New Research Reveals that AI Brings Productivity Gains, but Reliance on Spreadsheets Puts Data Quality at Risk

New Alteryx Global Research Highlights the Evolving Strategic Role of Analysts in the

Alteryx, an AI platform for enterprise analytics, today released research exploring the evolving role of the data analyst. The report, titled “The 2025 State of Data Analysts in the Age of AI,” surveyed 1,400 global analysts including data, IT and operations analysts, across five industries to determine how the role of the data analyst is evolving amidst the rapid rise of analytics automation and AI tools. The report suggests a shift toward a more strategic role that reflects a transformation of the traditional analyst.

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Key Findings:

• AI boosts productivity: Seven out of 10 analysts surveyed agree that AI and analytics automation make them more effective and efficient in their roles.
• Spreadsheet dependency remains: 76% of analysts surveyed still rely on spreadsheets for data preparation tasks.
• The role of the analyst is becoming more strategic: 94% of data analysts surveyed agree that their role impacts strategic decision-making and 87% say that their influence on business decisions has increased in the past year.
• Career growth and AI: Only 17% of analysts surveyed express deep concern that AI will take over their jobs and 90% believe that AI will facilitate the growth of their career.

AI tools appear to be making the role of the data analyst more strategic, however, an overwhelming 76% of analysts surveyed still use spreadsheets as their primary tool for cleaning and preparing data. Nearly half (45%) of data professionals surveyed still spend over six hours per week on data cleansing and preparation tasks. This ongoing dependency on manual data manipulation can create inefficiencies and, more importantly, inaccuracies – which, given AI’s dependency on data, could threaten the quality of AI output.

While this reliance on spreadsheets persists, data analysts express significant optimism about what lies ahead. Nearly half (48%) of analysts surveyed anticipate significant opportunities for career advancement driven by AI adoption and use. In fact, only 17% of data analysts surveyed express concern over AI replacing their jobs. This is a significant reduction from a similar survey of IT and data leaders in 2024, of whom 65% felt that generative AI will likely replace existing job roles over the next two to three years.

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“For data analysts, the results are crystal clear,” said Jay Henderson, SVP of Product at Alteryx. “Leveraging AI as an everyday tool has boosted job satisfaction and reclaimed valuable hours for analysts. For organizations, the challenge is to optimize these productivity gains. This involves building a tech stack to manage advanced AI applications effectively. Plans to implement AI across workforces must go hand and hand with providing data workers the tools that consistently validate confidence in AI outputs. A strong starting point is determining whether your data preparation capabilities can meet these shifting demands.”

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