Search icon CANCEL
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Conferences
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
AI and Business Rule Engines for Excel Power Users
AI and Business Rule Engines for Excel Power Users

AI and Business Rule Engines for Excel Power Users: Capture and scale your business knowledge into the cloud – with Microsoft 365, Decision Models, and AI tools from IBM and Red Hat

Arrow left icon
Profile Icon PORCELLI Profile Icon Paul Browne (GBP)
Arrow right icon
€26.99
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5 (7 Ratings)
Paperback Mar 2023 386 pages 1st Edition
eBook
€13.99 €20.99
Paperback
€26.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at €18.99p/m
Arrow left icon
Profile Icon PORCELLI Profile Icon Paul Browne (GBP)
Arrow right icon
€26.99
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5 (7 Ratings)
Paperback Mar 2023 386 pages 1st Edition
eBook
€13.99 €20.99
Paperback
€26.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at €18.99p/m
eBook
€13.99 €20.99
Paperback
€26.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at €18.99p/m

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Colour book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
Product feature icon AI Assistant (beta) to help accelerate your learning
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

AI and Business Rule Engines for Excel Power Users

Part 1:The Problem with Excel, and Why Rule-Based AI Can Be the Solution

The first part of the book builds the case, showing how an AI and business rules approach can help solve the problems you are encountering in Excel.

This section includes the following chapters:

  • Chapter 1, Wrestling with Excel? You Are Not Alone, outlines the problems you may be facing in Excel, but reassures you that you are not the only person to encounter these issues and shows how an AI-based rule approach can help.
  • Chapter 2, Choosing an AI and Business Rules Engine – Why KIE and Drools?, shows why the rules engine and AI tools from the KIE project are the best choice for you as an Excel user and welcomes you to an open community supported by IBM and Red Hat where you can get ongoing support.
  • Chapter 3, Your First Business Rule with the Online KIE Sandbox, dives into writing business rules and creating your first decision model in the online KIE Sandbox using a classic Hello World example.
Left arrow icon Right arrow icon
Download code icon Download Code

Key benefits

  • Explore the business rule tools by implementing real-world examples to write sophisticated rules
  • Discover how decision services solve current business challenges using AI
  • Combine rules with workflows and scripting to deploy a cloud-based production environment

Description

Microsoft Excel is widely adopted across diverse industries, but Excel Power Users often encounter limitations such as complex formulas, obscure business knowledge, and errors from using outdated sheets. They need a better enterprise-level solution, and this book introduces Business rules combined with the power of AI to tackle the limitations of Excel. This guide will give you a roadmap to link KIE (an industry-standard open-source application) to Microsoft’s business process automation tools, such as Power Automate, Power Query, Office Script, Forms, VBA, Script Lab, and GitHub. You’ll dive into the graphical Decision Modeling standard including decision tables, FEEL expressions, and advanced business rule editing and testing. By the end of the book, you’ll be able to share your business knowledge as graphical models, deploy and execute these models in the cloud (with Azure and OpenShift), link them back to Excel, and then execute them as an end-to-end solution removing human intervention. You’ll be equipped to solve your Excel queries and start using the next generation of Microsoft Office tools.

Who is this book for?

This book is for Excel power users, business users, and business analysts looking for a tool to capture their knowledge and deploy it as part of enterprise-grade systems. Working proficiency with MS Excel is required. Basic knowledge of web technologies and scripting would be an added advantage.

What you will learn

  • Use KIE and Drools decision services to write AI-based business rules
  • Link Business Rules to Excel using Power Query, Script Lab, Office Script, and VBA
  • Build an end-to-end workflow with Microsoft Power Automate and Forms while integrating it with Excel and Kogito
  • Collaborate on and deploy your decision models using OpenShift, Azure, and GitHub
  • Discover advanced editing using the graphical Decision Model Notation (DMN) and testing tools
  • Use Kogito to combine AI solutions with Excel
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Hungary

Premium delivery 7 - 10 business days

€25.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Mar 31, 2023
Length: 386 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781804619544
Languages :
Tools :

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Colour book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
Product feature icon AI Assistant (beta) to help accelerate your learning
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Hungary

Premium delivery 7 - 10 business days

€25.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Publication date : Mar 31, 2023
Length: 386 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781804619544
Languages :
Tools :

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
€18.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
€189.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just €5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
€264.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just €5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total 91.97
AI and Business Rule Engines for Excel Power Users
€26.99
Modern Generative AI with ChatGPT and OpenAI Models
€37.99
Data Modeling with Microsoft Excel
€26.99
Total 91.97 Stars icon

Table of Contents

18 Chapters
Part 1:The Problem with Excel, and Why Rule-Based AI Can Be the Solution Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 1: Wrestling with Excel? You Are Not Alone Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 2: Choosing an AI and Business Rules Engine – Why Drools and KIE? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 3: Your First Business Rule with the Online KIE Sandbox Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Part 2: Writing Business Rules and Decision Models – with Real-Life Examples Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 4: More Decision Models, Business Rules, and Decision Tables Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 5: Sharing and Deploying Decision Models Using OpenShift and GitHub Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 6: Calling Business Rules from Excel Using Power Query Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Part 3: Extending Excel, Decision Models, and Business Process Automation into a Complete Enterprise Solution Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 7: Using Business Rules in Excel with Visual Basic, Script Lab, or Office Scripts Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 8: Using AI and Decision Services Within Power Automate Workflows Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 9: Advanced Expressions, Decision Models, and Testing Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Part 4: Next Steps in AI, Machine Learning, and Rule Engines Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 10: Scaling Rules in Business Central with Docker and the Cloud Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 11: Rules-Based AI and Machine Learning AI – Combining the Best of Both Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 12: What Next? A Look inside Neural Networks, Enterprise Projects, Advanced Rules, and the Rule Engine Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Top Reviews
Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
(7 Ratings)
5 star 100%
4 star 0%
3 star 0%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
Filter icon Filter
Top Reviews

Filter reviews by




Ruairi O'hAilin May 23, 2023
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I found this an excellent introduction to the world of business rules and their real-world implementation in the world’s favourite analysis platform (Excel:-!). The author takes on a methodical journey through the building blocks - layer by layer, and manages to assume nothing while maintaining a light-hearted conversational style. It felt like having a friendly mentor or guide along for the journey. The book is up to date and goes into the Microsoft Power platform and Office Script as well as the open source and commercial rules platforms available and finishes with an an exploration of future use cases.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Howard Swerdloff May 14, 2024
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Having spent my entire career working in Enterprise software sales, it is rare to find a book that tells you why you are doing something technical or what you are trying to solve for the business / organization. This book does just that. Starting with why we use Excel, how it is central to organizations, but leaves gaps in solving pain points, it moves into what AI is, how AI can create rules to solve real world problems, and the different methods that have been tried to date (coding, macros, etc.)The author does a good job presenting several tools that can be used and makes a case for his choice of tools. From there, developing the team and understanding what each person does helps break down the way AI application works in the real world. Starting with a single rule and building on the level of complexity helps to provide the path forward to learn and apply AI within Excel. Being able to download all the code examples is also a great timesaver if you do have something that doesn't work exactly as described.Overall, great book and I highly recommend it.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Amazon Customer Jan 01, 2024
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
The title got me curious. Often, we hear that Excel is about to die. Yet, the title “AI and Business Rule Engines for Excel Power Users” puts Excel in the vortex of the latest technology.Reading the Table of Contents made me more curious and excited to read the book. I am an Excel Power user who has developed many custom solutions for companies in various business industries. This book takes the power of Excel to another level, teaching us how to take advantage of it and other Microsoft technologies to set business rules and automate business procedures.This book is very well-written. In easy language, the author explains how companies deal with developing applications to address their business needs and the challenges they face to maintain and evolve those applications.Paul Browne explores our many options with Excel (Tables, VBA, Power Query, Office Scripts, Power Automate, Python and more) and how to integrate those with AI tools and Business Rule Engines to create solid and trustable Enterprise Solutions. The author also explains several approaches and options when selecting and testing the tools to work with.All the fundamental concepts, such as business rules and decision models, are explained, as well as how to build, deploy, share, and later scale them, including several options and approaches, from the free ones that allow the user to learn, explore and test to the more robust ones for when the business is ready to invest and commit to more resources.I think there is nothing left to be put in by the author. He takes the reader by their hand, explains all the options and concepts they need to know, and guides them, step by step, on how to put all the pieces of a Business Rule Engine together. All that is left is on the reader’s side to put in the decision, the time and the effort to learn and develop the solutions they need for their businesses.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Marguerite Gaynor Jul 19, 2023
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
found this book an excellent guide on how to take my knowledge of excel to the next level. The book itself is helpful throughout and is an excellent tool to induce features which are both new to me and as a reference when I am trying to remember how to do something again.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
PJ Ryan May 25, 2023
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
As someone working on Excel daily both for work and community , I though I knew a lot on Excel & VBA, but this book at opened my eyes to a whole new world, while I am not finished yet, I have learned so much more about excel and data, My journey is only is only 1/2 way so I will update you more when I read more, but if you are into Excel and want expand your skills, please get this book !
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

What is the delivery time and cost of print book? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela
What is custom duty/charge? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customs duty are charges levied on goods when they cross international borders. It is a tax that is imposed on imported goods. These duties are charged by special authorities and bodies created by local governments and are meant to protect local industries, economies, and businesses.

Do I have to pay customs charges for the print book order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The orders shipped to the countries that are listed under EU27 will not bear custom charges. They are paid by Packt as part of the order.

List of EU27 countries: www.gov.uk/eu-eea:

A custom duty or localized taxes may be applicable on the shipment and would be charged by the recipient country outside of the EU27 which should be paid by the customer and these duties are not included in the shipping charges been charged on the order.

How do I know my custom duty charges? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The amount of duty payable varies greatly depending on the imported goods, the country of origin and several other factors like the total invoice amount or dimensions like weight, and other such criteria applicable in your country.

For example:

  • If you live in Mexico, and the declared value of your ordered items is over $ 50, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 19% which will be $ 9.50 to the courier service.
  • Whereas if you live in Turkey, and the declared value of your ordered items is over € 22, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 18% which will be € 3.96 to the courier service.
How can I cancel my order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Cancellation Policy for Published Printed Books:

You can cancel any order within 1 hour of placing the order. Simply contact customercare@packt.com with your order details or payment transaction id. If your order has already started the shipment process, we will do our best to stop it. However, if it is already on the way to you then when you receive it, you can contact us at customercare@packt.com using the returns and refund process.

Please understand that Packt Publishing cannot provide refunds or cancel any order except for the cases described in our Return Policy (i.e. Packt Publishing agrees to replace your printed book because it arrives damaged or material defect in book), Packt Publishing will not accept returns.

What is your returns and refunds policy? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Return Policy:

We want you to be happy with your purchase from Packtpub.com. We will not hassle you with returning print books to us. If the print book you receive from us is incorrect, damaged, doesn't work or is unacceptably late, please contact Customer Relations Team on customercare@packt.com with the order number and issue details as explained below:

  1. If you ordered (eBook, Video or Print Book) incorrectly or accidentally, please contact Customer Relations Team on customercare@packt.com within one hour of placing the order and we will replace/refund you the item cost.
  2. Sadly, if your eBook or Video file is faulty or a fault occurs during the eBook or Video being made available to you, i.e. during download then you should contact Customer Relations Team within 14 days of purchase on customercare@packt.com who will be able to resolve this issue for you.
  3. You will have a choice of replacement or refund of the problem items.(damaged, defective or incorrect)
  4. Once Customer Care Team confirms that you will be refunded, you should receive the refund within 10 to 12 working days.
  5. If you are only requesting a refund of one book from a multiple order, then we will refund you the appropriate single item.
  6. Where the items were shipped under a free shipping offer, there will be no shipping costs to refund.

On the off chance your printed book arrives damaged, with book material defect, contact our Customer Relation Team on customercare@packt.com within 14 days of receipt of the book with appropriate evidence of damage and we will work with you to secure a replacement copy, if necessary. Please note that each printed book you order from us is individually made by Packt's professional book-printing partner which is on a print-on-demand basis.

What tax is charged? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Currently, no tax is charged on the purchase of any print book (subject to change based on the laws and regulations). A localized VAT fee is charged only to our European and UK customers on eBooks, Video and subscriptions that they buy. GST is charged to Indian customers for eBooks and video purchases.

What payment methods can I use? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

You can pay with the following card types:

  1. Visa Debit
  2. Visa Credit
  3. MasterCard
  4. PayPal
What is the delivery time and cost of print books? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela