Original Reddit post

I see a lot of AI personal assistant products that promise things like executive support, travel coordination, scheduling, and workflow management. Some of them in theory seem impressive. However, I wonder whether people outside the profession understand what an EA actually does. I use copilot daily in my role and find it very helpful, so I’m not anti AI, but trying to understand where we’re heading (I’m sure you can tell, but I had AI write this post for me). Below is a real world example of a “travel coordination” workflow I handle for an exec. I think people simply think of “travel coordination” as booking flight and hotel, which is honestly the easiest part.

  1. Travel Requirement Identification Identify that the executive needs to travel to a specific office/location. Notify the executive and propose suitable travel options based on known preferences, schedule constraints, cost considerations, and trip objectives. Present options and obtain executive approval on preferred itinerary.
  2. Travel Booking and Calendar Management Book approved flights. Add travel itinerary to the executive’s calendar. Block appropriate travel and airport transfer time before departure and after arrival. Arrange ground transportation at both origin and destination using preferred providers. Assess arrival and departure times and adjust the executive’s schedule accordingly. Example: If arrival is late in the evening, proactively block time the following morning to allow for adequate rest and reduce fatigue.
  3. Visit Planning Confirm the purpose of the visit. Determine which stakeholders, employees, customers, or partners the executive wishes to meet during the trip. Obtain a prioritised list of desired meetings.
  4. Meeting availability Contact each requested attendee. Determine: Whether they will be in the office during the visit. Their availability. Any scheduling constraints. Assess conflicts and prioritise meetings where availability is limited. Schedule meetings based on attendee availability, executive priorities, and diary capacity.
  5. Team Engagement Planning Determine whether the executive would like to host a team event during the visit (e.g. lunch or dinner). If approved: Issue a placeholder invitation to employees in that location. Track attendance responses. Collect dietary requirements and accessibility needs.
  6. Venue Selection and Event Coordination Review attendance numbers and requirements. Identify suitable venues based on: Capacity. Location. Budget. Dietary requirements. Executive preferences. Review menus to ensure all dietary needs can be accommodated. Secure booking and pay any required deposits. Update calendar invitations with confirmed venue details.
  7. Schedule Optimisation Review the overall itinerary and meeting schedule. Insert buffer periods where appropriate to: Allow travel flexibility. Provide preparation time. Reduce fatigue. Create contingency capacity for unexpected issues. Balance meeting density against executive wellbeing and effectiveness.
  8. Change Management and Replanning If travel plans change: Example: Executive needs to return one day earlier Amend flight bookings. Amend airport transportation bookings. Review all impacted meetings. For each scheduled meeting: Assess business priority. Determine whether: The meeting should be moved earlier in the visit. The meeting can be converted to a virtual meeting. The meeting can be cancelled without significant impact. Contact affected stakeholders and negotiate revised arrangements.
  9. Team Event Reorganisation If the revised itinerary impacts planned team events: Contact the venue to determine alternative availability. Assess attendee availability on alternative dates. Evaluate attendance impact. Reschedule the event if feasible. Update invitations and attendee communications.
  10. Final Schedule Review Validate that all travel, transport, meetings, and events remain aligned. Confirm executive priorities are accommodated. Ensure sufficient recovery time, preparation time, and travel contingencies remain in place. Communicate final updates to all affected stakeholders. So tell me; Do people believe current AI systems can genuinely handle a workflow like this end-to-end? If not today, what capabilities are still missing? Is this the sort of work AI will eventually excel at, or are the constant exceptions, judgement calls, prioritisation decisions, and stakeholder management the hard part? submitted by /u/Hungry-Kale600

Originally posted by u/Hungry-Kale600 on r/ArtificialInteligence