Enterprise analytics platform Alteryx has released research exploring the evolving role of the data analyst.

The report, titled The 2025 State of Data Analysts in the Age of AI, surveyed 1,400 global analysts including data, IT and operations analysts, across five industries to determine how the role of the data analyst is evolving amidst the rapid rise of analytics automation and AI tools.

The report highlights a significant shift in the role of data analysts, driven by AI and automation, with seven in ten analysts saying that AI and analytics automation have boosted their productivity, making them more effective in their roles.

Despite technological advancements, the report found that 76% of analysts still rely on spreadsheets for data preparation tasks, meaning that despite the tireless march of AI, it hasn’t quite subsumed the role of traditional tools.

Beyond this, the report found that the influence of analysts on business strategy is growing, with 94% stating that their role directly impacts strategic decision-making and 87% reporting increased influence on business decisions over the past year.

While concerns about AI replacing jobs are low – only 17% express deep worry – an overwhelming 90% believe that AI will support their career growth, reflecting optimism about the technology’s role in their professional development.

AI tools appear to be making the role of the data analyst more strategic, however, an overwhelming 76% of analysts surveyed still use spreadsheets as their primary tool for cleaning and preparing data.

Nearly half (45%) of data professionals surveyed still spend over six hours per week on data cleansing and preparation tasks. This ongoing dependency on manual data manipulation can create inefficiencies and, more importantly, inaccuracies – which, given AI’s dependency on data, could threaten the quality of AI output.

While this reliance on spreadsheets persists, data analysts express significant optimism about what lies ahead. Nearly half (48%) of analysts surveyed anticipate significant opportunities for career advancement driven by AI adoption and use. In fact, only 17% of data analysts surveyed express concern over AI replacing their jobs.

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This is a significant reduction from a similar survey of IT and data leaders in 2024, of whom 65% felt that generative AI will likely replace existing job roles over the next two to three years.

“For data analysts, the results are crystal clear,” said Jay Henderson, SVP of Product at Alteryx.

“Leveraging AI as an everyday tool has boosted job satisfaction and reclaimed valuable hours for analysts. For organisations, the challenge is to optimise these productivity gains. This involves building a tech stack to manage advanced AI applications effectively.

“Plans to implement AI across workforces must go hand and hand with providing data workers the tools that consistently validate confidence in AI outputs. A strong starting point is determining whether your data preparation capabilities can meet these shifting demands.”