AI should empowerpeople, not replace us.

How I actually use AI in software development today, why context matters more than hype, and why this gets much harder in SAP.

The Lie We All Started With

When AI tools first showed up, I used them the same way most engineers did.

Generate code. Fix bugs. Write boilerplate.

It felt impressive for about a week.

Then it started feeling shallow.

Because code was never the hardest part of engineering.

Thinking was.

Designing systems. Making tradeoffs. Understanding consequences before they happen.

That is where most mistakes happen. And where most time is lost.

That is when I changed how I used AI.

Not as a coding assistant.

But as a thinking partner.

Where AI Actually Changed My Workflow

My daily work did not become easier.

It became sharper.

Instead of asking AI to solve problems for me, I started using it to explore problems with me.

That shift changed everything.
...

Most marketing teams aren't short of ideas. They're short of time to execute them.

That's where AI has genuinely changed how I work. It doesn’t replace strategic thinking, but it does remove the friction (and bandwidth!) between having a good idea and getting it out into the world.

Here's how I use it to build and maintain a content calendar without it becoming a full-time job:

Start with strategy, not a blank page!
Before prompting anything, I define the themes that matter: what problems our audience is trying to solve, what conversations we want to own, and where we want to show up. AI accelerates the execution. You ABSOLUTELY still have to do the thinking. And you must be deeply prescriptive when setting up the AI project or platform. If you don't. You'll fail.

Turn one insight into many formats
A single strong point of view can become a LinkedIn post, a short article, a talk track for sales, and a question for a survey. AI helps me think across formats quickly. And anyone who knows me will know how I will insist on “sweating an asset”!

Use AI as an editorial sparring partner
I don't just use it to write. I use it to challenge a draft, punch up a headline, or sense-check whether something will actually resonate. It's the fastest way I've found to get from a rough idea to something publishable. Top tip is setting up how you want the tool to respond and giving it a personality and also importantly, making sure it has the right voice for your brand.

Build in advance, stay flexible
Having a week, or more of content shaped ahead of time means you're never scrambling. But the best content often comes from what's happening right now, so the calendar is a foundation, not a fixed map to execute against.

The marketers who will win aren't the ones who post the most. They're the ones who are most intentional about what they say and why.

AI just makes it faster to be intentional.

How are you using AI in your content process? I'd genuinely like to know what's working.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been writing a lot about AI and how we’re using it in our businesses.

But this week, I wanted to shift the conversation back to something that matters even more.

Your voice.

Long before AI, before social media, before all the tools we have today… this was the challenge. And it still is. Knowing what you want to say, how you want to say it, and how you want people to experience your business through your marketing.

That hasn’t changed.

What has changed is how easy it is now to lose that voice.

AI is an incredible tool. I use it every day. It helps me move faster, organize ideas, and build out work that used to take much longer. But it only works well when it’s led with clarity.

If you don’t know your voice, AI will fill in the gaps for you—and that’s where things start to feel generic.

And in a world where everyone has access to the same tools, your voice is what sets you apart.

It’s your foundation. It’s your filter. It’s what keeps everything aligned when there are a hundred directions you could go.

I wrote more about this in this week’s blog.

If you’ve been thinking about how AI fits into your business, this is a good place to start.

👉 https://lnkd.in/gUdBzi8C

— Sandy

#sandyhibbardcreattive #usingAIinmarketing #dallasmarketingservices #strategicdesign #strategicplanning

I've been building an AI copilot for my HR work 🤖 . Not a chatbot. An actual system I point my Claude Code agent at everyday as my thought partner and assistant to help me get things done faster with higher quality judgment. And honestly? One of the most fun things I've worked on.

The idea was simple: stop rebuilding context in every chat. Turn my repeatable workflows into skills Claude just runs. Three favorite ones so far that have changed how I work 👇

📈 Performance Diagnostic: Guides managers through a structured and tailored performance framework, analyzes their documentation, and auto-generates a Performance Feedback Timeline that they can share with my PBP team. What used to be a 45-minute conversation now starts with a prompt.

🎯 Tone Matcher: I drop in raw thoughts: bullet points, brain dumps, half-formed ideas and it turns them into a message that actually sounds like me. The skill analyzed how I actually write and talk across hundreds of real messages. The output sounds like me on my best day.

⏰ End of Day Manager Review: Pulls from meeting notes, calendar, and Slack. Surfaces open threads and gives me feedback and coaching on how I did in minutes.

⚡ What makes it all work: Claude connectors + Zapier MCP. Claude talks directly to Google Drive, Slack, Calendar, Granola and many more so these aren't just prompts. They're connected, living workflows. The possibilities feel endless.

Being at Zapier, watching what my teammates are building every day is genuinely inspiring. It pushes me to keep experimenting and learning.
And yes, my claude agent wrote this post for me 😆

🧡 Who else has favorite workflows or skills they've built? Would love to hear what you're building!

PS. want to learn more about how Zapier and other companies are enabling this builder mindset across the whole company? Sign up for our AI Leaders Lab to hear more: https://lnkd.in/g6YJeQgV