AI Prompts for Executive Assistants: The Ones That Actually Save You Time

Most "AI prompts for executive assistants" lists hand you the obvious stuff: draft an email, build an itinerary. Useful, but you already knew AI could do that. What actually changes your week are the handful of prompts that use AI to think a step ahead of your exec, so those are the ones I am leading with. Change the details in brackets and they are yours.

One rule before we start, and it matters: keep confidential company and personal details out of consumer AI tools. No unannounced deals, financials, home addresses, or anything under NDA. Describe the situation generically instead ("a board member who keeps missing meetings"). You get the same help without handing sensitive information to a company. If you want the fuller version of how to talk to these tools well, that is much of what my book, The Beginner's Guide to the AI Galaxy, covers.

The five most assistants never think to try

Turn the messy voice note into an action list. Your exec fires off a rambling voice memo between meetings; this turns it into something you can work from.

Here is a transcript of a voice note from my exec. Pull out every task, decision, and follow-up, then give it back as a prioritized action list with who owns each item and any deadline they mentioned. Flag anything ambiguous that I should confirm before acting. Transcript: [paste it].

Draft the diplomatic no, in their voice. Declining on your exec's behalf is a tightrope, and it is easier to edit a good draft than write one cold.

Draft a reply declining [this invitation to speak at a conference], warm but clearly a no, in the [plain, direct, no-fluff] voice my exec uses. Do not leave the door open for a follow-up. Leave one blank line where I can add a specific reason. Here is the request: [paste it].

Anticipate what they will need before the big thing. This is the move that makes an exec say they cannot function without you.

My exec has [a full-day board meeting] on [Thursday]. Think a step ahead and list everything they will need before they walk in: documents, briefings, numbers, decisions I should get ahead of, people to loop in, and things that usually get forgotten. Assume they will ask me for it at the last minute.

Read the calendar and flag the trouble. Your expert eyes skim past the back-to-back that has no bathroom break; this catches it.

Here is my exec's calendar for [next week]. Flag every problem: double-bookings, meetings with no travel or prep time between them, anything stacked so tight there is no buffer, and anything scheduled over a block marked as protected or focus time. Give me a short list of what needs my attention. Calendar: [paste it].

Ghost-write in their exact voice. Once it has a few real samples, it can sound startlingly like your principal.

Here are [three] messages my exec has written, so you can learn their voice. Now draft [a short note thanking a client for a long-standing partnership] that sounds exactly like them, same length and tone. Do not make it more formal or polished than they actually are. Samples: [paste them].

The everyday time-savers

These are the staples. They will not surprise you, but they will give you your evenings back.

Draft the email you have been putting off.

Draft a [professional, friendly] email from my exec to [a vendor about a delayed invoice]. Get to the point quickly, keep it to a few lines, and end with a clear next step. Leave the recipient's name blank; I will add it. Context: [paste any details].

Write the scheduling and coordination message.

Write a message to [four people across two time zones] to find a [45-minute] slot for [a project kickoff] in [the next two weeks]. Propose [three] specific options, ask them to reply with what works, and keep it short and easy to answer.

Build a clean travel itinerary.

Turn these booking confirmations into one clean itinerary for my exec's [trip to Chicago]: flights, hotel, ground transport, and meetings, in order, with times, addresses, and confirmation numbers. Add [buffer notes] where connections are tight. Details: [paste them].

Turn meeting notes into actions.

Here are my rough notes from [today's leadership meeting]. Give me back a clean summary, then a separate list of action items with an owner and a due date for each, and flag anything that was left unresolved. Notes: [paste them].

Write a briefing doc before a meeting.

Draft a one-page briefing for my exec ahead of [a call with a potential partner]. Cover who they are meeting, why it matters, the key background, and [three] smart questions my exec could ask. Keep it skimmable in two minutes. Here is what I know: [paste it].

Summarize the expense report or update.

Summarize this [monthly expense report] for my exec: total spend, the biggest line items, anything unusual or over budget, and anything that needs their approval. Plain language, just what they need to know. Data: [paste it].

How to make any of these yours

These prompts are starting points, not magic words. The single biggest upgrade is telling it who your exec really is and what they actually want, the way you would brief a new hire covering for you. The more of your principal you put in, the better it comes back, which is the whole idea behind talking to AI like a person, not a search box. And if a first answer is close but not quite them, do not start over, just tell it what to fix, one of the small prompting moves that change everything.

None of this replaces the part only you can do, which is knowing your exec and exercising the discretion the whole role runs on. It clears the busywork off your desk so you have more of yourself left for the judgment calls that need you. That is the honest promise of AI for an assistant, and it is a good one.