An AI chief of staff for small business owners and founders.
For a small business owner or founder, an AI chief of staff is an assistant that knows your business, reads your inbox and calendar, briefs you every morning, drafts the replies and follow-ups you keep putting off, and keeps a list of every promise you've made. You can start it on Claude's free plan, and setting up a first version takes about twenty minutes.
When you run the business, you're also its assistant and its follow-up system. Every build I take on starts at a pain point, and the biggest one I had was my own inbox. Between three kids' schedules, four product builds, client work, and a community group, things were landing in email, texts, and three calendars. Building my own chief of staff is what got my mornings back for the creative and strategic work.
What does an AI chief of staff do for a small business owner?
It takes the information work off the owner's desk: a morning brief of what matters today, an inbox sorted into what needs you and what doesn't, drafted replies and follow-ups for you to review, prep notes before calls, and one running list of everything you've promised anyone.
- The quote follow-up you keep meaning to send. It drafts it from the thread, you read it and hit send.
- The weekly customer email. One saved recipe, run every week, in your voice.
- The meeting recap. Your notes in fragments at the end of the day, turned into next steps with names on them.
- Who am I about to talk to? A short brief before every intro call, with a few good questions to open with.
How much does an AI chief of staff cost a small business?
You can start for free: Claude's free plan includes Projects and connectors to your email and calendar, and the free 30-Day AI Starter Plan walks you through the setup. If you'd like to build it with me, the live class is $99. If you want one built for your business, that starts with a free 30-minute call, then a diagnostic from $3,500.
Most people who finish the plan find 3 to 5 hours a week. Claude's Pro plan, about $20 a month, adds more usage and scheduled tasks, like a morning brief that runs on its own. Here's the class, and here's how my consulting pricing works.
Is an AI chief of staff worth it for a solo founder?
Usually yes, because a solo founder has nobody else keeping track of what they've promised people. You can start for free, and a first version takes about twenty minutes to set up.
It's worth it on one condition: you keep the rule that nothing goes out without your eyes on it. AI drafts, you send.
Can executives inside a larger company use an AI chief of staff?
Yes, within what the company allows. If your employer controls your work accounts, build the personal side on your own accounts and use a work-safe pattern that doesn't need access to locked-down systems, then bring it to IT once you've shown what it does.
Never connect a company inbox to a tool your company hasn't approved. The class covers the work-safe pattern, and if you're the one deciding for a whole team, that's an Applied AI engagement.
How does a small business owner get started this month?
Join the $99 live class and build it with me and a small group, or start the free 30-Day AI Starter Plan on your own this week: give an assistant standing context about your business, connect your email and calendar, run a morning brief daily, and automate the one task you complain about most.
The class is built for small business owners, consultants, coaches, fractional leaders, realtors and freelancers. If you want one built around how your business already works, start with a free 30-minute call. For AI beyond your own day, start with AI for a small business.
Or book a free 30-minute call and we'll figure out which path fits.