To find high-impact AI opportunities, reframe the goal from speed to quality. Ask what a perfect team with unlimited time would do. This helps identify transformative workflows, like analyzing every support ticket to improve documentation, rather than just doing existing tasks faster.
To discover high-value AI use cases, reframe the problem. Instead of thinking about features, ask, "If my user had a human assistant for this workflow, what tasks would they delegate?" This simple question uncovers powerful opportunities where agents can perform valuable jobs, shifting focus from technology to user value.
The most powerful use of AI for business owners isn't task automation, but leveraging it as an infinitely patient strategic advisor. The most advanced technique is asking AI what questions you should be asking about your business, turning it from a simple tool into a discovery engine for growth.
Don't limit an AI agent to tasks you can already imagine. After providing full context on your work, ask it open-ended questions like, “How can you make my life easier?” This strategy of “hunting the unknown unknowns” allows the AI to suggest novel, high-value workflows you wouldn't have thought to request.
The greatest value of AI isn't just automating tasks within your current process. Leaders should use AI to fundamentally question the workflow itself, asking it to suggest entirely new, more efficient, and innovative ways to achieve business goals.
To find valuable AI use cases, start with projects that save time (efficiency gains). Next, focus on improving the quality of existing outputs. Finally, pursue entirely new capabilities that were previously impossible, creating a roadmap from immediate to transformative value.
To unlock the full potential of AI, don't just assign it single tasks. Instead, ask: 'If I had infinite, always-available junior talent, what is the ideal process I'd have them follow for a new ticket?' This framing helps you design more comprehensive, multi-step prompts and automations.
To maximize AI's impact, don't just find isolated use cases for content or demand gen teams. Instead, map a core process like a campaign workflow and apply AI to augment each stage, from strategy and creation to localization and measurement. AI is workflow-native, not function-native.
Instead of guessing where AI can help, use AI itself as a consultant. Detail your daily workflows, tasks, and existing tools in a prompt, and ask it to generate an "opportunity map." This meta-approach lets AI identify the highest-impact areas for its own implementation.
To maximize an AI agent's impact, don't just automate your current process. Push your creativity by asking what you would do with more time or infinite resources (e.g., "three interns"). This reframing helps you identify the next 10-15 valuable actions an agent could take, moving beyond simple task replication.
Go beyond using AI for simple efficiency gains. Engage with advanced reasoning models as if they were expert business consultants. Ask them deep, strategic questions to fundamentally innovate and reimagine your business, not just incrementally optimize current operations.