INTELLIGENCE
Guides
How to Set Up Apache Superset Dashboards
Apache Superset is a free, open-source business intelligence platform that lets teams build interactive dashboards connected to any SQL database. Setting it up requires Docker and a few terminal commands, but no coding knowledge is needed once it is running. This guide covers installation, database connection, chart creation, and dashboard assembly for teams that want full control over their data without a monthly BI subscription.
How to Set Up Coefficient AI in Google Sheets
Coefficient is a Google Sheets add-on that connects spreadsheets to live data from Salesforce, HubSpot, Snowflake, and more than 100 other business systems. It refreshes data automatically on a schedule, triggers Slack and email alerts when key metrics change, and includes an AI Sheets Assistant that builds formulas, charts, and pivot tables from plain-English commands. The free plan supports three connectors. Paid plans start at $59 per user per month.
How to Set Up Grafana for Business Dashboards
Grafana is an open-source analytics platform that lets teams build live dashboards from databases, spreadsheets, and APIs without writing custom code. Originally built for infrastructure monitoring, it works just as well for business metrics: sales trends, ops KPIs, and team performance reports. This guide walks through installing Grafana, connecting a data source, and publishing your first business dashboard in under an hour.
How to Use Gemini AI in Looker Studio
Gemini AI in Looker Studio adds three features to the familiar dashboard builder: a Formula Assistant that writes calculated fields from plain English, Conversational Analytics that generates charts from natural language questions, and a Google Slides export that turns dashboards into narrated presentations. All three require a Looker Studio Pro subscription at $9 per user per project per month. Setup takes under ten minutes if you already use Google Workspace.
How to Set Up Metabase for Business Dashboards
Metabase is a free, open-source business intelligence tool that connects to your database or accepts CSV uploads and turns that data into charts, dashboards, and automated reports without requiring SQL or engineering support. Using Metabase Cloud, the hosted version, you can go from sign-up to a published dashboard in under 30 minutes. This guide covers account setup, connecting your first data source, building a chart, and scheduling a dashboard email report.
How to Analyze CSV and Excel Files with DuckDB
DuckDB is a free, open-source analytical database that runs as a single binary on your laptop. It lets you query CSV and Excel files using standard SQL without installing a server, writing Python, or uploading data to a cloud tool. Setup takes under two minutes on Mac, Windows, or Linux. This guide covers installation, querying CSV files, reading Excel spreadsheets, joining multiple data files, and exporting results.
How to Set Up Marimo for Data Analysis
Marimo is an open-source Python notebook that replaces Jupyter's execution model with a reactive dependency graph. When a cell's variables change, dependent cells rerun automatically, eliminating stale output bugs. It supports SQL via DuckDB, interactive widgets, and deploys as a web app with one command. Teams at BlackRock and Shopify have adopted it for reproducible analytical workflows.
How to Set Up Tableau Pulse for AI Analytics
Tableau Pulse is the AI analytics layer inside Tableau Cloud that monitors your key metrics and delivers plain-language insights to email and Slack on a schedule. Enabling it requires three steps: turning it on in site settings, publishing a clean data source to Tableau Cloud, and defining at least one metric. Skipping the data preparation step is the most common reason organizations enable Pulse and see no useful output.
How to Set Up Julius AI for Data Analysis
Julius AI is a browser-based tool that lets you upload spreadsheets, CSVs, or connect a live database and analyze data through plain-English questions. It runs Python under the hood and returns charts, tables, and written summaries. The free plan is limited to 15 messages per month. Paid plans start at $35 per month and unlock faster models, larger file handling, and live database connectors.