AI for data analysis: a safe workflow from file to finding
Assistants can clean data, chart it and write the story. A simple workflow keeps the speed and protects against confident mistakes.
By the Halden editorial team
Start with the question
A decision, not a dataset.
Write what you need to decide and what would change your mind. It keeps the analysis focused and makes errors easier to spot.
Prepare and clean
Look at what the tool changed.
Ask the assistant to describe each cleaning step, then check a sample before and after. Missing values and duplicates are common places for silent errors.
Analyse and verify
Trust, then check.
Ask for the method and the code if used, recompute two or three headline numbers by another route, and test sensible edge cases.
- Request the method.
- Recompute key figures.
- Sense-check against known facts.
Communicate
Assumptions in plain view.
Write down the data source, the date, the assumptions and what the analysis cannot show. Keep the files so someone can reproduce the result.
A next step
Turn this into a decision for your organization.
Explore how AI Implementation works with leaders and teams, or start with a short reflection on where you are today.