Lots of businesses already use AI to summarise notes and prepare for meetings. The bigger opportunity is using AI to create consistent meeting briefs that help every client conversation start with the same understanding of actions, risks and next steps.
What you get
A short, consistent briefing before every client meeting, built from your own notes: where things stand, what was agreed, what’s due and what the client is likely to ask. You’ll also get a brief you can reuse, four prompts to try and an example of how it works in practice.
How it works
You decide what matters before a meeting, and you only need to brief AI this once. After that, everyone in your business can use the same approach each time, whoever is doing the prep.
What to check
Every name, date and figure against your notes, and anything the notes didn’t cover. Client information only goes into AI tools your business has approved.
What you get
A short, consistent briefing before every client meeting, built from your own notes: where things stand, what was agreed, what’s due and what the client is likely to ask. You’ll also get a brief you can reuse, four prompts to try and an example of how it works in practice.
How it works
You decide what matters before a meeting, and you only need to brief AI this once. After that, everyone in your business can use the same approach each time, whoever is doing the prep.
What to check
Every name, date and figure against your notes, and anything the notes didn’t cover. Client information only goes into AI tools your business has approved.
Consistent meeting prep in five minutes
You and your colleagues may already be using AI to summarise notes or documents before a client meeting. But if everyone uses it in a different way, the quality of the prep can still vary. One person may know the client history inside out, another may read the whole file, while someone covering at short notice may have to piece everything together at the last minute.
That’s where a simple meeting brief helps. You write down what your business always needs to know before a client conversation, then ask AI to pull that information from your notes in the same format each time. That way, everyone consistently works from the same starting point.
AI can do the first read-through for you: pulling out the main points, actions and gaps, then putting them into a format your team can use. You still need to check it, decide what matters and lead the conversation. Remember you’re always responsible for what you take into the room.
What you need before you start
Start with the notes you already have: meeting notes, file notes or the latest client update. Add them to your approved AI tool, or use them from somewhere the tool can safely access. You don’t need to start from scratch.
The three parts you’ll set up
This guide walks you through three things:
Your standing brief
Who you are, who you’re not (so AI won’t make unnecessary mistakes) and how you sound, written once and added to every AI task.
Start with the information your business already holds, such as meeting notes, file notes, status updates or previous actions. AI is most useful here when it works from real context, not a blank page. Your team can add in later anything the notes didn’t already cover.
Think of this as the context AI needs every time it works with your business. It explains who you are, how you communicate, what your clients expect and where the boundaries are. If you’ve already written it for another prompt pack, use the same version. Otherwise, complete the sections in brackets, then add it to every prompt or save it as standing instructions in your approved AI tool (how you do this will depend on the tool you’re using, but for most you can do it by accessing the settings or profile section – if in doubt, ask the AI tool and it should tell you).
Use that tool through work accounts only, so client information is protected in the way your business has agreed it should be.
Copy this prompt
We are [business name], a [kind of business] with [number] people based in [location]. Our [clients or customers] are [who they are]. People know us as [plain-speaking and friendly / formal and precise]. We will never ask AI to [what the business never does in AI tasks, for example: give advice, mix one client’s information with another’s, or quote fees before they are agreed]. Work from the information we provide first. If you use any additional information, say where it came from. If you are unsure, or the information doesn’t cover it, say so. A person checks everything before it is used.
Tips:
AI works best when it understands your business. Detailed context about your customers, services, tone of voice and business rules will usually have a bigger impact on the quality of the output than switching to a different AI tool. A well-written standing brief gives AI that context every time.
Step 2: Add a task brief for meeting prep
The standing brief gives AI the background that should be applied to every task. The following task brief tells it what good meeting prep looks like for your business: what to look for, what to include, what not to assume and how you want it presented.
Copy this prompt
Search only in [approved folders, shared drives or client files]. Do not search personal drives or email unless instructed.
Return the original wording together with the source file and date. Do not rewrite it unless asked.
The person reusing the information must compare it with the original source document.
Step 3: Choose a prompt and run it
Paste in both briefs and your notes. Then choose a prompt below and adapt the words in brackets to match the meeting. The prompts are starting points, so make them more specific if your team needs more detail.
1. Legal: Client meeting on a live matter
Here are our notes on [the matter]. [Paste notes.] Prepare a meeting brief. Separate confirmed facts from open questions.
Highlight anything in the notes I should raise before the client does and flag any gaps where the notes do not give enough information.
2. Accountancy: Year-end meeting
Here are last year’s meeting notes and this year’s file notes for [kind of client]. [Paste both.] Prepare a meeting brief.
Explain what has changed since last year, what we still need from the client and when. Highlight anything that may need checking before the meeting.
3. Recruitment: Client briefing call
Here are our notes on the roles we’ve filled for [the client]. [Paste notes.] Prepare a briefing for a client call.
Include which roles were filled, how long each took, what we learned from the process and what we should ask about the new role before starting work.
Step 4: Check it before you use it
Whoever requests the preparation should review it against the notes before they share it or use it in a meeting. A simple checklist can help:
Check:
Are the names, dates, figures and actions correct?
Has AI clearly flagged any missing information, outstanding actions or unanswered client questions?
Is there anything confidential or sensitive that does not need to be included?
Does it sound like your business, and is there anything that needs human judgement before it is used?
Taking the time to review at this stage can stop inaccurate or incomplete information being carried into a client conversation.
Step 5: Keep one version, and keep it up to date
Keep the briefs in a shared document or in your AI tool’s standing instructions, so there is one version for everyone to use. Give one person responsibility for keeping them up to date. If someone finds more effective wording for a particular prompt, or your business changes how it works or communicates, update the brief so the next output improves too.
How it works: a real-world walkthrough
Here’s how it could work in practice.
In this example, a 25-person legal practice creates a standing brief, adds a meeting-preparation task brief and uses Prompt 1. Below are both briefs, the prompt and what came back.
Step 1: Their standing brief input
We are a 25-person legal practice in the South West. Our clients are individuals and small businesses, most of them not lawyers. People know us as clear and approachable. We never ask our AI tools to give legal advice, mix one client’s matter with another’s, or quote fees before they are agreed. Work from the information we provide first. If you use anything else, say where it came from. If you are unsure, or the information doesn’t cover it, say so. A person checks everything before it is used.
Step 2: Their task brief input
For meeting prep: give us, from the notes, where things stand, in three lines; what was last agreed and by whom; what is due from us and from them; the questions the client is likely to ask. Use only the names, dates and figures in the notes. Use bullet points. Highlight points to raise, not advice. The fee-earner meeting the client checks everything against the notes before use.
Step 3: The prompt input
Here are our notes on a lease renewal for a retail client. [Notes pasted: the lease on the client’s shop ends on 31 March 2027. On 12 August the landlord’s agent proposed ten years at a higher rent; the client wants five years with a break and will confirm what rent they can afford. Heads of terms arrived on 3 September, silent on a service charge cap. Reply wanted by 30 September.] Give me the prep. Highlight anything in the notes I should raise before the client does.
The notes don’t record whether the client confirmed the rent they can afford after 12 August, or what was agreed about the break, so I have listed both as questions rather than assumed an answer.
Where things stand
The lease ends on 31 March 2027. The landlord proposed ten years at a higher rent; the client wants five years with a break.
Heads of terms arrived on 3 September. The landlord wants a reply by 30 September.
The heads of terms do not mention a service charge cap.
Last agreed, 12 August
Client: to confirm the rent they can afford. Not recorded as done.
Due
From us: our review of the heads of terms, and a reply to the landlord by 30 September.
From the client: the rent figure, and a decision on term and break.
Questions the client is likely to ask
Can we get five years with a break, and what happens if the landlord says no
Should the service charge be capped? The heads of terms are silent on it. Point to raise.
The fee-earner checks the briefing against the file, adds the rent figure the client sent the previous week and goes into the meeting with a clearer and more up-to-date picture.
The consultant compares the text with the original document, confirms the current process and reuses the wording.
Not sure what your business should hand to AI, and what should always stay with people?
Practical AI guardrails for UK SMEs is a simple starting point, with ready-to-use guidance for legal, accountancy, recruitment and consultancy businesses.
