I never finished the AI Chief of Staff I set out to make. I assembled one instead, without quite meaning to.

I think of it as the smallest build.

In April, I sat down to build myself an AI Chief of Staff.

It's still sitting there. Half done.

A few steps in, it felt overwhelming. So I gave up. (Am I supposed to admit that, running an AI consulting company?)

But then, I started solving for a bunch of daily needs: An assistant to draft emails for me. Another to track my business development pipeline. A third to help me with business development outreach. A fourth to help me prepare for meetings. And so on.

And at some point I looked up and realized these little pieces, together, were doing the job.

That's the smallest build: you skip the grand system and make the one piece that helps this week. You use it until it earns its place. Then, and only then, you build the next piece. It's how I build everything now, for myself and for clients. (The epitome, one might say, of a light action!)

Recently a client asked me to build them a Chief of Staff. I gave an answer that may or may not cost me the work: We don't start there.

We start with one task that would make Tuesday a little easier. We build just that, make sure it actually helps, and add the next piece from there.

Not just because the grand system is overwhelming to build at once (can I get hands raised for other half-finished AI projects?). But because the grand build can't possibly do what the bit-by-bit build does: mold to your exact needs.

It wasn't until the client asked for a Chief of Staff that I realized I had my own. It just never got a job title.

So if you've been circling a big AI project, try shrinking it. Name the first task you'd hand a Chief of Staff. Build only that.

Use it for a week before you even think about the next piece.

Do it on your own, or come do it with me (find time here). Assembling the pieces one useful build at a time is exactly how I help companies put AI to work, from one person's Tuesday all the way to how the business serves its customers.