Anaconda Distribution for Python Brings Data Science to Hundreds of Millions of Microsoft Excel Users

August 22, 2023 — Anaconda Inc., the provider of one of the world’s most widely used and trusted data science and AI platforms, today announced the beta availability of Anaconda Distribution for Python in Excel, a new integration with Microsoft Excel.  Anaconda’s Python distribution is fully embedded and integrated into the Excel grid toolboxes for manipulating, analyzing, and visualizing data and for advanced machine learning and AI. Python in Excel is currently rolling out to Public Preview and is available for Microsoft Insiders.  

This integration comes at a time of surging demand for both sophisticated and accessible tools for data analysis, modeling, prediction, and AI. Data science has been transforming businesses for over a decade, but the complexity of its tools has limited its reach outside of technical experts. Data scientists must frequently wrestle with command-line environments and manage complex software configurations. The integration of Anaconda-curated Python libraries directly into the Excel grid radically simplifies the analysis workflow and is a paradigm shift in democratizing data science. 

The fundamental promise of business analytics tools is to facilitate better data-driven decision making in the enterprise.  Over the last decade, Python-based data science has transformed every enterprise driven by the explosion in popularity of the Python programming language. Now, the combined power of the rich Python ecosystem with the ubiquitous datasets and models that live within Excel will unlock a transformation in business analytics and predictive modeling for hundreds of millions of users. 

“I am thrilled to announce the integration of Anaconda Distribution for Python into Microsoft Excel – a major breakthrough that will transform the workflow of millions of Excel users around the world,” said Anaconda CEO and co-founder Peter Wang. “This integration represents a significant milestone that accelerates the adoption of Python and fulfills a long-standing request from our community. With the power of Python at their fingertips, we’re empowering Excel users to discover new horizons for advanced data analysis and machine learning projects, while making it more accessible and efficient than ever before. Python in Excel is the future. I am delighted to be leading Anaconda into this exciting new era of data science and analytics.”  

Excel users will now have access to: 

• Data Preparation: Clean and prepare data with Python to save time and effort, focusing on the actual analysis. 
• Custom Logic and Calculations: Use Python expressions to create custom calculations against your data to fit both your simple and complex needs. 
• Advanced Statistical Modeling: Leverage Python’s extensive statistical and mathematical libraries, such as StatsModels and SciPy, to perform complex analyses beyond Excel’s built-in capabilities. 
• Machine Learning Model Implementation: Build, train, and evaluate machine learning models within Excel using popular Python libraries like Scikit-learn. 

• Data Visualization: Create sophisticated visualizations using Python’s matplotlib and seaborn libraries, going beyond traditional Excel charts. 
• Predictive Analytics: Leverage powerful machine learning models to predict future trends based on historical data within Excel directly. 

Benoit Barabe, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Excel, shared, “We are pleased to announce Python in Excel with the integration of Anaconda’s curated libraries, a move that echoes our commitment to transform the way our users interact with data. Excel is the backbone of data analysis in business; with Python in Excel, we’re extending what is possible for our community and creating an ideal medium for data scientists to collaborate with colleagues that rely on Excel. This leap ushers in a new age of Excel where cutting edge visualizations, complex data manipulation, advanced analytics, and machine learning are just a few clicks away in a familiar environment.”

To sign up for the beta and to learn more about Python in Excel, read the blog and visit this page. Follow Anaconda on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube for the latest updates.  

About Anaconda  

With over 35 million users, Anaconda is the world’s most popular platform to develop and deploy Python solutions. We lead Python for data science, champion its vibrant community, and steward the open-source projects behind tomorrow’s artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) breakthroughs. Our solutions enable practitioners and institutions worldwide to harness the power of open source for competitive advantage and groundbreaking discoveries.