YOUR OBJECTIVE COMES FIRST
Research preparation
Give people an assistant whose work they can inspect.
EDPNC identifies technology, life sciences, finance, advanced manufacturing and furniture among North Carolina industries. A useful scoping example is cross-functional program intake. Follow a program request, supporting evidence and delivery-owner assignment through the work with business sponsors, technical leads and program management. Several functions can accept the request while none has authority to resolve competing priorities. Who can resolve a conflict between the participating functions?
Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina: Industries ↗01Choose a narrow job for the assistant
Define the user, the task and the first useful output. A research draft, a support response and a summary of an account require different sources and checks. Describe what the assistant must decline, defer or hand to a person instead of promising a general answer to every question.
02Keep source access meaningful
Identify document owners, current versions and existing permissions. For retrieval-based tools, apply access controls before content enters the answer-generation step. Decide how superseded documents are removed or marked, and how reviewers can inspect the relevant source passage. Working example: A cited first draft and research question set.
03Evaluate answers beyond their wording
Test representative questions against expert-reviewed evidence. Examine factual support, missing context, citation accuracy and the handling of questions the sources cannot answer. An answer can sound convincing while omitting the condition that makes it useful or safe. For cross-functional program intake, agree how business sponsors, technical leads and program management contribute where those functions are involved.
04Decide which actions need approval
Reading an approved record is different from modifying it or sending a message. Scope tool access and confirmation requirements by action. Preserve a clear draft state and activity record so users understand what the assistant prepared and what has actually changed. Review check: A reviewer can trace each important statement to supporting material.