Blog - Lauren Pearl · Lauren Pearl
articleinsightOkay... I was wrong.
1 May 2026Profit
Source excerpt
About Blog - Lauren PearlIf I'm learning one thing this month about experimenting with AI in 2026, it's this:In a world of emergent technology, no one experiment with one tool at one time provides a complete picture of the landscape.Last week, after posting about AI sucking at Excel, a few things happened at once:I got explicit approval from one client to plug their financial data into AIA CFO peer told me how they're successfully using AI for Excel workClaude released a much more powerful model, Opus 4.7The result:I was able to get genuinely useful modeling help from Claude desktop & the Excel plugin.The awesome stuff:Its formulas were reasonable, consistent, and worlds apart from Copilot.It made overall design recommendations that really helped.Claude desktop was clumsy with details (charts, formatting, anything non-formula), but the plugin was excellent at cleaning up the mess - though sometimes with…
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Apollo layer
What a founder can learn
Founder takeaway
Treat conclusions about emerging technology as time-bound hypotheses, not permanent verdicts. Test multiple tools and workflows, document where each succeeds or fails, and revisit your assessment when models, integrations, or data access change.
Why it matters
A single disappointing trial can hide valuable capabilities, while one strong result can create false confidence. A repeatable evaluation process helps founders adopt useful technology without chasing hype or dismissing it prematurely.