# Insights and questions about your sheet

> Use the AI Assistant panel in PlexiiSheets to get a few factual insights about your figures, ask questions about them, and ask across your whole workspace.

Source: https://plexiidesk.com/help/sheets-assistant-insights
Section: Office > PlexiiSheets
Plans: All plans
Updated: 2026-10-15

The **AI Assistant** panel on the right of a spreadsheet reads the sheet you are on. Ask it for insights and it gives a short list of observations drawn from your figures. Ask it a question, such as "Which month had the highest sales?", and it answers from the same figures. It is told to stick to the values in your sheet and to say so when the answer is not there.

## Before you start

- **Plans.** The assistant is on every plan.
- **AI needs to be set up:** PlexiDesk credits while you are signed in, or your own Anthropic key. See [AI credits and where your AI runs](https://plexiidesk.com/help/ai-credits).
- **Name your columns.** The assistant reads each column's name as its heading, so "Revenue" helps more than "C".

## Open the panel

The panel is open when a spreadsheet opens. To hide it, click the arrow at its top right (**Collapse assistant**) or **Assistant** beside the formula bar. Click **Assistant** again to bring it back.

## Get insights

1. Under **Here are some insights from your data**, click **Generate**.
2. The assistant reads the sheet and lists a few short insights, no more than five.
3. After you change the figures, click **Refresh** for a new set.

If the sheet has no data and no named columns, the panel says **Add some data and I can surface insights.**

## Ask a question

1. Under **Ask a question about your data**, type your question, for example "What was the highest value in column B?"
2. Press `Enter`, or click the send arrow.
3. While it works, the panel says **Reading your data.** The answer appears under your question.

## What the assistant reads

- **The tab you are on.** Switch tabs to ask about another one.
- **The first 50 rows that have something in them.** On a longer sheet, the assistant is told it is seeing only part of the data.
- **What is typed in each cell.** For a cell with a formula, it sees the formula rather than its result. For questions about totals and results, a pivot table or a formula of your own is often quicker. See [Pivot tables](https://plexiidesk.com/help/sheets-pivot-tables).

## Ask your workspace

At the top of the panel, **Ask your workspace** answers questions from everything in your workspace, such as your documents, sheets and notes, not just this sheet. Type a question in **Ask anything about your work…** and the answer shows the files it drew on; click one to open it.

## The rest of the panel

- **Recent Activity** shows **No recent activity yet.**
- **Import data** brings in an Excel workbook or CSV file with **Import CSV or workbook**. Importing replaces the current workbook; **Undo** brings it back. See [Import and export Excel and CSV files](https://plexiidesk.com/help/sheets-excel-csv-import-export).

## Common questions

**The answer does not match my totals.**
The assistant reads what is in the cells, and only the first 50 rows with data. Check the figure with a formula, such as `=SUM(B2:B200)`, and ask again with the column and rows named.

**Does the assistant change my sheet?**
No. Insights and answers appear in the panel only. To have AI write into the sheet, use **AI** beside the formula bar or **AI fill**. See [Describe a calculation, get a formula](https://plexiidesk.com/help/sheets-ai-formula) and [Build a sheet with AI fill](https://plexiidesk.com/help/sheets-ai-fill).

**The panel says no API key is set.**
AI is not set up yet. Sign in to use PlexiDesk credits, or add your own Anthropic key. See [AI settings](https://plexiidesk.com/help/settings-ai).

## Related tasks

- [Describe a calculation, get a formula](https://plexiidesk.com/help/sheets-ai-formula)
- [Build a sheet with AI fill](https://plexiidesk.com/help/sheets-ai-fill)
- [AI in PlexiiOffice](https://plexiidesk.com/help/office-ai-actions)
- [Pivot tables](https://plexiidesk.com/help/sheets-pivot-tables)
- [Search everything and ask for an answer](https://plexiidesk.com/help/brain-search)