Microsoft recently upped the price of Excel — which remains the company’s killer app, despite the rise of AI.
A Bloomberg feature noted that the spreadsheet software — originally a knockoff of rival products — turned the PC into a serious business tool upon its release in 1985. Since then, a huge ecosystem has developed: Excel bundled with Office, and it became central to most businesses’ workflows, so rivals like Google Sheets were unable to dislodge it. Hundreds of millions of people use Excel worldwide, influencers’ how-to videos get millions of views, and there is an Excel World Championship.
It also appears surprisingly AI-resistant, for now: Chatbot models, so far, struggle with calculations. CEO Satya Nadella recognizes the app’s centrality to Microsoft’s success, even as the company pivots to AI. He told Dwarkesh Patel that Microsoft is wiring AI models directly into the software itself, to turn Excel into the infrastructure for future agents.