My Full AI “Executive Brain” Setup
An AI “executive brain” needs two things: intelligence that, combined with your context, forms the system’s “brain,” and a harness that gives it “hands”—the agentic capabilities to act on your behalf. Claude Code and Codex are two popular options. Their apps provide both the model and the harness in an easy-to-use interface. My workspace is GitHub because popular AI models already understand it and can handle its setup and administration for me. GitHub also syncs automatically with the local file system on my MacBook, so I retain complete ownership and control. If I ever wanted to leave GitHub, I could do so without lock-in. The same setup can work in any file system, from your local file system or Google Drive to a more sophisticated option like Obsidian. A good manager has a structured process for onboarding and staying aligned with a team. You need the same structure to work effectively with AI. My “executive brain” has four layers: the company layer, project folders, operations folders, and the process layer. The company layer contains the mission, vision, values, brand guidelines, and decision-making principles. Project folders contain one folder per project, including its specification, plan, open questions, and decision log. Operations folders cover ongoing areas of the business, such as marketing, finance, and support. They have the same shape as project folders, but they never finish: projects ship, while operations run. The process layer contains standard operating procedures for how we work together, such as processing a meeting, planning a project, publishing a post, and closing out the week. For AI to work successfully, your company has to be “legible” to it. If information is not written down and accurate, it is not legible, and the AI cannot help you with it. This is like onboarding a great new hire: explain what the company is trying to do, what each project is for, what has already been decided and why, and how you like to work. You do not need to write everything alone or all at once. The AI can interview you, draft the documents, and file them in the right place based on the structure you set up. An employee without logins cannot do much, and AI works the same way. Start with the places where you communicate. At my company, we primarily communicate through Zoom and our community forums, so my AI system is connected to both. This allows it to stay up to date as we progress and participate in discussions as an equal participant when asked. Once the AI is connected to your communications, give it access to the places where you want it to execute on your behalf. You can connect it directly through an API or MCP, or it can use a browser to interact with a tool the same way you do by clicking and typing. You decide what it can access, and you can start small. Each connection turns a category of “things I have to do myself” into “things I can delegate.” The final step is incorporating what the AI learns. After every working session and meeting, it updates the record: decisions are logged, task lists are reconciled, and project documents are brought up to date. When we learn something, it goes into the SOP, so every future run is sharper than the last. That is how the AI becomes more useful every week: its knowledge compounds inside the business instead of starting from zero in every conversation. Step-by-step: 1. Choose the intelligence and harness that will power your AI system. Claude Code and Codex are two popular options whose apps provide both in an easy-to-use interface. 2. Create a workspace for alignment, planning, feedback, and learnings. I use GitHub because AI models understand it, it handles setup and administration, and it syncs with my local MacBook file system without locking me in. 3. Organize the workspace into four layers: company information, project folders, operations folders, and process documentation. 4. Make the company legible by documenting its goals, projects, decisions, working preferences, and other relevant context. Have the AI interview you, draft the documents, and file them in the appropriate locations. 5. Connect the AI to your communication tools, such as Zoom and community forums, so it can stay informed and participate when asked. 6. Connect the AI to the systems where you want it to execute tasks. Use a direct API or MCP connection when available, or give it browser access when it is not. 7. After each working session and meeting, have the AI update decisions, task lists, and project documents. 8. Add new learnings to the relevant SOP so each future run improves on the last.
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