Will AI kill The spreadsheet?
Working within big four consulting firms for years, I used to dream about the death of the spreadsheet. Not just any spreadsheet, but the ones fiercely guarded by people who felt a strange sense of power from owning them. They were territorial, sometimes arrogant, and somehow believed that the more opaque their spreadsheets were, the more indispensable they became. Like Gollum with his precious ring, they would lock away information behind passwords, refusing edits, guarding them as if the fate of the world depended on it.
I longed for the day when this knowledge would be free. When information wouldn't be trapped behind a gatekeeper's ego. That day began to emerge in November 2022 with the arrival of ChatGPT. Suddenly, information was democratised. Knowledge that once sat hidden in spreadsheets, or in people’s heads,was now accessible. No longer would critical insights vanish when someone retired or moved companies. The middle ages of knowledge hoarding were coming to an end.
Spreadsheets had been a fortress, and now the gatekeepers lived in fear—fear that someone might see the formulas, the assumptions, the "secret sauce" that made them feel....INDISPENSIBLE! ChatGPT and other large language models changed the game. They have given people the ability to access information, synthesise it, and even learn the tacit knowledge previously locked in someone’s mind. Knowledge has become more portable, searchable and usable by anyone willing to ask the right questions.
I now work with clients to do just this: free up knowledge, dissolve silos and increase productivity. Imagine what happens when people stop guarding information like treasure: collaboration accelerates, mistakes are reduced and innovation flourishes. Insights that once took weeks to uncover can now be accessed in minutes. Processes that were slow and brittle are now adaptive. The spreadsheet, in its once-dominant form, is dying.
And what of the egos—the gatekeepers who thrived on exclusivity? They were never truly necessary. They lived in fear of obsolescence, hoarding information to protect their value. Now, with AI and democratised knowledge, that fear can fall away. The future doesn’t need the guardian; it needs the facilitator. People who embrace transparency and collaboration will thrive far more than those clinging to old power structures.
The death of the spreadsheet isn’t just a technical shift, it’s cultural. It challenges organisations to rethink how they value information and expertise. It asks leaders to consider: do we reward hoarding knowledge or sharing it? Do we build walls around insights or open the doors? The answer, increasingly, is clear. Knowledge needs to flow and technology is finally making it possible.
This liberation is exciting, but it requires courage. Companies must invest in knowledge management, change the way they work, and trust that people don’t need to hoard information to feel valuable. Once we do, the rewards are immense: faster decision-making, stronger collaboration and a workforce empowered to contribute fully.
The spreadsheet was never evil—it was a tool. But like any tool, it could be misused. Its demise symbolises more than the end of a format; it signals the rise of a new mindset. One where knowledge is more fluid, accessible and human brilliance is amplified rather than locked away.
We are entering a world where information is no longer a possession to guard, but a resource to share. The gatekeepers, once feared, are becoming guides instead. And as that old fear falls away, we can finally see the work for what it should be: a collaborative, creative and empowered pursuit of better outcomes.
The spreadsheet will live on in some form, but its era as the fortress of knowledge is over. Knowledge has escaped, and with it comes opportunity, freedom and a reminder that power lies not in holding information, but in using it to make things better, for everyone.
If you’re a leader wondering where to begin with AI, that first step doesn’t have to be overwhelming. I help leaders cut through the noise, identify the right starting point, and unlock knowledge that drives real productivity.
By focusing on people first, AI can become a tool for empowerment rather than disruption. How is your organisation ensuring AI works for employees, not against them?
AI adoption is not a one-time rollout, it’s an ongoing leadership responsibility. The organisations that will thrive are the ones that invest in people as much as platforms, building confidence, capability and trust at every stage of the journey.
If you want to equip your leaders and workforce to navigate AI with clarity and confidence, Fiona delivers keynotes that translate complex change into practical action. Her sessions help organisations move beyond hype and build human-first AI strategies that actually work.
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