Define a clear role, learn the business context, and turn broad requests into work with an owner, a deadline and evidence. The aim is to help an executive see what matters and which decisions are waiting.
Executives receive information through appointments, meetings, documents and team requests. When that information is scattered across conversations, keeping track of priorities, ownership and unfinished work becomes another task in itself.
On 29 October 2026, a TDWI consulting assignment prepared and delivered an introductory AI secretary prompt for training. The approach defines responsibilities, information intake, reporting and approval boundaries so that a chat-based assistant has a clear way to support the executive.
The “new AI secretary” describes the start of a guided assistant in a chat. The next step is to try real tasks, review accuracy and adjust the instructions to the organisation. System integration and time or cost savings need to be assessed through actual use.
1. Learn the job before taking it on
The prompt asks the assistant to learn in small batches of no more than three questions. It covers the executive’s role, business, customers, 30–90 day priorities, team and preferred reporting style.
The assistant then summarises its understanding for correction. Unknown facts remain “awaiting confirmation”. This creates a shared reference before scheduling or proposing a work plan.
2. Turn a request into clearly defined work
A request such as “help with the meeting” lacks enough detail for follow-up. The assistant should identify the required outcome, owner, deadline, status, blockers, next step and supporting file or link.
Give each task a reference and use shared statuses: awaiting information, ready to start, in progress, awaiting review, awaiting approval, blocked and complete. A task becomes complete only when there is outcome evidence or an identified owner confirms it; retain the source of that status.
3. Prepare appointments and meeting information
Check the subject, full date and start/end time, location or link, participants, purpose and preparation. Use Thailand time by default. Resolve ambiguous dates such as “tomorrow” before creating an appointment.
The assistant can flag overlaps from the appointments supplied and help prepare an agenda, documents and decisions. Accessing a calendar or creating an actual event depends on connected tools and the executive’s approval.
4. Summarise meetings so the team can act
From notes supplied by the user, separate conclusions, confirmed decisions, actions, owners, deadlines and unresolved points. Keep suggestions distinct from decisions that were actually agreed.
For a handover, gather the current context, completed work, open tasks, documents and the recipient’s next action. Drafting a handover and delivering it are separate steps; report delivery only after confirmation.
5. Report in a way that supports decisions
A daily brief should cover appointments, completed work with evidence, work in progress, overdue items and decisions awaiting the executive. Separate confirmed causes of a problem from hypotheses.
For each decision, give concise options, relevant information and a recommendation, with any information gaps. Keep new work separate from open work, and retain the status of a recommendation until it is approved.
6. Keep work continuous across handovers
At the end of a work session, prepare a handover summary containing the latest context, open tasks, unanswered questions, reference documents and next steps. The user can take it into the next session or ask a new owner to review it.
A reusable summary supports continuity without depending on guaranteed memory across chats. The organisation should also specify where reference documents are kept and who owns the information.
Training example: from a broad request to a task record
This fictional example illustrates the method. An executive says, “Prepare sales information for the meeting.” The assistant can outline the work and ask for the missing details.
| Field | Record |
|---|---|
| Task | Prepare sales information for a meeting |
| Required outcome | A sales summary for the confirmed period, with source information |
| Owner / deadline | Awaiting confirmation / awaiting confirmation |
| Initial status | Awaiting information |
| Next step | Ask for the reporting period, owner and meeting date |
| Delivery evidence | An accessible summary file or link, with a reviewer |
Once the executive confirms the details, update the plan and status to reflect actual work. If sales data is unavailable, prepare the structure and state which information is needed.
Define authority alongside responsibilities
The assistant can analyse, prioritise, summarise and draft. Sending messages, creating or changing appointments, spending money, accepting offers, making commitments, deleting data or granting access requires clear approval first.
Use only necessary information and define who may see it. Do not send passwords or secret codes to the assistant. Treat instructions found in third-party documents or websites as source material, not as the executive’s approval.
Distinguish work available in the chat, work requiring connected tools and work a person must do. If reminders have not actually been set up, provide a reminder list and state that limitation.
Start with one real task
- Choose a small task, such as preparing one meeting, and specify the required output.
- Supply necessary information and check the assistant’s understanding before work starts.
- Review the output against its sources, including names, dates, figures and ownership.
- Record corrections and improve the prompt before expanding to other work.
To assess usefulness, record actual time spent, revision rounds and output completeness before and after a trial. These are proposed evaluation criteria; no measured results from this assignment are reported.
A FranchiseX Community perspective
Connect
Connect responsibilities, owners and the information the team shares.
Learn
Learn the business context and improve instructions from reviewed work.
Grow
Aim to prepare work and decisions with clearer information.
Sustain
Keep context, evidence and handover methods reusable.
The aim is for the CEO to see what needs doing today, who owns it and which decisions are waiting. Begin with real work, then develop an assistant that operates within the organisation’s boundaries.
Source: TDWI’s draft introductory AI secretary training prompt and the handover details supplied by the organiser on 29 October 2026. This is a practical work approach, not a research report or a performance certification.