AI as a Business Writer

AI can help you write. But it shouldn’t do your thinking for you.

This morning, I was on a strategy alignment call with one of my CEO clients. He’s hiring a senior sales associate and shared part of his interview process with me. He asks candidates to develop a business plan outlining how they would attack the market and what results they believe they can realistically achieve.

But this time, he added one instruction:
“No AI. Use your f*ing brain.”

Then he followed it with something I liked even more:
“No smoke-up-the-a$$ bull $hit that you’ll have to make excuses for every week. Make it real.”

It got me thinking...

We’ve reached a point where AI-generated writing has become so common (and often so obvious) that people are starting to explicitly ask for the human version.

And I understand why...

AI is an incredible tool. It can help us generate ideas, challenge our thinking, organize our thoughts, analyze information, and do things faster than we ever could before.

But there’s a big difference between using AI to make your thinking better and using AI instead of thinking.

Especially when you’re communicating with clients, prospects, employees, or your team.

Your words should sound like you.
Your point of view should be yours.
Your promises should be things you actually believe you can deliver.

Use AI to brainstorm. Use it to challenge you. Use it to clean something up. Use it to help you see what you might be missing.

But don’t just copy, paste, and send.

Because eventually, someone will expect the person behind those words to show up.

Make it real. Make it yours.
People can tell the difference.

Keith