Spreadsheets & Excel Models as AI training data
Most businesses run at least part of their operations in spreadsheets: pricing sheets, stock trackers, rosters, reconciliations. A working workbook is not just a table; its formulas, lookups and macros record how someone reasoned from inputs to a result. Those live files may be useful to AI developers building spreadsheet agents.
Can Spreadsheets & Excel Models be used as AI training data?
Spreadsheets and Excel models can be sold or licensed as AI training data when their live logic is kept. Workbooks with formulas such as XLOOKUP and SUMIFS, Power Query transformations and VBA macros are the most valuable elements. Files stay in native formats, hidden sheets and author metadata are reviewed, and personal values are replaced while formulas keep working.
No files needed upfront. We sign an NDA before reviewing any sample.
What can be included
You choose the scope. These are the parts of Spreadsheets & Excel Models that are typically most useful.
- ✓Workbooks with live formulas such as XLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, SUMIFS and dynamic arrays
- ✓Pivot tables and Power Query (M) transformations
- ✓VBA macros, Office Scripts and Google Apps Script attached to sheets
- ✓Named ranges, data validation lists and conditional formatting rules
- ✓Operational trackers: inventory, scheduling, pricing, commission and reconciliation sheets
- ✓Version history showing how a workbook changed over time
Why AI labs value it
Formulas are reasoning
A formula chain shows exactly how an output was derived from inputs across tabs. That gives models a checkable record of business logic, which a CSV export loses entirely.
Real, untidy structure
Merged headers, cross-sheet references, hard-coded overrides and helper columns are common in real workbooks. Spreadsheet agents have to handle these, and clean sample files do not prepare them.
Macros that encode processes
VBA and Apps Script often automate a weekly or monthly task end to end. They show which steps someone found worth automating and how.
How it is scoped, exported and anonymized
Keep native file formats
Files should stay as .xlsx, .xlsm or native Google Sheets exports so formulas, pivots and macros survive. Converting to CSV removes most of the value.
Check what is hidden
Hidden sheets, very hidden VBA sheets, cell comments, document properties (author names) and external links to file paths are reviewed, because they often contain data people forget about.
Anonymise values, keep the logic
Cells with names, phone numbers, emails or salaries are replaced while formulas continue to reference the same cells. Sheets covering payroll or employee reviews are usually excluded.
How a partnership begins
Share Basic Information
Share only your contact, company, industry, and partnership interests—no raw data required.
Initial Value Assessment
We discuss the data type, completeness, scarcity, and the tasks it could support.
Define the NDA and Boundaries
Before reviewing any sample, we define confidentiality, permitted use, retention, and security requirements.
Receive an Offer and Begin the Partnership
We provide a purchase proposal and contract, then support de-identification and secure data transfer.
Frequently asked questions
- Are downloaded templates worth anything?
- Usually not on their own. What has value is original work, or templates you have heavily adapted to your business with your own logic and history.
- Some macros are password-protected. Can they be included?
- Only if you can unlock them or they are your own work. Protected code from third-party add-ins should not be included.
- Do the numbers have to be real?
- Not necessarily. Values can be transformed as long as the formulas and structure still work. How values are treated is agreed during scoping.
- We have thousands of files on shared drives. Where do we start?
- Start with a sample of the workbooks your team relies on most. The value assessment can tell you which kinds of files are worth a full inventory.
Related
Let's talk about your Spreadsheets & Excel Models.
Share only the essential details. No files are required at this stage.
Contact the Momentra team