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AutoQL for BI & Analytics Non-Power Users

~5 minute read

Data is the foundation for building powerful strategies that have lasting positive impacts on every business. Because data is so important to operational success and business growth, Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics capabilities are now built into most modern software systems, even if those solutions are not primarily designed to function as reporting tools.

Though leadership, business analysts, and technical teams are likely the most typical power users of BI and analytics software, nearly everyone in an organization has access to some level of reporting capabilities in the software they already use to do their jobs.

Front-line workers, entry-level staff, and even those at the mid or intermediate level of an organization often have less access to information than executives. But every individual at every organization needs to make small decisions every day that contribute to the growth and success of the business, too.

These are team members who may not be trained in analyzing data or other BI processes.

Their primary job is not accessing a database to find insights: a responsibility that usually falls under the domain of an already-overwhelmed technical team whose job it is to run ad hoc reports and configure BI integrations to provide helpful data to the teams who need it.

Executives and leadership demand top priority when information is needed urgently, leaving the rest of the crew to wait days, even weeks, for their reports, and inadvertently forcing them to make decisions without any data at all.

Read more: Streamlining Workflows with (Extra) Accessible Insights

In growth-oriented organizations, everyone needs to be able to make data-driven decisions that help the company thrive. With a conversational AI solution like AutoQL embedded in the software that employees already use every day to execute tasks, access to data can be democratized for both technical and non-technical users across every department.

Setting up a Dashboard with a natural language query for analytics non-power users

With AutoQL, anyone can build or customize Dashboards simply by asking the questions they have about the data in their own words.

Software providers looking to introduce BI-grade functionality for users that are not already familiar with using a BI solution or who are not skilled in data analysis techniques can take advantage of fully-embedded dashboards that are built solely on natural language inputs.

Software providers can rapidly build and deploy a wide range of default or completely customized dashboards to their users or even opt to give their users the ability to create their own. Every dashboard tile and data visualization is created using a simple natural language query (a question that a user has, framed in their own words). Instead of relying on rigid dashboards built for general consumption across departments or even across industries, users benefit from the ability to easily access and even edit their own dashboards to reflect the data they actually need to do their jobs.

For example, a warehouse employee might be interested in having a dashboard available to them that only shows them the day’s deliveries, sales, and inventory status in real time.

To build this dashboard using natural language, the employee could simply query “Show me all deliveries today”, “All sales today”, and “Inventory on hand of top 10 products”. If they wanted to keep a pulse on low inventory items to determine when they might need to place a new order, they could add a query like “Inventory on hand of all products below X amount” and this data would be available to the user in real time.

To add even more value to users and to alleviate ad hoc reporting requests directed at the technical team, software providers can also make available a conversational user interface (UI) that facilitates data access. This makes easy for anyone to ask questions about their data and immediately get answers, on a self-serve basis.

When accessing data is as easy as asking questions in everyday language, similar to how one might ask a colleague, team members don’t have to call on their technical team (or their software vendor) to run those last-minute reports or build out customized dashboards on their behalf.

This expands the usability and value of the BI solution to new markets and new types of users within existing market segments. By providing comprehensive and intuitive data access to typically non-power users, software providers can market new features or tools in their subscription plans, or even create new tiers of service offerings that target more businesses that are looking to empower their team members to make strategic, data-backed decisions on a consistent basis.

Keagan Perlette

Author Keagan Perlette

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