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Where should a small business start with AI?
Start by looking at how your business works. Ask AI to interview you about your week. Use what comes out to spot ways to save time, cut costs or win more work.
You do not need to know which task to choose. The interview below helps you work that out. Use made-up names and leave out private details.
Start the interviewStart by talking through your business.
Talk through your working week
Start with the interview below. Tell AI what your business does, how you spend your time and what you wish you could take off your plate. It should ask one question at a time.
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Think about the work you put off, repeat or chase. Include the things that help you win and keep customers. Explain what each job is meant to achieve, who does it and where it gets stuck.
Check what it has understood
When the interview ends, read the summary. Does it sound like your business? Correct anything it has missed before you look at its ideas.
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Ask it to explain a point you do not understand. If it has guessed a cost, a time saving or a sales figure, replace that guess with facts from your business. Keep estimates clearly marked.
Choose a first step
Look at the table of ideas. Which could save time, cut costs or help you win more work? Choose a first step you can try and check.
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Start with a draft or a small test. Give AI the facts it may use. Check names, dates, prices and promises before you use its work. Keep payments, staff decisions and safety advice with the person in charge.
Not sure where to start?
Let AI ask you the questions
Choose the AI app you use. This prompt asks it to interview you, check what you mean and suggest where to start.
Try this in your AI app
ChatGPT
Claude
Gemini
CodexUsing Gemini? The button copies the prompt. Paste it into the new chat.
I want to find out how AI could help my business.
Interview me. Ask 10–15 questions, one at a time. Wait for each answer before you ask the next question. Build on what I tell you.
Ask what my business does, how I work, what takes the most time and what I wish I could take off my plate. Ask where work gets stuck, where we lose money and what could help us win more work.
For each task or process, find out what it is meant to achieve. Ask who does it, which steps they follow and which tools they use.
After the interview, tell me in your own words what you think I want to achieve. Wait for me to confirm or correct it.
Then give me a short table: the task or process, the goal, how AI or a better process could help, what I need to check, and a first step.
Suggest where I should start and explain why. Use plain English. Treat any numbers as estimates until I give you the facts.
Watch Warren's story
How Warren got started
Warren is a hotel executive who wanted AI to help with his work. In his Leader Lab coaching, we set up a Claude Project with notes on his role and a hotel-standards file. We checked its answers against that file.
He went on to build his own reporting dashboard. Watch him talk about the coaching below.
Read the source: Remote Humans: Warren’s public story
Testimonial · 0:24
"I’ve learned more than I have playing around with it in the last couple of months."
Warren Lavender · Luxury hospitality
Worked example
Find the work that needs a better process
A construction firm talks through how it handles new enquiries. The interview shows that its team spends time chasing facts before a quote can be checked. The owner picks a first step: a short list of facts to collect at the start. The test uses made-up job details.
A firm of solicitors walks through a new client’s first call. Staff ask for the same details at several stages. The interview helps the owner see where those steps repeat. The team chooses to test a draft intake checklist from its approved guide. A solicitor checks what belongs on the list.
Made-up example.
A few more things to know
Keep private files out of the first test
Learn with made-up files. Leave out client names, staff records and private notes. Before you use real files, ask the person who looks after your data to check the tool and task.
The ICO has guidance on AI and personal data. OpenAI says its business products do not use business content to train models by default. That is one check to make. Ask about stored files and shared links too. A paid account does not settle each of those questions.
Read the source: ICO: AI and data protection; OpenAI: business data privacy
See if the whole job gets easier
Time the full job by hand first. Then time the AI test. Count the time to find facts, write the request, check the draft and fix mistakes.
Ask the person who does the job what helped. If the test adds more work than it saves, change it or stop. When it works well, write down the steps. Let a colleague try them.
Which AI tool should I use first?
Use an AI app your business allows. Choose it from the buttons above. Start with made-up details if you are unsure what you can share.
What if I do not know which job to pick?
Try the interview above. Start by saying what your business does and how you spent last week. Use its questions to explore the rest.