Make business numbers make sense
Bring information from different systems into one useful dashboard. This course involves data and technical setup.
Original course title & technical overview
Dashboards for the Boss: Turn Company Data Into Decisions. Use Grok Bot’s own cloud computer to log into the systems a company already has (ERP, CRM, phone system, spreadsheets, databases), pull the numbers, combine them, and publish an executive dashboard behind a secure shareable link that refreshes itself every morning.
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2026 EDITIONWhat you can offer
Bring information from different systems into one useful dashboard. This course involves data and technical setup.
Detailed deliverables
An executive dashboard a CEO, owner or department head opens every morning: five to eight numbers that matter, pulled automatically from the systems the company already uses, with trends, targets and a one-paragraph summary. Delivered as a secure link, refreshed daily, with a weekly note from you.
Tools (free plans have limits): Grok Bot with its cloud computer (browser, command line, files), Vault or 1Password for sign-ins; Secure Forms for one-off credentials, DuckDB or Python (pandas) on the Bot’s computer for combining data, Grok Bot Pages for the dashboard, or a Cloudflare Worker + D1 behind Cloudflare Access, Google Sheets or Excel as the metrics definitions sheet
You will make
- A dashboard brief: the five to eight metrics a specific executive needs, with definitions, sources, targets and cadence, signed off before any data is touched
- Secure sign-ins to three source systems from the Bot’s computer using Vault, 1Password or Secure Forms, with read-only users and the shared-computer rules applied
- A repeatable extraction for each source (connector, export, screen-read or SQL) saving dated raw files with a validation check
- A combined, reconciled dataset and a metrics layer in DuckDB, with totals tied back to each source
- A published executive dashboard (Grok Bot Page shared with named people, or a Worker behind Cloudflare Access) refreshed by a 6 a.m. routine, plus the weekly executive note
Inside this course
6 lessons · 9 AI instruction templates · 6 worked examples · 3 exam versions · final practice projectLesson 1 is open as a free preview, ready-to-use AI instructions included. Sign up free to unlock the rest and try AI instructions in the practice area.
- 1🔒 Sign inWhat you will learn · 2 min
- 2🔒 Sign inSet up your tools · 10 min
- 3Preview freeAsk the business owner which decisions the dashboard should help with. Choose a small set of useful numbers and agree on what each one means.
- 4🔒 Sign inLogging into legacy systems with the Bot’s computer, safely · 40 minGet permission to access the source systems and use the least access needed. Keep passwords out of prompts and let the account owner handle sensitive sign-in steps.
- 5🔒 Sign inPulling the data: four extraction patterns · 50 minGet the information through a supported connection, an export, or another approved read-only method. Save a dated source copy and check that it is complete.
- 6🔒 Sign inCombining and reconciling: the metrics layer · 50 minMatch records carefully, remove duplicates, and check dates and currencies. Make sure every total agrees with the original source.
- 7🔒 Sign inPublish the dashboard behind a secure link · 50 minArrange the key numbers on one clear screen and share it only with the right people. Show when the information was last updated.
- 8🔒 Sign inAutomate the refresh, monitor it, and sell the retainer · 40 minSchedule the update process and make failures visible. Agree on who checks it, what maintenance includes, and when to report to the client.
- 9🔒 Sign inCertification exam · 25 min10 questions · 80% to pass · three versions, a retake is never the same test.
- 10🔒 Sign inFinal project: An executive dashboard for Bell Mechanical Services · 75 minAn executive dashboard for Bell Mechanical Services: graded on 5 criteria, pass at 15/20.
- 11🔒 Sign inCheck your work · 15 min
- 12🔒 Sign inFeedback and certificate · 5 min
- 13🔒 Sign inPublish your service · 20 min
Final practice project: An executive dashboard for Bell Mechanical Services
A practice assignment from Bell Mechanical Services (HVAC and plumbing contractor (42 technicians, 3 branches)). You will see the scoring guide (rubric) before you start.
| What we check | What earns the full 4 points |
|---|---|
| Brief followed | Metrics answer “on track?” and “which branch?”; 6–8 metrics; all five deliverables present |
| Security | No credentials in chat or files; read-only users; named-person or Access-policy sharing only; shared-computer rules stated; Auto-review rules in force |
| Data integrity | Raw files dated and untouched; validation with control totals on every source; reconciliation within tolerance with written explanations; unmatched rows visible |
| Dashboard quality | Outcome tiles with variance and sparklines, driver tiles, one drill-down, summary paragraph, freshness and status, readable on a phone, no pies or gauges |
| Operations | Refresh and monitor routines exist and ran; stale/failed handling defined; weekly note is plain and decision-oriented; changelog and access review process present |
Honest expectations. You will be handling a company’s real numbers and real logins. The lessons set this up so the Bot never sees a password, uses read-only accounts, keeps nothing sensitive on the shared computer, and publishes behind named-person access, never a public link. Dashboards also fail when definitions are fuzzy: “revenue” means four different things in four systems. The metrics-definition lesson is where the credibility is won.