I have been thinking about this a lot recently.
Not the noise around AI. That comes and goes. But what is actually changing in the day-to-day work of assistants.
Because something has shifted.
Quietly.
The tasks we used to spend most of our time on are no longer the tasks that define our value.
Diary management.
Inbox organisation.
Formatting documents.
Pulling together briefing notes.
All still important. But no longer the work.
AI can now handle a good portion of that.
Faster than we can.
Without the coffee breaks.
And that can feel uncomfortable. But here is what I have seen in practice. The assistants who are leaning into this are not becoming less valuable. They are becoming more focused.
Because when the task is supported, your thinking becomes the differentiator.
What to prioritise.
What actually matters in that meeting.
What your executive is not saying, but needs.
That has always been the job. AI is just removing the noise around it. The challenge is not the technology. It is how we choose to work alongside it.
Most assistants I speak to are not struggling with capability. They are struggling with where to start. So, they avoid it or overcomplicate it. Here is how I approach it now.
Start small.
Pick one task you already do every week. Something slightly repetitive. Something you would not miss if it took less time.
Then ask a better question before you begin. How could this be clearer before I even touch it?
Let me give you a real example.
Project tracking.
Most assistants are already doing this in some form.
- A spreadsheet.
- A project tool.
- A running list that lives in three different places depending on how the week has gone.
The challenge is not the data. It is making sense of it quickly. I used to open my project tracker and work through everything manually.
- Checking deadlines.
- Looking for delays.
- Trying to work out who needed chasing before my principal asked the question.
It took time. And more importantly, it took energy. Now I open the same system and start differently.
I ask ClickUp or Monday.com :
‘Review the current project data and provide a clear weekly status overview.
Include overdue or at-risk tasks, blocked items and what they are waiting on, workload across the team, key deadlines in the next seven days, and suggested priority actions.’
Within seconds, I have a structured view of what actually needs my attention.
Not a generic answer. Not a guess. It is based on the real work sitting in the system.
From there, I decide what matters.
- Who needs chasing.
- What needs escalating.
- What can wait.
That is the shift. The tool does the scanning. I do the thinking. And that is where assistants become more valuable, not less.
This is the part that often gets missed. AI does not replace judgement. It exposes whether you are using it. Because if two people have access to the same tools, the one who knows how to ask better questions will always move faster.
And with more clarity.
At Admin AI Insights, this is exactly what I am building.
A space where assistants can learn how to use AI in a way that reflects the reality of the role.
Not theory.
Not hype.
Just practical ways to reduce noise and improve the quality of your work.
Because the risk is not AI. The risk is staying in a way of working that no longer supports you. And hoping it still will.