Automate to accelerate: Streamlining repetitive workflows with AI

Map your workflows, find the easy wins

The first step to automation is strategic, not technical. Map recurring workflows across departments such as client onboarding, document reviews, meeting notes, and internal reporting. For example, create a map of meeting processes – agendas, notes, summaries, action items, and follow ups. This is one of the easiest and least risky areas where AI can streamline workloads and save valuable time. Focus on high-frequency, low-complexity tasks and start simple.

Select the right tool for the job

Today’s AI toolkit offers powerful options, but you need the right tool for the right purpose. ChatGPT is highly versatile, supporting custom use cases across writing, summarisation, and analysis. Perplexity excels in research and includes source citations, making it easier to verify. Microsoft Copilot is deeply integrated with Office 365, but is prone to inconsistencies. Gemini is native to the Google workspace, but tends to misinterpret the applicability of source data and therefore can generate output that does not make sense.

Choosing the right tool means balancing technical capability, compliance, and user adoption. Most firms embracing AI are using more than one tool. Keep in mind there are marked differences between the output from free versus paid versions of various programmes.

From tools to transformation: Custom GPTs and prompt libraries

Once the basics are in place, deeper customisation creates scalable value. Custom GPTs let you train AI on your firm’s language, workflows, and standards, building institutional memory into every prompt. Pair this with a prompt library to create standardised, repeatable prompts across teams. Think of it as your AI playbook, ensuring outputs are consistently high quality, no matter who is using the tool.

Training and change management: Turning tools into ROI

Automation delivers return on investment (ROI) only when it is used effectively. This requires more than access, it requires alignment. Provide targeted training, pilot with a core team, and scale thoughtfully. Securing leadership buy-in is key to signalling the strategic importance to the company of the shift to automated and AI tools. Like any high-stakes engagement, it is just as important to train on data security as it is on technique.

Start small, think big

You don’t need to overhaul your firm to start leveraging AI. Begin with one task, like meeting summaries or internal emails. Build a win, then build momentum. Automation is not about replacing people; it is about elevating them. Think of automation as your support team, so your team stays focused on providing greater value.

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Christine Hollinden, CPSM, CEPA, CM&AA, CVGA, is the principal and founder of  Hollinden | growth without guesswork, headquartered in Houston, Texas. Focused on professional services, Hollinden provides strategic growth consulting, prospect list creation and outreach, marketing automation, and AI implementation.