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The Nigerian AI startup Decide has achieved a notable global distinction, ranking fourth among the most accurate AI agents for spreadsheet tasks worldwide, according to the respected SpreadsheetBench benchmark. This places the fledgling company among a select group of well-funded international AI developers.
Founded by former Flutterwave developer Abiodun Adetona, Decide has experienced rapid user growth since its public launch mere months ago, amassing over 3,000 users—including paying customers—within a short timeframe. This traction is particularly impressive given the company’s modest size of only three employees and its lack of external funding.
Decide’s high ranking is underscored by the stature of the three agents that outscore it: Nobie Agent, Shortcut.ai, and Qingqiu Agent. These competitors operate with significant advantages, such as a $30 million funding round or a multi-billion-dollar market capitalisation, highlighting Decide’s achievement in competing with far fewer resources.
The SpreadsheetBench evaluation is designed to test practical competency by measuring how well AI agents perform real-world tasks such as writing formulas, cleaning data, and navigating complex multi-sheet workflows. In this rigorous test, Decide achieved an 82.5% accuracy rate, successfully solving 330 out of 400 verified tasks.
The benchmark’s credibility is key to understanding Decide’s accomplishment. Developed by researchers from prestigious Chinese universities and presented at the top-tier NeurIPS 2024 AI conference, SpreadsheetBench is built from genuine Excel problems sourced from user forums, ensuring it reflects real-world challenges rather than artificial tests.
Why You Should Decide on AI Tools for Your Business
Addressing Timestaking Spreadsheet Works
With Decide, Adetona decided to address the common frustration professionals face with time-consuming manual spreadsheet work. The agent distinguishes itself by directly executing actions within a spreadsheet—such as cleaning data or correcting formulas—and then explaining its reasoning in plain language, moving beyond mere suggestion to practical implementation.
Decide’s success contributes to a larger narrative about the trajectory of African AI innovation. A recent industry analysis suggests that, in 2025, the continent’s AI sector is characterised more by focused problem-solving with limited resources than by sheer scale. Yet, Decide’s performance raises a strategic question: whether and how African startups should aim for global competition.
Ultimately, Decide’s story embodies both the potential and the challenge for African tech. While demonstrating that local talent can produce world-class, competitive AI tools that solve concrete problems, the journey also underscores a significant barrier: accessing the substantial capital required to scale such innovations and sustain a challenge on the global stage.
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