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Case studyQueryReader: Natural Language to SQL

QueryReader, Benchmark's natural language to SQL platform, letting business users answer their own data questions safely, grounded in the real schema.

Industry
Retail / Data Analytics
Headquarters
—
QueryReader: Natural Language to SQL
80%
Routine data requests handled via self-service
Key Metrics Measured after
rollout
0%
Routine Requests Handled via Self-Service
0%
Less Analyst Time on Ad Hoc Queries
Background

An omnichannel retailer removing its analyst bottleneck with schema-aware natural language queries.

A leading omnichannel retail company operates hundreds of stores alongside a growing online business.

The company wanted business users to access data through natural language queries, enabling them to retrieve accurate insights without writing SQL, while ensuring responses aligned with the underlying database schema.

The company's transactional and reporting data sits in MySQL databases with hundreds of tables.

Business teams know exactly what they want to ask but not how to ask it in SQL.

The analyst team had become a bottleneck for the whole organization, and the backlog of routine data requests kept growing.

The company wanted business users to answer their own questions safely, with queries guaranteed to match the real schema.

Background
Retail / Data Analytics
—
Challenges faced & defined solution

5 real bottlenecks. 5 matching fixes.

Every operational bottleneck reported was matched to the workstream(s) that resolved it.

The challenge

SQL Skills Gap

Non technical staff could not write SQL for their own questions.

Defined solution

Plain English to SQL

Business users type questions in natural language and receive correct, ready to run MySQL queries.

Query Builder Front End

A React interface lets users ask questions, run queries, and view results without any SQL knowledge.

The challenge

Analyst Bottleneck

A small team handled every ad hoc query request for the entire business.

Defined solution

Plain English to SQL

Business users type questions in natural language and receive correct, ready to run MySQL queries.

The challenge

Schema Mismatch Errors

Hand written queries often referenced wrong tables or columns and failed.

Defined solution

Schema Aware Generation

Google Gemini generates each query grounded in the live database schema, so results match real tables, columns, and keys.

The challenge

Slow Turnaround

Routine data pulls took days from request to result.

Defined solution

Plain English to SQL

Business users type questions in natural language and receive correct, ready to run MySQL queries.

The challenge

Steep Learning Curve

New joiners struggled to understand an unfamiliar and complex database.

Defined solution

Query Builder Front End

A React interface lets users ask questions, run queries, and view results without any SQL knowledge.

The Impacts

Real, measurable improvements in self-service, turnaround and data access.

Self Service Answers

Business users answered routine questions themselves in minutes.

Analysts on Real Analysis

The analyst team shifted from repetitive pulls to higher value work.

Fewer Failed Queries

Schema grounded generation removed the most common query errors.

Faster Decisions

Teams acted on same day data instead of waiting for the queue.

Easier Onboarding

New staff explored the database through plain English instead of learning its structure first.

Faster Turnaround for Routine Data Pulls

Turnaround for routine data pulls likely dropped from days to minutes.

Fewer Schema-Mismatch Failures

Query failures from schema mismatches were likely reduced significantly through schema aware generation.

Expanded Data Access

Data access likely expanded to every business team, not just those with SQL skills.

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