// insight · 29 Sept 2026
Your business runs on spreadsheets. That should worry you
A spreadsheet is a non-developer's way of building an application. With AI, turning a brittle workbook into a robust mini app is now fast and cheap.
By Ben Ross · Founder
Charles Simonyi led the development of Word and Excel. He was so successful that every business on earth now runs critical processes on spreadsheets that were never designed to be software.
That's the trap. A spreadsheet is a non-developer's way of building an application. It works right up until the one person who understands it leaves, or a formula quietly breaks, or two versions diverge and nobody notices until the board pack is wrong.
Two years ago, replacing a spreadsheet with proper software was a project you'd never fund. Today, with AI, turning a brittle workbook into a robust mini app is fast and cheap.
So the CEO's job is simple: find the spreadsheets that carry single-person risk or run something the business can't afford to get wrong. Start there. Convert them one at a time.
This is where Propel is seeing some of the fastest, most measurable AI wins for clients. Watch the video, and if you've got a spreadsheet keeping you up at night, give us a buzz.
Watch the video on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7510431925954764800/

Ben Ross | Founder
A product leader and entrepreneur focused on helping businesses apply AI to real commercial problems — from intelligent automation to agent-based systems. An early voice in the field with a 2015 TEDx talk on AI, he now advises executives, product leaders and founders on turning AI ambition into outcomes
