The most important principle of working with AI
Today I want to share one of the most important principles of working with AI. I call it the 90/10 rule – it describes the ratio between work and “non-work,” and it’s what separates those who truly learn to work with AI from everyone else.
Working with AI is 90% mindset, 10% skills
The more I work with AI, the more I realise this.
It’s not about magic prompts. It’s about curiosity, experimentation, and delegating as much work to AI as possible. It’s also about trying things you’re not sure AI can handle.
Who writes a better prompt than me? AI. Who analyses data better? AI. Who connects several seemingly unrelated topics more effectively? You get the idea – the key to success lies in understanding what AI can do and embracing our role as its coordinator..
Working with AI is 90% delegation, 10% refinement
Whatever you’re preparing – a draft email, a social media post, or a website concept – AI can handle almost all of it on its own. But if you want the result to be truly good, you need to spend a moment reviewing, fine-tuning, and iterating.
Working with AI is 90% quality, 10% perfectionism
Sometimes you don’t need top. Sometimes good enough is enough.
Translating an internal document, sending a quick message to colleagues, creating a first draft of a presentation. Sometimes the most important thing is to silence your inner perfectionist and get things done.
Working with AI lets you be a generalist 90% of the time – the remaining 10% is where you need specialists
With AI, you can build the foundation for almost anything – a contract draft, the basis of an automation script, a strategy for entering a new market.
But when something is important, or when you have no expertise in a given area, you should always verify whether the output is good or not, whether that means handing it to a specialist, paying for a consultation, or investing time in further validation.
It also works the other way around
When I’m preparing a project, I personally work on the first 10% with AI. Whether it’s the structure of a presentation, the goals of a new project, or organising notes. Once I’ve done this well, I let AI handle the remaining 90% of the details. This saves me a great deal of time and the result is far, far better.
Because of this, AI works on the right things and I save the time I would have had to spend on subsequent revisions. But above all – the result is far, far better. And that’s what matters most.
Is it really 90/10?
Just like Pareto’s rule, this number is illustrative. In many cases the ratio is far more balanced – for now.
It depends on how well you collaborate with AI. If AI delivers a 70% result, some people say “it doesn’t work” and go back to doing things the old way – instead of refining their brief and their approach.
As AI tools continue to develop, however, we’re reaching a point where AI can handle a significant portion of knowledge and creative work. We humans provide the vision, direction, and feedback – and because of that, we’ll be capable of doing extraordinary things.
That’s why the key insight is this: AI’s greatest value lies in collaboration with us. And that is a tremendous opportunity for those who recognise it and learn to act on it.
FD
