Cortex TOP_INSIGHTS shows where to look. FactorPrism gives the answer.
Both run in your Snowflake account. TOP_INSIGHTS ranks the segments most associated with a change. FactorPrism returns the factors behind the whole change, each placed where it acts, adding up exactly.
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Fast triage, native to Snowflake
TOP_INSIGHTS, and the Contribution Explorer experience built on it, is a useful part of Snowflake. Point it at a metric and some dimensions and it ranks the segments most associated with a change, with no pipeline and no data movement. When you do not have a hypothesis yet, it is an efficient way to find where to look.
Where teams get stuckFrom interesting segments to the answer
It ranks; it does not reconcile
When a VP asks what accounts for the whole six points, a ranked list of notable segments is not a closed answer.
Combinations get scattered
The driver is often one combination, such as EMEA × Enterprise × Paid Search. One dimension at a time spreads it across rows.
You still build the bridge
Turning the list into something you can present is still manual work.
| Cortex TOP_INSIGHTS | FactorPrism | |
|---|---|---|
| Adds up to the change | Not designed to | Exactly, with no balancing figure |
| Combinations | Mostly single dimensions | Every level and combination, searched together |
| Runs in Snowflake | Yes | Yes: Native App, read-only on one table or view |
| Output | A ranked shortlist to investigate | A Finding: the answer, a bridge that closes, evidence per factor |
| Best for | Triage: where to look | The answer: why, ready to present |
Triage, then explain
Triage with Cortex
Let TOP_INSIGHTS surface the segments worth attention.
Explain with FactorPrism
Every factor, including combinations, adding up to the full change.
Present one answer
A bridge that closes, with the evidence one click away.
Related: Snowflake built-ins compared · All comparisons · Intersection-level attribution, explained
Honest answers
Doesn't Cortex TOP_INSIGHTS already do this — why would I add another tool?
TOP_INSIGHTS is excellent at surfacing interesting segments to investigate. It isn't designed to produce an exact decomposition that reconciles to the total or to attribute down to factor intersections. FactorPrism does exactly that, in the same warehouse. Most teams use Cortex to find where to look and FactorPrism to produce the answer they present.
Does my data leave Snowflake to use FactorPrism?
No. FactorPrism runs as a Snowflake Native App: your data never leaves your Snowflake account. You grant read-only (SELECT-only) access to a single table or view, and the entire analysis — aggregation, analysis and the optional Cortex-written interpretation — executes inside your account, on your warehouse, under your existing Snowflake roles and governance.
What does "reconciled to the total" actually mean?
Every factor's contribution — including intersections like EMEA × Enterprise × Paid-Search — sums exactly to the observed change, with zero unexplained residual and no balancing plug. The smaller real factors are summed as "All other factors", so the bridge closes without a balancing figure.
Is this just AI guessing at drivers?
No. FactorPrism's proprietary analytics engine produces measured factor contributions that reconcile to the observed change. AI assists the experience and narration; it does not invent the contributions.
Same warehouse, a closed answer.
Bring a question you have already triaged and see what FactorPrism adds.