The BI + AI Learning Path

A step-by-step roadmap from your first spreadsheet to AI-powered analytics. Read the guides in order and practice with our free tools and live dashboards.

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Stage 1 — Excel foundations

2–4 weeks. Learn to organize, summarize and chart data.

  1. Excel for Data Analysis: The Complete Beginner's Guide
  2. Excel Pivot Tables: Step-by-Step Guide with Examples
  3. XLOOKUP vs VLOOKUP vs INDEX-MATCH: Which One to Use
  4. Excel Dynamic Arrays: FILTER, SORT, UNIQUE and SEQUENCE
  5. Excel Charts: Best Practices for Clear Business Reports
  6. The Excel Data Cleaning Checklist (20 Steps)
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Stage 2 — Clean, model and build dashboards

2–3 weeks. Automate cleaning and build your first dashboard.

  1. Power Query in Excel: Clean and Transform Data Automatically
  2. Power Pivot and the Excel Data Model Explained
  3. How to Build an Interactive Dashboard in Excel
  4. How to Build a Weekly Sales Report in Excel
  5. 25 KPIs Every Business Should Track (with Formulas)
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Stage 3 — Power BI and DAX

4–6 weeks. The most in-demand BI tool.

  1. What Is Power BI? A Plain-English Introduction
  2. Your First Power BI Report in 60 Minutes
  3. Star Schema in Power BI: How to Model Your Data
  4. DAX Basics: Measures, Calculated Columns and Context
  5. The CALCULATE Function in DAX, Explained Simply
  6. DAX Time Intelligence: YTD, MTD and Year-over-Year
  7. Power BI Dashboard Design: Layout, Color and UX
  8. Power BI Service: Publishing, Workspaces and Sharing
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Stage 4 — SQL and data warehouses

3–5 weeks. Get data straight from the source.

  1. SQL for Beginners: SELECT, WHERE and ORDER BY
  2. SQL JOINs Explained with Simple Examples
  3. GROUP BY and Aggregate Functions in SQL
  4. SQL Window Functions: ROW_NUMBER, RANK and Running Totals
  5. Connecting Power BI to SQL Databases
  6. Data Warehouse Basics: Facts, Dimensions and Grain
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Stage 5 — Python and AI

Ongoing. Automate reports, forecast and work with AI.

  1. Python for Data Analysis: Where to Start
  2. pandas Tutorial: DataFrames for Excel Users
  3. Automate Excel Reports with Python
  4. Using ChatGPT and Claude as a Data Analyst
  5. 40 AI Prompts for Data Analysis, Excel and DAX
  6. How AI Is Changing Business Intelligence
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Stage 6 — Get hired or get clients

Build proof of your skills.

  1. How to Build a Data Analyst Portfolio That Gets Interviews
  2. The Best BI and Data Certifications
  3. PL-300 Power BI Data Analyst Exam: Study Guide
  4. How to Become a BI Analyst in 2026: Roadmap
  5. Freelance BI: How to Get Your First Dashboard Clients