Use Excel's AI to Build Coverage Comparison Tables

What This Does

Excel's Copilot feature structures multi-carrier quote comparisons into clean, professional tables you can present directly to clients — without manual formatting, formula building, or alignment struggles. For account managers creating 3–5 carrier comparisons per renewal, this eliminates 20–30 minutes of tedious work per account.

Before You Start

• Microsoft Excel installed (desktop app or Excel on the web)
• Signed in to Microsoft account
• Microsoft 365 Copilot enabled (check with IT — Copilot is in higher-tier M365 plans; basic Excel formula suggestions are available in all plans)

Steps

1. Open a new Excel workbook

Open Excel and click New workbook.

2. Open Copilot (if available)

Click the Copilot button in the Home tab ribbon (sparkle icon, top right area). If not visible, go to Insert → Copilot.

3. Describe the table you want to create

In the Copilot sidebar, type:

4. Add your actual quote data

The AI creates the structure; you fill in your carrier data. Or provide the data directly: "Fill in row 1 with: Travelers, $4,200, $1M/$2M per occurrence, assault & battery excluded, $500 deductible."

5. Use formula suggestions for totals and comparison

If you want total premium or the lowest-cost option highlighted, ask Copilot: "Add a total row and highlight the lowest premium carrier in green." Or use Formulas → AutoSum manually.

Real Example

Scenario: You received quotes from three carriers for a contractor account. Premiums and coverages are different enough that you need a clean comparison for your client meeting.

What you type to Copilot: "Create a carrier comparison table for a contractor's commercial package policy. Three carriers: Hartford, Travelers, CNA. Rows for GL, Property, WC, Umbrella. Columns: Carrier, Annual Premium, GL Limit, Property Value Insured, WC Classification, Key Differences."

What you get: A formatted table with the correct structure and headers. You fill in the numbers from your quotes. Total time: 5 minutes instead of 25.

Tips

• If Copilot isn't available in your plan, use the basic approach: type your headers manually, then use Alt+Enter for multi-line cells. It's slower but the structure is the same.
• Google Sheets users: type what you want the table to look like in a cell → highlight → use the Explore button (bottom right) to get formatting suggestions, or use Extensions → AppSheet → Explore

Tool interfaces change — if a button has moved, look for similar AI/magic/smart options in the same menu area.