A skill is a written method that DataMind Oda follows for one kind of task, such as building a DCF model or auditing a workbook. Oda in Excel comes with seven built-in skills from DataMind, and your company can add its own. Oda loads a skill by itself when your request matches it, or you pick one with /.
/ with what it does. You can also click Files and tools, the + in the
bar under the text field, and choose Skills, Pick a skill for Oda to follow./. Esc closes the list./, and send./ in front of
your text./ shows the skill your message loaded./, or the part
of it Oda opened, such as /, with From DataMind or From your
company. Reading a skill changes nothing, so it never shows an approval card.You do not have to pick a skill: when your request matches what a skill is for, Oda loads it by
itself, unless the skill runs only when you type its /.
| Skill | What it does |
|---|---|
/ | Audits a workbook you did not build: maps its sheets and how they feed each other, finds broken references, hardcoded numbers, inconsistent formulas, circular references, unit and sign errors, stale links and hidden content, and reports each finding with citations and a proposed fix. It changes nothing until you approve the fixes. |
/ | Cleans a table in place or into a new sheet: trims spaces and hidden characters, turns numbers, codes and dates stored as text into real values, makes category spellings consistent, splits or combines columns and flags duplicates and outliers, with a change log. No row is removed without your agreement. |
/ | Builds, extends or checks a discounted cash flow valuation with live formulas: assumptions, revenue build, margins, capex, working capital, free cash flow, WACC, terminal values, the bridge to equity value and sensitivity grids. |
/ | Builds, extends or checks a leveraged buyout model: sources and uses, the operating case, a debt schedule with tranches and a cash sweep, sponsor IRR and multiple of money, and sensitivity grids, with circular interest handled explicitly. |
/ | Builds, extends or repairs a linked income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement on live formulas, with the supporting schedules, a scenario switch and a balance check, and finds why a balance sheet does not balance. |
/ | Builds, refreshes or reviews a trading comparables sheet: the peer set, the bridge to enterprise value, EV/Revenue, EV/EBITDA and P/E multiples, peer statistics and an implied valuation range, with every typed figure sourced in a note. |
/ | Explains why results differ from a budget, a forecast or an earlier period: variance columns signed favourable or unfavourable, materiality flags, price, volume and mix bridges, and commentary that cites its sources. |
How the built-in skills work:
Your administrators write company skills in DataMind OS and choose Oda in Excel for the ones that should reach Excel; see Skills for DataMind Oda.
A company skill is how your company wants a task done, so it ranks above your request for the task it covers. When you ask for something else, Oda says which company skill applies and follows it. Unless your company requires the skill, you can turn it off in Settings > Skills, and Oda tells you so when you want the task done your way. When Oda follows a company skill and a built-in skill for one task and they differ, the company skill wins.
Open Settings and find the Skills group. It lists every skill you have, built-in and from
your company, each with its name, as / when you can run it with /, what it does and a
switch.
No. Oda loads a skill by itself when your request matches what it is for, such as Audit this
workbook. Typing / makes sure it uses that skill. Skills that run only with their name need
the /.
You turned it off in Settings, your company gave it no slash command, or your company turned the built-in skills off. The list also opens by itself only when the whole message is / and part of a name; with other text in the box, use Files and tools and Skills.
No. A skill says how to do a task, never what Oda may do. Every change asks as your permission mode says, and a skill cannot answer an approval card, change your permission mode or send your data anywhere you did not ask for.
Your own choices about assumptions, layout and scope replace a built-in skill's defaults, then the conventions already in your workbook. Oda says in its reply which defaults it used for anything else.
A company skill ranks above your request for the task it covers, so Oda names the skill and follows it. To work your way, turn the skill off in Settings > Skills, unless your company requires it; then ask your administrator.
No. Its switch in Settings is locked and shows Set by your company. Ask your administrator if it should not apply to you.
Not by themselves. A company skill reaches Excel only when your administrators choose Oda in Excel for it, and the app's built-in skills, such as those for Word and PowerPoint files, are not part of Oda in Excel.
No. Oda in Excel runs skills but has no skill editor. Your administrators write company skills in DataMind OS; see Organisation skills.
Where web search or connectors are on, the skills can look up public figures, and each typed figure gets a note with its source and date. Without them, Oda takes the figures from your workbook, your attached documents or your Minds, or asks you for them.
Within 10 minutes, without reopening the pane. It shows in Settings under Skills and, if it has a slash command, in the / list.