It's 8:30 a.m. Your executive has a packed calendar, three people need answers before noon, and an email thread that started last Thursday now has 17 replies.
Sound familiar?
As Executive Assistants, we spend a surprising amount of time piecing together what happened, who needs what, and where our executive needs to weigh in. We've talked before about using AI to make sure important emails don't slip through the cracks. This week, we're taking that idea one step further.
If your organization uses Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, AI assistance may already be available in your email experience. Microsoft Copilot and Google's Gemini can help with summarizing conversations, identifying follow-ups, and drafting replies, depending on your organization's licensing, settings, and permissions. Copilot works within Outlook, while Gemini offers similar assistance inside Gmail. The features differ, but both can help you turn email conversations into clear next steps.
Before you try these examples in your executive’s inbox, check with AI features are available with your delegated access. Being able to read a mailbox does not automatically give you access to every AI feature in it.
AT A GLANCE
This week's focus: Microsoft Copilot in Outlook and Google Gemini in Gmail
AI level: Beginner - Intermediate
Reading time: 5-7 minutes
1. Catch Up on a Long Email Thread in Seconds
The situation: Your executive forwards you a long conversation with one sentence: "Can you take care of this?" Before you respond, you need to know what was discussed, what was decided, and what's still unresolved.
If you use Microsoft Outlook:
Open the email conversation in Outlook.
Select Summary by Copilot or Summarize at the top of the conversation.
Review the generated summary. Where supported, select its references to inspect the original messages.
If Copilot Chat is available, use it to ask additional questions about unresolved items.
If you use Gmail:
Open the email conversation.
Select Ask Gemini in the upper-right corner.
Ask Gemini to summarize the conversation or identify outstanding questions.
TRY THIS PROMPT:
Summarize this email conversation in five bullet points. Include what has been decided, what remains unresolved, any deadlines mentioned, and who is responsible for the next step. If something is unclear, flag it rather than making an assumption.2. Turn an Email Conversation Into a Follow-Up Checklist
The situation: A vendor promised to send a revised proposal. Your executive agreed to review it. Someone else mentioned a Friday deadline. Everything is technically in the email thread, but the next steps are scattered across several replies. Instead of manually building a task list from scratch, ask your AI assistant to identify the commitments.
Copilot users: Open the relevant conversation and use Copilot Chat where available, or work from the thread summary to build your checklist.
Gemini users: Open the conversation and ask Gemini to create a list of action items. Depending on your Workspace features, you may also be able to turn email information into a structured document.
Tip: Don't treat an AI-generated checklist as your final task tracker. Review it, confirm ownership and dates, then transfer the verified items into your team's existing system. A checklist only helps if the people responsible can find it and act on it.
TRY THIS PROMPT:
Review this email thread and create a follow-up checklist with four columns: Action Item, Responsible Person, Deadline, and Status. Use only information explicitly stated in the conversation. Mark missing deadlines as "Not specified," identify unclear ownership, and use "Status not confirmed" when the thread does not establish whether an action has been completed.Here's what a useful output might look like:
Action item | Owner | Deadline | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Send revised proposal | Vendor | Wednesday | Status not confirmed |
Review proposal | Executive | Friday | Status not confirmed |
Confirm next meeting | EA | Not specified | Needs clarification |
3. Turn a Scattered Brainstorm into a Structured Meeting Agenda
The situation: The leadership team has been replying all to a thread for three days tossing around ideas for an upcoming project. Now, your executive forwards it to you and says, "Schedule a 45-minute sync for us to hash this out." Instead of re-reading 20 emails to figure out what they actually need to discuss, use your AI assistant to draft an agenda for the calendar invite.
If you use Microsoft Outlook or Gmail: Open the relevant email thread, launch Copilot or Gemini, and ask it to extract the core themes for a meeting.
TRY THIS PROMPT:
Review this email thread and draft a brief meeting agenda for a 45-minute sync. Identify the main topics that need to be discussed based on the unresolved points in this conversation. Allocate an estimated time to each topic, and suggest who should lead each discussion where the emails make this clear. Otherwise, mark ‘lead to confirm’. Do not assume ownership.4. Triage the Morning Inbox
The situation: It’s 8:30 a.m. and your executive’s inbox picked up 40 new messages overnight. Before your morning check-in, you need to know which ones need a decision today and which can wait.
If you use Microsoft Outlook:
Check whether Prioritize my inbox is available and turned on in the mailbox you are working in. It flags each incoming email as high, normal, or low priority and gives a short reason.
In Settings > Copilot > Prioritize, tell Copilot which topics, people, or projects should rank as high priority in that mailbox.
Open Copilot Chat where available and use the prompt below for a quick briefing list.
If you use Gmail:
Select Ask Gemini in the upper-right corner.
Ask Gemini to find emails from a specific person or about a specific project. The results load as a Gmail search.
Open the key threads and ask for a summary of each.
TRY THIS PROMPT:
Review the emails in this mailbox received since 5 p.m. yesterday. List anything that needs a reply or decision today, who it’s from, and why it seems urgent. Put routine updates and newsletters in a separate group. If you’re unsure whether something is urgent, say so instead of guessing. Include a link or reference to each message where supported, and flag any limits on which emails you could review.AI CAN PREPARE. YOU APPROVE.
Your executive’s inbox holds information that needs careful handling, from personnel matters to client details. Only use AI features approved by your organization and stay within your account’s permissions. Before you act on a summary, checklist, or draft, check the original messages for names, deadlines, commitments, and context. A confident answer still needs your review.
AI is your assistant in the workflow, not the final decision-maker.
AI UPDATES OF THE WEEK
Microsoft continues expanding Copilot's email capabilities, including inbox prioritization, email triage, drafting, and coaching. For EAs, the important development is that Copilot is moving beyond writing assistance toward helping users organize and act on email information.
Google announced new agentic capabilities across Workspace in September, including the ability to use email conversations and related Workspace information to prepare structured documents. For EAs, think project briefs, meeting preparation notes, or organized summaries built from conversations that already exist.
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SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!
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The Base Team
