Meet the AI Employee You Can Train in 10 Minutes

THE AI EMPLOYEE ONBOARDING PLAN

hire Claude for one job this week - Claude Cowork's “Record a Skill”

STEP 1 - PICK THE JOB

Choose one task that happens at least weekly, takes 10+ minutes, has if-this-then-that decisions in it, and whose rules exist only in your head. If you can describe the whole task in one sentence, it's a prompt, not a skill - pick something with more moving parts. The list at the back has 100+ ideas by category.

STEP 2 - SET UP THE DESK

Put everything the job touches into one folder: templates, trackers, and one finished example of the output done right - Claude learns from what “good” looks like, the same way a new hire does. Log in to every tool the job uses. Then do one 30-second throwaway recording first, purely to clear the screen and microphone permission pop-ups.

STEP 3 - RECORD THE TRAINING

Claude desktop app fi + menu fi Record a skill. Do the job once, normally, and narrate like you're training a new hire sitting next to you. Your voice should cover five things as they come up naturally: The trigger - what event kicks this job off The rules - what you always do, and why The branches - “if it's this type, I do X; if it's that type, I do Y” - say every branch out loud, even the paths you don't show on screen The guardrails - what you never do The quality bar - how you know it's done right Narrate the why, not the click - Claude can already see your clicks. Keep it under 5 minutes: do 3-4 examples, not the whole batch, then stop and save. (Part 2 has three of these narrations written out word-for-word.)

STEP 4 - RUN THE PROBATION TEST

Re-run the skill on a fresh example - one that never appeared in your recording. Check the judgment, not just the output: did it apply your rules, or copy your example? Ask it why it made a choice - it should hand your own reasoning back to you. If something's off, edit the skill's instructions directly, or re-record and say the missed rule out loud this time.

STEP 5 - PUT IT ON PAYROLL

The skill lives under Customize fi Skills - name it by its trigger (“New client signed”). Run it on real work this week and review the output until you trust it. Then the compounding move: one new skill per week. That's 50 documented, self-executing SOPs a year.

PART 2 - THREE RECORDINGS, WRITTEN OUT WORD-FOR-WORD

Steal these. Each one is a complete narration - read it aloud (in your own words is fine) while you do the task on screen. Swap the specifics for yours.

EXAMPLE 1 - CLIENT ONBOARDING

On screen: your client folder, contract templates, welcome email template, client tracker. Have one existing client's folder visible as the pattern. “Whenever a new client signs, this is my process.” “First I create their folder - same structure as every other client: contract, assets, deliverables, reports.” “This one's a retainer client, so they get the retainer contract with monthly terms. If it were a fixed project, I'd use the project contract with milestone payments instead.” “The welcome email always opens with their goal, not our process - and I always propose a kickoff call within five business days.” “Then they go in the tracker: type, fee, start date, contact. Status starts as Onboarding.” “It's done when the folder, signed contract, sent email, and tracker row all exist. I never invoice before the contract is signed.” Test it with: “New client signed - details in [file]. Run my client onboarding.” Use a client of the type you didn't show.

EXAMPLE 2 - APPLICANT / LEAD SCREENING

On screen: a folder of applications or leads, plus Yes / Maybe / No folders or a shortlist sheet. “Whenever new applications come in, I screen them in one batch.” “No portfolio or work samples - that's an instant no. I don't care how good the CV reads.” “I hire for shipped work, not job titles. Junior but the work is real - that's a maybe.” “If they're clearly overqualified, that's a maybe, not a yes - I flag the salary risk in my note.” “Every candidate gets a one-line verdict in the sheet - that's what I read later, not the CV.” “It's done when every file is in a folder and every row has a verdict. I never reply to anyone at this stage.” Test it with: “New applicants are in the folder - screen them.” Then ask: “Why did you pass on [name]?” - the answer should be your criteria. fi

EXAMPLE 3 - VIDEO THREAD REPURPOSING

On screen: one video transcript, one or two of your best past threads open as the reference for what good looks like. “Every time a video goes live, it becomes a thread. Here's how.” “The first line is the hook - never a question, and the number or result goes in line one.” “One idea per tweet. If a tweet has two points, it becomes two tweets.” “I write like I talk - no hashtags, no ‘thread below’, no corporate phrasing.” “These two past threads are the bar - this rhythm, this density.” “It's done at 8 to 12 tweets, ending with one clear call to action, never two.” Test it with: “New video transcript attached - turn it into a thread.” Judge it against your last good thread, not against perfect.

PART 3 - 100+ JOBS YOU CAN HIRE CLAUDE FOR

Every one of these passes the test: recurring, multi-step, judgment involved. Find your category, pick the one you dread most, start there.

CLIENTS & SALES

(cid:127) Client onboarding - signed deal to folders, contract, welcome email, tracker (cid:127) Proposal / quote generation - brief in, priced proposal out, your rules applied (cid:127) Lead qualification - inbound sorted hot / warm / cold with your disqualifiers (cid:127) Sales call follow-up - CRM updated, recap drafted, next step logged (cid:127) Cold outreach personalization - your research-then-write process per prospect (cid:127) Monthly client reports - raw exports into your format, framed your way (cid:127) Renewal check-ins - usage reviewed, renewal email drafted at the right week (cid:127) Case study assembly - results pulled, quotes selected, your narrative arc (cid:127) Pipeline review - stale deals flagged, next actions proposed per stage (cid:127) Client offboarding - archive, final invoice, handover doc, testimonial ask

MARKETING

(cid:127) Campaign brief creation - objective to full brief in your house format (cid:127) Ad copy variants - your hooks, your compliance rules, your banned phrases (cid:127) Email campaign assembly - sequence built from your past best performers (cid:127) Landing page copy review - your conversion checklist applied section by section (cid:127) Competitor ad monitoring - their new angles logged weekly into your tracker (cid:127) Brand voice QA - any draft checked against your voice rules before it ships (cid:127) Launch checklist runs - every channel, every asset, verified pre-launch (cid:127) UTM and link hygiene - naming conventions enforced across every campaign

HIRING & TEAM

(cid:127) CV / applicant screening - yes / maybe / no with a one-line verdict each (cid:127) Interview debriefs - raw notes into your scorecard, signals weighted per role (cid:127) New-hire onboarding packs - day-one docs, access lists, first-week plan by role (cid:127) Freelancer briefs - detailed enough to kill revision rounds (cid:127) Performance review prep - the quarter's evidence gathered into your template (cid:127) Weekly 1:1 agendas - open items, wins, blockers pulled into your format (cid:127) Handover docs - departing teammate's work mapped before their last day (cid:127) Role scorecards - new position defined in your hiring framework

FINANCE & ADMIN

(cid:127) Invoice reconciliation - invoices vs bank statement, mismatches flagged (cid:127) Expense categorization - statements sorted with your personal-vs-business calls (cid:127) Overdue invoice chasing - your escalation ladder, tone shift per stage (cid:127) Subscription audits - keep / cancel / downgrade calls on every recurring charge (cid:127) Payroll pre-checks - hours, rates, and anomalies verified before running (cid:127) Monthly P&L; summaries - the numbers narrated the way you read them (cid:127) Receipt filing - named, foldered, and logged your way (cid:127) Budget variance notes - actual vs plan, flagged at your thresholds (cid:127) Vendor comparisons - quotes normalized into your decision format

CONTENT & CREATOR

(cid:127) Video-to-thread repurposing - transcript to finished thread in your voice (cid:127) Competitor outlier scans - overperformers logged vs channel average (cid:127) Outlier reverse-engineering - hook, structure, and the gap you can fill (cid:127) Newsletter assembly - the week's content into an issue, your curation bar (cid:127) Show notes and chapters - transcript to notes, chapters, SEO description (cid:127) Comment mining - comments into an idea bank, demand signals only (cid:127) Sponsorship triage - brand-fit rules, floor price, red flags, counters (cid:127) Shorts scripting - long-form cut into your short-form structure (cid:127) Title and thumbnail briefs - options generated inside your proven formulas (cid:127) Content calendar slotting - ideas placed by lane, season, and gap (cid:127) Podcast guest research - their story mined for your question style (cid:127) Community post drafting - announcements in your voice, your cadence

OPS & RESEARCH

(cid:127) Weekly metrics scorecards - your exports into your dashboard, annotated (cid:127) Meeting prep briefs - person, company, history into a one-pager pre-call (cid:127) Industry news digests - your sources, your signal-vs-noise filter (cid:127) Contract redline first pass - your standard positions marked (lawyer still reviews) (cid:127) Deliverable QA - the checklist in your head, run before anything ships (cid:127) SOP updating - process changes written into your doc structure (cid:127) Project post-mortems - what happened, in your retro format (cid:127) Weekly team updates - everyone's threads compressed into your update (cid:127) Tool and vendor research - options evaluated against your criteria

SUPPORT & CUSTOMERS

(cid:127) Ticket triage - sort, draft, escalate, with your refund thresholds (cid:127) Review responses - tone by star rating, take-it-offline rules (cid:127) Refund decisions - your policy applied case by case, edge cases flagged (cid:127) FAQ updating - recurring tickets turned into documented answers (cid:127) Churn-risk flagging - the warning signs you watch for, watched always (cid:127) Customer onboarding emails - sequence personalized per account type (cid:127) Escalation summaries - messy threads compressed for whoever's next

E-COMMERCE

(cid:127) Product listings - supplier info to listing: title formulas, photo order (cid:127) Price monitoring - competitor prices checked against your reprice rules (cid:127) Reorder flagging - stock levels vs your lead times and thresholds (cid:127) Supplier emails - orders, disputes, and chasers in your negotiating tone (cid:127) Return processing - your decision rules applied, fraud patterns flagged (cid:127) Listing refreshes - stale descriptions rewritten inside your keyword rules (cid:127) Marketplace review sweeps - new reviews triaged across every channel

COACHES & CONSULTANTS

(cid:127) Discovery call prep - prospect researched into your pre-call sheet (cid:127) Session notes to action plans - your debrief format, sent same day (cid:127) Program onboarding - new client into your systems, sequence started (cid:127) Testimonial collection - the ask timed and worded your way (cid:127) Curriculum updates - module content revised in your teaching structure (cid:127) Weekly check-in drafts - progress reviewed, nudge written per client

DEVELOPERS & TECHNICAL

(cid:127) PR review first pass - your checklist: naming, tests, the mistakes you always catch (cid:127) Bug triage - severity and ownership assigned by your rules (cid:127) Release notes - merged PRs summarized for humans, in your format (cid:127) Standup summaries - commits and tickets compressed into your update (cid:127) Incident post-mortems - timeline, cause, actions in your template (cid:127) Dependency audits - outdated and vulnerable packages flagged your way (cid:127) Environment setup docs - kept current every time the stack changes

REAL ESTATE & LOCAL BUSINESS

(cid:127) Listing descriptions - property details into your listing voice and structure (cid:127) Appointment prep packs - client history and property comps before every showing (cid:127) Quote follow-ups - your chase cadence and tone, per job type (cid:127) Review requests - the ask sent at your moment, in your words (cid:127) Intake processing - new enquiry forms into your CRM, qualified by your rules (cid:127) Local competitor checks - pricing and offers monitored on your schedule

LEGAL & COMPLIANCE ADMIN

(cid:127) NDA first pass - reviewed against your standard positions (lawyer still signs off) (cid:127) Contract comparisons - new agreements diffed against your template terms (cid:127) Compliance checklist runs - your regulatory checklist applied per project (cid:127) Policy doc updates - process changes reflected across your policy set (cid:127) Deadline tracking - filing and renewal dates logged with your lead times

PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY

(cid:127) Inbox triage - your reply / delegate / archive rules, applied in batches (cid:127) Weekly planning - calendar and task list shaped into your ideal week (cid:127) File and folder cleanup - downloads and desktop sorted your way (cid:127) Reading digests - saved articles summarized in your preferred depth (cid:127) Travel prep - bookings, itinerary, and packing list per your preferences (cid:127) Bill tracking - due dates logged, anomalies vs last month flagged (cid:127) Weekly reviews - wins, misses, and next week in your journaling format

A new hire takes weeks to ramp and forgets things. This one ramps in an afternoon, works at 2am, and remembers everything.

• Miles Deutscher