There's a new AI agent designed for people who spend their waking hours inside spreadsheets. Navigate to Shortcut AI's website, and you'll find a page resembling an empty Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The main difference is a sidebar chatbot that can handle tedious legwork such as building complex financial models or competitive analyses. Because Shortcut is agentic, meaning it can perform multi-step tasks on the user's behalf, it does more than just generate Excel formulas or analyze spreadsheet data. In a demo on X, Nico Christie, founder and CEO of Shortcut AI, showed how the tool swapped out data from a Microsoft distributed cash flow analysis (DCF) for Google data by looking up Google's SEC filings and populating the data in the same template. Shortcut launched on Monday with a tagline: "Try Shortcut (before your boss does)." Christie also said on X that the Shortcut Excel agent "one-shots most knowledge work tasks on Excel." In the launch video, Christie said the company tested Shortcut's skills in private equity, banking, consulting, and product management tasks against first-year analysts from firms like McKinsey and Goldman Sachs. When scored by managers from the same firms, Christie claimed Shortcut "won" against the analysts 89.1% of the time, though details about how this "win rate" was scored remain unspecified. He also claimed Shortcut beat ChatGPT Agent 90% of the time. Mashable cannot independently verify these claims. The rise of agentic work tools like Shortcut recalls Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's prediction that AI could wipe out half of entry-level white-collar jobs. Historically, disruptive technology has targeted manual labor and blue-collar jobs through automation and robotics. However, today's advanced AI models promise to automate desk job grunt work and even complex office tasks. A recent study from SignalFire found a decrease in hiring for entry-level tech jobs, suggesting AI's impact on the job market is already underway. The optimistic view is that tools like Shortcut will work for workers by automating time-consuming tasks, freeing up space for more creative and strategic work that AI isn't as good at. The outcome may vary by company, but agentic AI is already shaping how employees approach their jobs. Indeed, the Shortcut AI agent is marketed as a secret weapon for finance professionals, consultants, and others who rely heavily on spreadsheets. You can edit existing Excel files in Shortcut and export them back to Excel. "No one would ever know that it was made in Shortcut," Christie said in the launch video. Heavy spreadsheet users are already taking notice. "Looks like a massive part of finance workflow got automated by AI," said finance creator and writer @HighYieldHarry on X. "This is a really big moment for the Finance industry! Exciting times we're in," posted Michael Yuan, cofounder of fintech company Waverly AI. Yuan also pointed out some current limitations of Shortcut: it's slow and has formatting issues. Christie himself acknowledged that it's "not perfect" and needs to be easier for users to review.

How to try Shortcut AI

Shortcut offers two plans: Shortcut Pro for $40 a month and Shortcut Max for $200 a month. The Max plan includes everything in Pro plus unlimited access to its more advanced model and other perks. Both options come with a 7-day free trial. Learn more at tryshortcut.ai. Note: The Shortcut AI Excel agent is unrelated to the iOS Shortcuts app, which Apple announced would be getting an AI makeover during WWDC 2025. There is also an unrelated agentic AI company called Shortcut.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Shortcut AI Functionality

Q: What is Shortcut AI? A: Shortcut AI is a new agentic AI tool designed to automate tedious tasks within spreadsheets, particularly for professionals working with tools like Microsoft Excel. Q: What kind of tasks can Shortcut AI perform? A: Shortcut AI can handle tasks such as building complex financial models, performing competitive analyses, and swapping data between different sources by looking up information like SEC filings. It's designed for multi-step operations. Q: How does Shortcut AI compare to other AI tools like ChatGPT? A: In a demo, Shortcut AI's founder claimed it "one-shots most knowledge work tasks on Excel" and beat ChatGPT Agent 90% of the time. However, these claims are not independently verified. Q: What are the limitations of Shortcut AI? A: According to early users, current limitations include slowness and formatting issues. The CEO has acknowledged that the tool is "not perfect" and needs improvements in user reviewability.

Pricing and Access

Q: How can I access Shortcut AI? A: You can try Shortcut AI by visiting their website at tryshortcut.ai. Q: What are the pricing plans for Shortcut AI? A: Shortcut AI offers two plans: Shortcut Pro at $40 per month and Shortcut Max at $200 per month, which includes more advanced features. Both plans offer a 7-day free trial.

Impact and Industry Perception

Q: What is the potential impact of AI tools like Shortcut on jobs? A: Tools like Shortcut are part of a broader trend of agentic AI potentially automating entry-level white-collar jobs. The optimistic view is that these tools will augment human workers, freeing them for more creative and strategic tasks. Q: How is the finance industry reacting to Shortcut AI? A: Finance creators and industry professionals have expressed excitement about the potential for AI to automate significant parts of financial workflows, with some calling it a "massive part of finance workflow got automated by AI."

Crypto Market AI's Take

The emergence of specialized AI agents like Shortcut AI for spreadsheet manipulation signifies a powerful trend in how AI is being integrated into professional workflows. This advancement aligns with our platform's focus on leveraging AI for sophisticated market analysis and trading. At Crypto Market AI, we are also developing and integrating advanced AI agents to streamline complex financial tasks, from data analysis to automated trading strategies. Our aim is to empower users with intelligent tools that enhance efficiency and unlock new levels of performance in the fast-paced cryptocurrency market. For those interested in how AI is reshaping financial analysis, our insights into AI data analytics for strategic crypto portfolios provide a deeper understanding of this technological evolution.

The Shortcut AI Excel agent could 'one-shot' spreadsheet jobs. Here's how to try it.