Start your AI journey with confidence. This free, practical guide is designed for operations leaders who are new to artificial intelligence but eager to unlock its potential. With simple explanations, real-world examples, and actionable advice, this 50+ page resource provides everything you need to begin using AI effectively across quality, planning, maintenance, supply chain, safety, and more.
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What’s Inside
1. Introduction
Why AI matters now, and how it's reshaping the landscape of operations leadership.
2. What is AI?
A plain-language breakdown of artificial intelligence, large language models, and where they fit in day-to-day operations.
3. Most Popular AI Platforms
Quick comparisons of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Groq, and more—with guidance on when to use each.
4. The Importance of Setting Context
How to dramatically improve AI results by giving it the right background, role, and expectations.
5. Sample Contexts for Major Ops Functions
Pre-written example context statements for quality, CI, planning, maintenance, supply chain, and safety.
6. How to Write Effective Prompts
Includes a prompt structure framework, basic rules, variations to try, and two powerful meta-prompts.
7. Advanced Prompt Engineering
Introduces techniques like few-shot prompting, chain of thought, role chaining, and templates—made easy for beginners.
8. Using Projects and Memory Features
Explains how tools like ChatGPT Projects or Perplexity Spaces help keep AI conversations organized and context-aware.
9. Putting It Together
Step-by-step examples of how to solve real-world problems with AI—from preventive maintenance to supplier risk planning.
10. Common Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)
Tips to avoid vague prompts, overreliance, version control issues, and mismatched tools.
11. Privacy, Compliance & Internal Guidelines
Covers responsible AI use, especially in regulated or sensitive operational environments.
12. Validating Outputs
How to check AI's work, test assumptions, and ensure quality in what you share or implement.
13. Challenges and Risks of AI in Operations
Realistic look at hallucinations, ethical issues, job impact, and change management.
14. Beyond Text: AI's Multimodal Capabilities
Explore how AI now works with images, documents, charts, and more to support real-world ops workflows.
15. Building a Culture of AI Fluency
How to develop comfort and capability with AI across your organization—without fear or hype.
16. Glossary
Concise definitions of key terms like LLM, prompt engineering, hallucination, and more.
17. Reference List
Dozens of curated sources for further reading, from OpenAI and Anthropic to ISO and McKinsey.