Hello,
This is Simon with the latest edition of The Weekly. In these updates, I share key AI related stories from this week's news, list upcoming events, and share any longer form articles posted on the website.
Creating Your Own GPT
Whilst most of us are now very familiar with writing basic prompts and chatting with systems like ChatGPT and Gemini, how many of us have taken that a step further and started to personalise our experience?
ChatGPT and Gemini allow you to create your own customised solution, which they call Custom GPTs and Gems.
The idea is straightforward; rather than writing longer and more complicated prompts directly each time, you can configure it so that the system already has pre-defined instructions.
For example, we can create a custom GPT that suggests two email responses based on an email we receive.
Building a custom GPT in ChatGPT
The instructions for this could be:
You are a professional, thoughtful, and efficient workplace assistant who helps craft email responses. You assist a senior leader who works in a technology company and regularly communicates with customers, colleagues, and stakeholders.
Your job is to suggest two different reply options to an email the user provides. Each response should be:
• Aligned with the user’s tone of voice: transparent, confident, respectful, and collaborative. Avoid unnecessary jargon or overly casual phrasing.
• Professionally worded and to the point, while maintaining warmth and approachability.
• Tailored to the context and relationship—recognise whether the email is from a customer, internal stakeholder, executive, etc., and adjust tone accordingly.
• Flexible in style: The first suggestion can be slightly more direct or action-oriented; the second can be more empathetic or exploratory, giving the user a choice of tone or framing.
You should:
• Summarise the intent of the original email if needed
• Understand any implied subtext or sentiment
• Offer brief reasoning if the response suggestions differ significantly in tone or structure
Do not:
• Apologise unnecessarily or use overly passive language
• Add emojis or overly casual expressions
• Use American spelling—always use British English
If the user provides specific details (e.g. urgency, personal dynamics, draft ideas), integrate them seamlessly into the replies. If context is lacking, make reasonable assumptions but remain flexible.
Pro-Tip: You can ask chatGPT to help you write the instructions for your custom GPT if you’re unsure where to start.
Rules are Vital
You must add rules in the instructions so that you are comfortable with the suggestions. For the tone of voice, you can be more specific with this and provide it with knowledge of your own tone of voice. For instance, you could add this line:
You must respond with my own town of voice. Please use the following text as an example:Once you’ve tested your solutions a couple of times, you can then save this and it will be available for your to use everytime. There a couple of differences between ChatGPT and Gemini, but on the whole it’s the exact same concept.
There are a number of advantages of creating your own GPT.
Saving time not writing lengthy prompts each
A tailored response exactly for you
A quick and repeatable system you can use each time
As with anything produced by Generative AI, ensure that you check the output for accuracy and suitability. I explain this in detail in my Using Generative AI at Work content.
If you want to check out what I created, you can access it here: “Corporate Email Responder”
Have you already built a custom GPT? If not, can you think of some use-cases where this would be useful for you?
Curated News
ServiceNow Highlights Agentic AI as a Business Growth Driver
ServiceNow reported stronger-than-expected Q2 revenue amid soaring customer demand. CEO Bill McDermott specifically emphasized how their adoption of agentic AI, has helped differentiate their platform and fuel growth. Subscription revenue rose 22.5% year‑on‑year, prompting an upward revision of annual guidance
Walmart Unveils “super-agents” to Reshape Retail Operations
Walmart launched AI-powered “Super Agents”, including an assistant named Sparky, designed to personalise customer shopping and optimise internal operations such as supply chain and staff workflows. This marks a major strategic shift, leveraging agentic AI to drive digital commerce growth
Capgemini warns UK firms risk missing out on £350 billion+ opportunity
A new Capgemini report forecasts that agentic AI could generate $450 billion globally by 2028, but only 1% of UK businesses have fully scaled agent deployments. Key obstacles include weak AI-ready infrastructure, low data maturity, and declining trust in autonomous systems
Why This is Important
Agentic AI is business-ready—but still early stage. While companies like ServiceNow and Walmart are already deploying autonomous agents operationally, broader benefits often require substantial groundwork.
The UK is lagging in scaling successfully, so firms that invest early in infrastructure and trust-building may gain a competitive advantage.
Governance and trust matter. Capgemini highlights that falling trust in autonomous AI is a barrier—transparency and oversight must be built in from day one.
Short‑term wins are possible but real transformation takes time—often up to two years of careful planning and rollout.
Upcoming AI Events
Ai4
MGM Grand, Las Vegas, August 11-13World AI Summit
Taets Art & Event Park, Amsterdam, October 8-9Big Data Conference Europe
Vilnius, Lithuania, November 19-21AI World Congress
The Great Hall, London. November 27-28
Thanks for reading, and see you next Friday.
Simon,
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