Insight Analyst

Updated by Mara K

Insight Analyst is an AI-powered tool in XactInsights that lets users ask business questions in natural language and receive answers, visualisations and summaries. It removes the need to manually build queries or formulas and speeds up data exploration. 

Note: Insight Analyst is available only to authors who have the XactAI application right. 

Perform a search with Insight Analyst 

  1. From within XactAnalysis, open XactInsights.
  2. Navigate to Insight Analyst in one of the following ways:
    1. Go to the search bar on the XactInsights homepage.
    2. Select Insight Analyst on the menu on the left.

Select a data source 

If you use Insight Analyst on the homepage, you must select the correct data source before asking a question. If you navigate to the Insight Analyst page, you can simply ask a question, and Insight Analyst will auto-select the data model that best matches your query. You can also select a data model yourself by following the instructions below. If your results are incorrect or missing certain values, confirm that you have selected the correct data source. If you change the data source, the context of your question is changed.
  1. Select the data model selector on the search bar.
  1. Select a worksheet from the list in the Select data model window.
  2. Select the Select button.
Note: Questions that reference multiple worksheets may return separate summaries or visualisations. 

Ask a question 

Insight Analyst allows you to use questions and prompts to get insights on data. For best results, write questions in clear, specific language that reflects the exact results you want. Include the measures, attributes, and filters you want to use. If needed, refine your question with follow-up prompts to narrow or clarify results. 

  1. Enter a prompt or question into the search bar.
  2. If you are on the Insight Analyst page, select an analysis mode.
    1. Quick Search helps users get answers faster for straightforward requests.
    2. Deep Analysis provides more comprehensive investigation and planning for complex analytical questions. It may take longer to get an answer.
  3. Select the Submit button or press Enter on your keyboard.

If you select Deep Analysis, Insight Analyst first proposes an investigation plan for how it will analyse data to answer your question. Enter Yes to proceed, or give Insight Analyst feedback on what should change. 

Stop a response 

If a response is taking longer than expected or needs to be revised, you can stop the analysis before it completes. This helps users refine questions more quickly and avoid waiting for unnecessary results.  

  1. Submit a question in Insight Analyst.
  2. While the response is generating, select the Stop button. This cancels the current analysis.
  3. Modify the question or enter a new one.
  4. Submit the revised question.

Review the response 

Based on your question, Insight Analyst selects the appropriate columns, organises the results and returns the top values with a visualisation and short summary. Results depend on the fields available in the selected worksheet. 

Note: You can help improve Insight Analyst by providing feedback on your results. Select the thumbs-up or thumbs-down icon to provide feedback. 

Review how an answer was generated 

The Show Work feature improves transparency by displaying the information and analysis used to generate a response. This helps users validate results and better understand how Insight Analyst arrived at its conclusions.  

After your response is generated, select Show Work to see the process Insight Analyst used to answer your question. Review the steps taken and verify that the results match the intended analysis. 

Change a visualisation 

Insight Analyst generates visualisations based on your search query. You can do any of the following with a visualisation: 

  • Change the chart to a table (or vice versa).
  • Expand the visualisation into a larger window.
  • Pin the visualisation to a liveboard.
  • Save the visualisation as an answer.
  • Download the visualisation as a .png, .xlsx, or .csv file.

Edit a visualisation 

If you select Edit at the bottom of a visualisation, the answer opens in a window that looks similar to the XactInsights search page. You can then add more measures and attributes like you would when performing a regular search. When you are done, select Done editing. 

Edit or delete a question 

  • Select the edit icon to edit your question.
  • Select the delete icon to delete your question.

Refine your answer 

To refine your answer, enter a follow-up question that references the previous result into the search bar at the bottom of the page, then select Submit.  

Follow-up questions inherit filters and context from the previous answer. To remove context, start a new search with a new question instead of asking a follow-up question. You can start a new search by selecting the reset icon on the search bar. 

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