November 5, 2025
All hail Brenda, Queen of Cells
A Quote from Belligerentbarbies
TikTok crowns Brenda: Excel's AI sparks panic, praise, and memes
TLDR: Excel is getting an AI sidekick, and a viral TikTok warns bosses might trust it over the human spreadsheet pro “Brenda.” Comments split between predicting AI-fueled corporate disasters and shrugging that bad managers already break things, while many salute the Brendas quietly propping up fragile finance systems.
The internet just crowned Brenda the patron saint of spreadsheets, thanks to a viral rant warning that Excel’s new AI “Copilot” could tempt bosses to bypass the one person who actually understands the monster. Copilot is an AI helper baked into Excel that suggests formulas and builds reports—cool, until it “hallucinates” (confidently makes stuff up). Commenters brought the drama: cjs_ac predicts a headline-grabbing meltdown—“a publicly-listed company will go bankrupt” and blame the bot. AmbroseBierce plays the nostalgia card: yes, Brenda is slower now, but that’s the price of keeping the “house of cards” upright. Traster shrugs: chaos isn’t new; “idiots in senior management” have been breaking things long before AI, and reputation filters already punish them.
simonw drops receipts, pointing to the original TikTok and even explains how he transcribed it, because of course this internet saga has bonus behind-the-scenes nerdery. Then glimshe delivers a corporate horror story: a single Perl script in a lonely cubicle corner once controlled all payments—one employee held the keys to the kingdom. The meme of the day? “Brenda vs The Bot.” The consensus vibe: trust the human who sweats the cells, not the AI that makes them up.
Key Points
- •The quote criticizes the addition of AI Copilot to Excel.
- •It highlights reliance on experienced finance staff for accurate Excel-based reporting.
- •A scenario is described where a manager uses AI to alter a financial report instead of consulting an expert.
- •The article warns that AI hallucinations could cause serious spreadsheet errors.
- •It contrasts AI’s risks with human expertise, emphasizing the need for expert oversight in financial workflows.