The Executive's Guide to Building Your AI Toolstack: A Progressive Approach¶
Why This Matters Now¶
As an executive, you're facing a pivotal moment. AI tools are transforming how we work, think, and lead. While the landscape of AI tools is overwhelming, the cost of staying on the sidelines is growing. This guide provides a structured path to building your AI capabilities, one tool at a time.
The Progressive Adoption Framework¶
Quick Overview:
- ChatGPT - Your starting point for understanding AI capabilities
- Perplexity - Your research assistant with real-time information
- Microsoft 365 Copilot or Circleback.ai - Meeting productivity enhancer
- Claude - Your partner for complex analysis and writing
Rather than diving into the deep end, we'll build your AI toolkit progressively, focusing on immediate value while developing the skills needed for more advanced applications.
Level 1: Starting Your AI Journey (Weeks 1-2)¶
Primary Tool: ChatGPT¶
Professional Version: ChatGPT Plus at $20/month
Start with ChatGPT for several reasons:
- User-friendly interface
- Broad capabilities that reveal AI's potential
- Minimal learning curve
- Widespread adoption
Security Tips:
- Set Settings > Data controls > Improve the model for everyone Off
- Set Settings > Security > Multi-factor authentication Enable
Getting Started:
Begin with this power prompt to see ChatGPT's capabilities:
"I need to prepare for a board meeting about our Q4 performance. Help me structure my presentation by: 1) suggesting key topics to cover, 2) identifying potential challenging questions, and 3) providing data points I should prepare in advance."
This prompt demonstrates how ChatGPT can help with strategic thinking and preparation.
Success Tip:
Spend 15 minutes each morning experimenting with ChatGPT. Try asking it to help with your first task of the day.
Level 2: Expanding Your Toolkit (Weeks 3-4)¶
Add: Perplexity.ai¶
Professional Version: Perplexity Pro at $20/month
Once comfortable with ChatGPT, add Perplexity for:
- Real-time information searches
- Market research
- Competitive analysis
- Trend identification
Security Tips:
- Set Settings > AI Data Retention Off
- Use Incognito mode for sensitive searches
Power Prompt Example:
"Analyze the current market landscape for electric vehicles in Europe, focusing on: market share trends, major players, regulatory changes in the past 6 months, and emerging technologies. Include sources for the data."
This prompt showcases Perplexity's ability to provide current, cited information for strategic decision-making.
Key Difference:
Unlike ChatGPT, Perplexity provides current information with citations, making it valuable for decision-making requiring up-to-date data.
Level 3: Enhanced Meeting Productivity (Weeks 5-6)¶
Add: Microsoft 365 Copilot or Circleback.ai¶
The key here is to master one of AI's key productivity use cases - summarizing meeting notes & action items. Who hasn't gotten out of a important Teams/Zoom/Webex call and looked down at a set of barely-interpretable (or in my case, barely-legible) hand-written notes?
If your organization provides Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Teams then you are all set (and can also use M365 Copilot in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel). Otherwise, you can get an account with Circleback.ai or granola.ai or otter.ai (or myriad others).
- https://circleback.ai/
- https://www.granola.ai/ (Mac only as of 1/15/25)
- https://otter.ai/
Professional Version:
- M365 Copilot $30/user/month (prereq a $4/month Teams Essentials or higher M365 license)
- Circleback.ai $25/month
For executives in meeting after meeting, AI meeting notes are well worth the time required to master the tools:
- Meetings summaries
- Action item assignments
Power Prompt Example:
"Analyze the recording/transcript from our quarterly planning meeting and: 1) create an executive summary highlighting strategic decisions, 2) extract all action items with owners and deadlines, 3) identify the top 3 risks discussed with their proposed mitigations, and 4) list any topics that were flagged for follow-up meetings."
Integration Tip:
Start with the meetings, then expand to other applications as you build confidence.
Level 4: Advanced Capabilities (Weeks 7-8)¶
Add: Claude¶
Professional Version: Claude Pro at $20/month
Security Tip: Enable multi-factor authentication
Claude excels at:
- Complex analysis
- Detailed document review
- Nuanced writing tasks
- Policy development
Power Prompt Example:
"I need to develop a comprehensive AI governance policy for our organization. Please analyze our current situation where: 1) we have 5000 employees, 2) operate in regulated industries, 3) handle sensitive customer data, and 4) want to encourage innovation while maintaining security. Create a detailed first draft of the policy, highlighting areas that need specific attention from legal and compliance teams."
This prompt demonstrates Claude's ability to handle complex, nuanced tasks requiring deep analysis and careful consideration of multiple factors.
Strategic Use: Use Claude for tasks requiring deeper analysis or more nuanced understanding.
Looking Ahead¶
The AI landscape will continue to evolve (faster and faster). This progressive approach builds the foundation needed to evaluate and adopt new tools as they emerge.
Remember:
- Start small but think big
- Focus on value creation
- Build on successes
- Stay curious and experimental
- Revise and optimize your AI stack
Finally, you probably don't need recurring subscriptions to every model under the sun, so go monthly and then turn off things you aren't using after a while.
The most successful executives will be those who can effectively leverage AI tools freeing up more time for strategic focus and human judgment. Begin your journey today with small steps, and build momentum through consistent practice and learning.
Let's talk!¶
Note:¶
This guide was created through an iterative conversation with Claude Pro, spanning over 30 prompts and replies. The development process itself demonstrates the power of AI collaboration - starting with a basic outline and progressively refining it through focused feedback and revision. Finally, I edited the Markdown draft using Cursor.
Optional - Measuring Success¶
Track these metrics throughout your adoption journey:
-
Time Savings
- Hours saved per week
- Reduction in routine task time
- Meeting preparation efficiency
-
Quality Improvements
- Better first drafts
- More comprehensive analysis
- Faster decision-making
-
Learning Progress
- Number of use cases mastered
- Complexity of tasks handled
- Team adoption rates