Credential · Finance, operations and managers · 8 clock hours

AI Data and ReportingClean it. Check it. Report it.

Each person takes one report they produce every week or month and rebuilds it with AI: clean data, tested formulas, commentary that ties to the numbers, and a template that makes next month a refresh.

Hands-on training in Excel or Google Sheets with your company's AI: Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude

Plan training How it's earned

The credential at a glance

Credential: AI Data and Reporting Certificate
Type: Certificate
Clock hours: 8
Format: Four 2-hour build sessions, in person
Schedule: One 2-hour session a week, or two 4-hour half-days a week apart
Price: $1,000 a seat, invoiced after the last session
Class size: 8 to 15 people
Assessment: Rubric on the work itself, a live demo and a 20-question quiz
TechCred: Listing in progress. Reimbursement isn't guaranteed until the state lists it.
Issued by: Paglow Automations (Ohio AI Solutions LLC), Lima, Ohio
Before the first session: Uses spreadsheets at work: sorting, filtering and simple formulas. No programming needed.
A business seat on the company's AI, plus Excel (Microsoft 365) or Google Sheets.
One recurring report the learner owns or helps build, picked with their manager in a 15-minute kickoff.
Past copies of that report and an export of its data, with the red data removed.

Competencies

What a holder can do

TechCred pays for applied skills in developing, building, configuring or operating technology. Every competency below ends in something the learner built, configured or ran, and an assessor checks the evidence.

Build

Make the thing that does the work.

Clean a real data export with AI help (duplicates, formats, missing values, mismatched names) and log every change.
Evidence: Cleaned dataset and cleaning log
Build the report's formulas, pivot tables and charts with AI help, and test each formula on cases with known answers.
Evidence: Analysis workbook with formula tests
Have AI draft the report's written commentary from the numbers, limited to what the data actually shows.
Evidence: Commentary draft

Configure

Set the rules it runs under.

Decide which fields in the report's data may go into an AI tool, mask or remove the rest, and record the rule.
Evidence: Data rules for the report, signed by the manager
Turn the report into a template of saved steps, prompts and checks, so next period's report is a refresh rather than a rebuild.
Evidence: Report template and runbook

Operate

Run it, test it, keep it running.

Reconcile the cleaned data to its source so the totals match, and explain any difference that remains.
Evidence: Reconciliation check
Tie every number and claim in the commentary back to a cell, and correct or cut anything that doesn't tie.
Evidence: Fact-check log

Analyze

Measure the work before and after.

Document how one recurring report is produced today: its sources, its steps, the time it takes and who reads it.
Evidence: Report baseline sheet
Measure the before-and-after time to produce the report, and demonstrate a refresh on new data in five minutes.
Evidence: Before-and-after numbers and a live demo

The four sessions

Two hours each. Something built every time.

In person, on the schedule that suits your team. Each session ends with something the learner keeps and the assessor checks.

Session 1 · 2 hours

Get the data right

One report's data cleaned, reconciled and safe to use.

The report mapped: sources, steps, time and readers
Data rules: what may go into the AI, and what gets masked
A real export cleaned with AI help, every change logged
Totals reconciled to the source

Proof: Baseline, data rules, cleaned data and reconciliation

Session 2 · 2 hours

Build the analysis

Formulas, pivots and charts the learner can explain and has tested.

The report's calculations built with AI help
Each formula tested on cases with known answers
Pivot tables and charts for the questions the readers actually ask
A plain-English note on what each calculation does

Proof: Analysis workbook with formula tests

Session 3 · 2 hours

Write it and check it

A draft report whose every number ties back to the data.

AI-drafted commentary limited to what the data shows
A fact-check that ties every figure to a cell
Flags for anything unusual, explained or sent for review
A person's sign-off before the report goes out

Proof: Report draft and fact-check log

Session 4 · 2 hours

Make it repeatable

Next period's report is a refresh, not a rebuild.

The report saved as a template: steps, prompts and checks
A one-page runbook a coworker could follow
A timed refresh on new data
Before-and-after numbers, a five-minute demo and the quiz

Proof: Template, runbook, numbers, demo and quiz

Two ways to schedule it

Weekly, or two half-days.

Same four sessions, same 8 clock hours, same credential either way. I don't run it as one long day: the week between visits is when people put what they built to work on real tasks.

Weekly

4 visits

One 2-hour session a week for four weeks.

Between sessions, people use what they just built on real work, and the next session picks it up.

Two half-days

2 visits

Two 4-hour half-days a week apart: sessions 1 and 2 on the first, 3 and 4 on the second, with a short break in each.

Between the half-days

Each person pulls a fresh export of the report's data. Day two finishes the report and refreshes it on that new data, timed.

Assessment

How it's earned

The credential is earned on the work, not on attendance alone. An assessor scores the learner's own artifacts against six criteria.

Proficient or better on all six rubric criteria, 80% or more on the 20-question quiz, and all 8 hours attended.

Criterion 1

Data rules and cleaning

Proficient means

Fields are classed and masked where needed, and every cleaning change is logged.

Criterion 2

Reconciliation

Proficient means

Totals match the source, or every difference is explained.

Criterion 3

Analysis and formula tests

Proficient means

Each calculation passes its known-answer tests, and the learner can explain what it does.

Criterion 4

Commentary and fact-check

Proficient means

Every number and claim in the commentary ties to a cell, and nothing is invented.

Criterion 5

Template and runbook

Proficient means

A coworker could refresh the report from the template and the runbook.

Criterion 6

Results

Proficient means

Before-and-after time is measured, and a refresh on new data is demonstrated live.

Not yet
Developing
Proficient
Exemplary

Every criterion has to reach Proficient.

A missed session is made up from the recording plus a 30-minute build check before the class meets again. If someone hasn't met the bar by the last session, I book extra one-on-one time with them at no charge until they do. Each certificate carries a verification code anyone can check at paglow.com/training/verify.

Accounts and tools

Your business owns the accounts.

They're opened by your business, billed by the software companies, and never part of the training invoice. Owning them is what keeps the work running after class.

Your company's AI, on a business plan

One seat per learner on the AI the company already uses: Microsoft 365 Copilot, ChatGPT Business or Enterprise, Gemini in Google Workspace, or Claude Team or Enterprise. A personal account doesn't count.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Business is $21 a user a month on top of a Microsoft 365 Business plan. ChatGPT Business is $25 a user a month, or $20 billed yearly. Gemini comes with Google Workspace Business Standard, about $14 a user a month billed yearly. Claude Team is $25 a seat a month, or $20 billed yearly. Billed by each provider.

Software isn't reimbursable under TechCred, so the seats are yours directly and never on the training invoice. Business plans are required because on them the provider doesn't use your business data to train its models by default.

Excel or Google Sheets

Where the report is built and kept.

Part of the Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace plan the business already has.

Already yours, so the report and its template stay with the business.

Paglow isn't affiliated with Microsoft, OpenAI, Google or Anthropic. Copilot, Excel, ChatGPT, Gemini, Google Sheets and Claude are their makers' products.

Data safety

What never goes into an AI tool

In session 1 every learner sorts their data into green, yellow and red. Red never goes into an AI tool. These are the red lines each department starts from.

No patient information goes into any AI tool in class, ever.