Use Copilot in Excel to draft a short summary of an actual-versus-expected table

What This Does

You have a results table and a reader who wants three sentences, not twelve columns. Copilot's chat only mode can read the table and describe where the largest differences sit. That gives you a first draft of the narrative for an email or an exhibit note. The numbers stay yours, and every figure in the draft gets checked against the table before anyone else sees it.

Before You Start

• You have Excel for Microsoft 365 open with the Copilot icon visible in the lower-right corner. Microsoft's page says Copilot may be missing if it is not part of your subscription or your organization's settings turn it off. Your IT team can tell you which license you have.
• Your results table is a clean range or an Excel table with a header row. Aggregated cells only. No individual policy or claim rows.
• You know whether your company's AI policy allows this workbook in Copilot. Experience results that have not been released are company data. If the policy is unclear, copy the table into a new workbook, replace the values with invented ones, and practice there.

Steps

1. Open Copilot in chat only mode

Select the Copilot icon in the lower-right corner of Excel. Microsoft's page says Copilot starts in edit mode, where it can change your workbook. Switch to Chat only. The page says this mode analyzes your data and gives insights without making changes to the workbook.

2. Ask for the largest differences

Name the columns you want it to use. Ask only for description, not for causes or recommendations.

Using the table on this sheet, list the rows with the largest difference between Actual and Expected.
Then write two sentences describing them for a product manager.
Use only figures that appear in the table. Do not suggest causes or changes to assumptions.

3. Check every figure in the reply

Read the reply against the table, one number at a time. Copilot may round a ratio differently, rank rows by ratio when you wanted size of difference, or repeat a figure from the wrong row. Copy the sentences you keep into your email or exhibit note, edit them in your own voice, and leave the interpretation to the reviewing actuary.

Real Example

Scenario: Your invented experience table for five cells needs a short note to the reviewing actuary. Counts are invented.

What you type: The prompt from step 2.

What you get: A reply that points to Cell 3 first (25 above expected, ratio 1.25), then Cell 1 (10 below, ratio 0.95), then Cell 2 (6 above, ratio 1.04). It adds a two-sentence note. Now you check it:

• Differences: 190 - 200 = -10, 156 - 150 = 6, 125 - 100 = 25, 76 - 80 = -4, 52 - 50 = 2. They add up to 19, and 599 - 580 = 19.
• Ratios: 190 / 200 = 0.95 and 156 / 150 = 1.04. The total, 599 / 580, is about 1.03.
• Ranking by size of difference gives Cell 3 (25), Cell 1 (10), Cell 2 (6), Cell 4 (4), Cell 5 (2). If the reply ranks Cell 4 above Cell 2, it ranked by ratio instead. Correct it or ask again.

Your note to the reviewing actuary then states the figures from your table and asks what the team makes of Cell 3. It does not say why Cell 3 differs. That judgment belongs to the reviewer.

Tips

• Say "use only figures that appear in the table" in the prompt. It cuts the chance of an invented figure but never replaces the check in step 3.
• If the table has a total row, tell Copilot whether to include it in the ranking. Otherwise a total can crowd out the cells.
• This guide is about communicating a result you already have. To check that a workbook's totals tie, use the separate exhibit-check guide.

Tool interfaces change. If a button has moved, look for similar Copilot or chat options in the same menu area.