There is no rabbit hole here. This is exactly the kind of problem where AI-native spreadsheets show their strength, and the solution is closer than the user thinks. The user has basic spreadsheet skills, a clear set of rules, and a willingness to learn. That is not a starting point for months of VBA frustration. It is a perfect use case for a tool that understands intent, not just formulas.
What the user describes, assigning tasks to 40 people across shifts, respecting hours, averaging workload, and handling PTO, is a constraint-satisfaction problem. Traditional Excel forces the user to build that logic manually, line by line, cell by cell. That is why it takes two to three hours each week. An AI-native spreadsheet can take those same rules and solve the assignment automatically. The user already knows the rules: AM versus PM tasks, shift lengths, available people, and the need to balance hours. The hard part is not the logic. It is the tool. Change the tool, and the logic becomes a prompt, not a macro.
The user should stop researching VBA. Instead, explore how a modern spreadsheet can interpret a set of conditions and produce a schedule. Start by listing the rules in plain language: assign each task to a person, respect their shift, do not exceed their hours, distribute work evenly. That list is already written in the post. Paste it into an AI-native spreadsheet and ask it to generate a weekly schedule. Then test. Adjust. Iterate. The user will have a working prototype before they would have finished debugging a single VBA loop.
This is not about becoming a programmer. It is about letting the tool do the heavy lifting while the user stays focused on outcomes. The two to three hours currently spent on manual scheduling should be spent on the emergencies and call-outs the user already anticipates. Start with the rules already in hand. Let the spreadsheet do the rest.