Write AI prompts that give useful business results

Give context and a clear task

AI knows nothing about your business unless you tell it. State who the output is for, what it is for, and exactly what you want. Compare these two prompts.

Weak:
Write an email about our price increase.

Better:
We supply calibration services to factories in Bangladesh.
Write a short, respectful email telling existing customers
that prices rise 5% from 1 January because of higher costs.
Thank them for their business and invite questions.

Specify the format

Say what shape the answer should take: its length, tone and structure. For example: "a table with three columns" or "under 100 words in plain language".

Provide examples and your own material

Paste a good past example and ask it to match the style. When you want an answer based on your own information, supply the text and tell it to use only that, and to say so when the answer is not there.

Do not paste confidential customer, staff or financial data into a tool unless your company has approved it for that use.

Improve it through conversation

Treat the first answer as a draft. Tell it what to change, such as "shorter and less formal" or "add a section on delivery". Save the prompts that work well, so your team can reuse them.

Always check the result

AI can state wrong facts with complete confidence. Check numbers, names, dates and anything legal or technical before you use it. The person who sends the work is responsible for it.