What can AI automate for a SVP?

AI can help with: Summarizing long board decks, contracts, and reports into one-page briefs; Drafting first versions of strategy memos, update emails, and announcements; Producing meeting transcripts, action items, and owner lists; Comparing quarterly numbers across units and flagging what moved; Researching markets, competitors, and regulations with sourced answers.

What stays distinctly human for a SVP?

Still human: Deciding which bets to fund and which to kill; Reading the room and managing relationships with peers and the CEO; Coaching and developing your direct reports as people; Owning accountability when a call goes wrong; Setting the priorities and culture your AI tools only execute against.

AI for SVP: tools, prompts, and how the role is changing

The shift

How AI is changing the SVP role

AI now handles the time-heavy parts of an SVP role, like summarizing 80-page board decks, drafting first-pass strategy memos, and pulling themes from dozens of customer or employee comments. It can compare quarterly numbers across business units and flag what changed before your staff meeting. The result is more hours for judgment calls and fewer hours spent reading and reformatting.

What AI can take off your plate

Summarizing long board decks, contracts, and reports into one-page briefs
Drafting first versions of strategy memos, update emails, and announcements
Producing meeting transcripts, action items, and owner lists
Comparing quarterly numbers across units and flagging what moved
Researching markets, competitors, and regulations with sourced answers

What stays distinctly human

Deciding which bets to fund and which to kill
Reading the room and managing relationships with peers and the CEO
Coaching and developing your direct reports as people
Owning accountability when a call goes wrong
Setting the priorities and culture your AI tools only execute against

Tools

Five AI tools for SVPs

ChatGPT (GPT-4o)

An SVP pastes in raw quarterly data and competitor news to get a one-page summary and three strategic questions to raise with the CEO.

Microsoft Copilot

An SVP uses it inside Outlook, Teams, and Excel to summarize email threads, recap missed meetings, and turn a financial model into talking points.

Claude (Anthropic)

An SVP drops in a full board deck or contract and asks for a structured summary, open risks, and the decisions that need a vote.

Otter.ai

An SVP records leadership and one-on-one meetings to get transcripts, action items, and owner assignments without taking notes.

Perplexity

An SVP researches a new market, regulation, or acquisition target and gets a sourced answer with links to verify before sharing it up.

Prompts

Five prompts to try today

Paste these into Claude or ChatGPT and replace the bracketed parts with your own details.

1. Board deck summary

You are my chief of staff. Summarize this board deck for [DIVISION] in one page: top three results, top three risks, and the two decisions the board must make. Flag any number that changed more than 10% from last quarter. Deck: [PASTE]

2. Staff meeting prep

Here are the weekly updates from my [NUMBER] direct reports: [PASTE]. Give me the three most important items, two things that look stuck, and four pointed questions I should ask in my staff meeting tomorrow.

3. Strategy memo draft

Draft a two-page strategy memo to the CEO recommending [DECISION] for [DIVISION]. Include the problem, three options with tradeoffs, my recommendation, cost and headcount impact, and the risks. Keep the tone direct. Context: [PASTE]

4. Performance review notes

Turn these rough notes on [EMPLOYEE NAME] into a clear, fair performance summary: two strengths with examples, two growth areas, and three goals for next quarter. Keep it specific and avoid generic praise. Notes: [PASTE]

5. Hard message to my team

Help me write a calm, honest message to my [TEAM SIZE]-person org about [CHANGE, e.g. reorg, budget cut, missed target]. Explain what is happening, why, what stays the same, and what I expect next. Two paragraphs, no corporate filler.

A day in your inbox

This is the kind of brief a SVP gets, every weekday morning.

The Morning Current

Weekday morning

✦ Personalized for: SVP

Today's Tool

Use Claude for the 90-page deck

Before the next board meeting, paste the full deck into Claude and ask for the decisions that need a vote and the unresolved risks. You will walk in knowing exactly where to focus instead of skimming at 11pm.

Today's Prompt

Prep for your staff meeting in five minutes

Paste all your direct reports' weekly updates into the staff meeting prep prompt above. It surfaces what is stuck and gives you sharp questions, so you lead the meeting instead of reacting to it.

Today's Trick

Always ask for the sources

When you research a market or competitor with AI, add 'cite your sources with links' to every prompt. Verify before you repeat anything to the CEO, since confident wrong answers are the real risk.

AI for SVPs