How Do I Fill In the Persona, Goals and Deliverables for My Own AI Agent?
The sentence shape I dictated on October 7, 2026, with blanks you can fill in for your own job.
Fill in five blanks, in the order I dictated mine: who the AI agent is (the persona), one goal for the quarter, what it should follow up on, the deliverable you want back, and two standing behaviors. Say it out loud for a minute or two, or type it. Name the deliverable and the form you want it in. I left the form open in my demo, and my AI agent came back with questions.
You watched me set up a chief of staff AI agent, and now you've got your own job to hand over. My example isn't yours to copy, it's yours to rewrite. So here's the sentence shape I used, with the words that belong to my job taken out. Put yours in.
What are the three things I tell it first?
Before I said anything about my quarter, I told the AI agent who it's supposed to be. That's rule number one:
From the recording, 9:13. There are three rules that I like to follow as a best practice for setting up an AI agent.
The persona came first (9:20). The second is the goals:
From the recording, 9:51. The next thing that we want to do is we want to tell the agent what its goals are.
The third is the deliverables, and I said that holds for any AI agent: persona, goals and deliverables (9:57).
Blank 1: who is it?
I typed this one (9:34):
From the recording, 9:23. We're going to first tell our agent, you are my chief of staff agent.
Your blank is the job title you'd give a new hire who does this work: your community manager, your development director, your research assistant. I started with a chief of staff because most people can relate (4:50). If you already know what you'd use an AI agent for, I told the group to feel free to deviate (4:53).
Blank 2: what is the one goal?
Then I spoke the goal. One goal, for the quarter, in a sentence:
From the recording, 12:02. And my quarterly goals are to maintain great relationships with the Women Applying AI community.
Blank 3: what should it follow up on?
My list had three parts, and each one named a place:
From the recording, 12:10. So I'd like to follow up on Slack messages, emails, and send useful information through Slack.
Yours is three things, and for each, the place it lives: a shared inbox, a spreadsheet, a message channel. Then what you can't afford to miss:
From the recording, 12:17. Additionally, I want to be able to manage my calendar and not miss anything.
Blank 4: what do I want back?
This is the deliverable, the thing the AI agent hands you. I asked for a dashboard:
From the recording, 12:34. Providing a dashboard so that I can visually see things that I need to take action on right away.
Say what you want back and in what form: a list, a table, a short note, a draft.
Blank 5: how should it behave?
I gave two standing behaviors. The first:
From the recording, 12:44. Be proactive and make smart decisions.
The second was a line about being honest with me (12:46). Pick the two you'd ask of a new hire.
Put it together
The shape, with the blanks. Say it, or type it:
``` My [persona], I'd like you to help me stay on top of my [quarter] goals. My goal this quarter is to [one outcome, in your words]. I'd like you to follow up on [thing one], [thing two] and [thing three]. Additionally, I want to [what you can't afford to miss, and by when]. I also want you, as my [persona], to give me [the deliverable, in the form you want it]. Be [standing behavior one]. And be [standing behavior two] with me. ```
Two slot swaps follow. Both are examples, so replace them with yours.
Example, replace with yours. A community manager:
``` My community manager AI agent, I'd like you to help me stay on top of my quarterly goals. My goal this quarter is to keep the members I serve connected to each other and to us. I'd like you to follow up on unanswered member questions, event sign-ups and partner emails. Additionally, I want to manage my calendar and not miss replying to partners at the end of day. I also want you, as my community manager AI agent, to give me a dashboard of what needs action right away. Be proactive and make smart decisions. And be honest with me. ```
Example, replace with yours. A development director:
``` My development director AI agent, I'd like you to help me stay on top of my quarterly goals. My goal this quarter is to thank every donor on time. I'd like you to follow up on gift acknowledgments, pledge reminders and board emails. Additionally, I want to manage my calendar and not miss replying to board members at the end of day. I also want you, as my development director AI agent, to give me a list I can read in two minutes, oldest follow-up first. Be proactive and make smart decisions. And be honest with me. ```
How do I say it?
Steps, as shown October 7, 2026:
- 01
Open the screen for a new AI agent. The plus icon brought me to a screen asking what the AI agent should take care of (8:55).
- 02
Type the persona (9:34).
- 03
Go ahead and use the dictate feature for the rest (10:02), after you've checked that your video call is on mute (11:37).
- 04
Speak for one to two minutes, or type it:
From the recording, 11:21. I tend to find that speaking into the microphone for one to two minutes gives my system enough information to start working.
What goes wrong
A deliverable left open. I asked for a dashboard and gave no detail on the form, and I flagged it to the group:
From the recording, 13:05. Now you'll notice I didn't tell my agent how to give me this information outside of a dashboard.
I added that it'd ask me clarifying questions in a moment (13:12).
Access left out. When I compare the AI agent to a new hire, I said:
From the recording, 6:11. And I don't provide access to systems, then that new hire isn't going to achieve as much.
If your third blank names a place, make sure the AI agent can reach it. Which Connectors Does an AI Agent Need? covers that.
Where this comes from
This article grows from the session I taught live with Women Applying AI on October 7, 2026. The quoted passages are my own words, taken verbatim from the recording. The steps, tables and checklists around them were drafted by my team's AI agents from those words and my published pages, and checked against the recording before publishing. The two examples are slot swaps of my sentence shapes.
Build Your First AI Agent in One Hour: the full session with the clips, the prompts and the transcript.
Related reading: How Do You Dictate Goals to an AI Agent?, What Are AI Agent Goals and Deliverables?, What Is an AI Agent Persona?.
Frequently asked questions
How long should I speak for?
One to two minutes. I tend to find that's enough for my system to start working (11:21).
Do I have to dictate it?
No. I told the group you can type it all out or speak into it (11:14).
What if my job isn't a chief of staff?
Swap the persona in the first blank. I started with a chief of staff because most people can relate (4:50).
What happens if I leave the form of the deliverable open?
Mine asked. I didn't say what form I wanted my dashboard in, I told the group it'd ask me (13:12), and at 17:26 it was asking for input.
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