Looker’s New AI Explores: Data Queries Just Got a Capybara Upgrade

Looker just dropped a major update to its Explore feature, and it’s like giving your data a pair of water wings. With AI assistants and a slick new UI, even the most swampy datasets become crystal clear. Let’s dive in.

AI Assistants: Your Data’s New Best Friend

Looker’s new Explore comes with a trio of AI helpers that make querying feel like chatting with a friendly capybara. No more cold starts or syntax headaches.

AI-assisted Quick Start

If your data modeler hasn’t set up predefined Quick Starts, Looker’s Gemini models generate ad hoc queries automatically. It’s like having a caiman guide you through the murky waters—except this one actually helps.

Insight Assistant

Type natural language questions, and the Insight Assistant uses the Conversational Analytics API to find fields, apply filters, and build tables. It’s a massive time-saver for complex analysis.

Expression Assistant

Describe your custom calculation in plain English, and Looker writes the Looker Expression (Lexp) syntax for you. No more wrestling with syntax—just describe what you want.

AI-generated Explore Summary

If an Explore lacks a description, Looker auto-generates one. It’s like having a tour guide for your data swamp.

Modernized UI: Cleaner, Faster, Friendlier

The new interface is polished and intuitive. Here’s what you’ll find:

• Customizable workspace: Resizable field picker with readable long names.
• Data table contextual menus: Right-click to change granularity, filter blanks, or add calculations like ‘% of column’.
• Visual pivots: Drag and drop fields to pivot data into columns and rows (coming soon).

Redesigned Merge Queries: Join the Swamp

Merge queries now have a unified, in-window architecture. Check out the new features:

• Dynamic three-panel interface: Configure joins on the left, pick fields in the middle, preview data on the right. Edit source queries without losing context.
• Smart join suggestions: Automatically suggests optimal join fields like state and month.
• Instant query linking: Paste a prebuilt query URL to start a join.
• Expanded row limits: Default limit increased to 50,000 rows for non-BigQuery sources.

Pairing conversational AI with a simplified UI gives business users the confidence to explore data on their own. Talk to your Looker admin to enable the new experience. For more details, check out the documentation.

If you’re comparing tools, see our reviews of Google Cloud, Supabase, and Neon Database for more data insights.

Original announcement published on Google Cloud.