Beyond Prompting: Using Agent Skills in Data Science

AI agent skills are reusable packages of instructions and files that help AI handle recurring workflows with more consistency and reliability. A practical example demonstrates automating a weekly data visualization task by creating a 'storytelling-viz' skill. This skill analyzes a dataset, identifies insights, suggests appropriate visualization types, and generates an interactive, storytelling-oriented chart. The development process involved an iterative cycle of planning with an AI, providing personal knowledge, researching best practices, and refining the skill through extensive testing. Skills are particularly effective for repetitive, semi-structured data science tasks and can be combined with other tools to create powerful, automated workflows.