The AI Team
Blueprint

I'm building a custom AI team for my business. Before we figure out who I need, help me get clear on how my business actually works. Ask me the following — one at a time, and push back if my answers are vague:

1. What do you do? (Your core service or offer — one sentence. The main thing.)

2. Who do you serve? (List 3–5 specific types of people or businesses. Be narrow.)

3. What does your client get? (The transformation or outcome — what changes for them after working with you?)

4. What stage is your business in? (Just getting started / growing and getting busy / established and ready to scale — pick the one that fits best and describe what that looks like for you.)

5. How do you currently get clients? (Word of mouth, email list, podcast, social media, referrals — all of it.)

Once I've answered all five, summarize what you heard back to me in 3–4 sentences so I can confirm before we move on.

Now let's take a snapshot of the systems behind my business. I want to know what's actually in place — not just what tools I use, but whether things are running smoothly or breaking down.

Ask me about each of these areas — one at a time. For each one ask me: Do you have a system for this right now? Is it working well, or does it feel chaotic or nonexistent? Where does it break down most often?

Areas to ask about:

Client experience (onboarding, communication during the project, offboarding)
Content and marketing (planning what to create, actually creating it, publishing consistently)
Sales and follow-up (tracking inquiries, following up with leads, converting prospects)
Operations and admin (scheduling, task management, documents and contracts)
Finance and money (invoicing, tracking what's coming in, knowing your numbers)
Team or contractor coordination (if you have any support right now — VA, contractors, anyone)

After I answer all areas, give me:
1. A quick summary of where my systems are strong
2. Where my biggest gaps or breakdowns are
3. One note on how those gaps might shape the AI team we build — so we build the team I actually need, not a generic roster

Now let's map the tools and systems I use in my business. I want to know what my AI team can work with directly and what they'll need to hand off to me.

Ask me which of the following I use — and for each one I say yes to, ask me how I use it in my business:

Project management (ClickUp, Asana, Notion, Monday, etc.)
Email (Gmail, Outlook, ConvertKit, Flodesk, etc.)
Website platform (Squarespace, Showit, WordPress, etc.)
Scheduling (Calendly, Acuity, Google Calendar, etc.)
Video calls (Zoom, Google Meet, etc.)
Community or messaging (Slack, Circle, Facebook Group)
CRM or client tracking (HoneyBook, Dubsado, spreadsheet, or inside a project management tool)
Design (Canva, Adobe, etc.)
File storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.)
Payment processing (Stripe, PayPal, platform checkout)

After I answer, tell me: which of these you can connect to directly in Claude.ai, and which ones will require me to execute manually for now.

Now let's figure out where I actually need help. I want to identify the tasks that are eating my time, the ones I keep dropping, and the ones I wish someone else was handling.

Ask me about each of these areas — one at a time. For each one, ask me: Is this something you're currently doing? How much time does it take? Do you enjoy it or does it drain you? Is it something you'd trust someone else to handle if they knew your business well?

Areas to ask about:

Content & marketing (writing, newsletters, blog posts, social, podcast prep)
Client experience (onboarding, check-ins, offboarding, welcome sequences)
Sales & follow-up (inquiry responses, proposals, pipeline tracking, follow-up emails)
Operations & admin (scheduling, inbox, task management, file organization)
Finance & revenue (invoicing, payment tracking, revenue reporting)
Website & visibility (SEO, site updates, landing pages, tech issues)
Community & engagement (community management, member experience, event coordination)
Research & strategy (competitor research, market trends, planning, offer development)

After I answer all areas, give me a summary of where my biggest time drains are and where an AI team member could make the most immediate impact.

Based on everything we've talked through — my business, my systems, my tools, and where my time is going — I want you to build me a custom team diagnosis.

Give me:

1. A recommended team roster — the roles I need, each described in one sentence. No more than 8–10 to start. Prioritize based on where I'll feel the most relief fastest.

2. A build order — which member to build first, second, and so on. Explain why that order makes sense for my business right now.

3. A "not yet" list — roles that might make sense later but aren't the right priority right now, and why.

Format it clearly so I can see my recommended team at a glance.

Let's build my next team member. I'll tell you the role, and you'll help me build them out fully.

The role I'm building: [type the role in the field above]

Walk me through these one at a time:

1. Name — suggest 3 name options that feel like a real person, not a job title. I'll pick one.

2. Personality — based on the role, describe how this person shows up. Their working style, their strengths, how they communicate with me.

3. Responsibilities — list the specific tasks this team member handles. Be concrete. "Writes content" isn't enough — I want to know exactly what they do.

4. Connections — based on the tools I told you I use, which ones does this team member need access to? Which are connected and which are manual for now?

5. Skill file — write a full skill file for this team member. Include: who they are, what tools they use, their tasks with step-by-step instructions, their boundaries, and their current autonomy stage (Stage 1 — Baby Steps: drafts everything, I execute).

After you build the skill file, ask me: does anything feel off? Is there a task missing? Is there something they should never do?

When I'm satisfied, ask me to copy the skill file and store it somewhere I can find it.

Now I want to map out where each team member starts and what moving to the next stage looks like for them.

For each team member we built, tell me:

1. Their starting stage (everyone starts at Stage 1 — just confirm this and note what Stage 1 looks like specifically for their role)

2. What "Stage 1 done well" looks like — the specific signals that would tell me they're ready to move to Stage 2

3. What Stage 2 would look like for their role — what changes, what I still review

Format this as a simple table I can save and refer back to as I work with my team.

We've built my team and mapped their training stages. Now I want to create my handoff plan — the practical picture of how I actually work with this team going forward.

Help me answer these:

1. How do I activate a team member? (What do I say, how do I open a session with them, what context do I give them?)

2. What's my weekly rhythm? (Which team members do I check in with regularly vs. only when something comes up?)

3. Where do team flags go? (When a team member notices something that needs my attention, where does that surface so nothing gets lost?)

4. How do I know a task is ready to hand off? (What's the checklist — for me to trust it and for them to be ready for it?)

5. What's my 30-day plan? (Which team member do I activate first, what task do I hand off first, and what does success look like in 30 days?)

Deliver this as a one-page operating plan I can save and come back to anytime.