When I started out in consulting, I thought the key was working late and getting to the answer.

Turns out, the real edge was knowing this one thing.

→ How to ask the right questions.

Fast forward to today, the same rule applies even in the age of AI.

Most people ask ChatGPT for a summary or a bullet list.

That’s ok, but that’s surface-level.

If you want real value, you need prompts that force depth.

Here are 5 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 but valuable prompts I wish I had on day one in consulting (how I would have loved to be an analyst in the age of LLMs!):

1. “What could go wrong in execution? Identify 5 key risks and potential mitigation”
2. “Reframe this as CFO, COO, and CMO.. how would each see it?”
3. “Turn this 50-slide deck into a 1 page executive summary identifying the stakes, trade-offs, and key decisions.”
4. “Identify the hidden assumptions in this forecast and rank them by risk.”
5. “Identify 3 non-obvious competitors who could disrupt this plan in 2–3 years.”

Better inputs = smarter outputs.

AI isn’t here to replace your thinking.

But it’s a fantastic tool to sharpen it.

#consulting #AI #prompts