Meet the new power user: 5 essential skills perfected with Gen AI

Remember when power users earned their stripes by creating pivot tables in spreadsheets or memorizing elaborate keyboard shortcuts? Generative AI (Gen AI) has changed everything. 

I’d like to introduce you to the new Gen AI power user.    

In the new era of work, they know where Gen AI excels, how to write prompts that get results, and when to use the tools for maximum benefit. Because Gen AI is multi-modal — involving text, video, audio, code, and image — and relies on information from diverse sources, we’re already seeing power users leverage their skills to do everything from quick brainstorms to in-depth research to multimedia report creation, and more.  

Here are the five essential skills this new type of power user has perfected with AI.   

1. PROMPTING: Write powerful prompts that deliver results   

Like us, Gen AI tools rely on context to respond appropriately to questions. Providing information about who’s asking, background, and the desired output format, along with the task, helps Gen AI tools respond with a response that’s tailor-made — and more useful.

AI power users vary their prompt characteristics to do more with each request. For example, a sales representative can instruct Gemini to act as a skeptical purchasing manager and find weaknesses in a product pitch. The added context helps direct Gemini’s responses to focus on value propositions and effective messaging, and can lead to more-targeted feedback.

2. BRAINSTORMING: Explore and refine ideas on the fly  

Starting from scratch is hard — Gen AI power users know they don’t have to. A Gen AI brainstorming session serves as a jumping-off point for new ideas and can push us to explore solutions that might not occur to us otherwise.   

A product lead working on a snappy tagline can give Gemini details about the product and intended tone, and almost instantly generate multiple ideas. When creating an ad, a designer with textual elements in mind can prompt Gemini to iterate on them with different color palettes and typographies. They can follow up on the most promising results — and with conversation-style inputs, it’s easy to add additional specifications and regenerate.   

Whether you use generated content as-is, with light editing, or as inspiration, Gen AI tools make it easier to explore ideas quickly. 

3. EXPERIMENTING: Playing with new capabilities  

Gen AI is changing rapidly, and power users are changing with it to make the most of new developments. Experimenting can be as simple as adding a new parameter to a prompt — or as complex as testing out a whole new Gen AI-powered workflow.    

When I have high-stakes meetings with client executives, I only get one chance to make an impression. It used to take me days to do the necessary research and make customized slide decks for each meeting. Now, I can save up to 10 hours each week by using Gemini to accelerate my research and create tailored presentations. I use the side panel in Slides to easily pull information from my research. I can personalize for each and every customer without sacrificing my evenings and weekends.  

Even unsuccessful experiments teach us about the current capacities of Gen AI tools, without wasting lots of time — Gen AI’s speed makes starting over as easy as writing a new prompt.   

4. RESEARCHING: Discover new information at scale — and verify results  

Gen AI tools can rapidly search the internet or your documents for relevant information, potentially saving you hours.  

Because AI tools are still learning to evaluate source quality and information accuracy, when my team uses Gemini for research on a new customer, we always verify results by cross-checking between multiple reliable sources. When combined with effective prompting, pointing AI tools toward specific resources can help produce more useful information.

Even counting time spent on verification, Gen AI saves power users time gathering in-depth information they can count on from a variety of sources.   

5. CUSTOMIZING: Create audience-tailored content, quickly  

Communication is part of every role, so we can all benefit from better information exchange facilitated by Gen AI.    

Drafting and editing tools powered by AI can take your audience and target voice into account, so you can produce the most laser-focused version of your message, whether you’re writing customer-facing content or in-house emails. You can easily make the tone more formal or more playful, or more appealing to millennials or Gen Z — all you have to do is update the prompt.  

Power users know effective communication can get their ideas heard and boost team productivity, and they leverage Gen AI to meet their communication goals in record time. 

The power user now has a bigger canvas  

Gen AI isn’t limited to a single domain, and neither are its benefits. Power users can effectively collaborate with and maximize Gen AI across a range of tools — whether the desired outcome is a photorealistic image or an all-hands presentation deck. New Gen AI power users are increasing efficiency in more ways than ever before (goodbye manually created pivot tables!) so they can work more quickly and strategically.     

A single Gen AI power user can get a lot done, but the potential for whole organizations of power users is just over the horizon. And when power users share what they know with colleagues and collaborate within a culture of knowledge sharing, a small number of skilled users can create an entire company of power users who maximize Gen AI’s potential, helping to boost efficiency across positions — and entire industries.