Which tool to choose
To build the agenda, a generalist assistant works: ChatGPT or Claude. If you take notes in Notion or an app like Todoist, have it give you the agenda already as a list and paste it there, so it also becomes the outline you tick the points off during the meeting. The tool doesn't make the difference; giving the AI the objective, the participants and the real duration does.
How to do it
From computer or phone the path is the same: you list the points, the AI puts them in order, you share.
- Write the purpose in one sentence. "Decide next quarter's budget" is a purpose; "talk about the budget" is a chat. The purpose guides all the rest.
- Ask for the agenda with the timing. The operative syntax:
Act as an organizational assistant. I need to prepare the agenda for a 45-minute meeting with my team of 4 people. I'll list the points to cover, even in disorder. Turn them into a clear agenda: for each point indicate the objective (inform, discuss or decide), who leads it and the minutes assigned, so the sum fits within the 45 minutes. Put the points that require a decision first. Add 5 minutes at the end for next steps. The points: complaints about shifts, new supplier, summer holidays, June's drop in sales.
- Share it beforehand and ask for additions. Send the agenda to the participants the day before with a line: "anything missing?". People who arrive prepared make short meetings.
- Keep the timing during. Use the agenda as a stopwatch: when a point runs over, you know it and decide whether to close it or postpone it.
A concrete example
Riccardo leads a small office and his Monday meetings last an hour and a half without deciding anything. Before the next one, he lists the accumulated topics to ChatGPT with the prompt above. The AI returns a 45-minute agenda: first the two urgent decisions (shifts and supplier), with fifteen minutes each, then the two quick updates, finally the next steps.
Riccardo sends it on Sunday evening. On Monday the meeting flows: the two hot points close with a decision because there was an assigned time and a declared objective. The updates, which before ate up half an hour, have five minutes in the agenda and fit. The meeting ends in 50 minutes with three decisions made. The difference wasn't the AI, but having a structure before going in.
When it does NOT work (and how to fix it)
If the agenda is too full for the time
If the assigned minutes exceed the duration, something must be cut beforehand, not on the fly. Ask the AI to "keep only the 3 points that really require everyone present and move the rest to a written update". A meeting that wants to do everything decides nothing.
If the points are vague
"Talk about the project" isn't a point, it's a fog. For each item ask the AI to rewrite it as a question to answer ("by when do we deliver the first part?"). A clear question leads to a decision; a generic topic leads to another meeting.
If the meeting could have been an email
Sometimes, preparing the agenda, you realize there's nothing to decide together. In that case ask the AI to turn the points into a written update to send. The best meeting is the one you avoid when a message is enough.
A tip from someone who really uses it
Keep a fixed agenda template for recurring meetings and have the AI update only the content each week. The constant structure (decisions first, updates after, next steps at the end) gets the team used to a rhythm: after a few weeks they arrive already prepared because they know what to expect. The template is worth more than the single agenda.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a meeting last?
As short as possible for its purpose. Assigning minutes to each point, as the AI's agenda does, forces honest choices: often what you thought required an hour fits in half. The time in the agenda is a budget, not a forecast.
Can AI also write the minutes after the meeting?
Yes. Paste in your notes and ask for minutes with decisions made, tasks assigned with owner and deadline, and points left open. That way the agenda opens the meeting and the minutes close it, without you rewriting anything by hand.
Does an agenda made by AI really make meetings more productive?
Here lies the misunderstanding to clear up: the agenda is a tool, not a guarantee. A meeting stays useless if whoever leads it lets it wander or doesn't close the points. AI gives you the structure and the timing; the discipline to respect them, and the courage to say "let's decide and move on", you provide.