and insights into business data.
She specializes in deep analysis of textual information, such as customer feedback reports.
Answer your important business questions with instant insights using Polymer’s PolyAI chatbot.
Conversational data discovery and dashboarding with built-in security features, works with any LLM.
Generative AI analytics designed to deliver marketing insights.
AI-powered analytics platform that combines search and AI to enable natural language queries and automated insight generation.
Focuses on data-driven storytelling and a collaborative approach to machine learning-based analytics.
