AI Mindset
for Leaders
Everything from the talk in one place: the tools, the prompts, the risks worth taking seriously, and where to actually start. No sign-up needed, take what is useful.
Presented by Jonathan McCrea
Align Your Business for AI
Three things you can do right now, even if you haven't adopted AI yet.
Organise Your Knowledge
Prepare for the AI reader
The next person to read your documents won't be human, it'll be an AI. Start working that way now.
- Name files correctly, no more "final_final_v2"
- Add a header to every document: what it is, what it's for, the date
- Store files in logically named folders
- Keep Excel, PDFs, and databases clean and up-to-date
- Provide plain text versions of image-heavy reports
- Think: can an AI parse this format?
Capture New Knowledge
Your expertise is your superpower
You have domain knowledge that doesn't exist anywhere else. Start documenting it in a way AI can use.
- Use ChatGPT voice mode while commuting to dictate expertise
- Method: "Ask me 20 questions about [topic] and we'll build a knowledge base"
- Record and transcribe every meeting (with permission)
- Analyse sales call transcripts for client insights
- Build a personal knowledge library, one conversation at a time
- Turn voice conversations into stored documents
Have Conversations, Not Q&A
Stop asking, start collaborating
Don't just ask ChatGPT questions. Get it to ask YOU questions. Validate outputs. Cross-check with multiple LLMs.
- Get AI to interview you about your domain
- Use one LLM to validate another's output
- Keep refining until you have a document you trust
- Analyse AI output critically. Is this actually right?
- Build reusable knowledge docs through conversation
- Once validated, use that document forever
The Risk of Doing Nothing
If you haven't provisioned AI, trained employees, and set a policy, you're already exposed.
Shadow AI
Managers are 40% more likely to bring unapproved AI into the office. Your leaders have access to your most sensitive IP.
Leaked Data & IP
Employees using free ChatGPT on personal phones with company data. If you haven't told them it's okay, they're probably doing it anyway.
Compliance Breaches
GDPR violations from processing client data through AI without realising. Your employee might be breaching client agreements right now.
Flawed Decisions
"I messed up. I over-relied on an AI, didn't check the output, and now we've made major decisions in quarter three."
Reputational Damage
Obvious AI-generated text turns customers off. Most people don't like finding out work was AI-generated without disclosure.
The 4-Step Fix
It’s faster than you think.
AI Usage Policy
10 seconds
Define what's acceptable
Train Employees
Half a day
Show them how to use it properly
Provision Tools
Instant
Give them approved AI access
Evaluate Usage
Ongoing
Monitor, measure, improve
“I’m looking for AI skills in every person I hire.”, Jensen Huang, NVIDIA CEO
The Cutting Edge
Four areas where AI has moved far beyond chatbots.
Near perfect, until you edit it
Image quality is near perfect. Keeping it consistent across a set of images is the next hurdle, not making it look real.
- Low-cost realistic avatar generation with HeyGen allows multi-language engagement
- Explainer video now trivial using NotebookLM and your own sources
- Affordable voice generation and transcription now equivalent to human capability
Tools & Platforms
Every tool mentioned in the talk: what it does, why it matters, and where to find it.
ChatGPT
The conversational powerhouse
Conversations, voice mode, custom GPTs, Deep Research. The most widely used AI platform, and voice mode is the best for knowledge capture.
Claude
AI that builds things
AI chat plus agentic coding. Claude Code lets you build entire applications using natural language, no coding required.
Google Gemini
Deep Research & Google integration
Deep Research for comprehensive analysis, Gems for custom knowledge bases, seamlessly integrated with your Google workspace.
Microsoft Copilot
AI in your Microsoft 365
AI built into the Microsoft environment. Scans your entire network for files. Many companies mandate it for the Office integration.
HeyGen
AI avatars that look like you
Create 90% realistic AI avatars. Train one on yourself. Generate multi-language explainer videos in about a minute.
NotebookLM
Your documents → everything
Upload docs and get podcasts, presentations, blog posts, quizzes, flashcards, and full explainer videos. The ultimate content transformer.
Gamma
Presentations with your brand
AI-powered slide creation. Upload a brand deck or set your colours, fonts, and logo. "Very, very impressive", about €9/month.
ChatJimmy
Lightning-fast inference
Hardware-accelerated AI that answered a complex question in 0.053 seconds. See the future of instant AI responses.
Perplexity
AI-powered search
The AI search engine replacing Google for many users. Most people in America now use AI search over traditional search.
Yutori Scouts
AI agents that watch the web for you
Always-on AI agents that monitor the web around the clock: track price drops, research papers, leads, product availability, and more. You set the brief, Scouts do the legwork.
Vowen
Let your voice do the work
Speak and Vowen handles the rest: drafts, edits, and actions typed at your cursor. Local transcription, 100+ languages, and full privacy. Your voice becomes your keyboard.
What Jonathan Built
"I am not a coder." Every one of these was built using natural language and Claude Code.
“If you can think about what it might look like, you can build it.”
Want something like this built for your business? See how that works
Getting Started
From ChatGPT basics to building apps, here's how to level up.
Find Your Pain Point
Ask yourself four questions:
- What costs money?
- What could make money?
- What takes a very long time?
- What do I hate doing?
"It's like having a Ferrari and not having anywhere to go." Start with the problem, not the tool.
Build Your Knowledge Base
Feed AI your documents on how YOU do things. Watch how the output improves.
- Create custom GPTs (ChatGPT)
- Create Gems (Gemini)
- Create Projects (Claude)
- Upload to NotebookLM
Level Up Gradually
Jonathan's journey took about 3 months:
- ChatGPT → basic conversations
- Claude chat → building small tools
- Claude Co-Work → collaborative building
- Claude Code → full applications
Use the Meeting Prep Hack
Before any client meeting:
- Run a Deep Research report (Gemini or ChatGPT)
- Upload docs + transcripts to NotebookLM
- Generate a focused podcast
- Listen on the way to the meeting
"I listen to that podcast on my way to the client, and make sure I'm really up to date."
Interactive Tools
Hands-on tools to assess your AI readiness, find the right tools, and calculate your ROI.
AI Readiness Scorecard
Eight questions. See where your organisation stands and what to do next.
Does your leadership team have a clear view on AI?
Video Tutorials
One getting-started tutorial for each tool mentioned in the talk.
The ULTIMATE GPT-5 Guide: How to Use ChatGPT for Beginners
AI Master
Ultimate Claude Guide: How to Use Claude AI for Beginners (2026)
AI Master
How To Master Google Gemini in 2026 (Free Course)
Paul J Lipsky
How To Use Microsoft Copilot Better Than 99% Of People
David Fortin
How to Use HeyGen in 2026 (Step-by-Step Beginner Tutorial)
Simon Crowe
Master NotebookLM 2.0 (2026 Edition)
Tina Huang
How To Make Presentations Better than 99% of People (Gamma AI)
Zinho Automates
Perplexity: Beginner to Pro in 27 Minutes
Ali H. Salem
People to Follow
Jonathan's recommended voices in the AI space.
Jonathan McCrea
LinkedInAI Training & Building for SMEs
Your speaker today. Technologist, AI trainer, and the person who built this site using Claude Code. Always happy to help, reach out anytime.
Ali K. Miller
LinkedInAI Strategy & Enterprise AI
Formerly Amazon and IBM. Practical, advanced AI strategy for businesses.
Ethan Mollick
LinkedInAI Research & Implications
Wharton professor. Tests the latest models and explores how they change work. "Absolutely fantastic."
Prof. Barry O'Sullivan
LinkedInBalanced AI Perspective
University College Cork. Offers a more sceptical view on AI capabilities. Good for balance.
Dr. Barry Scannell
LinkedInAI Law & the EU AI Act
Partner at William Fry and member of the Irish Government's AI Advisory Council. LinkedIn Top Voice on AI. Essential reading on the EU AI Act, compliance and copyright.
Jack Roberts
YouTubeTechnical AI Tutorials
Quite technical, goes fast, but doing incredible stuff. Great if you want to go deeper.
Ruben Hasid
LinkedIn & SubstackFree AI Tips ("How to AI")
Gives out an incredible amount of free content. Really, really good for practical AI tips.
Privacy & Security
What Jonathan told the audience about keeping your data safe with AI.
Pay for AI
Paid tiers provide SLAs guaranteeing your data won't be used for training. Free versions may not.
Read the SLA
Use ChatGPT itself to read and summarise the SLA. "Copy and paste it and say, what am I giving up in terms of privacy?"
GDPR Protects You
GDPR puts manners on these companies. They have legal obligations when you sign up.
Opt Out of Training
You can tell ChatGPT not to train using your data. Most paid tiers do this by default.
Trust the Ecosystem
"If I trust Google, I trust Google Gemini." Claude's security approach also rated highly. Data is encrypted and privately stored.
Nothing is 100% Secure
Any CSO will tell you: if it's connected to the internet, there's a possibility. But as long as you're paying, security is very good.
Want to bring this to your team?
Most of what is on this page you can do yourself, and you should. If you would rather not work it out alone, a half day with your team usually gets further than a few months of everyone experimenting separately.
“I am always free for a quick one-line response, to point you in a particular direction. Don’t be afraid to reach out, that’s no problem at all.”
getstartedai@whipsmartmedia.com