Use the AI analyst pane

The analyst pane sits to the right of your chart in Analyze. It has two tabs: Fields, which lists every column in the active dataset, and AI, where you chat with your data and run the AI tools.

The AI tools

At the top of the AI tab, a strip reads Show AI tools or Hide AI tools. Expanded, it lists three tools. Open one to see its panel, then start it from the button inside. Nothing runs just because you expand it.

• Insights - click Suggest Insights for AI-discovered patterns in your data. Each insight with a chart has an Explore button that builds it.
• Explain chart - a plain-English read of what the current chart shows. It needs at least one field on the chart.
• Next steps - suggested follow-up analyses based on the current chart. It also needs at least one field on the chart.

Chatting with your data

Type into the box labeled "Message your analyst…" at the bottom of the AI tab and press Enter. You can ask broad questions ("what's interesting about this dataset?") or give direct commands, and the analyst changes the chart for you.

• "Show me revenue by region" builds a bar chart.
• "Show me revenue over order date" builds a line chart.
• "Show me top 10 by sales" shows the top values.
• "Show me distribution of order value" shows how values are spread.
• "Explain this chart" writes a read of the current chart.
• "Apply my Sunset palette" recolors the chart with a saved chart palette you set up in your chart color settings.
• "help" lists the commands the analyst understands.

Shortcuts in the message box

• Type / to open a menu of actions that fit the current chart. Pick one to insert it, and some send right away.
• Type @ to pick a field by name from the active dataset.
• As you type, a gray suggestion may appear. Press Tab to accept the next word, or Right arrow to accept all of it.
• While the analyst is answering, a live elapsed indicator shows how long it has been working, and the send button becomes Stop generating so you can cancel.

Create calculated fields from chat

Ask the analyst to create, change, or delete a calculated field, for example "add a profit margin field". It confirms with a message such as Added calculated field, and the new field appears in the Fields tab like one you built yourself. Undo reverses it.

Change how a field is treated

Ask the analyst to change how a field is read - "treat year as a dimension", "stop summing type", "make Revenue a measure", or "zip is a location". It can set a field as a dimension, measure, date, or geographic field - the same change as the type badge in the Fields tab - without rewriting the underlying values. Name several fields in one request and they change together, and Undo reverses them in one step. If a field can't be changed - it doesn't exist, the dataset is read-only, or you asked to make an aggregate calculated field a dimension - the analyst tells you instead of skipping it silently.

Pin notes to a chart

Ask the analyst to pin notes to the marks it drew - "highlight the high point for each year" adds a note to each year's peak, read from the values the chart actually shows. Notes attach to charts that draw marks, such as bar, line, area, and lollipop charts; the analyst won't pin one to a KPI card, a table, or a chart type with nowhere to put it, and it says so when it can't. Adding a note is undoable.

Highlight members

Ask the analyst to make certain members stand out - "make McLaren stand out", "highlight East", or "show Acme against its rivals". It draws the members you named (up to five) in a bright color and fades every other member to a muted gray, so the ones you care about read first. Say "remove the highlight" or "show all the colors" to bring the palette back. It works on charts that color by a category - not on KPI cards, maps, treemaps, radial or pie charts, or tables - and it names the chart and the reason when it can't.

Add reference lines and bands

Ask for a reference line or band and the analyst adds it the way the format pane would - "add an average line", "draw a target at 100", or "show a ±1 SD band" (a "normal range") for a band at the mean plus and minus a number of standard deviations. If the chart has no measure, or the measure sits on the right axis, it says why instead of drawing one.

Threads and feedback

• Use the Chat threads menu to switch between earlier conversations on this dataset.
• New chat starts a fresh thread. Clear chat empties the current one.
• Each answer has Copy message, Good response and Bad response buttons. Thumbs ratings help us improve the analyst.