Day 20 of 28 · AI Challenge
Building AI Workflows
⏱ 7 min
📊 Beginner
So far, you've used AI for individual tasks: write an email, analyze data, draft a response. Each one saved you time. But the real power unlocks when you chain these tasks together into workflows.
A workflow is a sequence of AI tasks where the output of one step feeds into the next. Instead of doing five separate things, you trigger one workflow and the whole sequence runs. Today you'll learn to build multi-step AI workflows that replace hours of manual work.
Single task vs. workflow thinking
Here's the difference in mindset:
Single-task thinking: "I need to write a blog post." You open ChatGPT, write a prompt, get a draft, edit it, then manually create social media posts, then manually write the email newsletter teaser.
Workflow thinking: "I need content published." You trigger one workflow that researches the topic, writes the article, creates 5 social posts, drafts the newsletter teaser, and formats everything for publishing. One trigger, five outputs.
The time difference is dramatic. The single-task approach takes 2-3 hours with manual handoffs between each step. The workflow approach takes 20-30 minutes — mostly just you reviewing and approving each output.
Knowledge Check
What's the key difference between using AI for single tasks vs. workflows?
A
Workflows use more expensive AI models
B
In a workflow, the output of each AI task automatically feeds into the next — eliminating manual handoffs between steps
C
Workflows require programming skills
D
Single tasks produce better quality output
Workflows eliminate the friction between steps. Instead of copying output from one AI session and pasting it into another, the workflow chains them automatically. You review and approve, but you're not doing the mechanical work of moving information between steps.
Anatomy of a great workflow
Every effective AI workflow has four components:
A workflow chains AI tasks together — one trigger, multiple outputs, minimal manual work.
The four components
Trigger — What starts the workflow? Could be manual ("I click a button"), scheduled ("every Monday at 9am"), or event-based ("when a new lead fills out the form").
Steps — The sequence of AI tasks. Each step has a clear input and output. Step 1's output becomes Step 2's input.
Checkpoints — Points where you review before the workflow continues. Not every step needs a checkpoint, but high-stakes outputs (like emails to clients) should have one.
Delivery — Where does the final output go? A Google Doc? An email? A Slack message? Published to your website?
I want to build a content workflow. Every week I need to publish a blog post about AI productivity tips for small businesses. Right now it takes me about 4 hours: research, write, edit, create social posts, and send to my email list. Can you design an end-to-end workflow?
Here's your weekly content workflow:
**Trigger**: Every Monday at 8am (or manual trigger)
**Step 1 — Research (AI):**
Input: Your content calendar topic for the week
AI researches: trending discussions, competitor articles, relevant statistics
Output: Research brief with 5-7 key points and 3 unique angles
**Step 2 — Draft Article (AI):**
Input: Research brief + your brand voice guide
AI writes: 1,200-word blog post with introduction, subheadings, examples
Output: Full article draft
**⏸ Checkpoint**: You review the draft (10-15 minutes). Approve or request changes.
**Step 3 — Social Media Posts (AI):**
Input: Approved article
AI creates: 5 social posts — 2 LinkedIn, 2 Twitter/X, 1 Instagram caption
Output: Ready-to-schedule social content
**Step 4 — Email Newsletter (AI):**
Input: Approved article
AI writes: Newsletter teaser (3-4 sentences) + subject line + preview text
Output: Newsletter draft ready to send
**Step 5 — Formatting (AI):**
Input: All approved content
AI formats: Blog post in HTML for your CMS, social posts in a scheduling-ready format
Output: Everything ready to publish
**Delivery**: Blog post → your CMS draft folder. Social posts → Buffer/Later queue. Newsletter → Mailchimp draft.
**Time estimate**: 30-40 minutes of your time (mostly reviewing) vs. your current 4 hours.
Want me to build this step by step?
Yes. Let's test Step 1 and 2 right now. This week's topic is "5 ways small businesses waste money on software they don't need."
**Step 1 — Research Brief:**
**Topic**: 5 Ways Small Businesses Waste Money on Software
**Key stats:**
- Average small business uses 40+ SaaS tools (Productiv report)
- 30% of SaaS spend is wasted on unused or underused licenses
- $4,500/year per employee spent on software on average
**5 Angles:**
1. Paying for "Pro" tiers when the free plan covers your needs
2. Overlapping tools (Asana + Trello + Monday = pick one)
3. Zombie subscriptions nobody uses anymore
4. Buying annual plans for tools you'll outgrow in 3 months
5. Premium features you activated during a trial and forgot to cancel
**Unique hook**: "Your business is probably paying rent on 3 apartments but sleeping in 1."
---
**Step 2 — Article Draft (first 3 paragraphs):**
*Your business is probably paying rent on three apartments but only sleeping in one.*
*The average small business uses over 40 software tools. And according to recent studies, roughly 30% of that spend goes to tools that are underused or completely forgotten. For a 10-person team spending $4,500 per employee annually on software, that's $13,500 per year — gone.*
*Here are five ways it happens and exactly how to fix each one...*
Shall I continue with the full article? This is what you'd review at the checkpoint before I generate social posts and the newsletter.
↻ Replay conversation
Knowledge Check
Why is there a checkpoint after Step 2 (article draft) but not after Step 1 (research)?
A
Because Step 1 is faster to complete
B
Because research doesn't matter as much as the article
C
Because checkpoints slow down the workflow
D
Because the article is the foundation for all subsequent steps — if it's wrong, everything built on top of it will be wrong too
Strategic checkpoints protect quality at the points that matter most. The research brief is a low-stakes intermediate step. But the article is the foundation for social posts, newsletters, and your brand reputation. Catching issues here prevents them from multiplying downstream.
Three workflows that pay for themselves
Beyond content, here are three high-value workflows that businesses use every day:
Lead Processing Workflow: New form submission → AI scores the lead based on company size and message → high-value leads get a personalized response within 5 minutes → medium leads get a template response → low-value leads get added to a nurture email sequence. Result: your best prospects get instant attention.
Client Onboarding Workflow: New client signs contract → AI generates a welcome email, creates a project folder, builds a timeline in your project tool, sends a kickoff questionnaire, and schedules the first meeting. Result: a 2-hour onboarding process happens in 5 minutes.
Weekly Reporting Workflow: Every Friday → AI pulls data from your analytics, revenue, and project tools → generates a dashboard with trends → writes a plain-English summary → emails it to you and your team. Result: a report that used to take someone 3 hours happens automatically.
Knowledge Check
The lead processing workflow responds to high-value leads within 5 minutes. Why does speed matter so much?
A
Because AI can only hold leads in memory for 5 minutes
B
Because email servers delete messages after 5 minutes
C
Because studies show leads contacted within 5 minutes are 21x more likely to convert — speed is a competitive advantage
D
Because the AI gets confused if it waits too long
Speed-to-lead is one of the most proven concepts in sales. A Harvard Business Review study found that companies responding within 5 minutes were 21x more likely to qualify a lead than those who waited 30 minutes. AI makes 5-minute response times possible even when you're asleep.
How to build your first workflow today
You don't need Zapier or Make to start. You can build a manual workflow right now using just ChatGPT or Claude:
Step 1: Pick a multi-step task you do regularly (content creation, client onboarding, reporting).
Step 2: Write out the steps as a numbered list. What's the input? What's the output at each stage?
Step 3: Create a "master prompt" that chains all the steps. Something like: "I'm going to give you a topic. First, research it and give me 5 key points. Then write a 1,000-word article. Then create 3 social media posts from the article. Then write a 3-sentence newsletter teaser."
Step 4: Run it. Review the output at each stage. Refine the prompt based on what works.
Once you've validated the workflow manually, then move it into an automation tool like Zapier or Make to run on autopilot. Start manual, go automatic once you trust the output.
Final Check
Why should you validate a workflow manually before automating it?
A
Because automated workflows can't be changed once they're set up
B
Because you need to see the output quality at each step and refine your prompts before trusting the workflow to run without your review
C
Because automation tools are expensive and you shouldn't pay until you're sure
D
Because manual workflows are always better than automated ones
Automation amplifies everything — including mistakes. If your prompt produces mediocre output, automating it means you get mediocre output at scale. Validate manually first, refine until you're happy with the quality, then automate with confidence. Think of manual testing as your quality control phase.
🔗
Day 20 Complete
"One AI task saves you minutes. A chain of AI tasks saves you hours. Build the chain."
Tomorrow — Day 21
Working Smarter
Tomorrow we wrap up Week 3 — you've built an automation machine.