5 ways a small team can use AI this week

Plenty of teams have tried AI, but it hasn’t become a habit. You don’t need a big project to get started. Here are five things you can try this week.

One rule before you begin: don’t paste confidential information into an AI tool (client data, contracts, personal data) unless your company has clearly said it’s fine. Find out which tool and plan your company uses, and what its terms say about your data.

1. Meeting summary and action items

After a meeting, paste your notes into an AI tool and ask: “Turn these into a short summary and a list of actions: who, what, and by when.” Rough, half-finished notes work fine. Read the result before you send it on, because AI sometimes gets things wrong.

2. The first draft

Starting from a blank page takes time. Let AI write the first draft: an email to a client, the opening of a proposal, a job ad. Give it context: who the text is for, what it should achieve, and what tone fits. Then edit it until it sounds like you.

3. Structure from a mess

Got a long email thread, a pile of notes or a messy list? Ask AI to turn it into a table, a checklist or a set of steps. AI doesn’t know your business better than you do, but it is quick at putting information in order.

4. A sparring partner who pushes back

Before a decision or a presentation, ask: “What am I missing? Give me three counterarguments.” Or: “How could this plan fail?” AI won’t decide for you, but it helps you spot what you might otherwise overlook.

5. An explanation when something is unclear

A tricky Excel formula, an unfamiliar term, a long manual: ask AI to explain it in plain language. Keep asking follow-up questions until it’s clear. For anything important, check it against the original source.

How to start

Pick one of the five and try it for a week. At the end of the week, talk with your team about what worked and what didn’t. That’s how a one-off experiment becomes a habit.