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AI for executive assistants: what to hand over
What an executive assistant can hand to an AI teammate: inbox triage, scheduling, meeting prep and follow-ups. What stays human, and how to set it up in a week.
Benjamin Ben HattarAn executive assistant's job is judgment wrapped in admin. The judgment part is knowing which email the boss must see today, which meeting can move, and how to say no to a board member without costing a favor. The admin part is everything around that: reading the inbox, finding a slot that works for four calendars, pulling together the brief before a call, chasing the follow-ups after it.
An AI teammate is good at the admin part and should stay out of the judgment. This post splits the job along that line, with the asks to type and what comes back. The examples use Cedric.
- Hand over the reading and the drafting: inbox triage, slot-finding, meeting briefs, the notes and follow-ups after a call.
- Keep the decisions and the relationships: priorities, who gets a yes, which meeting loses, and anything said in the executive's name to someone who matters.
- Nothing leaves without a yes. Every reply, invite and follow-up waits as a preview you approve, edit or hold.
- Start with a morning brief you run by hand for a few days, then put it on a schedule.
- Teach the executive's rules once, like "no meetings before 9:30", and they stick for every later task.
Inbox triage
The inbox costs an assistant most of the morning, and most of that time goes to reading. Cedric reads the connected mailbox first. He sorts what arrived overnight into what needs the executive today and what can wait, and drafts the replies worth sending. Each draft is a preview, and nothing goes out until someone approves it.
Two inboxes are fine, yours and the executive's. Connect each one and give it a short name, so "check Hannah's inbox" and "check mine" stay distinct.
Scheduling
Ask for a meeting and Cedric reads the calendar, finds the slot, and proposes it. The invite goes out when you say yes. When the day changes, he moves what depends on it and drafts the note to the other side.
When there is no free slot, he says so and shows the least painful conflicts. Deciding which meeting loses stays with you. Making the swap once you have decided takes one sentence.
Meeting prep
"Prep Hannah for her 2pm." Cedric reads the invite, the notes from last time, the mail thread with the person and the CRM record. An hour before the call he posts who she is meeting, what changed since, what to ask and what to keep out of the room. If there are no notes from last time, he says so and works from the mail and the CRM. Meeting prep shows a full brief.
Follow-ups
Put Cedric on the executive's recurring meetings. He joins as a visible guest and takes the notes. After the call the notes and action items go to every attendee, and a recap to anyone outside the team waits for your yes. When an owner goes quiet, he nudges them before the next meeting.
8:30, the morning brief
The inbox and the day, before the executive is in.
Nadia Haddad9:14 AM
@Cedric morning brief for Hannah, inbox and calendar.
CedricAPP9:15 AM
Three threads need Hannah today: Priya's comments on the board deck, the Halcyon renewal quote, and a speaker invite for November. I drafted replies to the first two; the invite is her call. Calendar: Devin asked to move the 11:00. The first free slot for both of them is Thursday 10:00, so I drafted that offer. Nothing has been sent.
Nadia reads two drafts and one proposal, changes a word, and approves. The speaker invite stays with her, because whether Hannah speaks in November is a decision about Hannah's time. Once the brief needs no edits for a few days, "post that every weekday at 8:30" makes it arrive on its own.
Where the line sits
| Task | Stays with the assistant | Cedric takes |
|---|---|---|
| Inbox | What the executive must see, and what she never needs to | Reading, sorting, drafting the replies |
| Calendar | Which meeting loses, what gets protected | Finding the slot, proposing it, the invite on your yes |
| Meeting prep | What to raise, and what to leave out | The brief from the invite, the thread, the CRM and last time's notes |
| Follow-ups | Tone with people who matter | Notes, action items, the recap drafted, quiet owners nudged |
| Rules | Deciding what they are | Following them every time once told |
Setting it up in a week
- 01
Connect the mail and the calendar
Connect the executive's mailbox and calendar, with her agreement, and read-only to start where the tool allows. A connection can stay yours alone instead of the whole workspace's, and you can revoke it from the dashboard at any time.
- 02
Run the morning brief by hand
Ask for it three mornings in a row. Correct what is off in the thread: "newsletters never need her", "anything from the board is urgent". Each correction sticks.
- 03
Write down her rules
"No meetings before 9:30." "Fridays after 3 stay free." "Board members get a reply the same day." Say each once. Rules said in a direct message stay private to you.
- 04
Put him on the recurring meetings
Add Cedric's address to each calendar series once. Every occurrence is covered, and the notes arrive after each call.
- 05
Then schedule the brief
"Post the brief here every weekday at 8:30." The schedule approves the reading and the drafting. Every send inside it still asks.
What stays human
Priorities. Cedric can tell you that three things need Hannah today. Which of them she does first depends on things that were never written down.
Relationships. He can draft the no to the conference organizer. Whether it is a no, a not-this-year or a call from Hannah herself is your judgment, and it is most of what makes a good assistant hard to replace.
Confidential calls. What goes into a shared channel and what stays in a direct message is a decision you make before you ask. Approvals appear where the request was made, and anyone in that channel can approve.
FAQ
The reading, sorting and drafting, largely. The judgment about priorities and people, no. The useful split is to hand over the first and spend the time saved on the second.
Inbox triage, slot-finding and booking, meeting briefs, meeting notes, recaps and follow-up nudges. With Cedric, each outbound step waits for your approval.
Only on a yes. Every reply is a preview you approve, edit or hold, and silence sends nothing. See how approvals work.
Yes. Connect each one and name it. He reads only what each connection grants.
In Slack, Telegram, Discord or the browser. A direct message is enough. More on the setup in the AI executive assistant.
If you are new to this, start smaller than a full brief. Five tasks to hand an AI teammate first lists the safest first jobs, and the inbox sweep is one of them.
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