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AI + Automation Resources
BIGWIG session
Where do you want to start?
A few starting ideas
Proposals, meeting notes, deliverables, and decisions available in one dedicated workspace.
Audience, offers, brand voice, examples, and promotions available every time you plan or write.
Capture an inquiry, interpret what it needs, draft the next response, and pause for approval.
Turn a signed agreement into tasks, folders, welcome materials, and a clear human handoff.
Collect a review, draft a thoughtful response, and save both to one central place.
Review commitments, deadlines, customer follow-ups, and changes—then surface what needs attention.
Build a Project
This example uses Claude, but the same basic approach applies to ChatGPT Projects and similar context-aware workspaces, even when the labels differ.
▶ Watch the Claude Project setupFirst: what does context mean?
It includes the relevant facts, goals, history, examples, constraints, and preferences that change what a useful answer looks like.
What you are asking right now—and why.
How this Project should work every time.
The trusted documents and information it can reference.
Relevant patterns and details learned as you work together.
Pick one area where having the same background available every time would make the conversation more useful.
Client delivery · Marketing planning · Financial review · A product launch · An event
Explain the job you want the Project to help with and what good support looks like. You do not need a perfect mega-prompt.
A short, clear operating brief beats a long list of vague rules.
Add the stable business information the Project should be able to reference across conversations.
Ask yourself: “Would a capable new teammate need this to do the work well?”
A Project becomes useful when you stop testing it with generic questions and give it an actual job to help move forward.
Correct it like a colleague. Explain what was off instead of starting the conversation over.
When memory is enabled, Claude builds a separate memory for the Project as you work inside it.
Memory availability and controls can vary by plan or organization settings.
Editable starter instructions
Edit anything inside the brackets—or rewrite the whole thing. The structure matters more than the exact words.
Build a workflow
Map the process, decide what can run automatically and what still needs you, then use the build guidance below to connect the steps in an automation tool.
Interactive workflow builder
Your answers stay in this browser. Nothing is submitted.
Map the steps
Your build brief
From map to working flow
Your process map is the plan. The automation tool is where you recreate that plan as connected steps.
Start with one trigger, a few repeatable steps, and one useful result. Leave unusual cases for a person.
Choose each app inside the automation tool, then sign in and approve access. This creates the secure connection the workflow will use.
Match the output from one step to the right field in the next—for example, move an email address from a form into your customer list.
Run realistic examples, check every step, and keep a human review point before messages, purchases, commitments, or other consequential actions.
How AI fits into a workflow
Most automation platforms provide built-in connections to AI models. The workflow gathers the relevant information, sends it to the model with instructions and context, then uses the response in the next step.
The review, email, form response, document, or other information.
Use a built-in connection instead of building an API from scratch.
Tell it what to interpret or create, plus the context and boundaries it needs.
Pass the result to the next step—or pause for a person to review it.
The honest tool overview
There is no universal “best.” Start with the simplest tool that connects to your systems and can handle your first useful version.
Best for
A first business workflow across common apps.
Notes
Probably the easiest starting point for many beginners. Broad app coverage, but cost and maintenance can grow as your workflows multiply.
Best for
Multi-step workflows where seeing the path matters.
Notes
There is more to learn, but it offers an excellent balance of flexibility, visibility, and control for small-business workflows.
Best for
Basic trigger-and-action automations, including devices.
Notes
Extremely approachable for straightforward connections. You may outgrow it quickly if the workflow needs branches, review, or business logic.
Best for
Organizations already living in Microsoft 365.
Notes
Powerful inside the Microsoft ecosystem. The product, licensing, and environment setup can feel dense if you are starting from scratch.
Best for
Technical builders who want customization or self-hosting.
Notes
The most flexible option here, including code and deployment control. Usually more tool than a first-time automator needs.
Directional guidance, not a ranking. Capabilities and pricing change—verify the details that matter before committing.
If you want to dive deeper
Lenny’s Product Pass is a paid newsletter membership that includes one-year offers for a large collection of AI and product tools. If you want to explore what is out there without subscribing to every tool separately, it may be worth a look.
Lenny’s Product Pass
Both tiers include the newsletter plus access to Product Pass offers. The more expensive Insider tier includes the full collection and Insider-only products.
This is not an endorsement of every tool in the bundle—just one option for sampling more of them if you want to go further.
See Lenny’s Product Pass ↗A few current examples
One year with higher access to Gemini, NotebookLM, Flow, and other Google AI features.
One year of Notion’s Business workspace, including its current AI features.
One year of n8n’s hosted starter plan for building workflows and AI automations.
These are examples from the current lineup—not permanent inclusions.
Practical walkthroughs
Start here
See how instructions, knowledge, conversations, and memory work together inside a Claude Project.
Workflow walkthrough
Follow a practical Make build from the trigger through connected actions, including a clear place for human review.
Recommended walkthrough
See how an automation sends information and instructions to an AI model, receives the response, and keeps a person in control.
Want to work through one together?
In one focused hour, we can map a workflow, strengthen a Project, choose an approach, or begin building a simple first version.
Questions after the session?