AI for Meetings: Before, During, and After

Why meetings are such a good target

Meetings are high-stakes and time-consuming, but much of the surrounding work, prep, note-taking, and follow-up, is mechanical. AI can handle the mechanical parts without touching the parts that actually require you: the conversation, the judgment, the relationship.

Before: preparation that used to take an hour

Good pre-meeting prep has a predictable structure: understand who you are meeting, know what they care about, prepare your key points, and anticipate what they will push back on. AI can do most of that work in 2 minutes.

The prompt: "I am meeting [name/role] from [company] to discuss [topic]. Here is what I know about them: [paste LinkedIn bio, recent posts, or a short description]. My goal for the meeting is [goal]. Give me: the 3 things they are most likely to care about, 3 questions I can ask that show I have done my homework, and 2 objections I should be ready for."

Run this before every significant meeting. The quality of your conversations will visibly improve within a week.

During: note-taking without distraction

Use a transcription tool such as Otter.ai or Fireflies to record the conversation (with permission). Let the tool handle the verbatim capture. Your job during the meeting is to be present, ask good questions, and notice things a transcript will miss.

Do not try to take comprehensive notes manually and also be engaged at the same time. You will do both poorly.

After: follow-up in 5 minutes

Paste your transcript or rough notes and run this prompt: "Here are my notes from a meeting with [who] about [topic]. Summarize: (1) what was decided, (2) who is doing what and by when, (3) what I said I would follow up on, (4) any open questions or risks that came up. Format as a short email I can send to the attendees."

Edit for accuracy, add anything the transcript missed, and send. The meeting follow-up that used to take 20 minutes now takes 3.