Where to start with AI assistants

Most people I talk to want an AI assistant working in their business, and have no idea where to start.

So they open a chat window and get back something generic that sounds nothing like them. The AI has nothing to go on, so it fills every gap with a guess.

I start in the same place every time, before I touch a tool or write a prompt. One folder, with six files in it.

File one is AGENTS.md. It's the index, listing every other file in one line each, so the AI knows where to look before it writes a word. ChatGPT's Codex reads it automatically and Claude Code now picks it up too. You can point any other AI straight at it.

Files two to four are about your business. An overview covers what you do, who decides what, and the jobs you turn down. A customer file covers who buys from you and the words they use when they ask for help. A voice file covers how you write, including the words you'd never use.

Files five and six are about one job. The first explains how the work gets done, step by step, including the point where the AI stops and hands it to a person. The second holds approved examples, real finished work with a note on why each one was good.

The business files are the part I'd spend the most time on, because they're the same for every assistant you build. Once your first assistant is done, every new one only needs files five and six.

Keep the folder somewhere you control, like your own Google Drive or Dropbox, so it moves with you to whichever AI tool you use next year.

Sketch the folder on a page today, and fill in the three business files first.