3 Ways to Use AI to Support Your Business Operations

This blog was originally shared on January, 15 2024. With the relaunch of our website (www.curateimpact.co), we are reposting our blogs on the new website and on LinkedIn.

In the spring of 2023, I had a full 24 hours where I fretted over the possibility of Artificial Intelligence (AI) replacing my job– also, that it might take over and destroy the world. I know I’m prone to picturing worst-case-scenario possibilities. As time has progressed and professionals across industries have embraced AI support, I also have incorporated AI into my daily workflows. The more I use AI, the more I see it as a helpful tool that makes me more efficient, but at this point, still relies on my human self to successfully perform its role. 

I also realized I’ve been using versions of AI for a long time! See my previous post on automations, here.

Here are 3 ways I’ve embraced the newest versions of Artificial Intelligence to support my or my client’s business operations.

Email drafts

At times I am teeing up emails for 3-5 different individuals. There are many different factors to incorporate in these emails: sender, recipient, typical tone, general content, situation specific details etc. I haven’t yet felt confident in AI’s ability to nail the tone or the details, but I love that I can type in my stream of conscious requests and AI will get me started with a strong draft. From there, I can edit for tone or incorporate details the AI overlooked.

Brainstorming & Research

Much of my work is taking a vague idea from an Executive and turning into a concrete plan. This can involve hours of brainstorming, research, and decision making. AI does some of this brainwork for me! Instead of just Googling and sorting through multiple websites to cherry-pick the information I need, I can get very specific with AI and create a solid base to jump off of. At times I’ve even asked AI to tell me which option is the best. This can help me confirm my own intuition as I make recommendations to clients.

Meeting Notes

I’ve never felt like taking meeting notes is my strong suit. Which information is most important? Can I type fast enough to keep up? How do I organize the notes when discussion doesn’t always flow logically? Enter, AI. There are many AI tools that can join meetings live and either offer a transcript or a summary of the meeting. I even had one tool that included recommended next steps based on the discussion. (Note: AI got it wrong here and recommended “Implement learnings for the next camping trip” from our ice breaker questions, but A for effort!)

Case Study

So what might this look like in reality? I recently prompted AI to “draft an email to a donor thanking them for their recent grant contribution”. This is what they came back with.

This was a good start, but the tone was too formal for the organization I work with. So I prompted the AI to do the same, but with a warmer, casual tone and more gratitude. This was the next response:

This was a great jumping off point for me! I removed the gif, deleted the line about the warm, fuzzy blanket (though it earned a chuckle from me) and filled in the details specific to my client and their organization. This all took me about 3 minutes, which typically takes much longer when drafting from my brain alone.

Voila, email ready to send!

Conclusion

As we’re almost a year into this AI explosion, I’d be surprised if any of us aren’t using AI regularly, even if we don’t know it yet. Once my fear about the new tool subsided, it made so much sense to embrace the new reality of work and future-proof my role, level-up my skills, and incorporate AI into the areas of my profession that would drive efficiency. AI is here to stay, and so far I haven’t seen any threats of world domination.

I still regularly use “please” and “thank you” in my requests, though. I want to be respectful, you know. Just in case.

Meet the Author: Kaitlin is an operational powerhouse specializing in strategic services, from high-level executive support to backend business process optimization. With a 10+ year track record of successful partnerships with C-level execs/founders/business owners, she's an expert at managing competing priorities, anticipating and solving problems, and increasing operational efficiency. She’s also the founder of Modus Medley, a newsletter for those embracing the blend between fulfilling work and a joy-filled life.

Connect with Kaitlin: Review Kaitlin's service offerings here; connect with her via LinkedIn or email.