There's no shortage of ideas about what businesses should be doing with AI. But we think there's a better place to start:
What's something your business needs to accomplish, and can AI make that job easier?
Business preparedness is a good example. Most businesses know they should have things like documented procedures, current contact information and a plan for handling unexpected disruptions. Actually creating and maintaining all of that documentation is another matter.
Sometimes the biggest obstacle isn't knowing what needs to be done. It's finding the time to sit down and create it. That's one place where AI can be genuinely useful.
Not because AI can create your preparedness strategy for you. It can't. But it can help turn notes into a first draft, organize information and give your team something to work from instead of staring at a blank page.
Here are five practical ways to use it.
- Turn What Your Team Knows Into Documentation
Every business has important processes that live mostly in someone's head. Ask that person to write a procedure from scratch, and there's a good chance it stays on the to-do list.
Instead, have them jot down some notes or talk through the process and create a transcript. AI can help organize that information into a first draft.
Maybe it's:
- What to do when an important system isn't available.
- Who needs to be contacted during an outage.
- How employees access a particular application.
- What needs to happen when a new employee starts.
- How a recurring business process gets completed.
Then give that draft back to the person who actually knows the process. They'll probably say, "That's not quite right," or "You forgot this step."
That's exactly the point.
People are often much better at improving a draft than creating one from nothing. AI gets you to the first draft faster. Your people make it accurate.
- Create Checklists People Can Actually Follow
A preparedness plan isn't particularly useful if nobody can figure out what to do with it.
AI can help take a longer procedure and turn it into a simple checklist your team can follow.
For example, you might create a checklist for:
- An internet or phone outage.
- Communicating with employees when normal systems aren't available.
- Contacting important vendors.
- Recovering access to a critical business application.
- Handling employee onboarding or offboarding.
Again, don't assume the AI-generated checklist is correct just because it looks professional. Review it.
Ask the employees who would actually use it whether the steps make sense. And where technology is involved, have your IT provider verify the technical portions.
The goal isn't to have impressive-looking documentation. The goal is to have something useful when people need it.
- Use AI to Help You Ask Better Questions
One of the hardest parts of preparedness planning is figuring out what you haven't thought about. AI can be useful as a brainstorming partner.
You might ask:
- What should an accounting firm consider if its internet connection is unavailable for a full business day?
- What processes should an eye care practice document in case a key employee is unexpectedly unavailable?
- What business systems might a construction company depend on to keep projects moving?
- What questions should a small business ask when reviewing its business continuity plan?
The answers aren't your plan. Some suggestions may not apply to your business at all. But one good question can start a valuable conversation among your leadership team.
That's a productive use of AI: not asking it to make the decision, but using it to help you think about the decision.
- Translate Technical Information Into Plain English
Technology reports aren't always written for business owners. A backup report, security assessment or system review may contain useful information while still leaving you wondering:
"Okay...what does this actually mean for my business?"
AI can sometimes help summarize technical material and identify questions you may want to discuss with your IT provider.
That doesn't mean you should paste confidential company information into whatever AI tool happens to be open in your browser. Your business should have guidelines about what employees can share with AI systems and which tools are approved for company information.
But when used appropriately, AI can help bridge the gap between technical information and a business conversation. You don't need to understand every technical detail. You need enough information to ask good questions and make informed decisions.
- Make Documentation Easier to Maintain
Creating documentation is only half the job. Keeping it current is usually harder.
- Employees change roles.
- Vendors change.
- Software gets replaced.
- Phone numbers change.
- Processes evolve.
And the procedure someone carefully documented two years ago may no longer describe how your business actually operates. AI can help compare notes, reorganize updates and create revised drafts for your team to review.
That can make maintaining documentation less time-consuming. But the final review still belongs to your people.
AI can help update the document. It can't know whether the document reflects reality.
Know Where AI Stops
This may be the most important part.
AI can produce an extremely convincing preparedness plan. That doesn't mean the plan works.
AI can't actually:
- Restore your backup and confirm the data is usable.
- Determine whether your business can realistically recover within the timeframe written in the plan.
- Know every dependency between your employees, vendors and technology.
- Coordinate your team during a real interruption.
- Decide what's appropriate for your particular business when judgment and accountability matter.
Those things require people. They require testing. And when technology is involved, they require someone who understands how your systems actually work together.
That's the difference between having a document and having a plan you can rely on.
Where Your IT Partner Fits In
AI can help you get started. Your IT provider should help you determine whether the technology side of the plan actually works.
- Can the backups be restored?
- How long would recovery realistically take?
- Which systems depend on other systems?
- What happens if your internet connection isn't available?
- Who does your team contact?
- What should happen first?
Those aren't questions we want our clients figuring out for the first time during an emergency. At Literati IT, part of our job is understanding how your business operates—not just how its computers operate. That allows us to help clients throughout Morgantown and North Central West Virginia build practical plans around the technology they actually depend on.
Give AI a Job—Not the Responsibility
AI is a useful tool.
- Give it the tedious work.
- Let it organize notes.
- Let it create the first draft.
- Let it help you brainstorm questions.
- Let it turn a long document into a checklist.
Then let your people provide the knowledge, judgment and accountability. That's a pretty good rule for AI in general.
Use AI to make the work easier. Don't outsource the responsibility.
And if you'd like help determining whether the technology behind your preparedness plan will actually work when you need it, we'd be happy to have that conversation. Feel free to give us a call at 304-296-8026.
No pressure. No technical jargon. Just a practical look at what your business depends on and whether you're prepared to keep it running.
