As a data scientist/software engineer the idea that in this day and age people are still entering number into spreadsheets by hand kind of baffles me. Why isn't this stuff all automated?
Probably because I'm almost always dealing with humans and not machines I'm in the construction industry, and I'm always "finding the lowest bidder", and putting together cost estimates for work based on incomplete designs that seem to change every week. We may get pricing from half a dozen different vendors that need to be sifted through and entered into our estimating spreadsheet. Most quotes are PDF's, but some also typed out emails, etc. I don't know how you'd automate getting the information from my email inbox (or sometimes a voicemail) onto a consolidated estimating form, while at the same time being able to compare quotes for completeness, so you don't sign up a guy who missed half the scope.
Much of the tech in the construction world is probably a decade behind more advanced industries, like scientific research. There are a few guys out there that still draw plans with pencil and paper! (tho that is pretty rare now)
we do have many of our internal cost reports exported directly from the accounting database to an excel spreadsheet, but then we still have to manually review and enter data based on budget projections and actual cost overuns/underuns. We have giant spreadsheets here, some track millions of dollars in change orders and pricing, others are loaded up with dozens of formulas and tabs that calculate labor hours with all kinds of user-set variables.
Now that I think about it, it blows my mind how much we rely on these spreadsheets. My world (mostly) revolves around Excel haha.