---
title: "Claude in Excel just one-shotted an XGBoost response model with train-test split, AUC and full decile table. In a spreadsheet."
slug: claude-in-excel
date_published: 2026-02-06T10:00:00.000Z
original_url: https://www.tigzig.com/post/claude-in-excel
source: fresh
processed_at: 2026-02-06T10:00:00.000Z
---

# Claude in Excel just one-shotted an XGBoost response model with train-test split, AUC and full decile table. In a spreadsheet.

![Claude in Excel](/images/blog/claudeInExcel.png)

Just started to check it out.. some 10 minutes only... but what I just experienced will change the way I will work with Excel forever.

Had low expectations

## First Test: Pivot Tables

Asked to create a Pivot table - did it one shot - decently formatted. Great time saver .. for large data creating first pivot with all formulas etc is also tedious.

## The Real Test: XGBoost Response Model

I have a response tag - asked it to create a response model with xgboost - asked to keep shallow depth, test and train and with AUC and full decile table and to check for overfitting

Check it for yourself - just the model eval and decile table is nicely done. It messed up the charts a bit though and the KS diff between train and test is not looking right ...

but for first pass .. right ?

[Excel file google link](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1C67_FUocq3WTu5QoUOyAVIgTc7JqaO1I/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=104934656995825254465&rtpof=true&sd=true)

[ Caveat: nice and tidy dummy data - sharing raw results asis - not reviewed it beyond a cursory scan. I would run this in notebooks to validate - i have seen it make mistakes .. etc... etc... ]

## Excel for Data Work vs ML Models

Working with data - transforming , analyzing, pivot table etc - this is the way I would be going

As for ML models - for past two decades, I have been born and brought up doing that in SAS Editor window and later in Notebooks and Colab.

By the time you get a usable modeling data set after all merging, data issues, cleaning and validating against finance numbers, all the vibe has left the body and you just want to get the model out and done with.

Difficult to digest that all that can be done in Excel - but definitely going to try out . Many models would still need a notebook or Collab, but I can definitely see situations where this might work out well

## The Python Sandbox

Important point: - Claude in Excel runs Python in a sandbox. You don't see the code while it runs. No editor window ... no nothing....it just executes and gives you the output.

Very different from how we are used to working - notebooks, colab, SAS editor, you can see what's happening... so a little difficult to digest that ...

BUT - you can ask it to print the code into a new sheet. And it does. So you can review what it actually ran. .. check in the Excel I just updated

## Worth the Investment

I am on the Claude Max plan for all the full stack builds. But for all analysts - if this is what Claude in Excel can do out of the box on Day Zero - I'll say go get the $20 Pro subscription - out of pocket if you have to - the multiplier effect is immense.

Coding as I have been doing the past two decades has ceased to exist. I believe working in Excel has too. And I love the new world.

## Where Does Your Data Go?

Here is some more nuance on where your data and code goes:

Claude in Excel runs Python on Anthropic's server-side sandbox. Your data leaves your machine, gets processed there, results come back. For my current clients (small / mid sized businesses) - not an issue, they are already using Claude Code and their code bases are already hitting Anthropic servers.

But for banks and large enterprises with dedicated infra and tight data governance policies - this would be an issue. Many of them run Claude and other LLMs through AWS Bedrock or Google Vertex AI or Azure - where the inference stays within their own cloud infra. Data never hits Anthropic's servers directly.

But here's a catch - if your organization is already using Claude Code / Cursor / Codex on Anthropic/ OpenAI's servers (not through Bedrock/Vertex), then your sensitive codebases are already going there. Then this becomes a non issue.

So it depends on your setup. Know what you / your org is working with.