Read time - 5 mins:

If you feel like you’re not making the most of Gen AI, but can’t find the use cases, keep reading.

Quick one…

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I foolishly thought that AI would make me superhuman.

Not the case.

As advanced as AI is, it’s not the solution to all of our problems (yet).

And it’s frustrating when everyone’s talking about it, but you’ve no idea where you could be using it.

Even worse, you try and use it for something and the results are rubbish (this still happens to me).

AI is not always the answer - BUT - You don’t know what you don’t know, so let’s see whether we can uncover some of those hidden use cases today.

AI as a 2nd Brain

The biggest shift I made, that dramatically improved my results with AI was switching from “What can AI do FOR me”, to, “What can AI do WITH me”.

As soon as I treated AI as an extension of my own brain, instead of this external thing to do my bidding, everything became a LOT easier.

We fall into the trap of trying to handover our work to an AI (think poor overseas outsourcing decision)

Whereas we should be using AI as part of our work (think Jarvis living inside Iron Man’s helmet).

As soon we make this mindset shift makes it easier to ask the questions:

• How should I think? (Cognition)

• What can I produce? (Creation)

• When can I learn? (Knowledge)

Which will help us uncover hidden use cases.

So, here’s a 3 step framework to get you going…

The Framework

1. Cognition

Because Generative AI is trying to simulate a human brain, it can be useful when augmenting our own brains (not replacing them).

• Can’t decide whether to hire that FP&A analyst?

• Struggling to think of ways to de-risk a big investment?

• Mental block trying to simplify that credit control process?

There’s a lot to be said for using AI as a sounding board to reduce some of that mental fatigue.

Key takeaway: Think about the tasks you do that take a lot of brain power, and seek AI for advice.

Put simply, ‘Generative’ AI means it can create stuff. Yes, it’s limited by it’s training data, but either way, there’s a reason so many are using Gen AI to produce content, imagery, and now videos.

It’s not limited to ‘creatives’ though. Finance have plenty of opportunities to get creative.

• Need a polite way of telling that supplier your not paying them?

• Roadblock producing commentary on your management accounts?

• Can’t think of impactful themes for that next high-stakes presentation?

With AI, you never need to start from scratch again.

Key takeaway: Find creative tasks where AI might help you take you work to the next level

Pro Tip: Try this prompt:

“Here’s an example of my last management report commentary. And here’s this month’s data. Can you help me create a new report using the latest data?”

IMPORTANT - Only give data using a secure platform (ChatGPT Team edition, Claude etc)

Knowledge is power, and there’s nothing more powerful than having your own instantly available personal instructor.

Gen AI is trained on a HUGE knowledge base, so use it!

• Moving into a role in a new industry?

• Need a refresher on how to use Dynamic Arrays in Excel?

• Wanting to keep up to date with the latest compliance standards?

With AI you can advance your skills in every subject area.

Key takeaway: As part of your day to day, look everywhere for opportunities to sharpen your skills.

Pro Tip: Use Copilot (formerly Bing Chat) and Perplexity if you’re looking to power up your web search.

Use Case Examples

Here’re a few use cases that take advantage of all 3 areas:

1. Hiring Decisions

• Cognition: Help me decide between 2 financial controller candidates

• Creation: Help me draft a presentation brief for a 3rd stage interview

• Knowledge: Help me understand the skillset of a superstar financial controller
  
  

2. Contract Reviews

• Cognition: Help me identify some of the risks within the attached contract

• Creation: Help me draft a list of questions that clarify red flags in this agreement

• Knowledge: Help me learn more about effective contract negotiations for this type of service
  
  

3. Process Optimisation

• Cognition: Help me identify some ways to improve my credit control process

• Creation: Help me document my process in a way that’s easy for juniors to understand

• Knowledge: Help me learn how to reduce average time to pay for the services my company provides
  
  

Getting Started

Looking for a simple way to put this all into action?

1. Pick an AI of your choice (ChatGPT Pro or Copilot preferred as they handle longer prompts better).

2. Copy this prompt 👇️ 

—

“I am a [Job Title] working in [industry]. Here are my main tasks and responsibilities:

[Task 1]

[Task 2]

[Task 3]

I’m looking to use prompts to support me in the following areas:

1. Cognition - Making better decisions and solving complex problems.

   1. Prompts should start with “Help me decide..”, or, “Help me solve..”

2. Creation - Creating better documentation, processes & communications.

   1. Prompts should start with “Help me create…”, “Help me document…” or “Help me communicate…”.

3. Knowledge - Sharpening my knowledge and improving my skills.

   1. Prompts should start with “Help me learn..”, or “Help me upskill…”.

Create a matrix with my tasks on the left, and the 3 above areas as columns.

Complete the matrix with some prompts that I can use to help level up my performance.

Go deep, I’m looking for non-obvious responses that will challenge me.”

—

You can see my example here.

I wasn’t detailed outlining tasks and responsibilities, but of course, the more detail you provide, the better the results you’re likely to get.

You’ll be uncovering hidden use cases in no time!

That's it for this edition.

Speak soon.

Adam

P.S. - The best way to help me is by sharing this framework with your network. Who's one finance colleague who would find this valuable? Sharing would mean the world 🌍♻️