AI can be infuriating. I recently had it “help” me to design PowerPoint presentations and eventually gave up, mad that I’d wasted more time talking to it than it would have taken me to finish it the traditional way.
AI isn’t always magic, but it can be when applied in the right way. I’ve developed a list of my top three questions I ask AI to help me make my work better. They’re game changing.
1. What could you help me with today?
AI is extremely good at finding ways to be helpful. In the morning, if AI has access to your calendar, you can ask it to tell you the ways it can help you. Or, at the end of the day, you can show it your calendar and ask it how it could have helped you during the day.
Every workday, there are dozens of small decisions, follow-ups, and tasks that either get delayed or require mental energy to track. AI thrives in this environment. It can help draft emails, summarize meeting notes, prepare agendas, identify gaps in your schedule, and even suggest priorities based on deadlines and importance.
The real magic, however, comes from repetition. When you ask this question consistently, you begin to train yourself and your AI tools to recognize patterns. Over time, the system becomes more tailored to your needs. You start to see what you could have delegated, automated, or streamlined.
This is where the compounding effect begins. Small efficiencies stack on top of each other. A saved five minutes here and ten minutes there turn into hours over a week. More importantly, you begin to shift your role from doing everything manually to orchestrating your work more strategically.
AI can do so much for compliance professionals. Whether it’s preparing training materials, reviewing policies, or managing investigations, AI can help lighten the cognitive load so you can focus on judgment, ethics, and decision-making.
2. How could I have prompted you to get the answer sooner?
Most people interact with AI in a trial-and-error way. We ask a question, refine it, adjust it, and eventually land on something useful. While this works, it can be inefficient. At the end of a successful interaction, ask AI how you could have prompted it better to get to the answer faster. This is a simple but transformative habit.
Why? Because prompting is a skill. The better your prompt, the better your output. By asking this question, you are effectively getting coaching on how to communicate more clearly with AI systems.
Once you receive that improved prompt, save it. Build your own personal library of prompts for recurring tasks—whether it’s drafting policies, analyzing risks, preparing board reports, or creating training content.
Over time, this library becomes a powerful asset. Instead of starting from scratch, you can reuse and refine prompts that you know work. This reduces friction and increases consistency in your output.
3. What questions would you ask me?
This third question is particularly powerful when you are preparing for high-stakes situations like presentations to senior leadership or board meetings.
Upload your materials into a secure, private AI system and ask it: what questions would you ask me if you were (1) the CEO, (2) the CFO, (3) a member of the board? The responses can be incredibly insightful. AI can identify gaps, unclear areas, or topics that may invite scrutiny.
This allows you to prepare more thoroughly and more efficiently. Instead of trying to anticipate every possible question on your own, you have a tool that can generate a wide range of perspectives instantly.
You can take this a step further by asking AI to draft answers to those questions. This gives you a set of talking points that you can refine and personalize. It doesn’t replace your expertise – it enhances it.
When you’re in a high-pressure presentation, being prepared for tough questions can make the difference between confidence and uncertainty. It also helps you identify areas where your program may need strengthening. If AI consistently flags certain risks or gaps, that is useful data you can act on.
AI has amazing capabilities to make you stronger and better at your job. The key is not to overcomplicate it. Start with these questions, build the habit, and let the gains accumulate. Over time, you will find that AI is not just a tool you use occasionally. It becomes a trusted partner in how you think, plan, and execute your work.