If you’ve spent any time in the “AI for Business” search results of Amazon or any book website lately, you’ve probably noticed a pattern. Half the books are vague, overhyped, buzzword fluff, and the other half read like they were written by ChatGPT in one afternoon. The AI-Driven Leader by Geoff Woods is not one of those books. This one’s actually worth your time, energy, and hard-earned money.
I’ve read a lot of AI-related material over the past few years of running the prompts, and this is one of the few that gives you real, practical advice on how to use AI to make smarter business decisions. Not theory. Not hype. Actual examples and prompts that you can run right away. You know… the way we do things here, only in a book.
And before you assume it’s only for CEOs or executives in corner offices, it’s not. This book applies to anyone who works in a business environment and makes any kind of decision. That includes entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, managers, and even employees who want to think and operate at a higher, more productive level.
Why I Liked The AI-Driven Leader Book
There’s a lot of noise out there about “AI leadership,” and most of it feels like it was written by people who’ve never used a prompt in their lives. Geoff Woods, on the other hand, runs an AI leadership company that teaches real-world applications of AI in business strategy. So when he talks about integrating AI into daily decision-making, he’s speaking from experience, not from recycled, cringe LinkedIn posts.
The book is easy to follow and read, even if you’re not a technical person. It starts with the basics of how AI fits into business strategy, but it quickly moves into practical applications like how to use AI to analyze decisions, identify blind spots, and think more strategically.
And again, even though the title includes the word “Leader,” don’t let that throw you off. You don’t have to manage anyone to get value from this book. The content applies whether you’re running a company or just trying to get through your daily workflow without losing your mind.
What You’ll Get From This Book
In my opinion, one of the biggest wins from this book is the prompts. Geoff includes a wide variety of ChatGPT (or any AI tool) prompts designed to improve thinking, planning, strategy, and communication. He also shares real-world examples of how he’s helped businesses grow using specific prompts. Some are simple, some are surprisingly deep, and a few will make you realize you’ve been underusing AI all along. Others will make you stop and think, “Why didn’t I come up with that?”
These prompts help you clarify goals, map out decisions, and run strategic what-if scenarios that might take a human team hours, weeks, or even months to complete.
8 AI/ChatGPT Prompts from The AI-Driven Leader
Here’s the best part. Below is just a sample of the prompts from The AI-Driven Leader. The book includes many more, and some of the strongest ones aren’t even shown here. You can copy and paste these directly into ChatGPT or any other AI tool you use.
Also, the prompts in the book are generally longer and more detailed than these. These are meant to provide a tasty sample.
I’d recommend tweaking them to match your role and industry. Even small adjustments can lead to better results, especially if you include your company’s context or goals in the prompt.
1. Strategic Plan Prompt
“Attached is our strategic plan. I want you to act as my AI Thought Partner by asking me one question at a time to challenge my biases and assumptions. Challenge whether our plan has sufficient information to achieve our goal. Once you have enough information, give me a summary of where you think our plan is strong and where you see potential weaknesses, and recommend ways we can improve it.”
2. Thought Partner Prompt
“I would like you to act as a Thought Partner by asking me one question at a time. Here’s the situation: (provide the necessary context). Here’s what I’m trying to solve: (then insert where you need help). Please help me think through potential solutions.”
3. Be the Challenger Prompt
“I want you to act as the Challenger for this situation: (provide the necessary context). Your job is to stress test my thinking to make sure I’m not only seeing the upside but also the downside and non-obvious second-order consequences. Ask me one question at a time to challenge my thinking.”
4. Sales Pitch Deck Role-Play Prompt
“Context: I’m about to give this proposal to [company name]. Here is the proposal [uploaded PDF]. I’m about to meet with the executive and their chief of staff. We have an hour allocated for this.
Role: I want to be able to role-play with you as them so that you can give me feedback on what I do well, what I don’t do well, and the top changes I can make. Your role is to act as both people.
Interview: When I confirm, I’ll switch to voice mode and give you the proposal.
Task: When I say “All done,” I want you to challenge me, ask questions, and raise objections. I don’t want you to be nice. I want you to make this a ten-out-of-ten tough review.”
5. Business Model Innovation Prompt
Context: (Provide the context of your current business problem.)
Role: Your role is to act as my board.
Interview: Interview me, ask me one question at a time to really understand deeper what the challenges are.
Task: Generate 20 alternative business models I should consider that could better scale to hit our 10-year vision with less effort. Then interview me again and collapse it to the top 5 ranked in order of priority, with your recommendation as to why.
6. Performance Review Prompt
“Act as my executive coach. I’ll share my recent performance review and key feedback. Ask one clarifying question at a time to help me uncover blind spots and growth opportunities.”
7. AI Board Simulation Prompt
“Create an AI advisory board composed of five distinct personalities—a visionary CEO, a pragmatic CFO, a customer-obsessed CMO, an operations expert, and a futurist technologist. Each provides feedback on my proposed strategy. Your job is to be our AI board. Every quarter, we’ll give you our deck before the meeting. Your task is to review every slide as every director and simulate how you think they will react.”
8. Financial Statement Analysis Prompt
“Context: Here are our financials [drag and drop the file(s) into ChatGPT].
Role: You’re a strategic CFO who’s a world-class expert in telling a CEO the top five non-obvious insights about their business based on their financials that they don’t know but should know.
Interview: Ask me up to five questions, one at a time, to gain deeper context.
Task: Give me the top five non-obvious things about my business that I should know.”
A Few Downsides of This Book
No book is perfect. Like most business books, this one repeats itself a bit. It’s not excessive, but you’ll notice it occasionally.
The introduction also spends time on AI fundamentals that beginners might appreciate, but if you already know your way around ChatGPT, you’ll probably skim through that part.
Still, most of the book stays useful and focused. Once you get past the setup, it moves quickly and delivers plenty of actionable material.
Wrapping It Up
The AI-Driven Leader isn’t another generic AI book trying to cash in on the digital gold rush. It’s practical, grounded, and genuinely useful for anyone who makes decisions in business, whether you’re managing people or not.
I’ve read a lot of books in this space, and this one easily lands on my recommendation list. If you’re serious about learning how AI can help you think, plan, and lead smarter, this is the one to get.
Pick up a copy, try the prompts, and see for yourself. Share your thoughts in the comments about the book, the prompts, and how they’re helping you work and think at a higher level.
Until next time, remember to run the prompts and prompt the planet.
Affiliate Disclaimer: This article contains Amazon affiliate links. I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases. My recommendations are unbiased and based on the value to you.
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