Conversations
Data Assistant conversations offer a simple, chat-based interface where you can enter freeform questions about your data and leverage generative AI to produce insights.
Open a New Conversation
By default, the Data Assistant is open in new sessions. You can toggle it on or off by clicking Data Assistant in the skill menu. To resize the Data Assistant conversation, click and drag the left edge. Alternatively, if you prefer to view the conversation in a full window, use the Data Assistant tab.
Conversations are unique to the session they're created in. The Data Assistant remembers the questions asked and responses given in each conversation, but these questions and responses can only be referenced in the same session they were created in.
If you've performed some actions on your data earlier in your session, those actions are also recorded in the conversation history.
Ask Questions
Once data is loaded into your session, you can begin asking questions. Enter your question in natural language, then click the wand icon or press Enter to let the Data Assistant find the answer. For example, if you wanted to know how many records are in the current dataset, you could ask, “How many records are in this dataset?”
You can also ask the Data Assistant to generate visualizations. For example, if you wanted to view the sales data month over month, you could ask, "Plot a visualization to show average sales for each month," or, if you'd like to be more specific, "Plot a bar chart to show average sales for each month."
Some chart types are not available in the Data Assistant, including box, horizontal bar, and stacked area. Refer to Chart Types for more information.
Responses
After entering a question, the Data Assistant automatically finds and runs the steps needed to get to your answer. You can watch the solution progress in the Data Assistant's response.
Responses from the Data Assistant can vary, depending on the questions asked. For example, more in-depth questions that require more analysis can produce a response including multiple tables and charts. These tables and charts can then be added to your Data tab or Chart tab, where you can continue working on your analysis, share with others, or publish to an Insights Board.
To add charts and tables generated by the Data Assistant to your Chart or Data tab, simply click the purple Add to Chart tab or Add to Data tab below the output. They are automatically added.
Objects added have a "Data Assistant" or "DA" indicator to denote where it was generated.
Response Explanation
When a response is provided, you can view the summary of steps taken to get that answer in the response header.
To view a more technical explanation, you can click the More menu > Workflow button to see the steps used.
You can copy all of the steps in this workflow by clicking Copy Workflow.
Occasionally, a response may return an empty dataset. In these cases, the Data Assistant provides hints about potential issues with the query rather than definitive explanations, as it does not have visibility into your data values. These hints can help you to identify which step in your workflow may have caused the empty result or pinpoint specific parts of that step to adjust or refine for better outcomes.
Share Responses
Optionally, you can also share responses through a public link using the More menu > Share button. Note that this only shares the specified response, not the entire conversation history.
Feedback Buttons
When a response is provided, thumbs-up and thumbs-down feedback buttons appear in the More menu of the response. Click one to to give feedback about the Data Assistant's response and whether it was beneficial to your data investigation.
If Improve Data Assistant responses based on past feedback is toggled "On", future responses will be refined based on positive feedback to better align with your business terms and context.
To provide detailed feedback, click the Message icon to open the Contact Us form.
Next Steps
From here, you can continue your data investigation by asking the Data Assistant more questions or switch to the Chart tab or Data tab for further cleaning, wrangling, and visualization. Either way, actions taken on your data will be recorded in the conversation history so that you can resume at any time.
Clear Topic
If you'd like to begin a new conversation with the Data Assistant, you can clear the current topic. This prevents your previous questions and the Data Assistant's previous responses from further being used when asking new questions. To clear the topic, simply click the Clear your topic button.
When the conversation is successfully cleared, the button becomes disabled until more questions are asked.