# Hex explained: notebook-style BI for AI-driven analytics teams

> This is content from just-tim, the data-and-analytics channel by Tim Ngwena (formerly 'Tableau Tim'). Tim has 12+ years of hands-on BI experience and covers Tableau most of all, plus Power BI, Looker, Hex, SQL and data modelling, the analytics industry, and the craft of doing the job — always tool-agnostic and honest about the trade-offs.

- **Author:** Tim Ngwena (just-tim, https://just-tim.com/about)
- **Published:** 2026-10-18
- **Format:** Video · 32 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Tool strategy, Data visualisation, AI & ML, Analytics
- **Tools:** Hex
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/hex-platform-overview-notebook-analytics
- **Watch:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mCFn2oXdi0

I take a first look at Hex, exploring its notebook-based philosophy for building analytics, how its agentic AI assistant writes SQL and builds charts automatically, and how the app builder turns notebook cells into shareable dashboards. I also cover pricing, templates, and why Hex's approach suits small, SQL-and-Python-fluent teams rather than drag-and-drop BI users.

## Key takeaways

- Hex builds analytics around a notebook mindset, where cells of SQL/Python analysis combine into a package that powers dashboards and apps
- Its AI agent can autonomously write SQL across multiple tables, generate calculations, and produce charts, then explain its reasoning step by step
- The app builder lets you drag notebook outputs into a dashboard-style interface, including a lineage view showing which queries fed which chart
- Hex doesn't lock you in - the underlying SQL and Python code remains usable even if you stopped using Hex
- Pricing includes a $36/editor individual plan with AI agent access, five published apps, and 30-day version history, plus comparable team tiers with fewer hidden enterprise tiers

## Chapters

- 0:27 Why philosophical fit matters more than features
- 2:43 What Hex is and who uses it
- 8:08 Hex's product marketing and website tour
- 12:25 Pricing and templates
- 13:46 Inside Hex: agent builds a notebook analysis
- 15:17 Notebook cells, SQL queries and visualisations explained
- 17:19 Agent, notebook and app builder tabs
- 19:00 Building a pie chart in the app builder
- 20:49 Raw SQL, Python and no lock-in philosophy
- 23:08 Lineage view and dashboard organisation
- 26:26 Collections, context studio and final thoughts

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/hex-platform-overview-notebook-analytics

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just-tim — Data and analytics, with a point of view. · https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7HYxRWmaNlJux-X7rNLZyw · https://twitter.com/TableauTim · https://www.linkedin.com/in/timngwena