AI at work · workbook
Giving an AI a Job: The Workbook
Choose the first job to give an AI system, and make it safe enough to leave alone.
Featured on the Leanpub home page, week of 22 October 2026.
Written workbook, PDF, EPUB or web. On 22 October 2026 Leanpub listed it at a minimum of $89, suggested $119, in US dollars.
What it is
Your team uses AI every day and nobody's workload has dropped. The reason is usually not the model. A chat window leaves you carrying data in and answers out; the hours only come back when a system is given a whole job, with access to where the job lives. This workbook is the method for picking the first job worth giving an AI system, writing it on one screen, and making it safe enough to leave alone.
Every example comes from systems I build and run for paying clients and for my own company. It is not a certification and not a beginner class in what AI is.
The four modules
- Why your AI is not saving you time. Answer, assist and act, and where the minutes actually go.
- Giving an AI a job. The seven-heading job description, the four kinds of access, scoring jobs on four properties, choosing a first candidate.
- Making it safe enough to leave alone. Defaults, a never list, a human review queue, logging, heartbeats and testing.
- What it costs and what breaks. Running costs at small volume, failures in month three, and a one-page brief template.
Two exercises, each with a self-check list. The idea behind module one is in the article why AI is not saving you time at work. The full asynchronous course, with recorded video modules and written review of your exercises, is on devaland.com.
Frequently asked questions
Who is it for?
People who use ChatGPT, Copilot or a similar tool every day and want the step after the chat window: team leads, operations, finance, marketing and support people, and founders. It is not a certification and not a beginner class in what AI is.
What is inside?
Four modules and two exercises with self-check lists: why your AI is not saving you time, giving an AI a job, making it safe enough to leave alone, and what it costs and what breaks.
Where can I get it?
On Leanpub, as a PDF, EPUB or web edition. On 22 October 2026 the Leanpub page listed a minimum price of $89 and a suggested price of $119, in US dollars.