How I use Claude to run my business
Every weekday at 8am, while I’m getting the kids to school, my business briefs me. An AI agent I built with Claude puts together my day: what’s on, the emails that need me, and my priorities, with the ones that bring in income at the top.
I’m Karen Vivarelli, an AI educator in Perth, Western Australia. I help women in business learn how to use AI, so AI does the busywork and your voice stays yours. This post shows how I use Claude in my own business, and the order I’d build it in if you want the same.
Why I built an AI dashboard for my own business
I started as a virtual assistant in 2016, then became an online business manager, then coached other VAs and OBMs. That’s 10 years of setting up tech and systems inside other people’s businesses.
The founders I work with have plenty of ideas and plenty of clients. What they’re missing is systems. Everything lives in their head, in the notes app on their phone, in a messy Google Drive, or in the dozens of tabs open in their browser.
Most of them already use AI: ChatGPT for a caption, Claude for an email, Gemini or Copilot for something else. It’s handy, but every new chat starts from zero. It doesn’t know your offers or how you like things said, and you’re still the one holding it all together.
I wanted AI to actually do the tasks, not just answer questions. So I tested how much it could take off my plate, starting with my own business.
What my AI dashboard shows me every morning
My dashboard is one page, in my brand colours, built with Claude. Each morning it shows:
- The weather in Perth, so I know if it’s a good day to film content
- My day, pulled from Google Calendar
- The emails that need a reply from me, with why and what to do. The replies are already drafted in Gmail. I check them, edit them and press send myself.
- My top priorities, pulled from Asana, with income-generating work at the top. When I tick one off, it ticks off in Asana too.
- My week at a glance, my goals for the month, and the wins I’ve had, because I’m terrible at counting my own.
There’s also a film mode. With one click it hides client names, private details and email subjects, so I can show it safely.
What is an AI team?
Behind the dashboard is a small AI team, each with its own job. Frankie is my AI COO: everything comes through her, and she hands it to the right team member. Chloe handles marketing, Sabrina handles sales, Chris looks after security and governance, Danielle builds the tech and Drew does design.
Every one of them works the same way:Ā nothing gets sent or paid without my yes.Ā They draft. I decide.
How to build an AI dashboard for your business: the order I’d follow
Most people jump straight to the shiny part, an agent or a dashboard, and that’s why AI feels like it isn’t working for them. This is the order I’d build it in:
- Start with the brain of your business.Ā If you hired someone tomorrow, could they find out how you do things without asking you? If not, that’s your first job. This is your AI second brain: how you work, what you sell and how you sound, written down in files you own.
- Connect it to the tools you already use, like your inbox and your calendar.
- Give one AI team member one job, and train it.Ā The inbox is a great place to start, because it takes so much time and leads slip through it.
- Build the view, so you can see your whole business at a glance instead of opening five different apps.
- Keep a human in charge.Ā Decide up front what AI drafts for you, and what it never touches without your yes. For example, it should never send an email or post content for you.
Frequently asked questions
Can Claude run a small business?Ā Claude can do a lot of the busywork: sorting your inbox, drafting replies, pulling your calendar and priorities into one place. It works best when it’s set up with your business information and a human makes the final decisions. In my business, Claude drafts and I approve.
What is an AI second brain for business?Ā It’s your business knowledge written down in one organised place: how you work, what you sell, who you help and how you sound. When AI can read it, it stops starting from zero and gives answers that sound like you.
Do I need to be technical to use Claude this way?Ā No. If you can explain how you do something to a new team member, you can teach it to AI. The first step is writing your business down, not code.
Is it safe to let AI read my emails?Ā Set the rules first. My AI drafts replies but never sends them, and nothing goes out, gets paid or gets posted without my yes. Decide what AI can draft and what it can never touch before you connect it.
Where should I start with AI in my business?Ā Start with the brain of your business, then give one AI team member one job. The inbox is a good first job because the time saved is easy to see.
Want help building yours?
This is what I now do for other business owners. It’s called the COO Build: your AI brain, your skills, a simple dashboard and one AI agent you train. I can build it with you, or teach you how to build it yourself. I also run AI workshops for teams.