Spreadsheets in the Modern Data Stack - Security, Governance, AI, and Self-Serve Analytics

Explore the persistent role of spreadsheets in modern data analytics through this 14-minute conference talk that examines how traditional spreadsheet tools continue to dominate business analysis despite advances in cloud data warehousing, BI tools, and AI. Learn why business teams in finance, operations, sales, and marketing still rely on spreadsheets for data analysis when they lack SQL knowledge or prefer not to adopt complex BI tools. Discover the security and governance challenges that arise when AI tools and legacy BI systems provide business teams with access to data inside Databricks environments. Gain insights into practical examples and proven strategies that data teams at Fortune 500 companies are implementing to enable secure spreadsheet analysis while maintaining proper data governance. Understand the evolving relationship between spreadsheets and artificial intelligence, and explore predictions for how spreadsheet technology will adapt in an AI-driven future. Benefit from the expertise of Row Zero CEO Breck Fresen, a former Principal Engineer from AWS S3 who contributed to the development of the S3 file system and brings deep knowledge of storage systems, data infrastructure, cloud computing, and spreadsheet technologies to this comprehensive analysis of spreadsheets' place in the modern data ecosystem.