This 5 Minute AI Setup Could Change Your Career

The first impression you give someone could be the difference between closing a life-changing deal or losing it.

The difference between getting your dream job and being ghosted by a recruiter.

Most people leave this first impression up to chance. You work so hard on everything else, but you're neglecting the part you can actually prep for.

And in your defense, you're busy. Any "extra" preparation is deprioritized.

Well, AI has changed the math. In just 5 minutes with the right AI workflow, you can set yourself up for success before any meeting that matters.

So let's say it's 1:55 PM. At 2:00 PM, you have a call with someone new. Could be a sales call, an intro from a mutual friend, a first conversation with a potential hire. Doesn't matter.

You're at your computer. Call's in 5. Here's exactly what to do.

Step 1: Name the Win (~30 sec)

Before you do anything, think about what the definition of success is for the call your about to have.

Not "have a good call." Something specific. Mine: walk out knowing the one thing they care most about, and if I can help them, I share that info.

You’ll use this to help point AI in the right direction. Only you know the goal, but AI will help you achieve it.

Step 2: Dump What You Have (~2 min)

Open Claude. Paste in whatever you already have: their name, the company website, the calendar invite, and your goal from step 1.

If you have more (LinkedIn, recent posts, a podcast they were on, prior DMs), add it but you don’t really need it.

Step 3: Ask for the Angle (~1 min)

This prompt turns the basic stuff you just dumped into something that proves you did the work. Here it is to copy/paste:

[Everything from Steps 1 & 2.]

I have a call with this person in 5 minutes. Three things:

1. Analyze their company website, what do they do and how do they make money? What is their responsibility?

2. What would surprise them about how I'd describe their situation?

3. Give me one opener I can use that proves I see them clearly. Is there anything we have in common based on research about them and what you know about me. Share the source of this similarity.

Be specific.

Surface-level ("they work at JPMorgan") is what everyone has.

The actual juice ("they’re from New York, they love new technology, and are a huge Knicks Fan") is the edge.

Step 4: Get the Juice (~1.5 min)

Scan Claude's answer. You're looking for one specific thing to walk in with. Usually it's one of these:

An opener:

You walk in, deliver that, and they immediately know you read more than their bio.

A question:

Diagnostic questions will surface the bottleneck without you guessing.

A similarity:

Something you have in common with the person on the other side. Common ground, a topic to geek out on, whatever.

As AI gets better, people want to work with people, and this is your way to double down on being a human.

AI does the work. You make the call. That's the whole workflow.

Here's how I actually ran this last week.

Smooth, the agency that reps me for brand deals, surfaced an inbound opportunity and asked what I'd pitch. Default move: send a copy-paste snippet. I had 5 minutes. So I flipped it.

I dumped everything I knew about the client into Claude, talked through the angle, and landed on a thesis for how I'd talk about education in the AI era. Then I had Claude generate a branded one-pager. Thesis on top, full ad read in my voice underneath. I then had that at my disposal on a call to showcase.

Step 5: Walk in Armed

It's 2:00 PM. You walk in knowing their situation better than 95% of the people who'll sit across from them this week.

Not because you're smarter, but because you used the 5 minutes everyone else wasted.

The point isn't sounding smart. It's seeing clearly.

The Principle

Pre-AI: surface rapport. Post-AI: diagnostic insight, and the receipts to back it up.

Same 5 minutes. Different leverage.

The issue isn’t the time. It's whether the prep actually happens.

Try it once this week, before any call where you'd normally just show up cold. If it changes how the meeting goes, reply and tell me what happened. I read everyone.

-Austin

Whenever you're ready, here are two ways I can help:

1. Apply for my Executive AI Coaching Program: Linked here

2. Want to build a SaaS product without hiring a CTO? Linked here