Excel has always been more than a spreadsheet. For decades it has been the place where business logic quietly lives. Not in software systems designed for control, but in the free space where analysts, planners and managers actually think. What interests me today is how this space is changing as AI becomes a co-worker rather than a tool. And why Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella keeps returning to Excel when he talks about the future of knowledge work. It suggests that spreadsheets are not a relic of a pre-AI world. They may become one of the primary surfaces where humans steer autonomous agents. ### What spreadsheets already are A spreadsheet is a modelling environment. It shows reality and scenarios at once, across time and uncertainty. It is where risks, margins, and alternatives can co-exist and be compared. It is also a subtle form of programming without the ceremony: a model emerges step by step, and the “code” is simply what the sheet becomes. Nadella makes this explicit when he calls spreadsheets **Turing complete**. In principle they can express any logic a general computer can. Which means they are not just containers for numbers. They are a programming language that millions know by instinct, without naming it as such. > Excel Agent is not a UI-level wrapper. It’s actually a model that is in the middle tier. … I have a full understanding of all the native artifacts of Excel. Because if you think about it, if I’m going to give it some reasoning task, I need to even fix the reasoning mistakes I make. That means I need to not just see the pixels, I need to be able to see, ‘Oh, I got that formula wrong,’ and I need to understand that. - Satya Nadella. ### Rows, columns and the human mind There is a reason this format never felt like learning a new skill. Tables appear across all recorded history. They give us a humane geometry for complexity. Rows group cases, columns define attributes, and the grid allows order without forcing abstraction too early. You can just see what is happening. That deep familiarity matters. New interfaces rarely displace structures that are shaped by human cognition. ### Excel as the IDE we already use Nadella pushes the idea further. He calls Excel an IDE for people who are not thought of as programmers. In software development the IDE is the cockpit where you run, test, and inspect the behaviour of code. Something similar happens in Excel: forecasting, checking dependencies, tracing errors, comparing scenarios. And that cockpit becomes even more important when thousands of AI agents are working in parallel. He describes a shift from **micro execution** to **macro delegation, micro steering**. We will give missions to agents, then watch for anomalies, approve changes, redirect effort. The work will be choosing what matters, not executing each step. For that you need a surface where the structure is visible and steerable. Something like a spreadsheet. ### The sheet joins the workflow This is not about adding AI features to an old tool. It is about moving business logic into a live environment where AI participates: • agents draft projections and proposals directly in the grid • humans intervene at the right moments • the surface shows risk, uncertainty, and alternatives • acceptance and rejection become learning signals for the model In this reading, Excel is not being replaced. It is completing a long arc. From modelling… to programming… to a place where humans and agents collaborate in real time. ### The question that follows If the spreadsheet becomes a cockpit for autonomous agents, what does that mean for governance, for transparency, for the authority of human judgement? We are not only updating a tool. We are updating the boundary between what people decide and what systems propose. The table might remain familiar, but the activity inside it will feel new. It is worth paying attention. The future of AI in organisations may not arrive as a new interface. It may arrive in the grid we already trust. * * * Excel, the Hidden Operating System of Business ReasoningExcel has long been the silent operating system of business reasoning. AI may be about to extend that logic into natural language.Rob HoeijmakersRob Hoeijmakers

The Digital Omnibus Proposal signals a shift in Europe’s approach to data and AI governance. Early awareness matters for those building digital tools.

Policy is loud, practice is quiet. Europe’s future will be shaped by those who build working systems. Here is where I choose to look.

The AI boom’s profits rest on old instincts: to stretch time, hide cost, and believe the ledger before the reality beneath it.

From AI to nuclear ships. A look at the heavy, slow innovation shaping Europe’s future and why it matters more than the tech we usually talk about.

When bots become interpreters of your brand, context matters. llms.txt helps guide what AI systems understand and repeat about your website.

A small ‘Flows’ button in Gmail opened a new chapter in how we automate our work. What began as simple rules now behaves like intelligent agents. Powered by Gemini, Google’s expanding AI layer for Workspace and beyond.

A short video about NPUs and TPUs led to a deeper look at the physical side of AI. From the Neural Engine in your iPhone to the massive processors powering data-centre models.

The EU talks about digital sovereignty as independence, yet its strength still depends on shared systems, U.S. clouds, and global code.

Two reports on AI and politics sparked debate in the Netherlands. Beyond the headlines lies a deeper unease: how do we live with technologies that not only reflect language but act within it?

To access content or services, we often give away more than we should. Decentralised identity lets us prove facts without exposing our digital selves.

Wero is Europe’s bid for payment sovereignty: pay across borders with just an email or phone number, without relying on US networks.

Building on Ethan Mollick’s excellent ‘Opinionated Guide to Using AI Right Now’, this article explores how to choose between the leading AI systems. And what a European perspective adds when moving from free to paid use.

Google waarschuwde me niet. Het wiste gewoon mijn blog. Wat op een foutje leek, bleek een glimp van de toekomst van zoeken te zijn, en het is niet meer voor ons gebouwd.

Podcasts are everywhere, but what’s driving their success? A blend of intimacy, storytelling, and evolving formats holds the answer. Last Thursday, I had the…