Use Google Sheets AI to Report on Requisition Pipeline Health

What This Does

Pulling time-to-fill, pass-through rate, and source-of-hire numbers out of raw ATS export data usually means hand-building formulas nobody remembers a year later. Sheets' built-in AI writes those formulas for you from a plain description, and if your company has the paid Gemini tier, it can build a whole pivot table or flag stalled requisitions from a single typed request.

Before You Start

• You have a Google account and can open sheets.google.com
• You've exported (or can export) pipeline data from your ATS: candidate stage, dates, requisition ID, source
• For the free Explore panel: nothing extra needed, it works on any Google account
• For Gemini in Sheets: your organization needs Business Standard or higher ($14/user/month); a personal Gmail account will not show the Gemini button

Steps

1. Find the AI feature

Open your exported pipeline data in Sheets. In the bottom-right corner, look for a small four-pointed star icon, that's Explore. You can also reach it from Tools → Explore, or press Alt+Shift+X (Option+Shift+X on Mac). If your org has paid Gemini access, look instead for the sparkle "Ask Gemini" button in the top-right toolbar next to Share.

2. Tell it what you need

Click into the cell where you want a result, then describe the calculation in plain language. In Explore, type a question like "days between today and the date in column F." In Gemini, you can go further: "build a pivot table showing average days-in-stage per pipeline step" or "flag any row where the requisition has been open more than 35 days." Either tool proposes a formula or a structure; you don't need to know the syntax yourself.

3. Review and use the result

Click the suggested formula or chart to insert it, then check a handful of rows by hand before trusting it across the whole sheet. Drag the formula down the column to apply it everywhere, or accept the pivot table Gemini builds and drop it into a separate "Dashboard" tab so raw data and the report stay apart.

Real Example

Scenario: You own 14 open requisitions and need a weekly pipeline-health snapshot for your TA manager without rebuilding formulas from scratch each time.

What you type/do: In Explore: "calculate days since last contact from column F." In Gemini (if licensed): "show me which requisitions have been open longer than our 35-day target, sorted by days open."

What you get: A working formula in column G that updates automatically as you add rows, plus, with Gemini, a short list of at-risk reqs you can paste straight into a status email instead of scanning the whole sheet by eye.

Tips

• Conditional formatting pairs well with an AI-written formula: once the days-open column exists, use Format → Conditional formatting to highlight anything over your target in red, so at-risk reqs jump out without you reading every row.
• Avoid pasting candidate names or notes directly into an Explore or Gemini prompt. Reference the column instead ("column F") so the AI works from structure, not personal data.
• Double-check any formula against two or three rows you know the answer for before you trust it across a full sheet. AI-generated formulas occasionally miscount blank cells or off-by-one date ranges.

Tool interfaces change. If a button has moved, look for similar AI/magic/smart options in the same menu area.