Start Here: What to Do First with AI at Work

Howdy, it’s a micro week here! I’m currently travelling and so this week will be very short sorry.

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My goal is to make this as valuable and practical as possible as we navigate the new AI era. 🚀

Here are a few things I found recently:

Every week I talk to smart, experienced leaders who say the same thing:

So here’s the simple version — the Director’s AI Starter Plan:

1. Pick one real task, not a grand strategy.
Don’t “roll out AI.”
Fix something small and painful — a weekly report, meeting notes, or supplier summary.

2. Use a real tool, not a PowerPoint.
Open ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini and actually do the task.
Paste your real data or text (scrub any confidential bits).
Ask: “Make this clearer / shorter / executive-ready.”

3. Track the time saved.
If AI saves you 30 minutes a week, multiply that across 10 people.
Now you have a business case — not a theory.

4. Share the result.
Show your team: “This took 5 minutes instead of 45.”
Nothing builds adoption faster than a demo from a peer.

5. Build from there.
Next week: automate one more thing.
In a month: standardize the prompts.
In a quarter: document your first “AI-assisted process.”

That’s it.
No committees, no 50-page strategy.

Just start.
Because the only people “falling behind” with AI are the ones still waiting to get started.

Weekly AI strategies for operating executives
— Brett

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_{Picture by Clemens van Lay on Unsplash.}