Writing prompts that work

AI for Data Analysts

Andy Cotgreave

Author and Speaker, Former Technical Evangelist at Tableau

 

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"We find that Claude generally succeeds at the tasks it is given, and that the education level of its responses tends to match the user's input."

— Anthropic Economic Index Report

1 https://www.anthropic.com/research/anthropic-economic-index-january-2026-report
AI for Data Analysts

GCSE framework

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AI for Data Analysts

G is for Goal

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What is the desired output or task?

  • "Analyze my data" → a wish, not a goal
  • Be specific about the output
AI for Data Analysts

C is for Context

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The Why

  • AI knows nothing about your business
  • What does an Active user actually mean?
AI for Data Analysts

S is for Scope

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The Task Boundaries

  • What to include and exclude
  • Keeps AI from wandering off target
AI for Data Analysts

E is for Examples

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What does "good" look like?

  • Show format, structure, level of detail
  • One example > three paragraphs of description
AI for Data Analysts
AI for Data Analysts

Let's practice!

AI for Data Analysts

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