Study Guide: Alex for Business Analysts and Knowledge Workers
Your personal reference for applying Alex to analysis, reporting, and strategic communication. Ready-to-run prompts, core use cases, and a practice progression for business professionals.
What This Guide Is Not
This is not a habit formation guide (see SELF-STUDY.md for that). This is a domain use-case library — the specific things Alex can do in your work, and how to do them well.
Core Principle for Knowledge Workers
In business environments, the most valuable outputs are clarity and decision-readiness. Alex’s highest value is helping you move from scattered information to structured, audience-ready documents faster — without losing nuance.
The key pattern to master: brief Alex with context before asking for output. The more specific you are about audience, decision being supported, and format required, the better the output and the less editing you’ll need.
The Five Use Cases
1. Executive Briefing and Reporting
When to use: Preparing reports, memos, or briefings for senior stakeholders. Translating complex analysis into decision-ready summaries.
Prompt pattern:
@alex I'm preparing a [briefing / executive summary / memo] for [audience: VP / Board / Director].
Topic: [describe the situation or analysis].
Decision or action I need from them: [be specific].
Key facts: [list 3-5 most important data points or findings].
Structure this as:
1. Situation (2 sentences)
2. Key findings (3 bullets)
3. Options and recommendation
4. What I need from them
Follow-up prompts:
What questions will they likely ask that I'm not answering in this document?
Cut this to half the length. Keep the recommendation and the top finding.
Rewrite the options section — make the tradeoffs clearer without adding length.
2. Scenario and Options Analysis
When to use: Structuring a business case, evaluating options, or building a scenario model for a presentation.
Prompt pattern:
@alex I'm building an options analysis for [decision or initiative].
The three scenarios I'm considering are: [describe each briefly].
Key evaluation criteria: [cost / time / risk / strategic fit — whatever is relevant].
Help me build a comparison framework that makes the tradeoffs visible to a non-technical executive audience.
Follow-up prompts:
What am I assuming in Scenario 2 that might not hold?
Play the role of a critic of my recommended option. What's the strongest case against it?
3. Meeting Preparation
When to use: Before important meetings — stakeholder alignment, budget reviews, project kick-offs, difficult conversations.
Prompt pattern:
@alex I have a meeting with [who] on [topic].
I need to achieve [outcome: decision / alignment / approval].
Likely objections: [list what you expect].
Help me prepare: talking points, likely counterarguments and my responses, and a clear opening statement.
Follow-up prompts:
What could go wrong in this meeting that I haven't planned for?
Write a 30-second opening that states my position clearly and invites discussion.
4. Process Documentation and Improvement
When to use: Documenting how something works, identifying inefficiencies, or preparing for a process review.
Prompt pattern:
@alex I need to document [process name or type] for [purpose: onboarding / audit / improvement].
The process involves: [describe the steps you know].
Help me structure this as a clear process document with: purpose, scope, steps, roles, and exception handling.
Follow-up prompts:
Where are the most common failure points in this type of process?
What steps could be eliminated or automated without reducing quality?
5. Data Narrative and Visualization Guidance
When to use: When you have data and need to tell a coherent story from it, or decide how to visualize it.
Prompt pattern:
@alex I have data showing [describe what the data shows at a high level].
The audience is [describe them]. The message I want to land is [state it].
Help me structure a data narrative: what to show first, what the key comparison is,
and what chart types best support the story.
Follow-up prompts:
What's the most misleading way this data could be read? How do I prevent that interpretation?
Write the caption for the most important chart — one sentence that tells the reader what to think.
Your First Week Back: Practice Plan
| Day | Task | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Use the Executive Briefing pattern on a report or deck you’re currently working on | 20 min |
| Day 2 | Prepare for an upcoming meeting using the Meeting Preparation pattern | 20 min |
| Day 3 | Use Scenario Analysis on a decision that’s been sitting on your to-do list | 25 min |
| Day 4 | Try the Data Narrative pattern on a dataset you need to present | 20 min |
| Day 5 | Save three useful prompts with /saveinsight | 10 min |
Month 2–3: Advanced Applications
Repeating Report Automation
For reports you write regularly (weekly, monthly), build a standing prompt template that you save with /saveinsight. Each time you run the report, paste in the new numbers and run the template.
Stakeholder Management Build a stakeholder context file in Alex — who the key people are, what they care about, what their objections tend to be. Reference it before any major communication.
@alex /saveinsight title="[Stakeholder name] profile" insight="[Name] is a [role]. They care most about [priorities]. Common objections: [list]. Best communication style: [direct/narrative/data-first]." tags="stakeholder,[name]"
Cross-functional Alignment When coordinating across teams with different priorities:
@alex I need to align [Team A] and [Team B] on [decision].
Team A cares about [their priorities]. Team B cares about [their priorities].
What's the framing that makes this decision look like a win for both sides?
Continue your practice: SELF-STUDY.md — the 30/60/90-day habit guide.