I use AI tools every day in my operational work — requirements gathering, documentation, analysis, communication, and planning. These are the ones that have actually changed how fast I work, not the ones with the most LinkedIn coverage.
Requirements gathering and documentation
This is where I see the most immediate, measurable impact. At Fortune 500 CPG Company, deploying GenAI to automate requirements gathering cut analyst workload 60% and reduced design rework by 20%. The tool isn't magic — it requires good prompting and human review. But it compresses weeks of work into days.
The practical workflow: structured interview → AI-generated draft requirements document → human review and refinement → stakeholder validation. The AI handles the scaffolding. The analyst handles the judgment.
Process documentation and SOPs
If you have a subject matter expert who can describe a process verbally, AI can turn that description into a structured SOP in under an hour. This is transformative for manufacturing operations where critical knowledge lives in heads, not documents.
Executive communication and reporting
Operations leaders spend enormous time translating operational data into executive-readable communication. AI dramatically accelerates this — draft board reports, operational summaries, and stakeholder updates in a fraction of the time, with the human adding the judgment and context that makes the communication actually useful.
The operations leaders winning with AI are not the ones who've automated the most. They're the ones who've identified the highest-leverage tasks and compressed them first.
What to avoid
Avoid AI tools that require significant infrastructure investment before they can deliver value. In operations, the first wins need to be visible and fast — teams that spend 6 months building AI infrastructure before seeing results lose momentum and organizational support. Start with tools that work on day one with the data and processes you already have.
Ready to put this into practice?
Book a 30-minute strategy call. I'll tell you exactly what I'd prioritize for your specific situation.