Akkio announced a new way to interact with data that brings the latest advances in machine learning (ML) to everyday Excel users. 

Akkio's new Chat Data Prep allows users to transform spreadsheet data by typing in conversational language rather than entering traditional formulas and formatting commands. Leveraging AI and large language models, Akkio's machine learning platform interprets conversational language and changes the data as users request. 

"The ability to easily transform data with plain language means a 10x reduction in the time it takes to prepare your data for analysis," said Jonathon Reilly, cofounder of Akkio. 

"Just ask for what you want, confirm the preview, and apply the transform in a single click. You can even use Akkio to fix messy date fields, for example by writing, ‘reformat the date to MM/DD/YYYY,' or do time-based math operations like ‘calculate the days from the date to today'." 

Large language models like ChatGPT have set the stage for this movement and are already rapidly transforming the way we interact with technology. These new advances in natural language processing capabilities generate human-like text and create images when prompted by typed descriptions. 

Akkio's Chat Data Prep is the first solution for the preparation and transformation of large volumes of data by large language model technology. Anyone who has used Excel to try and correct a date format, pick a name out of a field of text, or use VLOOKUP knows the tedium of succeeding with a desired data transformation.

"Chat Data Prep saves users days of cleaning and preparing data they would have once done with complicated formulas or SQL," said Reilly. "Business users can upload a dataset, clean and prep data with the same keystrokes they once used to describe the job to a team member, and download a transformed spreadsheet."

Casual spreadsheet users working in excel and seasoned data professionals working in Snowflake and Big Query both struggle to prepare and format data, just on a different scale. Data scientists and Analysts spend as much as 80% of their time on data preparation, and as little as 20% on insight and modeling.

Akkio's machine-learning platform already makes it possible to classify and sequence data, train predictive ML models, and forecast business outcomes with minimal coding knowledge. With the addition of Chat Data Prep, now machine learning does the data prep too. 

Akkio customers use the platform for a wide range of applications including lead scoring, churn reduction, revenue forecasting, ad spend optimization, and for integrating ML-driven features into their own custom-built products. Users can now clean and transform datasets in minutes and gain business insights faster and easier.

Chat Data Prep is free for anyone to try for a limited time on the Akkio platform and is available in the company's entry subscription plans, which start as low as $50 per month. Try Chat Data Prep out now.