Connect Your AI to Your Business Tools · Lesson 8 of 8

Lesson 8: Capstone: your Monday morning summary

25 minutes. One workflow, end to end, built on your real tools.

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Everything so far comes together here. You'll build one workflow that pulls from at least two connected tools, gives you something useful every week, and never acts without your say-so.

The example is a Monday morning summary: open invoices, new leads and today's calendar, in one short page you read with your coffee. If that doesn't fit your business, swap in your own. The steps are the same.

Step 1: Decide what "useful" means (5 minutes)

Write down, in plain words, what you want to know on Monday morning and what you'd do with it. For example:

  • Money: Which invoices are overdue, and by how much? Which ones should I chase today?
  • Leads: Who reached out last week that nobody has answered?
  • Today: What's on my calendar, and do I need to prepare anything?
  • Action list: Three things I should do first.

Be specific about the format. "A short list I can read in two minutes" is better than "a summary."

Step 2: Check your connections (3 minutes)

Make sure every tool the workflow needs is connected and switched on for this conversation. For the example:

  • Accounting (QuickBooks or similar) for invoices. Read-only.
  • CRM (HubSpot or similar) or your email for new leads. Read-only.
  • Calendar (Google or Outlook). Read-only.

If you only have email and calendar connected, that's fine. Swap "open invoices" for "emails from customers I haven't replied to."

Step 3: Write the prompt (7 minutes)

Here's a starting prompt. Edit the bracketed parts.

> Good morning. Using my connected tools, give me my Monday summary. Read only. Do not send, create or change anything. > > 1. Overdue invoices from [QuickBooks]: customer, amount, days overdue. Oldest first. Only those over [15] days. > 2. New leads from [HubSpot / my inbox] in the last 7 days that have no reply from us yet. Name, company, what they asked about. > 3. Today's calendar from [Google Calendar / Outlook]: each meeting, who's in it, and one line on anything I should prepare, based on recent emails with those people. > 4. My first three actions for today, based on the above. > > Keep the whole thing under one page. If a tool isn't connected or you can't find something, say so plainly instead of guessing.

That last line matters. You want "I couldn't reach QuickBooks," not a made-up number.

Step 4: Run it and check it (7 minutes)

Run the prompt. Then check it against reality:

  • Open your accounting tool and confirm the oldest overdue invoice and its amount.
  • Open your inbox and confirm one of the "unanswered" leads really is unanswered.
  • Glance at your calendar and confirm the meetings match.

If anything is wrong, tell it what's wrong and ask it to correct the prompt so it doesn't happen again. Save the corrected prompt.

Step 5: Make it weekly (3 minutes)

Pick the way that fits how you work:

  • Save the prompt somewhere you'll find it Monday: a pinned note, a saved prompt, or a project in your assistant.
  • Put a reminder on your calendar for Monday at 8:00 called "Run Monday summary."
  • Optional: if your assistant offers scheduled or recurring tasks on your plan, you can set it to run on its own. If you do, keep it read-only. A scheduled task runs when you're not watching, so it should never send, pay or delete.
Step 6: Take one action, with approval (optional)

Once the summary is right, pick one item from the action list and let the AI help, with approval:

> Draft a polite reminder email for the oldest overdue invoice. Show me the draft. Don't send it.

Read the draft. Edit it. If your rules allow sending with approval, approve it. If not, copy it into your email and send it yourself.

Check it worked

Use the Workflow Capstone Checklist template and tick every box. At minimum:

  • The workflow pulled real information from at least two connected tools.
  • You checked at least one item from each section against the tool itself.
  • The prompt says "read only" and nothing changed in any tool.
  • The prompt is saved, and Monday has a reminder.
  • Your worksheet lists every connector the workflow uses.
You're done

You started this course with an AI assistant that only knew what you pasted into it. Now it can see your email, calendar and at least one business tool, under your rules, with an off switch you've tested and a policy your team can follow.

Next steps, when you're ready:

  • Add a second workflow. Same steps. A Friday "what's still open" review is a natural pair for Monday's summary.
  • Move one tool from read-only to drafting, after a clean month.
  • Take Design an AI Workflow That Sticks to turn one workflow into five.
  • Want to build your own connector? That's The MCP Practitioner Course. It involves code, and it's where your IT partner might start.

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