Conversational Analytics: Data Agents

Introduction

Data Agents build on the power of Conversational Analytics to further refine the experience of users with no expertise in business intelligence to gain value from your data. With Data Agents, you are able to customize the AI-powered data querying agent with context and instructions specific to your data.

For example, maybe you define a "loyal" customer as one who has made more than five purchases within a certain timeframe. Or, you want to save your users time, so all responses from your data agent should be summarized in 20 words or fewer. Also, you want numbers to be formatted to match company standards. These types of instructions and more can be used to build a data agent that knows how your users want to interact with your data.

This page contains the following sections:

Creating and managing data agents
Starting a conversation with an agent
Sharing data agents and conversations

Requirements for using Conversational Analytics

You must be a user under a Looker Studio Pro subscription. Looker Studio Pro licenses are available at no cost to Looker users.
An administrator has enabled Gemini in Looker using the instructions in the Enable and disable Gemini in Looker for Looker Studio article.

Creating and managing data agents

You can create new data agents to connect to Looker Studio data sources for which you have the Viewer role. You can also edit or delete a data agent that you created.

Creating a new data agent

To create a new data agent, follow these steps:

Navigate to Conversational Analytics.
In the left side panel, click Manage agents, and then click + Create agent.
On the New agent page, provide the following information about your data agent. After you provide these details, you can't change the data source that is associated with the agent, but you can edit the agent's name, description, and instructions at any time.
- Agent Name: Enter a name for the agent. The name should be unique and descriptive.
- Description: Briefly describe what this agent can do and the data that it uses. Users will see this description when they select the agent to start a conversation or when you share the agent with them, so make sure it clearly explains the agent's purpose and how it can be helpful.
- Datasource: Select the Looker Studio data source to connect to. To select a data source, follow these steps:
  1. In the Datasource field, click Select data.
  2. In the Select data from Agent window, under Name, click the name of a data source.
  3. Click Select to add the selected data source to the data agent.
  Note: Once you've selected a data source, you can't select a new data source. You can manage the fields by selecting Manage fields.
Instructions: Provide context to help Conversational Analytics understand how to interact with your data and provide accurate and relevant responses. For examples of the types of context that you can provide, see Writing agent instructions.
To save your new data agent, click Save.

After you save the data agent, you can share the agent with other users and start a conversation with the agent.

Writing agent instructions

When you create a data agent, you can provide the following types of context in the Instructions field:

Synonyms: Alternative terms for key fields
Key fields: The most important fields for analysis
Excluded fields: Fields that the data agent should avoid
Filtering and grouping: Fields that the agent should use to filter and group data

Here are some sample instructions to adjust and test with your agent:

Unless stated otherwise, always filter the data on Order Items Created Year = 2024
We consider "loyal" customers to be those with Order Items Count > 5
If someone says anything about "Location," that means User City
If the question mentions "Seniors", those are Users with User Age > 65
If a question is about Revenue, use Total Sales
When someone says "by product", unless they specifically say "name", group by product category
"Successful" orders means that Order Items status = "Complete"
Whenever there is a question of a timeline, or over time, always use Order Item Created Date as the field to group by

Editing an existing data agent

To edit an existing data agent, follow these steps:

Navigate to Conversational Analytics.
In the left side panel, click Manage agents.
On the Manage agents page, select the data agent that you want to edit.
Update the details about the agent as needed. You can modify the details that you specified when you created the agent, including the Agent Name, Description, and Instructions fields.

Note: While you can't change the data source that is associated with an agent in the Datasource field, you can manage the fields by selecting Manage fields.
To save your changes, click Save.

Deleting a data agent

To delete a data agent, follow these steps:

Navigate to Conversational Analytics.
In the left side panel, click Manage agents.
On the Manage agents page, hold your cursor over the data agent that you want to delete.
Click More options .
Select Delete.
In the Move to trash window, click Move to trash to delete the data agent.

Agents that are moved to the trash will be permanently deleted after 30 days. You can permanently delete a data agent manually, or you can restore a data agent from the trash before it is permanently deleted.

Permanently deleting a data agent

To permanently delete a data agent, follow these steps:

Navigate to Conversational Analytics.
In the left navigation panel, expand the Trash section.
Select the data agent that you want to delete.
In the Are you sure? window, click Delete forever.

Restoring a data agent from the trash

To restore a data agent from the trash, follow these steps:

Navigate to Conversational Analytics.
In the left navigation panel, expand the Trash section.
Select the data agent that you want to restore.
In the Are you sure? window, click Restore.

Starting a conversation with an agent

You can start a conversation with a data agent that you created or that another user has shared with you. To start a conversation with an agent, follow these steps:

Navigate to Conversational Analytics.
In the left side panel, click + Create conversation.
On the Chat with your data page, in the Agents tab, select the agent that you want to start a conversation with.
Type in your question and press return (Mac) or Enter (PC) to start the conversation.

You can return to the conversation from the Recent section.

Only the owner of a data agent can share an agent. The recipients of a shared data agent can see the agent's description but cannot edit the agent. Once an agent is created, it may take a few minutes for it to become shareable.

To share a data agent, follow these steps:

Navigate to the Manage agents page.
Hold your cursor over the data agent and select Share data agent or select Share while editing an existing data agent.
You can invite specific people or Google Groups to share the agent. You can also share more broadly by turning on link sharing for a report.
Once you have added the individuals or groups to the People with Access section, click Done.

The recipient will receive an email with a link to the data agent. When a user selects Create conversation, agents that have been shared with them will appear under Agents. After an agent is initially shared, users won't be able to view the instructions for that agent. Include any relevant information in the agent description.

Revoking access to a data agent

To revoke access to an agent, remove the person or group from the list of People with access in the Share menu of the agent. If the removed user has an ongoing conversation, they will still have access for a minute or two while the changes propagate.

If a user tries to ask more questions once access to an agent is removed, they will see the message The agent in this conversation may not be shared with you, or may have been deleted. You can view any past conversations with the agent, but can't ask new questions.