<Bold_Prompts> #6

Generate Excel formulas, SQL queries, Elasticsearch filters, and more

Meet Mr. Cones, your sidekick in writing data queries and other formulas.

Welcome to the 6th issue of <Bold Prompts>: the weekly newsletter that sharpens your AI skills, one clever prompt at a time.

Every Tuesday, I send you an advanced prompt inspired by a real-world application. Think of these emails as mini-courses in prompt engineering.

Today’s prompt is ideal for you if you struggle to write data queries in languages you don’t use every day.

The story goes something like this: You know what to do with your data, but you have a hard time finding the right syntax and calling the right functions.

Just last week, my colleague and I found ourselves venturing into a data jungle, hunting for hidden gems on behalf of our stakeholders.

We kept switching platforms to dig up multiple datasets and establish connections between them. Messy CSV files, Elasticsearch logs, SQL queries, you name it.

We wanted to locate lags that occurred every day and made our users twist in pain. The expedition went on until we managed to uncover the root causes, quantify the impact, and suggest a few solutions.

Indiana Jones would’ve been proud.

If you've read me long enough, you know I'm too lazy to memorize any particular syntax — and the rise of LLMs gave me the perfect excuse. Why bother typing your code when you can generate it?

This way you can free up your memory for more important things — like obscure movie quotes, smoothie recipes, and your partner’s birthday.

Jokes aside, this is why I keep saying Prompt Engineering is the hottest programming language of the year. With the right prompts and domain expertise, you can cover a wide range of tasks such as:

• Generating ready-to-use SQL queries;

• Manipulating data in Excel;

• Building Kibana/Elasticsearch dashboards;

• Setting up data pipelines;

• Processing data frames using Python;

• Training ML models on low-code platforms.

Data specialists may shrug off today’s topic because they already know how to code. “It’s just faster for me to write my own queries,” they would say —and they’re right.

But another way to see it is you can use LLMs to expand your skills.

Perhaps you’re an SQL pro. Maybe you’re a Python guru. Even if you’re fluent in both, you can easily transfer your knowledge to new territories. Bring your reasoning skills and let LLMs handle the syntax for you.

Speaking of which…

Today's prompt applies to various data-related programming languages — including SQL, Python, Kibana/Elasticsearch, and Excel.

The prompt will:

• Help you clarify what you want to achieve with your query.

• Transform your query from English to the desired programming language.

• Apply best practices for privacy and data handling.

Enough theory — let’s dive into the prompt itself: