# How to ask AI for a report and get a designed PDF or PowerPoint > With your documents in a Box, you ask for the report, the deck or the memo, and the AI writes it from the sources and delivers it as a designed file: cover, tables, charts and citations. Download it, review it and fix it in the same chat. - Source: https://www.usebrainbox.com/en/blog/ask-ai-for-a-report-and-get-a-designed-pdf-or-powerpoint - Author: BrainBox Team - Published: 2026-09-17 - Language: en - Tags: reports, presentations, project-management ## Summary For AI to deliver a report as a designed file instead of text to copy, it needs three things: to write from your documents with citations, an environment where it can actually generate the PDF, PPTX, DOCX or XLSX, and a default style that looks professional without you describing it. In BrainBox you ask for the deliverable in Agent mode and the code interpreter produces it in the BrainBox style (Outfit typeface, white pages, slate text, a restrained blue accent, no gradients, no shouting caps), leaves it downloadable in the chat, and revises it when you ask for changes. --- Asking AI for a report and getting text to paste into Word is half the job. The other half, the one that eats the afternoon, is giving it shape: cover, sections, tables that do not break, a decent chart, sources at the bottom. A tool that generates the complete file, designed and cited, turns "write me the report" into a deliverable you send as is or touch up in ten minutes. > **Worth remembering** > > An AI-generated report is only as good as its sources and only as useful as its format. Without citations it cannot be defended; without a file it cannot be delivered. ## What does an AI tool need to deliver a designed report? It has to write from the documents. The content must come from the selected sources, with a citation for every figure, just like an answer in the chat. A report that reads well but cannot point to the page each number came from becomes a problem the moment someone asks. It has to be able to generate the actual file. A language model produces text; producing a PDF with a cover or a PPTX with 12 slides requires running code. BrainBox uses its code interpreter: HTML and CSS converted to PDF, python-pptx for PowerPoint, python-docx for Word, openpyxl for Excel, and matplotlib or plotly for the charts that go inside. It has to have a default style that does not look AI-made. The BrainBox style is boardroom: Outfit typeface, white pages, slate gray text, a restrained blue accent for rules and emphasis, tables with sentence-case headers. No gradients, no grids of shadowed cards, no "hero metric" with a giant number. If your company has a brand, describe it or upload the template and it uses that instead of the default. BrainBox is an AI workspace for documents that answers with citations to the exact page. The generated report is that same answer, formatted as a deliverable. ## How do you ask for the report, step by step? - **Select the sources in the Box** Tick the files or folders that should feed the report: the contract, the minutes, the data export, the papers. What is not selected does not go in. - **Switch on Agent mode** Generating files requires running code, and that only happens in Agent mode. In RAG mode you get the report's text in the chat, with no file. - **Describe the deliverable, not the design** Format, length, audience and structure: "6-page PDF for the committee, with executive summary, three findings with their source, a risk table and conclusions". The default style handles the design. - **Ask it to keep the citations** "Include footnotes with the document and page for every figure" or "a sources section at the end". That keeps the report verifiable outside BrainBox. - **Open it in the viewer and fix it in the chat** The file shows up as a downloadable link and opens in the side panel. Changes are requested in plain language: "shorten the summary", "switch the chart to bars", "add the logo". - **Save it to the Box or download it** Download it to send it, or ask to save it to the Box so it stays indexed and citable later. ## What does the result look like in the chat? A bids team has the tender document, two addenda and the clarification minutes in a Box, and asks for the internal report to decide whether to bid: **Usuario:** With the selected files, make me a 5-page PDF for the committee: summary, mandatory requirements with their source, changes introduced by the addenda, risks and recommendation. Footnotes with document and page. **BrainBox:** Done. I generated the 5-page report: cover, executive summary, a table of 9 mandatory requirements with the page of the tender document or addendum for each, a changes section (addendum 2 raises minimum experience from 3 to 5 years[1] and addendum 3 moves the closing date to October 15[2]), a risk matrix and the recommendation. Committee report Tender 47-B.pdf [committee-report-tender-47b.pdf] The PDF's 14 footnotes cite the file and page; the requirements table is also on page 3 of the report. 1. Addendum 2.pdf - p. 4 2. Addendum 3.pdf - p. 1 **Usuario:** Turn it into an 8-slide deck for the meeting too. **BrainBox:** Done, same content and style: cover, context, requirements (2 slides), addenda changes, risks, recommendation and sources. Committee Tender 47-B.pptx [committee-tender-47b.pptx] The report does not replace reading the mandatory requirements; it speeds it up. Every row in the table carries the page of the tender document, so the reviewer checks against the original and not against the report. ## Which deliverables can it generate, and with what? | Deliverable | How it is generated | What it includes | |---|---|---| | PDF report or memo | HTML and CSS converted to PDF | Cover, headers and footers, tables, embedded charts, footnotes | | PPTX deck | python-pptx | Slides with titles, bullets, tables and charts; one idea per slide | | Word DOCX | python-docx | Heading styles, tables, notes; editable by the team | | Excel XLSX | openpyxl, xlsxwriter | Several sheets, number formats, tables with headers | | Charts | matplotlib, seaborn, plotly | Editorial style with Outfit; PNG or embedded in PDF and PPTX | | Filled template | Template fill mode | Your Word file or form completed with a citation per field | | PDF merge or edit | PyMuPDF, reportlab | Merge, split, fill existing forms | > **Describe the audience, not the colors** > > "For the executive committee", "for a non-technical client", "for printing in black and white" produces better design decisions than "corporate blue and large type". The default style already handles typography, hierarchy and color; what the AI cannot guess is who will read it. ## What are the limits? | Aspect | Detail | |---|---| | Mode | Agent mode only; the code capability can be switched off per Box | | Time per generation | Maximum 2 minutes per run; a 20-page report with charts fits | | Where it lives | Chat artifact, downloadable; indexed only if you ask to save it to the Box | | Storage | Generated files count toward the workspace quota | | Style | BrainBox by default; your instructions or your template take priority | | Language | The one you ask in; the style uses sentence case in Spanish and sentence or Title Case in English | | Cost | Intelligence units according to the agent's work; more than a reading question | ## How is this different from asking ChatGPT for the report? ChatGPT and Claude also generate files when they run code. The differences come before and after the file. | | General chat | BrainBox | |---|---|---| | Sources | Whatever you paste or upload in that conversation | The Box's: contracts, minutes, data and transcribed meetings, already indexed | | Citations in the file | If you ask and if the model keeps them | Footnotes with file and page, from the same citation system as the chat | | Style | Generic unless you describe it | BrainBox style by default, made for corporate readers; your brand if you give it | | Afterwards | The file is lost when you close | Saved to the Box, indexed and cited in future reports | | Team | Everyone generates their own | One shared Box; the report is visible with the Box's permissions | For recurring reports (the monthly one, the contract follow-up), the flow is the same every time: new sources go into the Box and the request is repeated with the same instructions. For project managers, the progress report comes from the [transcribed meeting minutes](/en/blog/meeting-minutes-from-a-recording-with-ai) and the [analyzed hours export](/en/blog/analyze-excel-with-ai-without-coding). For [legal teams](/en/solutions/legal), it is the memo with the [contract version comparison](/en/blog/compare-two-contract-versions-with-ai) already laid out. *Simulation of the side panel with the files generated in the chat: the PDF open in the viewer and the PPTX ready to download.* Each generation has a 2-minute cap; a 20-page report with three charts and a 12-slide deck fit with room to spare. ## FAQ ### Which formats can it generate? PDF (from HTML and CSS, with cover, headers, tables and charts), PowerPoint (.pptx), Word (.docx) and Excel (.xlsx). Also HTML and Markdown. Charts are generated in the same style and embedded in the PDF or the slides. ### Does the content come from my documents, or does it make it up? It comes from the Box documents you selected. The agent searches the sources, writes with citations, then generates the file. Ask it to keep the citations inside the document (as footnotes or a sources section) so the report stays verifiable outside BrainBox. ### Do I have to describe the design? No. If you say nothing, it applies the BrainBox style: Outfit typeface, white pages, slate gray text, a blue accent for rules and emphasis, no gradients, no all caps in titles or table headers. If you have your own brand (colors, font, template), say so and it uses that instead of the default. ### Can I ask for changes afterwards? Yes. In the same chat: 'change the cover', 'add a bar chart in section 3', 'turn it into 10 slides'. The agent regenerates the file with the changes and makes it downloadable again. ### Where does the file end up? As a chat artifact, downloadable and open in the side viewer. It is not indexed until you ask to save it to the Box; then it goes into your Private folder (_generated subfolder) or the folder you name, and becomes a source for future questions. It counts toward your storage. ### Can it fill in a template of mine? Yes. Upload the template (a Word file, for instance) and ask it to complete it with data from the documents. Every filled field carries its citation to the source.