5 ways to use AI in your daily workflow

Most people try an AI assistant once, ask it something vague, get a vague answer and conclude it is "not that useful". The truth is that AI becomes valuable when it is woven into the small, repeated tasks of your day. Here are five ways to do exactly that, with prompts you can copy.

1. Let AI write the first draft, then you edit

A blank page is the slowest part of any writing task. Ask AI for a rough first version of an email, a proposal outline or a job description, then spend your energy improving it.

"Draft a polite email to a client explaining that the project will be delayed by one week because of a supplier issue. Offer two options: a partial delivery on the original date, or the full delivery a week later. Keep it under 150 words."

You stay in charge of tone, accuracy and judgement; the AI just removes the friction of starting.

2. Summarise long material in seconds

Meeting transcripts, long reports, policy documents and email threads can all be condensed. The trick is to ask for a summary for a purpose:

• "Summarise this report in 5 bullet points for a busy manager."
• "List every action item in this meeting transcript with an owner and deadline."
• "What are the three biggest risks mentioned in this document?"

3. Use it as a thinking partner

AI is excellent at helping you think through a problem: listing pros and cons, spotting gaps in a plan, or arguing the opposite side. Try:

"I'm planning to move our team's weekly meeting to a written update. Play devil's advocate: what could go wrong, and how would I prevent it?"

4. Hand over repetitive text tasks

Reformatting data, turning notes into a table, writing product descriptions from a spec sheet, translating a message, or cleaning up a messy list are perfect AI tasks. If you do something more than three times a week, write a reusable prompt for it and save it in a prompt library (we share a free one here).

5. Learn faster

Ask AI to explain a concept at your level, give an example from your industry, then quiz you. This "explain, example, test" loop is one of the fastest ways to pick up a new skill, including Python.

"Explain what an API is to someone who works in marketing. Then give me a real example from email marketing, and ask me 3 questions to check I understood."

Three guardrails to keep in mind

1. Check facts. AI can sound confident and still be wrong. Verify numbers, names and anything you will publish.
2. Protect sensitive data. Follow your organisation's policy and do not paste confidential or personal information into tools that are not approved.
3. Keep your judgement. Use AI to go faster, not to stop thinking. The final decision is always yours.