This is really cool. For context, We have a tool that compiles complex Excel files into highly optimized WebAssembly.. which is great for dealing with those 2M formula files that take 10 minutes to open. We can replace all of that automatically with an API that can be called from any programming language or even a "hollowed out" version of the Excel itself.
However, replacing the functions on the VBA front is trickier. This is no longer pure functional programming, but essentially an application / data integration pipeline that wraps the formula logic. For MSFT, VBA is a dead-end for a variety of technical and business reasons ... unfortunately the current alternatives in Excel (Typescpript Add-ins, ScriptLab, OfficeScripts and lambda) all have some shortcomings. MSFT still hasn't quite gotten it right. As a result some financials have tried moving out of Excel entirely and into things like Python... but those projects either fail outright or reach a steady state of about 10%-30% complete as it becomes clear that you can't replace SMEs with a IT development team and keep up with maintenance and business changes in thousands of files.
Anyway - we have a few clients standing in-front of a few hundred/thousand Excel "Applications" some of which could use a modern, Excel centric IDE and runtime. Would love to chat with you and see if we can help them out together. Look me up on LinkedIn.
However, replacing the functions on the VBA front is trickier. This is no longer pure functional programming, but essentially an application / data integration pipeline that wraps the formula logic. For MSFT, VBA is a dead-end for a variety of technical and business reasons ... unfortunately the current alternatives in Excel (Typescpript Add-ins, ScriptLab, OfficeScripts and lambda) all have some shortcomings. MSFT still hasn't quite gotten it right. As a result some financials have tried moving out of Excel entirely and into things like Python... but those projects either fail outright or reach a steady state of about 10%-30% complete as it becomes clear that you can't replace SMEs with a IT development team and keep up with maintenance and business changes in thousands of files.
Anyway - we have a few clients standing in-front of a few hundred/thousand Excel "Applications" some of which could use a modern, Excel centric IDE and runtime. Would love to chat with you and see if we can help them out together. Look me up on LinkedIn.