AI assistance
A person asks AI to draft, analyse, summarise or prepare something, then checks the result.
The Alba Nova AI Business Toolkit
Make AI actually work in your business
Practical tools to help you get more from AI, find opportunities to automate repetitive work, and take your first steps with confidence.
Created to accompany Beyond ChatGPT, a practical workshop for business owners. Useful whether or not you were in the room.
Start here
Start with the work, not the technology.
AI can help you work faster. The bigger opportunity often comes from understanding how work happens in your business, and improving it. You don't need to be technical. Start with one problem, understand your options, and test something small.
The assessment
Name one frustrating task and see whether it is a sensible first experiment.
Brief AI properly
A five-part way to brief ChatGPT or Claude, plus a prompt you can copy.
Prompt library
Eight prompts for proposals, quotes, replies, reports and finding the work.
Time and money
Turn “it happens all the time” into hours, with the assumptions visible.
First 30 days
A four-week plan that stays small on purpose.
Printable kit
Cheat sheet, worksheet, pilot plan and 30-day checklist.
A distinction worth keeping
AI helps you do the task. Automation helps the task happen.
Conventional automation
A system performs predictable steps according to rules you have already agreed.
AI and automation together
AI interprets or drafts something inside a process that otherwise follows a set path.
Human oversight
People approve, handle the odd cases, and make the decisions that matter.
A customer sends an enquiry, done by hand
Someone receives it, copies the details, prepares a reply, sends it and remembers to follow up.
The same enquiry, with the copying removed
The details are captured once, a reply is prepared, a person approves it, and the follow-up is tracked. AI might draft the reply. It does not have to decide whether to send it.
You will hear about AI agents that choose their own tools and actions. That can be useful later. It is not automatically the safest or the best first step. A checklist, a template or a simple rule often beats a clever system.
In practice
What does this look like?
These are patterns, not a catalogue of projects. The only measured result below is one anonymised engagement.
Customer support
Tracking updates, routine returns and refunds that already follow a written policy. The rules can decide the ordinary cases. AI can help read a messy request. A person takes the ones the policy does not cover.
Proposals and paperwork
Customer requirements become a document draft, a person approves it, and it can then go out for signature. The draft is not the offer until someone owns the numbers.
Enquiries and follow-ups
A new enquiry is captured, a personal reply is prepared from what you actually know, someone approves it, and the next action is tracked.
Reporting
The same figures are brought together on a schedule and a summary is drafted, so nobody is pasting exports together the night before.
Finding the work
What would you stop doing tomorrow?
What's something you have to do, but hate doing? Ask that of yourself, then ask the people who actually do the work. Owners often name the wrong task.
- What do you or your team hate doing?
- What happens again and again?
- What involves copying information between places?
- What takes longer than it should?
- What gets delayed because someone is waiting?
- What would you happily never do manually again?
1. Frequency
How often does it really happen?
2. Time
How many minutes does each one take?
3. Repeatability
Do the steps stay the same?
4. Risk
What happens if it goes wrong?
A plain calculation
What is that repetitive task actually costing you?
Thirty times a week, at ten minutes each, is five hours a week. If a tested change saves eight of those ten minutes, four hours of staff capacity come back. The figures below start from that example. Change them.
Today this is about 5 hours a week.
4 hours a week
of staff capacity released in this scenario, or 192 hours a year across 48 working weeks. These figures are illustrative. They are not guaranteed savings, and they are not profit.
Get better results from ChatGPT and Claude
Brief it like a capable new starter.
A new person can be sharp and still produce the wrong work if you skip the context. The same is true here. Five headings are enough.
- Goal
- What are you trying to achieve?
- Context
- What should it know about the business and this situation?
- Examples
- What does a good result look like?
- Constraints
- What must it include, avoid, or never assume?
- Review
- What does a person need to verify?
Prompt you can paste into ChatGPT or Claude
Goal Draft a reply to a customer asking where their installation is in the schedule. Context We install commercial kitchens in the UK. This customer is booked for the week of 12 May. The site survey is done. We do not have a day of the week yet. Examples Hi Priya, The site survey is done, and the installation is booked for the week of 12 May. I don't have the day of the week yet. I'll confirm the day from the job sheet and come back to you. Sam Constraints Do not promise a day we have not booked. Do not mention other customers. Do not apologise for a delay that has not happened. Review I will check the date against the job sheet before sending. Use only the information above. If something important is missing, say so instead of guessing.
Leave out customer records, staff details, account numbers and anything you would not hand to a new contractor. The prompt is built in your browser and is not sent to Alba Nova.
Prompt library
Prompts for work you already do.
Each one has placeholders in square brackets. Replace them. Leave a gap rather than letting the draft invent a fact. The notes mention retail, installation, professional services, industrial supply, financial advice and events where the situation fits. The prompts themselves stay general.
Turn rough customer notes into a proposal
You have notes from a call and need a first draft, not a finished commercial offer.
A kitchen installer, consultant or supplier leaves a meeting with half a page of notes and needs a structured draft the same day.
Example of a good result
What we discussed You want the dishwasher in the prep kitchen replaced before the June menu change. The survey on 3 March found the existing waste pipe can be reused. What we will do Supply and fit one commercial dishwasher, and connect it to the services already in that kitchen. Not included Anything we did not look at on 3 March, including the floor and the extraction. Still needs a decision Price. The day the kitchen can close. A delivery date.
Paste the notes, a short description of what you actually sell, and one proposal you are happy with. Remove prices you have not agreed.
You are helping me draft a proposal from rough notes. Write a clear first draft for a business owner to edit. Goal: turn the notes into a structured proposal a customer could understand. Business context: [What the business does, who the customer is, and what was discussed.] Customer notes: [Paste the notes. Do not add facts that are not here.] A proposal I consider good. Imitate this shape. Do not copy these facts: What we discussed You want the dishwasher in the prep kitchen replaced before the June menu change. The survey on 3 March found the existing waste pipe can be reused. What we will do Supply and fit one commercial dishwasher, and connect it to the services already in that kitchen. Not included Anything we did not look at on 3 March, including the floor and the extraction. Still needs a decision Price. The day the kitchen can close. A delivery date. Constraints: - Use only the notes and context I provided. - Do not invent prices, discounts, feasibility conclusions, delivery dates, or commitments. - If a price, date or scope item is missing, write "[needs a human decision]" instead of guessing. - Keep the language plain. No hype. - Flag anything in the notes that is ambiguous. Review: I will check scope, price and dates before this is sent. End with a short list of decisions I still need to make.
Check before you use it. Check every figure, date and promise before it is sent. The draft must not invent commercial terms.
Analyse a lengthy business document
You need to find the obligations, gaps and questions in a long document before a person reads it properly.
An adviser or professional-services firm is handed a 30-page agreement and wants a briefing, not a legal opinion.
Example of a good result
Stated in the document Payment is due 30 days after the invoice date. Delivery is within 10 working days of a written order. Missing This extract does not say who pays if a delivery fails. Unclear "Reasonable access" is not defined, so I cannot tell whether a weekend delivery is allowed. Question for a qualified person Does "reasonable access" include weekends, and is that written anywhere else in the agreement?
Paste the document or the sections you are allowed to share. Say what decision you are trying to make.
Read the document below and brief me as a careful colleague would. Do not give legal, financial or professional advice, and do not tell me whether I should sign. Example of a useful briefing. Imitate this shape. Do not copy these facts: Stated in the document Payment is due 30 days after the invoice date. Delivery is within 10 working days of a written order. Missing This extract does not say who pays if a delivery fails. Unclear "Reasonable access" is not defined, so I cannot tell whether a weekend delivery is allowed. Question for a qualified person Does "reasonable access" include weekends, and is that written anywhere else in the agreement? What I need to decide: [The decision this document relates to.] Document: [Paste the text you are allowed to share.] Please: 1. Summarise what the document is asking for, in plain English. 2. List the specific obligations, dates and conditions you can actually see. 3. List information that appears to be missing. 4. Quote or paraphrase clauses that are unclear, and say why. 5. Give me questions to take to a qualified person. Constraints: - Do not invent clauses, parties, dates or amounts. - If you are unsure, say so. - Separate "stated in the document" from "my question about it".
Check before you use it. This is a reading aid. It is not legal, tax, financial or professional advice, and it can miss clauses.
Compare supplier quotations
Two or more quotes have arrived and you want the differences on one page before you decide.
An industrial supplier or fit-out business is comparing quotes that are not written in the same format.
Example of a good result
Lead time - Northline: 6 weeks, stated on page 1. - Harbour Supply: not stated. What is included - Northline includes delivery. Commissioning is listed as excluded. - Harbour Supply includes delivery. Commissioning is not mentioned, so I am not treating it as included. Question to ask Ask Harbour Supply whether commissioning is included and, if not, what it costs.
Paste each quote in full, including exclusions. Name the criteria that matter to you, such as lead time, warranty or what is left out.
Compare the supplier quotations below. I need a decision aid, not a recommendation to buy. Example of a useful comparison. Imitate this shape. Do not copy these facts: Lead time - Northline: 6 weeks, stated on page 1. - Harbour Supply: not stated. What is included - Northline includes delivery. Commissioning is listed as excluded. - Harbour Supply includes delivery. Commissioning is not mentioned, so I am not treating it as included. Question to ask Ask Harbour Supply whether commissioning is included and, if not, what it costs. Criteria that matter: [Price, lead time, warranty, exclusions, delivery, or whatever you will judge them on.] Quotation A: [Paste quote A, including exclusions and small print.] Quotation B: [Paste quote B.] Further quotations, if any: [Paste them, or write "none".] Please: - Compare like with like against my criteria. - List what each quote includes, excludes, or does not mention. - List questions I should ask each supplier. - Do not invent prices, discounts or items that are not written down. - Do not treat an unquoted item as included. - Do not tell me which supplier to choose. State the differences and the gaps.
Check before you use it. Do not treat a missing line as included. Check the original quotes before you commit.
Create social posts for several platforms
You have one real update and need a LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram version.
A retailer, venue or installer wants to announce a finished job, an event or a practical tip without writing three posts from scratch.
Example of a good result
LinkedIn We finished the fit-out at 14 Market Street on Friday. The shop opens to customers on Monday 2 June. If you are nearby that week, the door is open. Facebook The shop at 14 Market Street is fitted out. We open on Monday 2 June. Come and see it. Instagram 14 Market Street opens Monday 2 June. The fit-out is done. #MarketStreet #ShopOpening
Give the facts you are happy to publish. Say what you will not claim.
Turn one business update into three social posts. Write them so I can edit and post them myself. Example of the three posts, written from the facts "fit-out at 14 Market Street finished Friday; shop opens Monday 2 June". Imitate this shape. Do not copy these facts: LinkedIn We finished the fit-out at 14 Market Street on Friday. The shop opens to customers on Monday 2 June. If you are nearby that week, the door is open. Facebook The shop at 14 Market Street is fitted out. We open on Monday 2 June. Come and see it. Instagram 14 Market Street opens Monday 2 June. The fit-out is done. #MarketStreet #ShopOpening The update, with only facts I can stand behind: [What happened, who it is for, and any date or place I am happy to publish.] Audience: [Who should care, in one or two sentences.] Please write: - A LinkedIn post, professional and specific, under 150 words. - A Facebook post, plain and friendly, under 80 words. - An Instagram caption, shorter, with a suggested first line, and no more than 8 relevant hashtags. Constraints: - Do not invent testimonials, customer names, statistics, prices or offers. - Do not imply a result we have not stated. - Match the tone of a capable local business, not a marketing agency. - Mark any detail you had to leave out because I did not provide it.
Check before you use it. Do not publish invented testimonials, statistics, prices or offers. Check the facts.
Prepare for a customer meeting
You have a meeting tomorrow and want better questions, a short agenda and follow-ups.
A financial adviser, consultant or account manager has notes from the last conversation and a goal for the next one.
Example of a good result
Agenda (30 minutes) 1. What they want from this year's review (5 min) 2. What has changed since March (10 min) 3. The two decisions they need to make (10 min) 4. What I will send afterwards (5 min) Questions - What has changed in the business since March? - Who else needs to be comfortable with the decision? Assumptions I must not treat as fact The notes do not mention a budget. I will not guess one.
Include only customer information you are comfortable putting into the tool. Say the outcome you want from the meeting.
Help me prepare for a customer meeting. Ask nothing of the customer that I have not already learned. Prepare me, not a script that pretends to know them. Example of useful preparation. Imitate this shape. Do not copy these facts: Agenda (30 minutes) 1. What they want from this year's review (5 min) 2. What has changed since March (10 min) 3. The two decisions they need to make (10 min) 4. What I will send afterwards (5 min) Questions - What has changed in the business since March? - Who else needs to be comfortable with the decision? Assumptions I must not treat as fact The notes do not mention a budget. I will not guess one. Meeting objective: [What a useful outcome looks like.] What I already know: [Notes from previous conversations. Leave out anything confidential you should not paste.] What I am offering or deciding: [The relevant service, product or question.] Please give me: 1. A five-point agenda that fits in 30 minutes. 2. Eight questions that fill gaps in what I already know. 3. Topics I should be ready to follow up on. 4. A short list labelled "Assumptions I must not treat as fact". Constraints: - Do not invent the customer's budget, problems or opinions. - If a useful question depends on missing information, say what is missing.
Check before you use it. Treat every inferred motive as an assumption. Do not present guesses as facts in the meeting.
Draft a customer service reply
A shipping, refund, return or service question needs a calm reply based on your actual policy.
A retailer or installation business receives the same kinds of questions and wants a draft a person can send.
Example of a good result
Hello, Order 4412 left the warehouse on Monday. Our delivery time is 3 to 5 working days, so Thursday is still inside that window. If it has not arrived by the end of Friday, reply to this email and I will chase the courier. I have not refunded or replaced anything. Needs a person: only if they ask for a refund before Friday. The policy does not allow one yet.
Paste the customer's message and the policy you want followed. If the policy does not cover the case, the draft should say so.
Draft a reply to this customer. I will read it and send it myself. You cannot take actions in our systems. Example of a reply I would send, based on the facts "order 4412 left the warehouse on Monday; delivery takes 3 to 5 working days; nothing has been refunded". Imitate this shape. Do not copy these facts: Hello, Order 4412 left the warehouse on Monday. Our delivery time is 3 to 5 working days, so Thursday is still inside that window. If it has not arrived by the end of Friday, reply to this email and I will chase the courier. I have not refunded or replaced anything. Needs a person: only if they ask for a refund before Friday. The policy does not allow one yet. Customer message: [Paste the message.] Our policy and the facts I am allowed to use: [Shipping times, refund rules, what we have actually done, and anything we must not promise.] Write a reply that: - Answers only what the policy and facts support. - Is polite, specific and short. - Says what happens next, and who does it. - If the request is outside the policy or a fact is missing, say that a person needs to look at it, and draft a holding reply instead of a decision. Constraints: - Never say we have refunded, replaced, collected or booked something unless I stated that it has already happened. - Do not invent tracking numbers, dates, compensation or exceptions. - End with a one-line note to me: "Safe to send" or "Needs a person", and why.
Check before you use it. The draft has not refunded, replaced or booked anything. Do not send a reply that claims an action is already done.
Turn messy notes into a structured report
A site visit, shift or project has produced rough notes and someone needs a report other people can act on.
An operations manager, installer or events team has voice-note transcripts or bullet points from the day.
Example of a good result
What happened The loading bay door was sticking on Thursday. Two pallets were left outside overnight with covers on. Jamie was told about the door. Findings The notes do not say the door has been fixed. Actions - Door repair: owner unassigned, no date given. Missing information Whether the pallets were damaged. Who is responsible for the door. Decisions needed Who books the door repair, and by when.
Paste the notes and say who the report is for. Leave owners and dates blank if you do not know them.
Turn these operational notes into a report my team can use. Keep my wording where it is specific. Example of the report, written from the notes "loading bay door sticking on Thursday; told Jamie; two pallets left outside overnight with covers on". Imitate this shape. Do not copy these facts: What happened The loading bay door was sticking on Thursday. Two pallets were left outside overnight with covers on. Jamie was told about the door. Findings The notes do not say the door has been fixed. Actions - Door repair: owner unassigned, no date given. Missing information Whether the pallets were damaged. Who is responsible for the door. Decisions needed Who books the door repair, and by when. Who this is for: [The reader, and what they need to do with it.] Notes: [Paste the rough notes.] Use these sections: - What happened - Findings - Actions, with an owner only if the notes name one - Missing information - Decisions needed Constraints: - Do not invent owners, deadlines, costs or completed actions. - Where an owner or date is missing, write "unassigned" or "no date given". - Separate observation from recommendation. - Keep it under 600 words.
Check before you use it. Do not let the draft invent owners, deadlines or work that is already finished.
Find the repetitive work worth improving
You want help noticing what to stop doing by hand, before you pick a tool.
An owner in retail, professional services, industrial supply, financial advice, events or installation work wants a shortlist, not a software pitch.
Example of a good result
1. Copying web enquiries into the sales spreadsheet - In your words: "I copy every enquiry across by hand." - This looks like conventional automation, once the steps are written down. - If it went wrong: an enquiry could be missed. - Next question: how many arrive in a week, and from where? 2. Answering "where is my order?" - In your words: "We send the same reply all day." - This looks like AI assistance for a draft, with a person sending it. - If it went wrong: a customer could be told something untrue. - Next question: is the answer written in a policy you already trust?
Answer the questions honestly. You can say “I don’t know” and move on.
Act as an operations adviser. Interview me about repetitive work in my business. Do not recommend products. Example of the shortlist I want at the end. Imitate this shape. Do not copy these tasks: 1. Copying web enquiries into the sales spreadsheet - In your words: "I copy every enquiry across by hand." - This looks like conventional automation, once the steps are written down. - If it went wrong: an enquiry could be missed. - Next question: how many arrive in a week, and from where? 2. Answering "where is my order?" - In your words: "We send the same reply all day." - This looks like AI assistance for a draft, with a person sending it. - If it went wrong: a customer could be told something untrue. - Next question: is the answer written in a policy you already trust? Rules for the interview: - Ask one question at a time. - Wait for my answer before the next question. - Start with: "What do you or your team have to do, but hate doing?" - Then ask about work that repeats, copying between systems, delays while people wait, and tasks I would happily never do manually again. - Ask who else does the work, not only me. - Keep going until you have at least three candidate tasks, or I ask you to stop. When I say "that's enough", produce a shortlist. For each task say: - What it is, in my words - Whether it looks more like AI assistance, conventional automation, or a process that needs redesigning first - The risk if it went wrong - The single next question I should answer before trying anything Do not assume my industry's tools. Do not suggest a product by name.
Check before you use it. A shortlist is a starting point. Frequency, time, repeatability and risk still need checking on the real work.
Think big. Start small.
Identify, test, measure, then expand.
01
Identify
Choose a process you understand well enough to explain, and that is worth the attention.
02
Test
Trial a narrow slice. Do not rewire the business to find out if a draft is any good.
03
Measure
Use real examples. Track time, accuracy, exceptions, and what staff still had to fix.
04
Expand
Increase the scope only after the small version has earned it.
A business receives 50 enquiries a week. It does not automate the sales process. It drafts replies for 10 of them, a person reviews every one, and it compares time, accuracy and the quality of the reply with the way it works today. If that holds up, a wider workflow is a later decision.
A month, not a transformation
Your first 30 days: a practical starting point
Week 1 — Explore
Identify repetitive tasks. Ask employees where time is being wasted. Try the briefing framework on one routine task.
Week 2 — Improve
Choose a recurring task. Give it better context and a real example. See whether the help is actually better.
Week 3 — Experiment
Test one improvement on a few real examples, using information you are allowed to use. Keep people in the loop.
Week 4 — Measure
Compare effort, accuracy and quality. Note the problems. Decide whether to improve, expand or stop.
Risks, said plainly
Three mistakes I'd avoid
Starting with the technology
Don't go looking for something to automate because a product looks impressive. Start from a task people already resent.
Trusting the output blindly
AI can be confidently wrong. Check anything that matters. Protect customer, employee and confidential information, and respect professional, regulatory and contractual duties.
Overcomplicating a simple task
A rule, a template, a feature you already pay for, or a cleaner process can beat an AI system.
- Financial actions need controls that match the amount of money and the chance of a mistake.
- Legal and regulated matters need a competent person, not a fluent paragraph.
- Sensitive data belongs only in tools your business has agreed are acceptable.
- Any automated step needs a way to catch exceptions and a way to stop or correct a mistake.
Your AI business starter kit
Take it with you.
No account. The worksheets are pages you can print or save as PDF from the browser.
Beyond ChatGPT — workshop slides
The slide deck from the session, when it is ready to share.
Slides coming soon.
AI briefing cheat sheet
The five headings, a template, a worked example, and a reminder to check the output.
Open and printAutomation opportunity worksheet
A page for describing a task and judging frequency, time, repeatability and risk.
Open and printFirst 30 days with AI
The four-week checklist on its own, ready to print.
Open and printPilot worksheet
Problem, baseline, test, measures, and the decision to expand, revise or stop.
Open and printInteractive assessment
Work through one task and leave with a cautious first experiment.
Start the assessmentOptional
Want a second opinion?
Found a repetitive process in your business but aren't sure where to start? Book a free 45-minute AI Opportunity Review. We'll look at the problem, explore whether AI or automation could help, and discuss a sensible first step. No obligation. You don't need to send us this assessment.