Tools and ways of working
Your own assistant for a fixed task
An assistant that knows one task well saves time every week. How to build one in an hour, without programming.
6 min read
A custom assistant is an AI tool with fixed instructions and documents for one task. In ChatGPT it's called a custom GPT, in Claude a project, in Microsoft 365 Copilot an agent. The principle is the same: you explain properly once how the task works, and then you only need to supply the input.
Choose the right task
A good candidate:
- Comes round at least weekly.
- Always follows roughly the same approach.
- Relies on information you can supply: terms, a price list, examples.
Examples: analysing quote requests, answering customer questions, writing job adverts, producing meeting summaries.
Build it in four steps
- Instructions: goal, role, method in steps, format of the result, what's never allowed.
- Knowledge: the documents the assistant needs.
- Examples: one or two good results as examples.
- Testing: try five real cases and improve the instructions.
Tips for good instructions
- Write in steps: "First read... Then check... Then write..."
- Say what the assistant should do when information is missing: ask questions rather than guess.
- Set out what's never allowed: inventing prices, making promises, storing personal data.
Share with your team
In a business account you can share the assistant with colleagues. Then everyone works the same way. Agree who maintains the instructions and documents.
Exercise
Your answers stay only in this browser.
Prompt to copy
I want to build my own assistant for this task: [task]. Write the instructions with: goal, role, method in numbered steps, format of the result, what to do if information is missing and what's never allowed. Then say which documents and examples I should add and give five test cases.
