If you're a professional services firm founder or a senior leader, and you're still doing these complex documents yourself, it might be time to give AI a crack at it.
The reason I say this is because oftentimes the most senior person in the organisation is still doing these very detailed, comprehensive documents, because it is so hard to delegate them to other people.
It might take days, or months, or probably not years, but it takes you a long time to explain to your team exactly how you like these documents done, because there is so much nuance, so much detail, so much stuff that needs to go into it. Not only the formatting, but the thinking that goes into it too.
Why do senior people still write these documents themselves?
And so what I find is that law firm partners, accounting firm partners and property company directors are spending hours and hours and hours per document doing work that they don't feel comfortable delegating to a less senior person.
And I get that. That is understandable. However, the great thing is AI is made for that level of attention to detail and complex work.
What sort of documents does this apply to?
Take one of these multi-page, multi-table, multi-everything complex documents. It might be an affidavit, or a financial report, or bid summary notes if you're a mortgage broker.
What about confidentiality and privilege?
Now, make sure you redact any information, financials, ABNs and privileged information, unless you're on the enterprise version of products like Claude, where it's all sandboxed and you're compliant.
Again, I'm not a lawyer, so do check with your in-house counsel and compliance people. But generally speaking, that is what they recommend.
The first step is to ask AI to analyse the document
Feed the redacted document into Claude or ChatGPT. And don't say, recreate it. Just say:
Can you analyse this? Can you make all of your observations on the structure, the formatting, and what's gone into it?
And let it do its thing. Because what it's going to come back with is some very observant and clever observations, which will demonstrate to you exactly how clever it is.
What I find when I do this with clients is that it gives them the confidence to then consider the next step, which is getting help creating those resources.
What happens after that
Now if you've been doing these painful documents for far too long, for fear that no one else can do it the same as you, or for fear that someone's going to make mistakes doing it, give this a shot. Just upload the document, fully redacted, into Claude, let it analyse it, and that is going to blow your mind. At least, that's what's been the case with my clients.
Once that's done, it starts to understand exactly how and why you like your documents as they are. This is the first step, and it gets more exciting from here. But pop it in, see what it says, and you are off and racing down the path of having AI not do the work for you, but do the work with you.
You still have that responsibility. But these tools will get you to the outcome in say 10 or 15 minutes as opposed to three or four hours.
Want help handing these documents over properly? It's what we do in my private program. Take a look at Leverage Yourself, or book a quick chat when you're ready.
Frequently asked questions
Can AI help with complex professional documents?
Yes. AI is made for that level of attention to detail and complex work. The documents senior people never delegate, because of the nuance and the thinking involved, are exactly the ones it handles well once it understands how you like them done.
How do you start using AI on a complex document?
Take one finished document, redact it, and ask AI to analyse it rather than recreate it. Ask for its observations on the structure, the formatting, and what has gone into it. The quality of what comes back is what gives most people the confidence to go further.
Is it safe to put client documents into AI?
Redact financials, ABNs and privileged information first, unless you are on an enterprise version of a product like Claude where the work is sandboxed and compliant. I'm not a lawyer, so do check with your in-house counsel and compliance people before you start.
How much time does this actually save?
These tools will get you to the outcome in something like 10 or 15 minutes, as opposed to three or four hours, on documents of the kind law firm partners and accounting firm partners produce regularly.
Does AI replace the professional doing the work?
No. You are having AI do the work with you, not for you. You still have that responsibility.
Why is it so hard to delegate these documents to a junior?
Because it might take days or months to explain exactly how you like them done. There is so much nuance and detail involved, in the formatting and in the thinking, that most senior people don't feel comfortable delegating it to a less senior person.
