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If you have ever spent an afternoon downloading a report, pasting it into a spreadsheet and hoping it was the latest version, you already know the problem this news addresses. Snowflake, a company that stores and analyzes large amounts of business data, has announced a way to skip some of those steps.
Why spreadsheets and company data often clash
Spreadsheets have been a main way people work with data for decades. The trouble is getting fresh information into them. Snowflake describes three common routes:
- CSV exports: a CSV is a plain text file that holds table rows. You download a query result and open it on your computer.
- ODBC connectors: ODBC (a standard that lets programs talk to databases) requires your data team to set up a link and write the queries.
- Third-party connectors: a separate tool, usually maintained by an IT team, that moves data into the spreadsheet.
Each route can leave you with a copy of the data that quietly goes out of date. Snowflake says this creates "data silos," meaning separate pockets of information that don't match each other.
What CoCo does inside the workbook
CoCo is an AI assistant, which means you type a request in plain language and it carries out the work. Snowflake says it can use your workbook and your data as context, so it understands what you are already looking at. According to the announcement, it can:
- Choose a chart type. CoCo looks at the shape of your data and picks a chart it considers a good fit. The charts stay live, so they update with the data and you can still edit them.
- Build pivot tables. A pivot table is a summary that groups and totals rows, like "sales by region." Snowflake says CoCo does the heavy calculating on Snowflake's own computing power, even for datasets larger than Excel's one-million-row limit or Google Sheets' 20-million-cell limit.
- Apply formatting and checks. CoCo can add conditional formatting (colors that change based on values), number formats and data validation (rules that stop wrong entries). You can tailor these with your own saved instructions, which Snowflake calls skills.
For example, you could ask CoCo to show quarterly revenue by region along with growth projections. Snowflake says it will turn that request into a plan with formulas and pivot tables.
In Excel, you can also call certain Snowflake Cortex AI functions directly in a cell. Cortex is Snowflake's AI service, and a function is a built-in formula that does one job. Snowflake's examples are CORTEX.CLASSIFY, which sorts text into categories, and CORTEX.SUMMARIZE, which shortens text.
How your data stays connected
Snowflake says CoCo runs queries using your own permissions, so you only see what you are already allowed to see. It also saves each query into the workbook, so anyone can trace which data a number came from. The company says this helps when two workbooks show different totals and you need to find out which one is right.
Snowflake has also said more features are coming, including adding spreadsheet lineage (a record of where data came from) to its Horizon Catalog, and exporting visualizations. These are future plans, and the company notes that details may change.
Wrap-up
Snowflake's announcement describes a spreadsheet helper that connects to live company data, builds charts and pivot tables, and keeps a record of its queries. Both the Excel and Google Sheets versions are in public preview. Your next step is simple: read the official documentation, find out whether your workplace uses Snowflake, and ask your data team whether a trial makes sense.