What Are the Best AI Prompts for CEOs? 12 to Copy and Use

You are a strategy adviser to the CEO of a UK [sector] business with [headcount] staff. Using my notes below, draft a two-page memo to the leadership team on [topic]. Structure: the situation in three sentences, the choice we face, at least three options including doing nothing, my recommendation and why, what we stop doing as a result, and how we will know in six months if it is working. Plain British English. Mark where my notes are thin and I need evidence.

Notes:
[paste]

We are about to [decision, e.g. open a second site in Bristol]. Here is the business case: [paste summary]. Imagine it is two years later and this decision has clearly been a mistake. Tell the story of how it went wrong, then pull out the five root causes. For each, give a leading indicator we could track monthly and a cheap test we could run before committing. Be blunt; I do not need reassurance.

I am leaning towards [option A] over [option B] for [decision]. My reasoning: [paste]. Make the strongest honest case for option B, as its best advocate on my board would. Then show where my reasoning rests on untested assumptions and what evidence would change the answer either way. Finally, tell me whether this decision is reversible and how much time it deserves as a result.

Here is material on [number] competitors: website copy, pricing pages, job adverts and press releases [paste]. Build a table comparing them on target customer, main message, price position, recent moves and hiring focus. Then tell me what their job adverts suggest about where they are heading. Use only the material provided and label anything inferred as "inference". End with three questions this raises for our strategy.

I am presenting this paper to our board next week: [paste paper]. The board includes [describe members, e.g. a finance-minded chair, an investor director, an operations NED]. For each member, list the three questions they are most likely to ask and the weak points they will spot. Then suggest what to add or cut so the paper answers those questions before they are asked, keeping it the same length or shorter.

Write our quarterly update to [investors, shareholders or our bank]. Facts for this quarter: [paste key numbers, wins, misses and next priorities]. Structure: one-sentence headline, numbers against plan, what went well, what did not and what we are doing about it, our asks, and the outlook. Be candid about misses. Under 400 words. Do not add any figure I have not given you.

I will paste a [consultant's report, market study or audit]. I have ten minutes. Give me the bottom line in one paragraph, the five findings that matter for a business like ours ([describe size and sector]), anything that contradicts what we currently believe, the recommendations ranked by effort and impact, and section references so I can check the originals. Flag any claim that relies on a source the report does not name.

[paste report]

Draft talking points for a ten-minute all-hands on [topics]. Our people are [describe, e.g. 60 staff across office and warehouse, some anxious about change]. Give me an honest opening about where we are, three messages with one real example each, what is changing for them and what is not, and a close that tells them what happens next. Write it to be spoken: short sentences, no slide language. Then list five questions staff might ask, with straight answers.

I need to announce [change, e.g. a restructure of the customer service team]. Here are the facts and what has been decided: [paste, no names]. List the twelve hardest questions staff, managers and customers might ask. Draft an honest answer to each, and mark any I cannot answer yet or where I must take HR or legal advice first. Tell me which questions to answer up front in the announcement itself.

I want to hand [project] to [role, e.g. our operations director]. Here is what I know: [paste]. Write a one-page delegation brief: the outcome I want, why it matters, decisions they can make without me, decisions they must bring back, budget and deadline, who else is involved, and when we will check in. Then tell me which parts of my notes suggest I am still holding on too tightly.

Act as my chief of staff. Below are my notes from this week: meetings, flagged emails, pending decisions and how I think things are going [paste]. Our priorities this quarter are [list]. Give me a Friday review: what moved forward, what stalled and why, decisions I am sitting on, people I need to speak to, and the three things that deserve my best hours next week. Be direct if my time does not match the priorities.

Here is my calendar for the last two weeks as a list of meeting titles and durations [paste, external names removed]. My priorities are [list]. Sort my time into strategy, people, customers, operations, admin and could be someone else's. Show the hours in a table against what a CEO focused on these priorities should spend. Suggest five meetings to cut, shorten or delegate, and one recurring block to protect.