Connecting Looker to Google Slides / Powerpoint

[Sam_Allen]

Hi everyone!

I want to connect Looker to Google slides to automate the process of updating slide decks from Looker. Do you know any 3rd party app that allows to do that?

Thanks,

Sam

[anna_martinez · Accepted solution]

Hi @Sam_Allen, Rollstack (backed by Y Combinator and Google cloud partner) is the perfect answer to what you’re describing. It allows you to automatically create and update their slide decks and documents using the latest data from their BI tools (Looker is supported). You can select precise views, looks you want to export to slides or docs, schedule updates and version control.

[Zbsnsnnzbsb1317]

I want to connect looker to Google slides to automate the process of updating slides deck from looker. Without using any 3rd party app. Suggest me whether it could be done using any programming language?. Or using app scripts?. And the source code as a solution.

[kaaarrloo]

Unfortunately, directly connecting Looker to Google Slides without a third-party app and automating slide deck updates purely through programming languages or App Scripts isn't currently possible.

Here's why:

• Looker API limitations: Looker's public API primarily focuses on data retrieval and exploration. It lacks functionalities to directly embed visualizations or manipulate Google Slides content.
• Google Slides API restrictions: While the Google Slides API allows data insertion and editing, it has security limitations preventing direct calls from untrusted sources like code snippets. This is mainly for security and data protection reasons.

This is why we've been using rollstack. It's super easy for our less-technical analysts to use, and has saved us hours of manual work every month.

That said there is an upcoming webinar next month on using ai to build apps so there could be more insights there. https://www.googlecloudcommunity.com/gc/Events/Supercharge-your-data-applications-with-generative-AI...

[datanerd10]

I think you may be able to do it with python and the rest api but would need additional research, definitely check out the AI webinar Paul mentioned.

If you need something turn key to connect looker to slides or powerpoint rollstack is the best option and has been working great for us.

[amitbiri12]

Yeah, outside of rollstack, other options are things like

• downloading the data to a sheet, then converting to ppt friendly visuals
• screenshots, but you gotta have good file management system in place and it's a lot of manual work.

[Alison2]

Hi @amitbiri12 , Another alternative to Rollstack is Slideform. It is a 3rd party app, but I think you'll find it more flexible and supports more advanced functionality. If you need to automate slide deck updates from a variety of data sources, do check it out.

[Sam_Allen]

Hey Alison, what are some of the differences you've noticed compared to rollstack?

[Alison2]

Hi Sam, I'm not familiar with all the capabilities of Rollstack but here are a few features that a lot of our users find useful: 1) the ability to pull in tables from individual Looks 2) the ability to roll up metrics from these tables and embed them as metrics in presentations (i.e., as a bullet point) 3) visibility controls to hide certain slides depending on user input. 

Overall our goal is to automate fairly complex decks that tie in multiple data sources (from spreadsheets, CRMs, dashboards, etc). Happy to chat more.

[Sam_Allen]

Thanks, Alison.

[katietee12]

Great discussion.

[MissouriZack]

Agreed. Any changes now that AI and LLMs are more established?

[Alison2]

Hey @MissouriZack ,

Yeah! At Slideform we're integrating AI to help you create custom charts and bullet points from your dashboard data. Let me know if you want a demo of the latest capabilities. https://slideform.co/contact

[Gardener76]

Hi, what is the sollution? I am trying to link my Looker Studio to PowerPoint..

thank you.

[anna_martinez]

@Gardener76, here: https://www.rollstack.com

[anna_martinez]

Happy to help @Gardener76!

[anna_martinez]

more on this: https://www.rollstack.com/integrations/connect-tableau-to-google-slides-and-powerpoint

[amitbiri12]

Thanks 👍

[amitbiri12]

Congrats @anna_martinez!! https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/27/rollstack-automatically-syncs-data-to-reports-and-presentations/

Excited for what's next!!

[anna_martinez]

Thank you Amit 🙂

[Alison2]

Hi @Gardener76 , If you're looking for a solution to link Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio) to PowerPoint, you should check out Slideform. It's made specifically for this use case and at a comfortable price point.

[paulmrau]

Rollstack maps Looker to PowerPoint, but for your use case they have Google Sheets to PowerPoint, which should work as well right?

[MissouriZack]

I think this thread is about Looker to PowerPoint.

[Sam_Allen]

@anna_martinez thank you so much!! This is perfect. Just sent you a demo request ?

[anna_martinez]

Seems like you had a great conversation with the team. Looking forward to helping you automate this.

[kaaarrloo]

Rollstack is awesome! We started using it a couple of weeks ago after seeing a post here and loving it.

[anna_martinez]

Thank you @kaaarrloo 🙏🏻

[Andrew_Le]

Hi team wasn't this meant as an official feature? See bottom of page: https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/data-analytics/lookers-universal-semantic-model

[Sam_Allen]

@Andrew_Le I honestly don't believe this will ever get built. For us, we preferred the Looker visualizations in slide decks as opposed to using Google charts, which feel like a step backward compared to Looker. Another aspect we value in Rollstack is its versioning and capabilities for large-scale creations. The process is fully automated, in contrast to what's demonstrated in your link, which still requires manual intervention.

[amitbiri12]

@Sam_Allen Totally agree!

[anna_martinez]

Happy to help @Andrew_Le.

[katietee12]

It mentions Tableau? Why would Looker build a Tableau connector?

[MissouriZack]

Oh interesting, but it's still not here. Maybe in favor of dashboards and expanding Looker Studio and LLM capabilities? Just a thought

[katietee12]

Seems likely

[amitbiri12]

Yes. I agree with this.

[MissouriZack]

Thank you.

[nateceee]

Thanks for sharing. 

[datanerd10]

Is Rollstack is compatible with Office 365 (Looker to PowerPoint and Word)? Thx

[amitbiri12]

Hi @datanerd10 yes it is. They added word earlier this year.

[katietee12]

Yep.