Smarter Week

How to automate it

How to automate “build and tweak dashboards”

Here are 2 ways to spend less time on this, best first. Each comes with steps you can follow today.

90 min
typically, a few times a week
40%
of the time can be automated
Some setup
to set up

Fix 1 of 2

Software featureBest fix

Have your BI tool's AI build the first version of the dashboard

Power BI Copilot, Looker with Gemini, Tableau Agent and Hex can create report pages, charts and calculated fields from a description. You refine layout and check calculations.

Typically saves about 30% of the time15 min to set up
  1. 1Start from a clean, modelled dataset.
  2. 2Describe the dashboard: audience, the questions it answers, the key metrics and filters.
  3. 3Let the AI build the first pages and calculated fields (DAX, LookML or Tableau calculations).
  4. 4Check every calculation against a known number, then tidy layout and naming.

Tools: Power BI Copilot · Looker with Gemini · Tableau Agent · Hex · Sigma AI

Fix 2 of 2

Process fix

Retire unused dashboards and keep one per audience

Most BI tools hold hundreds of dashboards that nobody opens, and each one needs fixing when data changes. Fewer dashboards means less maintenance and fewer conflicting numbers.

Typically saves about 25% of the time2 h to set up
  1. 1Pull usage stats from your BI tool for the last 90 days.
  2. 2Archive anything not opened in that time, and tell the owners.
  3. 3Merge near-duplicates into one dashboard per audience.
  4. 4Require an owner and a purpose line for any new dashboard.

Tools: Power BI, Looker or Tableau usage stats

Who does this task

Roles in our library that list this as one of their common tasks. Each guide covers the rest of that role’s week.

Data / BI analyst

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Other common tasks for Data / BI analysts