01 / Why now
AI made this urgent
Small businesses have always run on what the owner and a few long-time people carry in their heads. That has a cost you already know: you answer the same questions every week, vacations are stressful, and new hires take months to get useful.
AI assistants change the math in both directions. A capable assistant can draft the proposal, write the customer update or sort the inbox in minutes. But it starts every conversation knowing nothing about your business. Without context, it writes for an average company that doesn't exist. With context, it writes like someone who has worked with you for years.
A company brain is that context, written down once, in a place both people and AI can read. It's the difference between AI that saves you time and AI that makes more work to correct.
What you get back
- Fewer interruptions. "Where is it?" and "How do we do this?" have written answers.
- Faster onboarding. A new person reads the Start Here page and the customer pages on day one.
- Consistent AI output. Every assistant follows the same rules, voice and facts.
- A business that runs without you in the room. Which is also what makes it worth more.
02 / Principles
Eight principles that settle most decisions
When you're not sure where something goes or how to handle it, one of these usually answers it.
One home per kind of thing
Every type of information has exactly one place. If it lives in two places, one of them is a copy, and copies drift apart.
One door
Everyone, person or AI, starts at the same Start Here page. It's the only page anyone has to remember.
Rules are rows
Rules live in one sheet with an ID, a status and an approver. Only active rows count. Everything else points to the sheet instead of repeating it.
Point, don't copy
Link to where a fact lives. A customer page links to the task list and the contract folder; it doesn't paste them in.
Nothing is deleted, only held
Uncertain files go to a _HOLD folder. One named person deletes, after checking. This makes everyone, including AI, safe to tidy.
Humans approve anything outward
AI can draft anything. Nothing reaches a customer, goes live or spends money until a named person says yes.
Leave a trace
Finished work leaves a short note: a comment on the task, and a dated line on the customer page if something changed.
AI reads before it writes
Every AI tool is told to read the map and rules first, and to say so when it can't reach them instead of guessing.
03 / Anatomy
The parts, and the tool each one lives in
Eight layers. None of them needs new software. Each has one owner and an update rhythm, or it goes stale.
| Layer | What it is | Basic tool | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Map | The Start Here page: where things go, plus the "never" list | A Doc or text file at the top of the drive | when structure changes |
| Rules | How you do things, one rule per row | Google Sheets or Excel | as decisions are made |
| Registers | Lists you look things up in: meetings, standard prices or task times, vendors | Sheets | daily to monthly |
| Records | One page per customer, plus how-tos and templates | Docs in the shared drive | weekly |
| Work | Tasks, owners, due dates and the comment trail | ClickUp, Asana, Trello | daily |
| Memory | Recordings and transcripts | Granola, Fathom, Otter, Zoom or Meet notes | every meeting |
| Secrets | Passwords, API keys, logins | 1Password, Bitwarden | as needed |
| AI pointers | The standing instruction in each AI tool that says "read the map first" | Custom instructions, project instructions, skills | once per tool |
A note on money. Pay, ownership, bank and legal records don't belong in the shared brain. Keep them in a second, owner-only drive. Because AI tools see only what the signed-in person can see, this keeps sensitive records out of every teammate's AI by default.
04 / The build
Seven phases, in order
Plan on two to four weeks of part-time effort for a small team. Each phase ends with something usable, so you get value before you finish.
Create the drive and the skeleton
- One shared drive (Google Shared Drive or a SharePoint site) owned by the business, not by a person. If someone leaves, the files stay.
- Numbered top-level folders so they sort the same everywhere:
00 Start Here,01 Inbox,10 Company,20 Customers,30 Operations,40 Growth,50 AI,90 Archive,_HOLD. Gaps of ten leave room to add later. - A second, owner-only drive for money and legal records.
- A naming pattern. Records start with the date, so they sort:
2026-10-22_Customer_Proposal.pdf.
Done when: the folders exist and the team has access to the shared drive only.
Write the Start Here page
Keep it to one screen. It has three jobs: list the few things everyone reads first, state the "never" rules that always apply, and show where each kind of thing goes. Use the template in section 05.
Resist adding how-tos here. The map points; it doesn't explain. Every extra paragraph is something that will go out of date.
Done when: a new person can file a document correctly using only this page.
Start the Rules sheet
Columns: ID (R-001), Rule (one sentence), Category (Safety, Filing, Naming, Customers, AI), Applies to (everyone, AI only, a role), Status (Proposed, Active, Retired), Approved by, Date, Source (the meeting or incident it came from) and Replaces (the ID it supersedes).
Anyone can add a Proposed rule. Only the owner moves a row to Active. Never delete a rule; retire it, so you can see why things changed.
Start with the ten to fifteen things you repeat most. Good first rules cover deletion, passwords, approvals, naming, where customer files go and what AI may do on its own.
Done when: the sheet has at least ten Active rules and the Start Here page links to it.
Give every customer one page
Build one template and copy it for each customer. Same headings every time, so people and AI know where to look. Fill your biggest customer first, then fix the template before you copy it 20 times.
AI is good at the first pass. Ask your assistant to draft a customer page from your email, task tool and meeting notes, citing where each fact came from. Then have the person closest to that customer check it. Anything the sources disagree on goes in a To check section rather than being guessed.
Inside each customer folder, use the same subfolders: contracts, deliverables, assets, reports, meetings and notes.
Done when: every active customer has a page, and each page says when it was last reviewed.
Connect tasks and meetings
- Tasks: one list per customer, named exactly as the customer folder is. Spell customer names the same everywhere; pick one tool's spelling as the standard.
- Leave a trace: when work is done, add a one-line comment on the task. If a decision changed something, add a dated line to the customer page.
- Meetings index: a sheet with date, title, customer, attendees, the tool it was recorded in and a link. Recordings and transcripts stay in the notetaker. Only decisions get copied to the customer page.
Done when: you can answer "what did we last decide with this customer?" in under a minute.
Point every AI tool at the map
Each AI tool keeps its standing instructions in a different place, and each person's account is separate. Write one instruction line and paste it everywhere.
| Tool | Where the line goes | Connect |
|---|---|---|
| Claude | Settings, personal preferences; project instructions; an organization skill for teams | Google Drive or Microsoft 365 connector |
| ChatGPT | Custom instructions; project instructions | Google Drive or OneDrive connector |
| Gemini | Saved info; a Gem with instructions | Google Workspace |
| Microsoft Copilot | Custom instructions or an agent | Your Microsoft 365 files |
| Coding assistants | The tool's instruction file, such as CLAUDE.md | Repository plus drive connector |
Each person connects the drive under their own sign-in, so their AI sees exactly what they can see. Then test it with three questions in a fresh chat: "Where do signed contracts go?", "What are our rules about deleting files?" and "Summarize our biggest customer." Generic answers mean something isn't connected.
Done when: every person's AI answers the three test questions from your own files.
Keep it alive
| When | What | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Daily | Leave a trace on finished work; file from 01 Inbox | Everyone |
| Weekly | Refresh each active customer page from the week's tasks and meetings | Account owner, AI drafts |
| Monthly | Review Proposed rules; empty _HOLD after checking | Owner |
| Quarterly | Archive finished work; check the map still matches the folders | Owner |
Keep one list in your task tool called something like Brain improvements. Any fix or idea for the brain goes there, not in a chat where it gets lost. Many of these chores, like the weekly customer refresh, can run as scheduled AI tasks that draft changes for a person to approve.
05 / Templates
Copy these and change the names
# START HERE: read this first The map of our company brain. Every person and every AI tool reads this before saving, filing or creating anything. ## Read these first 1. This page: where things go. 2. Rules sheet: follow every row whose Status is Active. Cite rules by ID (R-005). If anything disagrees with the sheet, the sheet wins. 3. Meetings sheet: every meeting, with links. Recordings stay in the notetaker; don't copy them here. 4. Customer pages: 20 Customers/<Name>/<Name> Page. Read it before any work for that customer. ## Never (always on) - Delete anything. Move it to _HOLD. The owner deletes. - Put passwords or keys in a file. Use the password manager. - Send anything to a customer without a named person's OK. - Put pay, ownership or legal records here. ## Where things go Not sure 01 Inbox Who we are: brand, offers, plans 10 Company Anything about one customer 20 Customers/<Name>/ A new customer copy 20 Customers/_Template How we work: how-tos, templates 30 Operations Sales, content, case studies 40 Growth AI instructions and skills 50 AI Finished or no longer used 90 Archive Waiting on keep-or-delete _HOLD ## Improving this brain Ideas and fixes go in the task list "Brain improvements".
ID,Rule,Category,Applies to,Status,Approved by,Date,Source,Replaces R-001,Read the Start Here page before saving or creating anything.,Filing,Everyone,Active,Owner,2026-10-22,Launch, R-002,Never delete files. Move them to _HOLD; the owner deletes.,Safety,Everyone,Active,Owner,2026-10-22,Launch, R-003,Passwords and API keys live only in the password manager.,Safety,Everyone,Active,Owner,2026-10-22,Launch, R-004,Nothing goes to a customer without a named person's OK.,Customers,Everyone,Active,Owner,2026-10-22,Launch, R-005,"AI may draft but never send, publish, pay or delete.",AI,AI only,Active,Owner,2026-10-22,Launch, R-006,Name records YYYY-MM-DD_Customer_What.ext.,Naming,Everyone,Active,Owner,2026-10-22,Launch, R-007,Finished tasks get a one-line comment saying what was done.,Customers,Everyone,Active,Owner,2026-10-22,Launch, R-008,Customer decisions get a dated line on the customer page.,Customers,Everyone,Proposed,,2026-10-22,Team meeting,
# <Customer> Page Last reviewed: YYYY-MM-DD by <name> ## Snapshot What they do, size, where, how long with us, in 3 lines. ## Contacts Name, role, email, what to go to them for. ## What we do for them Services, scope, what's out of scope, renewal date. ## Links Task list, customer folder, website, reports, shared docs. ## Brand and voice Colors, fonts, tone, words to use and avoid. ## Tech and access Platforms they use. Logins live in the password manager: vault "<Customer>". Never paste them here. ## Goals and measures What success looks like this year, and how we report it. ## Customer rules Their preferences: approval steps, quiet hours, no-gos. ## Open items What's waiting, on whom. ## Decision log YYYY-MM-DD: decision, who made it, link to the meeting. ## To check Facts the sources disagree on, until someone confirms.
I work at <Business>. Before any work for our business or our customers, read "00 Start Here / Start Here" in our shared drive and follow it, including every Active row in the Rules sheet. Read the customer's page before working on anything for them. Draft, but never send, publish, pay or delete without my OK. If you can't open the drive, tell me instead of guessing.
Date,Title,Customer,Attendees,Recorded in,Link,Decisions copied to page (Y/N)
Task comment: Done: <what changed>. Files: <link>. Next: <who, what>. Customer page, Decision log: 2026-10-22: <decision> (<who decided>, <meeting link>)
06 / Our lessons
What we learned building ours at WE•DO
We moved our agency onto one shared drive as the single source of truth for the company and every client, with a Start Here page, a Rules sheet, a Meetings sheet and one wiki page per client built from a single template. Every AI tool our team uses is pointed at the same page. These are the things we'd tell ourselves at the start.
Two copies always drift
Our first Start Here page restated the rules that also lived in the Rules sheet. Within days the two disagreed. Now the page carries only the always-on "never" list and points to the sheet for everything else.
Old versions get read as current
An AI found a retired brand guide in the drive and followed it. Retiring a document means moving it to the archive or _HOLD and leaving a pointer to the current one, not just making a newer file next to it.
Empty folders make everyone guess
We cut our top level from 12 folders to 9. Folders with nothing in them made people and AI wonder whether they'd missed something. Add a folder when there's something to put in it.
Template first, then migrate
We rebuilt every client page on one template in a single pass, with AI drafting and a person checking. The "before" copy of each page went to _HOLD, so nothing was lost if the draft got something wrong.
Instructions have to be everywhere
There's no single switch that makes every AI read your brain. Each tool and each person's account needs the instruction line. We wrote it once and pasted it into each place, then tested with the same question.
Plan for AI's real limits
An AI connector may be able to read every file but only edit the ones it created. Some moves and cleanups still need a person to drag files. Build that into the plan instead of being surprised by it.
Registers pay off fast
A meetings index and a sheet of standard task times were two of the most-used parts. Both are just spreadsheets, and both can be refreshed by a scheduled AI task every morning.
07 / Mistakes
Common mistakes and what to do instead
| Mistake | Why it hurts | Instead |
|---|---|---|
| Shopping for a new tool first | Moves the mess into a new place and adds a bill | Start with the drive and task tool you have |
| Designing the perfect folder tree | Weeks of planning, nothing filed | Use the nine folders above and adjust in month two |
| Rules written in five places | They disagree, and nobody knows which wins | One sheet; everything else links to it |
| Copying transcripts into the drive | Thousands of pages AI wades through for every answer | Index meetings; copy only decisions |
| Passwords in a doc "for now" | Every AI and teammate with drive access can read them | Password manager from day one |
| Letting AI send or publish | One wrong email to a customer costs more than the time saved | AI drafts; a named person approves |
| No owner for the map | The Start Here page goes stale in a quarter | Name one person; changes go through them |
| Deleting during cleanup | Something important disappears, and trust in cleanup goes with it | Move to _HOLD; delete monthly after a check |
08 / Checklist
Track your build
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