Start with the work, not the technology

What would you gladly never do manually again?

These examples show the kinds of jobs Principal can prepare, complete, or keep moving. Start with one repeated bottleneck and add more only when the first flow works properly.

What is taking the time?

Good first workflowHigh repetition + clear result + safe approval point

These are example workflows, not invented customer stories.

The exact steps depend on the connections and permissions available in your business.

Common starting points

Choose a job with a clear before and after.

The strongest first use cases are repetitive, time-consuming, easy to inspect, and valuable even before every system is connected.

01

Customer enquiries

Sort what arrived, collect the useful context, prepare a reply, and flag anything that needs a person.

  • Incoming request understood
  • Customer history collected
  • Reply ready for approval
  • Next action remembered
02

Meetings and follow-up

Prepare the brief, capture decisions, assign actions, and turn the conversation into a useful next message.

  • Pre-meeting context
  • Notes and decisions
  • Named action owners
  • Follow-up draft
03

Research and comparison

Find credible options, compare the differences that matter, and produce a short decision-ready recommendation.

  • Source-backed findings
  • Consistent comparison
  • Risks and gaps surfaced
  • Clear recommendation
04

Content and outreach

Turn one business objective into useful drafts, an approval-first sequence, and a simple report of what happened.

  • Audience and offer
  • Draft content
  • Approval before sending
  • Response tracking
05

Proposals and briefs

Collect the requirement, compare the options, prepare the scope, and show the decisions still needed.

  • Requirement summary
  • Scope and exclusions
  • Evidence or examples
  • Decision checklist
06

Owner reporting

Bring together work completed, open risks, usage, and next priorities without asking the team for another update.

  • Work completed
  • Exceptions and blockers
  • Usage and cost signals
  • Next-week priorities
GSChoose skills

Marketing, sales and customer service

Add one or more specialist skills for the work that brings customers in, keeps opportunities moving, and helps people well.

Clearer campaignsBetter follow-upConsistent service
Example workflowCampaign to qualified follow-up
1

BriefAudience, offer, goal, channels, and boundaries

2

ResearchCustomer needs, competitors, evidence, and open questions

3

PrepareCampaign plan, drafts, qualification, and reply guidance

4

Owner approvesClaims, audience, spend, and anything outbound

5

ReviewResponses, pipeline, service issues, and next actions

DOChoose skills

Projects, finance and operations

Add the skills that turn goals into plans, keep routine work organised, and make costs, records, suppliers, and exceptions easier to see.

Clear ownershipFewer loose endsBetter records
Example workflowNew supplier and delivery plan
1

ScopeRequirement, owner, dates, budget, and success measure

2

CollectQuotes, capacity, invoices, dependencies, and constraints

3

CompareCost, schedule, risk, missing records, and trade-offs

4

Owner approvesSupplier, spend, committed dates, and scope

5

TrackMilestones, payments, issues, decisions, and status

SPChoose skills

Real estate, events, design and data

Add focused working methods for property, event planning, brand and design work, or business reporting—while keeping one assistant and one shared business context.

Focused methodsEvidence checkedClear handoffs
Example workflowComplex brief to decision-ready output
1

StructureListing, event, creative, or reporting requirement

2

WorkApproved files, sources, records, and constraints

3

CheckFacts, calculations, fit, risks, and missing evidence

4

Expert approvesClaims, metrics, brand decisions, and commitments

5

DeliverShortlist, brief, handoff, report, and next action

Ten specialist skills

Choose what your assistant should be especially good at.

You are not locked into one industry. Choose up to three skills for a demo or Starter plan, up to six for Operator, or all ten with Max. The general business assistant remains underneath every choice.

M

Marketing

Campaigns, audiences, content, brand, SEO, and measurement.

Specialist skill
S

Sales

Leads, research, follow-up, proposals, pipeline, and forecasts.

Specialist skill
RE

Real Estate

Leads, listings, matching, viewings, offers, and checklists.

Specialist skill
FA

Finance & Admin

Invoices, receipts, bills, expenses, records, and month-end support.

Specialist skill
PM

Project Management

Scope, plans, owners, dates, risks, decisions, and status.

Specialist skill
DB

Design & Brand

Creative briefs, brand rules, concepts, review, assets, and handoff.

Specialist skill
CS

Customer Service

Triage, helpful drafts, complaints, escalation, and quality review.

Specialist skill
OP

Operations

Processes, SOPs, recurring work, suppliers, quality, and incidents.

Specialist skill
DR

Data & Reporting

Measures, data quality, trends, reports, and decision briefs.

Specialist skill
EP

Event Planning

Briefs, venues, suppliers, quotes, schedules, risks, and follow-up.

Specialist skill
Choose the first workflow

A useful first test should answer four questions.

1

Does it happen often?

Repeated work gives the team enough examples to improve the flow.

2

Can good work be recognised?

The owner should be able to say whether the result is useful or not.

3

Is there a safe approval point?

Important actions should have a clear person and a clear stop.

4

Will it save meaningful time?

Choose a bottleneck worth fixing, not a novelty worth demonstrating.

Bring one real bottleneck

What is the job everyone keeps putting off?

Describe the current process, the systems involved, and what a good result looks like. We will show where Principal can help now and what needs building.

Try Principal freeTalk through the workflow