AI Builder: How to Export Extracted Data to Excel?

Question

Hi,

I’ve trained an AI Builder model to extract data from documents, and now I want to export this extracted data to an Excel sheet automatically. Could anyone guide me on how to achieve this? Is there any flow or method to link the extracted data to Excel using Power Automate or any other approach? i have trained using AI model as extract information from custom documents.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Answer 1

Hello Mekala,

Thank you for reaching out regarding your issue with the AI Builder model and extracted entities.

It can be frustrating when the data you expect to see isn’t appearing. Here are some steps and considerations to help you troubleshoot and resolve the issue:

Troubleshooting Steps:

Verify Model Output:

• Ensure that your AI Builder model is indeed extracting entities correctly. You can do this by testing the model with sample inputs and checking if it returns the expected output.

Check the AI Model Configuration:

• Ensure the Model is Trained: Confirm that the AI Builder model is fully trained and published. Sometimes, if the model is still in a training state, it may not return results.
• Validate the Training Data: Check that the documents used for training included all expected entities and that they were accurately labeled. If not, retrain the model with more representative data.

Verify Extraction Steps:

• Review the Extraction Process: Double-check that you’re using the correct action in Power Automate to extract entities from the documents. Make sure you’re pointing to the right model and providing the necessary inputs (e.g., the document text).
• Output of the Action: After the extraction step, add a Compose action or a Send an Email action to output the extracted data. This way, you can check if the entities are being recognized but not displayed in the expected format.

Inspect the Data Format:

• Sometimes, the data might be present but not in the format expected for the Excel export. Check the output structure from your AI Builder extraction to ensure the entities are correctly formatted (e.g., as an array or a string).

Debugging the Flow:

• Use the Flow Run History feature in Power Automate to see the outputs at each step of your flow. This can help identify where the breakdown occurs.
• Look for the specific output of the AI Builder action to verify whether the entities are being extracted successfully.

Output the Data:

• If you confirm that the data is being extracted but not making it to Excel:
  • Ensure that you’re correctly mapping the outputs to the columns in your Excel table. The entity names should match the table headers in Excel.
  • If the entities are nested (like JSON objects), make sure you’re extracting the specific fields you want to map into your Excel sheet.

Permissions Check:

• If your Excel file is stored on SharePoint or OneDrive, ensure that you have appropriate permissions to access and modify it.
• Sometimes flows may fail due to permission issues when accessing files created by other users

Additional Suggestions:

• Testing with Sample Data: Try running your model against a known sample document where you are certain the entities exist. This can help verify if the issue lies with the document content or the model itself.
• Consulting Logs or Documentation: Review the logs or the documentation for the AI Builder for any specific requirements or known issues related to entity extraction.
• Community Resources: Don’t hesitate to check the Microsoft Community forums or documentation for similar cases; you might find additional insights from others who faced similar challenges.

Additionally, you can refer to these Microsoft articles;

Use flows with Excel for the web - Power Automate | Microsoft Learn

Extract information in Excel using Power Automate - Azure AI services | Microsoft Learn

Use the ID reader prebuilt model in Power Automate | Microsoft Learn

If you've tried these steps and still face issues, please provide more specific details about your flow setup or any error messages you might be encountering. This will help us narrow down the problem further.

Please understand that our initial response may not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.

Appreciate your patience and understanding and thank you for your time and cooperation. Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 2

I’ve already trained a custom AI Builder model toExtract entities from text with one of your custom models, but I’m facing an issue where the extracted entities are not showing up after the process. I’ve followed the steps for extraction, but I can't find the data to export to an Excel sheet.

Is there something I might be missing or a specific way to resolve this? I’d appreciate any guidance on how to get the extracted data to display properly for export.

Thanks!

Answer 3

Hello Mekala,

Good day! Thank you for reaching outto the Microsoft Community.

It sounds like you've made great progress in training your AI Builder model to extract data from documents! Now, to automate the export of this extracted data to an Excel sheet using Power Automate, I can guide you through the process.

You want to automatically transfer the extracted data from your AI Builder model into an Excel sheet. This integration can streamline your workflow and eliminate manual data entry.

You've already trained your AI model, which is a significant step. Now, let's focus on how to set up a flow in Power Automate that will take the extracted data and populate it into an Excel file.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to achieve this:

Sign in to Power Automate:

• Go to the Power Automate portal and sign in with your Microsoft account.Microsoft Power Automate | Home
• In the left pane, select My flows > New flow > Instant cloud flow.
• Name your flow and choose Manually trigger a flow as the trigger.
• Expand the Manually trigger a flow section and select + Add an input > Text.
• Rename this input to something relevant (e.g., "Document Text").

Extract Entities Using AI Builder:

• Select + New step, then choose AI Builder.
• Select Extract entities from text with one of your custom models.
• Choose your trained entity extraction model and use the input text from the previous step.

Prepare for Excel Output:

• After extracting entities, you will need to add another step to write this data into Excel.
• Select + New step, then choose Excel Online (Business).
• Choose the action Add a row into a table.

Configure Excel Action:

• Specify the location of your Excel file (e.g., OneDrive or SharePoint).
• Select the specific file and table where you want to add the extracted data.
• Map the fields from your AI model's output (like entity type, value, and confidence score) to the corresponding columns in your Excel table.

Test Your Flow:

• After setting everything up, click on Save at the top right corner.
• Use the Test feature to run your flow and ensure that data is correctly extracted and populated into Excel.

Monitor and Adjust:

• Check your Excel file after running the flow to see if all data has been transferred as expected.
• If any adjustments are needed (like mapping issues), you can easily modify your flow accordingly.

Additional Tips:

• If you need to process multiple documents at once, you can add a loop in your flow to handle a batch of documents.
• Use notifications or email actions to notify you or a team when data is successfully exported to Excel.

By following these steps, you should be able to automate the process of exporting extracted data from your AI Builder model directly into an Excel sheet.

If you encounter any specific issues during setup, feel free to ask for further assistance!

Please understand that our initial response may not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.

Appreciate your patience and understanding and thank you for your time and cooperation. Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Microsoft Community Moderator