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What Is Prompting? And Why It’s Now a Core Skill at Work

Generative AI is changing how we work. Prompting is how we work with it.


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If you're using tools like Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, or Google Gemini—you’re already interacting with AI. But getting useful results isn’t always easy. Sometimes it overdelivers. Sometimes it misses the point. Sometimes it creates more work than it saves.


The reason? It often comes down to how we ask, the art of prompting is essentially the art of effective communication. The most effective leaders and managers who delegate tasks understand the importance of giving clear instructions in the context of desired output. Now everyone is called to do this effectively in an AI augmented world. So if you’ve been guilty of poor communication in the past, it’s time to brush up your skills. 


Prompting is: Giving clear, useful instructions to an AI tool—so it can meet your objective and essentially help you do your work better.


It’s not coding. It’s not technical for the most part And as AI becomes more embedded in the tools we use every day, prompting is now becoming essential.


So what is prompting, really?


Prompting means telling an AI tool what you want it to do—clearly, specifically, and with enough context to get the result you need.


It could be as simple as:

“Summarise this meeting transcript in five bullet points for the exec team.”


Or:

“Help me improve this customer apology email. Keep it clear and empathetic, not overly formal.”


That’s prompting. It’s the bridge between your intent and the AI’s output.


Why prompting is now a core skill


As AI becomes part of workflows, meetings, and planning tools, the people who can ask clearly and guide AI purposefully are getting more out of it.


They’re not doing more. They’re doing the same work—just faster, with less friction, and often with a better starting point. Clarity is important. 


Effective prompting helps you:

  • Reduce back-and-forth with AI tools

  • Get more consistent, useful outputs

  • Save time on routine writing, analysis, or prep work

  • Stay in control of tone, format, and detail


Whether you’re shaping a team update or designing a customer journey, prompting helps you move faster from idea to outcome.


It’s not just about knowing what to ask. It’s knowing how to ask.


AI tools can do a lot. While some might argue they can read between the lines, they’re literal. They need direction—just like a good team member would. Vague requests lead to vague results.


Prompting well means being thoughtful about:

  • What exactly you want it to do

  • What background information it needs

  • How you want the answer structured or framed

  • Any tone, role, or constraints it should follow


It’s a mix of communication, decision-making, and delegation. Which is why so many leaders are naturally equipped to learn it.


A better way to ask starts with a better prompt.


If you’re exploring how to work more effectively with AI—or want to build prompting confidence across your team—the VISION™ Framework is a practical place to start. It’s easy to remember and offers a structured way to build prompts. 



 
 
 

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