A useful meeting follow-up depends on an accurate record of what people agreed. AI can turn that record into a list of actions and a draft message. It cannot agree a missing date or owner on someone’s behalf.
The example below follows one meeting about a supplier price rise. AI does two jobs: organise the actions and draft the message. People capture the discussion, confirm the commitments and send the result.
- Supplier up 8% from 1 Dec.
- Hold our prices till then.
- Priya to get two other quotes.
- Tom to model margin impact by 24th.
- Hannah to list fixed-price customers by 22nd.
- Someone to write to those customers by end of month.
- I’ll call their MD tomorrow.
DecisionHold our prices until 1 Dec
| Task | Who | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Call supplier’s MD | You | 21 Oct |
| List fixed-price customers | Hannah | 22 Oct |
| Model margin impact | Tom | 24 Oct |
| Get two other quotes | Priya | To confirm29 Oct |
| Write to fixed-price customers | To confirmHannah | 31 Oct |
ToPriya, Tom, Hannah, Owen
Thanks all. We’re holding our prices until 1 December.
Hannah: fixed-price customer list, 22 Oct
Tom: margin impact, 24 Oct
Priya: two other quotes, 29 Oct
Hannah: customer letter, 31 Oct, once Tom’s figures are in
I’ll call the supplier’s MD on 21 Oct.
PeopleCheck, then send
1. Keep a plain record of what people agree
Your main supplier has told you its prices go up 8% from 1 December. You meet Priya (operations), Tom (finance), Hannah (sales) and Owen (customer service) for 30 minutes on 20 October. A short agenda in the invite, such as “the increase, our prices, fixed-price customers, who does what”, gives the discussion a shape. Agree who will take notes.
The team decides to hold your own prices until 1 December. Priya will get quotes from two other suppliers. Tom will work out what the increase does to margins by 24 October. Hannah will list the customers on fixed-price agreements by 22 October. Everyone agrees those customers need a letter by the end of the month, but nobody takes it on. You will call the supplier’s managing director the next day.
Your notes might read:
Supplier up 8% from 1 Dec. Hold our prices till then. Priya to get two other quotes. Tom to model margin impact by 24th. Hannah to list fixed-price customers by 22nd. Someone to write to those customers by end of month. I’ll call their MD tomorrow.
You do not need a recording or polished minutes. You need an accurate record. Keep gaps in the notes, such as “someone”, so they can be checked rather than quietly filled in later.
2. Ask AI to extract the actions
Paste the notes into a tool approved for the information you are sharing. Give it this instruction:
Extract the actions from these notes into a table: Task, Who and Due. The meeting was on 20 October; turn relative dates into calendar dates. Use only what the notes say. Keep decisions separate from tasks. If an owner or date is missing, write “To confirm”. Do not invent commitments.
The draft should look like this:
Task | Who | Due |
|---|---|---|
Call the supplier’s managing director | You | 21 October |
List customers on fixed-price agreements | Hannah | 22 October |
Model the impact on margins | Tom | 24 October |
Get quotes from two other suppliers | Priya | To confirm |
Write to fixed-price customers | To confirm | 31 October |
Holding prices until 1 December is a decision, so it does not become another task. “Tomorrow” and “end of month” only become 21 and 31 October because the instruction gives the meeting date. This is the first useful bit of AI help: it sorts the discussion into a consistent list and makes gaps easier to spot.
3. Check the list and confirm the gaps
Compare the draft with your notes. Check that AI has kept the meaning, assigned the right people and copied the dates correctly.
Two rows are incomplete. Priya’s quotes have no date, so you ask her; she can have them by 29 October. The customer letter has no owner. Hannah offers to take it, since she is already listing those customers.
The table also misses something only the team knows: the letter should wait for Tom’s margin figures, because they decide what it says. Add that to Hannah’s row. If someone has not replied about a gap, leave “To confirm” in place and make clear who will chase it.
4. Draft the follow-up and send it
Give AI the corrected list and the decision about prices. Ask:
Write a short follow-up to Priya, Tom, Hannah and Owen using these checked actions and decisions. Include each task, owner and due date. Add no new commitments. Ask them to flag anything that does not match what they agreed.
Owen has no action, but he gets the email so he can answer customers who ask about prices. Read the draft before sending, especially the names, dates and any wording that could change the scope of a task. Write an AI prompt your team can reuse covers this drafting step in more detail, including how to test the instruction on different notes.
Send the checked follow-up through your usual channel. If the team uses a task board, add the same actions there:
- You: call the supplier’s managing director by 21 October.
- Hannah: list customers on fixed-price agreements by 22 October.
- Tom: model the impact on margins by 24 October.
- Priya: get quotes from two other suppliers by 29 October.
- Hannah: write to fixed-price customers by 31 October, once Tom’s figures are in.
Keep one place for progress updates so an email and a task board do not become competing versions. Owners update their tasks as work happens; sending the list does not complete the work.
About Jay
I’m Jay Janes, a Practical AI Advisor and founder of Reformat Labs. I write about choosing useful work for AI, checking the results and supporting the people using it.