Dr. Michael Schymura

Economics of AI & Innovation
Learning by Example

A Day in the Life with Copilot

Follow me through five real workplace moments as a Global Client Director at Microsoft. See exactly how I use Copilot to transform friction into flow—with prompts you can copy and adapt.

5
Moments
15
Prompts
2+ hrs
Saved Daily
Back to Learning Hub
07:00 AM•

Scheduled Morning Email Triage

emailtriagemorninginbox

The Scene

Before my first coffee cools, I face 40+ unread emails accumulated overnight from clients, internal teams, and partners across time zones. Each requires a different tone—formal for external clients, casual for my core team. Manual drafting would consume my first productive hour.

Friction Point

Manually reading, prioritizing, and drafting responses to overnight emails takes 45+ minutes. Context from previous conversations gets lost, and important client communications risk a delayed or inconsistent response.

The Prompt

Draft a two-paragraph response for each of my unread emails received yesterday. Refer to previous email threads, Teams chats, and meeting notes for context. Use clear, professional, and engaging language avoiding the phrase: I hope you are well. For client communications (@basf.com), maintain a formal tone (e.g.,"Dear Mr. [Surname]", "Liebe Frau [Nachname], 'We appreciate your inquiry about...'), and for internal updates (Martin Schmidt, Frederik Jelden, Susana Alcalde), use a casual but respectful tone (e.g., 'Hey team, just a quick follow-up on...'). Prioritize addressing any action items, next steps, or key updates. Use this structure: 1) Greet and acknowledge, 2) Provide the response, and 3) Conclude with an offer of assistance or next steps. 4) Greeting (for client communication write "Best, Michael" or "Liebe Grüße, Michael" (if German) | for team communication "Cheers with Beers, Michael". Always answer in the language of the original mail. Avoid drafts to mail from general newsletters like e.g. LinkedIn or so. In the end, provide a summary table and give also a prioritization for me (use also emojis or icons), such that I don't forget any urgent mail replies (e.g. business impact, team communication etc.). Focus only on unread E-Mails, please.

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Value Case

Why This Matters

30-45 min/day
  • •Reduce email response drafting time by 70%
  • •Maintain consistent professional tone across all communications
  • •Never miss an urgent client request
  • •Preserve context from previous threads automatically

💡 Consistent, context-aware responses that reflect relationship history

07:45 AM•

Daily Briefing & Intelligence

briefingmorningnewscalendar

The Scene

I start each day with a comprehensive briefing—weather, news, calendar, communications, and market updates—all synthesized into one actionable view. No more switching between apps, news sites, and dashboards. My day begins with clarity, not chaos.

Friction Point

Checking weather, news, calendar, email, Teams, stock prices, and industry updates separately fragments attention and takes 30+ minutes. Important information gets missed, and the mental model of the day remains incomplete.

The Prompt

Create a well-organized and visually appealing overview to start my day as my personal assistant. Use clear section headers and spacing for readability, and a few emojis for personality. Write everything in my writing style that you have observed in our interactions so far. Cite web sources where appropriate, especially in the news, market updates and Industry and Competitor section. Here are the specific sections I need: ☀️ Weather in Ludwigshafen: Provide today's temperature in Celsius along with the forecast for the next three days. 📰 News Highlights National & Local News: Summarize any major national news in Germany and local updates for Mannheim that I should be aware of before starting my day. Draft most recent information from the web (e.g. Mannheimer Morgen for Mannheim). Microsoft and BASF News: Include relevant updates for Microsoft and BASF, with a focus on AI developments, digital transformation, and strategic partnerships for Microsoft and major business updates for BASF. 📅 Today's Calendar Daily Events: List all events on my calendar for today, with times, locations, and attendees. Follow-Up Reminders: Summarize calendar items from the previous business day to remind me who to follow up with. Week Preparation: List of any important events or deadlines for this week that require preparation. ✉️ Communication Overview Unread Emails and Teams Messages: From My Manager, Andreas Gietl: List unread emails, Teams messages, and Teams posts specifically from Andreas, emphasizing anything important. From Colleagues (Julia, Nikhil, Thomas,…): Highlight unread messages from these colleagues. General Notifications: Mention any additional messages or updates relevant to ongoing projects at BASF. Important Emails: Highlight any emails marked as important, urgent, or with upcoming due dates. Summarize the most recent emails from @basf.com Action Items: Provide a table with action items that are open for me. Include a column on priority and make a judgement, why I should prioritize it. 📈 Market Updates Microsoft (MSFT) Stock: Provide the latest stock price, recent changes, and overall market sentiment. BASF Stock: Include current stock prices and any significant financial news. 🏢 Industry and Competitor News Microsoft Products: Focus on updates for Microsoft Copilot and other innovations, excluding Azure. BASF Products and Competitors: News specifically about BASF's offerings in agricultural solutions, coatings, and core chemicals, and any relevant competitor insights. 💡 Inspiration & Fun Quote of the Day: Provide an inspiring quote to motivate my team. Joke of the Day: Include a joke of the day. On This Day in History: Highlight a notable event related to technology, innovation, or business that occurred on this day.

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Value Case

Why This Matters

25-35 min/day
  • •Consolidate 8+ information sources into one briefing
  • •Start the day informed, not scrambling
  • •Surface manager and key colleague communications immediately
  • •Stay current on market and industry dynamics

💡 Never miss a calendar conflict, manager message, or market-moving news

12:30 PM•

Midday Status & Replan

replanningmiddaystatuspriorities

The Scene

The morning rarely goes as planned. Client escalations, overrun meetings, and unexpected requests derail my original schedule. Before lunch, I need a quick status check and a realistic afternoon plan that accounts for energy dips and remaining priorities.

Friction Point

Without a midday reset, the afternoon becomes reactive. Open loops accumulate, deadlines loom, and the 'must-do' gets buried under the 'nice-to-do'. Post-lunch energy dips amplify the problem.

The Prompt

My Monster Midday Recap and Planning Copilot, give me a midday status update and help me plan the rest of the day. Summarize: 1. Completed Tasks & Meetings So Far - Include key decisions, outcomes, and action items. 2. Unread or High-Priority Communications - Highlight urgent emails and Teams messages that need attention. 3. Upcoming Meetings - Provide time, participants, duration, and location for all remaining meetings today. 4. Deadlines & Deliverables - Flag anything due today or requiring immediate action. Final Step: Suggest the top three priorities I should focus on for the remainder of the day. --- Enhancements for in-depth readings/work and style: - Context: Focus on BASF-related items and strategic sales topics. - Tone: Keep it concise and actionable. - Visual Aid: Present the schedule as a timeline or table

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Value Case

Why This Matters

15-20 min + prevented afternoon drift
  • •Recover momentum after morning disruptions
  • •Surface communications that accumulated during meetings
  • •Prevent afternoon overwhelm with realistic replanning
  • •Identify the true 'must-do' vs 'nice-to-do'

🛡️ Avoids end-of-day scramble and dropped commitments

03:00 PM•

Curated Research & Reading List

researchreadingindustrytrends

The Scene

Staying current on industry trends, AI developments, and competitor moves is essential but time-consuming. I need a curated reading list that's relevant to my specific role and projects—not a generic news feed, but a targeted intelligence briefing.

Friction Point

Manually browsing industry sites, filtering for relevance, and organizing findings into actionable insights takes hours per week. Important developments get missed, and knowledge gaps accumulate silently.

The Prompt

Help me create an up to date reading list based on industry themes and topics, that apply to my projects at work as Global Client Director from Microsoft for BASF, that would increase my knowledge in these areas. Browse authoritative websites in this field and identify articles, videos, podcasts published in the last week that covers emerging trends, major product launches, or significant breakthroughs. Look up the title, URL, author, publication date for each and generate themes of my work it applies to and a rationale for each. Create a spreadsheet that compiles a list of the top results. Include columns for the themes of my work it applies to, title, URL, author, publication date, and the rationale for each. Use conditional formatting to highlight the most recent and most impactful pieces.

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Value Case

Why This Matters

2-3 hours/week
  • •Stay current without endless browsing
  • •Surface role-relevant content, not generic news
  • •Build knowledge assets systematically
  • •Identify competitive and market signals early

💡 Deeper industry knowledge, more informed client conversations

Friday 04:00 PM•

Weekly Preparation & Planning

planningweeklypreparationcalendar

The Scene

Friday afternoon is my strategic moment to prepare for the week ahead. I review the coming calendar, identify preparation needs, surface risks, and set up delegation before the weekend. Monday becomes a sprint, not a scramble.

Friction Point

Without proactive preparation, Monday starts with frantic context-gathering, last-minute document searches, and reactive scheduling. Strategic opportunities get missed, and the week becomes a series of catch-up exercises.

The Prompt

Title: BASF Week Preparation — GCD (Schymura) Instructions: Calendar synthesis: List my meetings from Monday–Sunday CET, grouped (a) BASF external, (b) Microsoft internal for BASF. Flag conflicts and RSVP gaps. Meeting briefs: For each BASF‑touching meeting, provide: purpose, strategic leverage (revenue, relationship, capability building), 2–3 asks on me, and concrete pre‑reads (files/emails/chats) with links. Action plan: Translate into a checklist with deadlines, owners (me or delegate), and dependencies (legal, product, engineering, marketing). Prioritization: Score each item by Urgency (date‑driven) and Impact (customer value, revenue, risk mitigation). Place into a 2×2 matrix and recommend the execution order. Risks & decisions: Surface the top 3 risks; state the one decision I must make today; propose mitigations. Communications: Provide three micro‑scripts (Teams message length) I can send to (i) BASF counterpart to request materials, (ii) my ATU/STU to delegate prep, (iii) leadership to escalate if needed. Outcome framing: Define success criteria per meeting (e.g., "CWAA sign‑off path confirmed," "use‑case shortlist agreed," "next workshop date locked"). Tone & style: Use Schymura Academic Style—structured, reflective, precise; add one emoji per section maximum for clarity. Artifacts: Generate a one‑page Markdown brief and a lightweight visual (matrix or timeline)

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Value Case

Why This Matters

45-60 min/week + strategic quality gains
  • •Transform Monday from reactive to proactive
  • •Surface preparation needs before they become urgent
  • •Enable effective delegation with clear context
  • •Identify strategic risks while there's time to mitigate

💡 Better-prepared meetings, clearer delegation, reduced Sunday anxiety

1. Choose a Scenario

Context

From: Sarah Chen (VP of Operations)
Subject: RE: Project Atlas - Status Update Needed ASAP

Hi,

The board meeting is tomorrow morning and I need a status update on Project Atlas. Last I heard there were some delays. Can you give me a quick summary of where we are and any concerns?

Thanks,
Sarah

2. Adjust Parameters

Role

Tone

Length

3. Copy Your Prompt

Adapted Prompt

Draft a response to Sarah about Project Atlas status. The project is 2 weeks behind due to a vendor delay, but we have a mitigation plan. Use formal, professional language appropriate for business communication. Keep the response moderate (2-3 short paragraphs).

Active modifiers:Tone: professionalLength: standard

4. Sample Response

Sample Output

Simulation Only: This is a pre-written example output, not a live AI response. Real outputs vary based on your context and the AI model used.

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for reaching out. Here's the current status on Project Atlas:

**Current State**: We're approximately 2 weeks behind the original timeline.

**Root Cause**: Our primary vendor experienced supply chain disruptions that delayed a critical component delivery.

**Mitigation Plan**: 
- We've engaged a secondary vendor who can deliver within 10 days
- The team is parallelizing work streams where possible
- We're maintaining weekly check-ins with both vendors

**Projected Impact**: With the mitigation in place, we expect to recover 1 week and deliver with a 1-week delay to the original date.

I'm available to join the board meeting if helpful, or can provide additional details beforehand.

Best regards

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That's One Day in My Working Life

Copy these prompts into your own workflow and experience the difference. Start small with one moment, then expand from there.

  • ✓ All prompts tested in real enterprise scenarios
  • ✓ Variants for different communication styles
  • ✓ Works with Microsoft 365 Copilot & ChatGPT
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