Business Analysts (BAs) often navigate complex requirements, legacy systems, and stakeholder communication—all while keeping pace with development teams. GitHub Copilot, your AI pair programmer, isn't just for developers. It can supercharge BA productivity by translating intent into code, documentation, and diagrams.

In this blog, we explore 10 real-world use cases for GitHub Copilot tailored for BAs—with hands-on prompts and sample code to try yourself in VS Code.

Please note that I have refrained from including a screenshot of the GitHub Copilot results for you to try it yourself and fully appreciate its capabilities.

1. 🔍 Reverse Engineer Legacy Systems

Scenario: Understand undocumented codebases and extract business rules.

What GitHub Copilot Can Do:

• Summarizes function logic
• Explains complex if-else branches
• Traces flow of data

Try This Prompt:

# Explain the business logic of the following function

Sample Code:

def calculate_bonus(salary, years):
    if years >= 5:
        return salary * 0.10
    elif years >= 3:
        return salary * 0.05
    else:
        return 0

2. 🧬 Generate ERDs or Data Models

Scenario: Visualize data relationships from SQL or ORM models.

What GitHub Copilot Can Do:

• Generate Mermaid or PlantUML diagrams
• Parse SQL to detect foreign keys

Try This Prompt:

-- Convert the following SQL to a Mermaid ER diagram

Sample Code:

CREATE TABLE Department (
  id INT PRIMARY KEY,
  name VARCHAR(100)
);

CREATE TABLE Employee (
  id INT PRIMARY KEY,
  name VARCHAR(100),
  dept_id INT,
  FOREIGN KEY (dept_id) REFERENCES Department(id)
);

3. 🚧 Translate Requirements into SQL or Data Pipelines

Scenario: Convert business questions into SQL or Python data logic.

What GitHub Copilot Can Do:

• Translate user stories to SQL queries
• Generate Python scripts using Pandas for analysis

Try This Prompt:

-- How many users signed up via referral in the last 30 days?

Sample Code (Table Definition):

CREATE TABLE Users (
  id INT, name TEXT, signup_date DATE, referred_by TEXT
);

4. 🧪 Create Mock Data for Testing/Demos

Scenario: Generate realistic datasets for testing or demos.

What GitHub Copilot Can Do:

• Suggest hardcoded or script-generated mock data
• Use libraries like Faker in Python

Try This Prompt:

# Generate mock JSON data for 5 customer orders

Sample Code:

import random
import json

orders = [
  {"order_id": i, "amount": round(random.uniform(10, 200), 2)} for i in range(1, 6)
]
print(json.dumps(orders, indent=2))

5. 📄 Auto-Generate Documentation from Code

Scenario: Summarize functions, APIs, and modules.

What GitHub Copilot Can Do:

• Write docstrings
• Generate README sections

Try This Prompt:

# Add docstring explaining what this function does

Sample Code:

def filter_high_value_orders(orders):
    return [o for o in orders if o["amount"] > 100]

6. 🔗 Map System Integrations and Dependencies

Scenario: Visualize how services interact in a system.

What GitHub Copilot Can Do:

• Extract REST/API call flows
• Create sequence diagrams

Try This Prompt:

' Create a sequence diagram for the following flow:
' 1. User submits form
' 2. Frontend calls Backend API
' 3. Backend stores data in DB

Sample Output:

@startuml
actor User
User -> Frontend: Submit Form
Frontend -> Backend: POST /submit
Backend -> DB: Save Data
@enduml

7. ✅ Generate Acceptance Criteria

Scenario: Draft Gherkin-style tests from user stories.

What GitHub Copilot Can Do:

• Write Given-When-Then scenarios
• Cover happy and edge cases

Try This Prompt:

# Write Gherkin scenarios for a login feature

Sample Output:

Scenario: Successful login
  Given the user is on the login page
  When the user enters valid credentials
  Then they are redirected to the dashboard

8. 📃 Write or Review JSON/YAML Specs

Scenario: Create or validate structured config files.

What GitHub Copilot Can Do:

• Suggest fields for OpenAPI specs
• Validate config templates

Try This Prompt:

# Create OpenAPI spec for GET /users

Sample Output:

paths:
  /users:
    get:
      summary: Get user list
      responses:
        '200':
          description: A JSON array of users

9. 🔊 Explain Technical Concepts in Plain English

Scenario: Help stakeholders understand code/config without jargon.

What GitHub Copilot Can Do:

• Translate code into simple explanations
• Summarize scripts or functions in natural language

Try This Prompt:

# Explain in plain English what this function does

Sample Code:

def notify_users(users):
    for user in users:
        if user["active"]:
            print(f"Notify {user['name']}")

10. ⚖️ Model Business Workflows as Code

Scenario: Visualize business processes using Mermaid/PlantUML.

What GitHub Copilot Can Do:

• Turn step-by-step text into diagrams
• Useful for stakeholder walkthroughs

Try This Prompt:

### Convert the following business process to a Mermaid diagram:
1. Customer logs in
2. Customer searches for product
3. System displays results
4. Customer adds item to cart
5. Checkout

Sample Output:

graph TD
  Login --> Search --> Results --> Cart --> Checkout

🚀 Final Thoughts

GitHub Copilot is a powerful ally for Business Analysts looking to improve productivity, clarity, and speed. Whether you're reverse engineering old systems, creating diagrams, or translating requirements, GitHub Copilot makes these tasks more intuitive and efficient.

Try these prompts in VS Code today and see how AI can elevate your analysis game!