How to Use AI as a Strategic Partner in CEO Decision-Making

*Five ways leaders can embrace AI without handing over the reins—or losing their minds*

If you’re a CEO, you’ve likely had this thought sometime in the past year: “I know I should be using AI more, but I don’t have the time to figure it out—and I’m not interested in becoming a programmer.”

You’re not alone. The rapid rise of AI has created an odd tension: its power is obvious, but its application feels murky—especially for time-starved leaders who already live in decision fatigue. Many CEOs I speak with feel a sense of low-grade anxiety about AI: Am I falling behind? Should I be worried? Will this replace my team—or me?

Let me put your mind at ease: you don’t need to become an AI expert. You don’t need to code, track model updates, or memorize prompt hacks. But you do need to start using AI like a leader—not to replace your voice, but to sharpen it. Not to automate your job, but to accelerate your judgment.

Here are five practical ways to do that.

1. Use AI for First-Draft Clarity

Every week, you’re asked to write something that matters: a board report, a vision memo, a donor appeal, a president’s letter, a speech outline. And chances are, the hardest part isn’t refining your voice—it’s starting from a blank page.

That’s where AI excels. With a simple prompt, you can have a solid first draft in seconds. Here's a simple but effective prompt, for example:

“Act as a senior nonprofit communications strategist. I’m a nonprofit CEO preparing a one-page donor update. I've attached some notes I've jotted. Write a first draft that sounds optimistic yet realistic about our current challenges, acknowledges recent financial headwinds, and casts a vision for the year ahead. The tone should be warm, transparent, and confident.”

With a rough draft in hand, you refine, inject your voice, and polish the result. Think of AI not as a writer, but as a clarity accelerator—it helps you get to the good draft faster. It’s not cheating. It’s leading with efficiency.

2. Summarize Information Before It Summons You

Most CEOs spend hours per week reading lengthy documents: white papers, strategy decks, market reports, or legislative summaries. But time is limited, and attention is your scarcest resource.

AI can serve as your executive scanner. Tools like ChatGPT or Claude can process full documents and distill them into summaries, risks, key takeaways, and action items. Try prompts like:“Summarize this 12-page white paper in five bullet points for a board discussion.”Or: “List any red flags or assumptions in this strategic proposal.”

Instead of you reading everything first, let AI read it for you. You stay in control of the judgment. AI just cuts the noise.

3. Strengthen Your Internal and External Communication

Whether you're leading a staff of 10 or 10,000, the words you speak—or email—carry cultural weight. And that’s a heavy lift. Crafting messages that are clear, timely, and well-calibrated can drain mental energy even before you press send.

With AI, you can generate a first draft of a team announcement, polish an email to a skeptical donor, or even test the tone of your response to a tense issue.

For example:

"Turn this note into a hopeful, encouraging message to staff without sounding fake or overly polished.”

Again, you provide the intent. AI simply gives you an editable starting point—so you can show up as a communicator, not just a manager.

4. Pressure-Test Strategic Options

Great leaders ask great questions. And sometimes, AI can help you ask better ones.

Imagine you’re weighing two approaches to a fundraising strategy or an enrollment model. You can feed AI a summary of both and prompt:

“List the strategic risks and advantages of each.” "What assumptions might be baked into Plan A that aren’t present in Plan B?”

This doesn’t replace your executive team or your outside consultants—but it can act as a sounding board. AI becomes a low-cost, low-ego strategist who exists solely to help you think better.

5. Use AI as Your Personal Digital Assistant (Here’s What I Do)

Here’s where it gets personal. As a CEO and consultant, I don’t have time to sift through every meeting note, voice memo, or brainstorm. So I use a tool called Plaud, an AI-powered voice assistant that transcribes, summarizes, and organizes my calls, meetings, and even passing thoughts.

When I’m walking or driving, I dictate ideas into Plaud. It turns those raw thoughts into searchable text, summarized action items, and sometimes even structured outlines. I’ve used it to capture meeting minutes, generate blog ideas, and prep for client debriefs.

This is not science fiction—it’s happening right now. I’m not more productive because I’m smarter. I’m more productive because I’ve offloaded the friction of memory and transcription to a machine.

And that’s what I’d urge you to consider: not how AI will replace your thinking, but how it can remove the busywork that blocks your thinking.

Final Thought

You don’t need to master the mechanics of AI to master its benefits. The best CEOs won’t be the ones who know the most about algorithms. They’ll be the ones who know how to ask the right questions, delegate to the right tools, and stay focused on the work that only they can do.

AI isn’t about replacing your leadership. It’s about protecting your time—so you can lead.

Want more practical tools and frameworks for AI-powered leadership? Visit theashfordagency.com and subscribe for weekly insights.