When AI gives you something generic, the problem is almost never the AI. It's the brief. A one-line request gets a one-size-fits-all answer. A real brief gets real work.
Here are the six parts I use for every AI role I build, for my own work and for clients.
1. Role
Give it a job title and one sentence about what the job is. "You're my newsletter editor. You turn my rough weekly notes into a finished email for our members." A role sets the frame for everything else.
2. Result
Describe the finished product, not the activity. How long is it? What format? Who reads it? "A 300-word email with a subject line, one story, and one clear call to action." If you can't describe the result, the AI can't hit it.
3. Context
This is where most briefs fall short. Who is the audience? What do they care about? What has worked before? Paste in two or three examples of past work you liked. Context is the difference between "an email" and "our email."
4. Standard
Write down what good looks like and what is off limits. Tone. Words you never use. Facts it must not invent. How you want it to handle something it doesn't know. Standards are what make AI work trustworthy enough to rely on.
5. When to escalate
Tell it what to bring back to you instead of deciding on its own. "If a topic is sensitive or you're unsure of a fact, flag it at the top instead of guessing." This keeps your judgment in charge where it matters.
6. First assignment
End with a specific, real task to do right now, with the actual material attached. Then review what comes back the way you would review a new hire's first draft: with specific feedback you can add to the brief.
Every piece of feedback you give once should become part of the brief, so you never give it twice.
A template you can copy
Role: You're my [job title]. Your job is to [one sentence].
Result: Each time, produce [format, length, audience].
Context: [Who it's for, what they care about, two or three examples.]
Standard: [Tone, words to avoid, facts not to invent.]
Escalate: If [situation], stop and ask me instead of guessing.
First assignment: [The real task, with the material attached.]
From brief to role
Save the brief. The next time the task comes around, you start from the brief instead of from scratch, and it gets better every week as you add feedback. That's the moment a task becomes a role, which is the subject of task, role, system.
Want a brief written for your top task? The free Delegation Audit builds one for you in about five minutes.