Prepared byIncredible
AI Discovery · Chamber Pilot

Out of inboxes and heads, into one brain

You landed on it yourself on the call: build your own AI brain - one place that holds the context so it is not stuck in people's heads and inboxes. Ask it a client's tone of voice, an update, a draft brief. This guide lays out the brain, the jobs it unlocks, and the order we would tackle them. A working draft, ranked together - some clients even name the brain after a team member.

All the context, one brain Team-wide access & fluency The jobs done for you
The shape of it

A brain, then the team, then the jobs

What you described stacks into three layers: build the brain that holds the context, get the whole team onto it and fluent, then run the repeatable jobs off it. Delivery follows pain and impact, not strictly this order - the brain is the foundation everything hangs on, and the brief is the fastest win sitting right on top of it.

The brain

The foundation

One place holding the transcriptions, reports, meeting minutes, client history and tone of voice - connected over MCP so it reads context widely, not dependent on perfect folder names. Survives people going on leave or leaving.

Foundation

Team-wide access & fluency

The enabler

Everyone on Claude and Gemini over the company data, ChatGPT retired, and the team trained - you lead, we and outside experts back you. Built model-agnostic, so you are never locked to one provider.

Enabler

The jobs, done for you

The quick wins

Ask the brain anything - a client update, the tone of voice, a draft brief off the call transcription automatically. And a custom tool to get time tracking and project management off the spreadsheets.

Quick wins

A working document. We rank and reshape these together, not a fixed plan.

What we would tackle

Priorities, in order

Ranked by impact against effort, from what we heard on the call. Tap to expand. Nothing locked - we ranked these together, and we reshape them as phase one sharpens the picture.

1

The brain

All the context in one place - ask it anything
Highest impactCore build

The pain

  • Context lives in people's inboxes and heads - on leave or after they leave, it is gone.
  • Handing a client to a new account manager means draining the old one's brain.
  • Hunting across folders, inboxes and spreadsheets for tone of voice, history and context.

What we would build

  • One brain holding the transcriptions, reports, minutes, client history and tone of voice.
  • Connected over MCP - reads context widely, not dependent on perfect folder names.
  • Ask it anything: a client update, the tone of voice, a first-draft brief. Built model-agnostic.
"With an AI brain we are gonna be able to ask what's the tone of voice for this client, pump out a brief... give me an update on where this client's at, and hand that over to a new account manager."Nick, on the brain
2

The brief, written for you

Off the call transcription, automatically
~20 a weekQuick to build

The pain

  • Around 20 briefs a week, each taking roughly an hour to write up after the client call.
  • Nothing in the brief was not already said on the call - it is re-keying.
  • Even uploading files by hand feels clunky, and trips people up.

What we would build

  • The brief drafts itself off the call transcription - no uploading, no typing.
  • Lands in your format for the videographer and content team; a human just checks it.
  • The first repeatable pattern off the brain that you can teach the team.
"Let's say we write 20 briefs a week and they take an hour - we can save 20 hours by bringing that back to 15 minutes per brief."Nick, on the briefs
3

Off the spreadsheets

A custom tool that actually fits retainers
Systems hold you backA proper build

The pain

  • Time tracking and project management run on spreadsheets.
  • You are ~80% retainers, and agency software is built for projects - nothing off the shelf fits.
  • A rough version exists, but no clear path from "looks good" to "actually used and good".

What we would build

  • A custom, retainer-fit tool for time tracking and project management - tailored, not borrowed.
  • Connected to the brain so it is not another silo.
  • Replaces the spreadsheets without bolting on yet another system to maintain.
"We pretty much run on spreadsheets... and we think that we can build our own custom solution."Nick, on systems
4

Training & enablement

Turn your fluency into the company's
Knowledge concentratedPhase two

The pain

  • You are self-taught and a bit obsessed; the team is not there yet.
  • Real examples from your own work land better than generic courses.

What we would build

  • Phase two includes training you and the team to keep going beyond the build.
  • Playbooks from your own jobs; internal champions so it sticks.
  • Then it is your call - self-serve, or keep us on retainer.
"Part of that would be training you and your team to then keep going beyond it."Matt, on phase two
+

On the radar, not yet

AI-assisted outbound / lead-gen
Parked

Why parked

  • Likeable Lab has never done outbound - every client since 2016 has come inbound.
  • You mentioned maybe changing that "a little bit" as you scale, but it is not this engagement's focus.

If it comes up later

  • The brain could support target research and first-touch drafting once the internal side is bedded in.
  • A separate conversation - flagged so it is not lost.
How we prioritise

Pain against ease of build

Top-right goes first. The brief is the fastest win and runs straight off the brain; the brain itself is the high-impact foundation everything hangs on. The custom tool is a bigger, proper build, and training rides through phase two. Outbound stays parked.

Pain / impact →
1The brain
2The brief
3Off spreadsheets
4Training
Ease of build →
The brain Workflow (briefs) Custom build Enablement
Who connects to whom

The team, and how the know-how flows

Today the context sits in people's heads and inboxes - so a handover means draining someone's brain, and a holiday means the answer waits. The brain makes itself the first stop. Toggle to see the shift. Names below are provisional - we have not confirmed the full team yet.

Asks / waits for an answer Holds know-how to capture

From client brief to delivery - and where the brain plugs in

01

Client brief call

Account manager

Client briefs a shoot or campaign on a call.

02

Brief written up

The brain

Where it plugs in: the transcription drafts the brief in your format, automatically.

03

Produced

Videographer / content

Video and content created from the brief.

04

Review

Account manager

Checked against the brief and the client.

05

Delivered

Account manager

Published or handed to the client.

The people

Nick McDonald

Founder / owner

The AI driver right now - self-taught, sets everything up, hands jobs out. The aim is to move you from the centre to the escalation point.Feeds the brain

Head of creative

Creative lead · name TBC

Strong on creative AI already - out of scope for help, but a key knowledge-holder to feed the brain.Feeds the brain

Head of strategy

Strategy lead · name TBC

Sets up strategy projects and ran into the upload-vs-connect clunkiness first-hand. A knowledge-holder and an early adopter to feed the brain.Feeds the brain

Account managers

Client-facing

Run client calls and write the briefs. They hold the client context - the brain captures it so a handover or holiday stops being a problem.Feeds the brain

Content team

Production

Create the content off the brief - benefit from clearer, faster, consistent briefs.Asks the brain

Videographers

Production

Shoot to the brief - same benefit: it arrives complete and in a known shape.Asks the brain

"Tom"

Role TBC - please confirm

You mentioned sending jobs to Tom while experimenting - we have not pinned down the role or spelling yet.To confirm

Where the work and data live

The systems, and how they fit

You are Google-based end to end, so Workspace is the home the brain plugs into. Here is the full tool list from the call, with a call on each one - keep, connect, replace or leave alone. You flagged there are likely another four or five we have not mapped yet; phase one captures those.

The integration prize

Connecting the brain over MCP across Workspace - reading context widely from Gmail, Drive, Fireflies transcripts and the tools that expose it, without depending on perfect folder names, while respecting each person's access level. Get that right and the team self-serves safely. This is the lever the whole build turns on.

Core · Home

Google Workspace

Gmail, Drive and Gemini - the whole team is on it. The data the brain reaches into.

Connect · the hub the brain reads over MCP
AI · Lead model

Claude

Your pick - "the Mac daddy at the moment". Hosts the brain and the projects.

Lead model, connected over MCP
AI · Native + fallback

Gemini

Already in everyone's Workspace - the first to switch on, and your fallback if you ever move off Claude.

Switch on first · model-agnostic build
Capture

Fireflies

Transcribes your client calls - it is what built this guide. The raw material for the briefs and the brain.

Connect · feeds the brain automatically
Accounting

Xero

Your accounting system. You noted everyone has the same level of access here.

Keep · connect for finance context, access respected
Reporting

Agency Analytics

Client reporting today - but expensive, and you would love to get off it.

Replace · automate reporting off the brain
Client approvals

Gain

Your approvals tool - and the one piece of software you actually like.

Keep · integrate rather than rebuild, unless we can clearly beat it
Project management

Trello

Where some project management lives, alongside the spreadsheets.

Consolidate · fold into the custom retainer-fit tool
Manual / legacy

Spreadsheets

Time tracking and project management today - because no agency software fits an 80%-retainer model.

Replace · the custom tool that finally fits retainers
Design / production

Adobe & design suite

The creative production stack.

Leave alone · creative space, you have it handled
Legacy AI

ChatGPT

Current subscriptions across the team.

Retire · once Claude + Gemini land
Still to map

Another four or five

You flagged there are more tools we have not listed yet.

Surface in phase one · the full picture
What we still need to know

Open questions

A few answers sharpen the roadmap. The call settled several already (Claude + Gemini, the MCP approach, the two phases) - these are what phase one works through together.

The brain & access

?
What goes into the brain first - which clients, and which record types (transcriptions, reports, minutes)?so we scope the first build rather than boiling the ocean
?
Confirm the Claude tier and admin controls for connecting over MCP, and the access levels per person.affects cost, the connection method and who-can-see-what
?
Who are the test users for the security check before the whole team goes on?to sign off the "can people see what they should not" risk

The tools

?
Xero, Gain and Trello - which do we connect to the brain, and which fold into the custom tool?to settle keep versus connect versus rebuild for each
?
Agency Analytics - what does good automated reporting look like, so we can get you off it?you want away from it, and reporting is strong low-hanging fruit
?
What are the other four or five tools we have not mapped yet?phase one surfaces the full picture, including the spreadsheets behind the scenes

Scope, budget & timing

?
Within the roughly $30k phase-two budget, what is the must-have versus the nice-to-have?so phase two lands the highest-value pieces first
?
Lock the late-July start once the senior team is back from leave?you flagged crunch time with two SLT and another senior leader away
?
Your biggest clients are in finance - any confidentiality limits on what can go through AI?shapes what the brain may hold and reach
What we are banking on

Working assumptions

These shape the estimates; the first is the big lever. Several are still to confirm - flagged as such rather than asserted.

The key unknown: how the brain connects

The build rests on connecting over MCP across Workspace - reading context widely rather than chasing perfect folders, while respecting who-can-see-what. We confirm the right Claude connectors and Workspace permissions before going wide. Fallback if a connector is missing: connect the sources we can and widen as access allows.

Access permissions are correct, and the brain respects per-person levels

You report the Drive tidy-up as just finished - to be verified by the test users before whole-team access.

Must verify

Claude + Gemini are the chosen tools

Decided on the call; ChatGPT retired once they land.

High confidence

Fireflies is the transcription source

Confirmed - it built this guide and feeds the briefs and the brain.

High confidence

Built model-agnostic

Our default - you will not be locked to Claude if you move to Gemini or another platform later.

High confidence

The whole team is on Google Workspace

Gmail, Drive and Gemini across the company - stated on the call.

High confidence

Creative AI is handled in-house and out of scope

You and the head of creative have it covered - we do not touch it, nor the Adobe stack.

High confidence

Roughly a $30k phase-two budget

Your figure on the call (government-funded pilot portion) - to confirm the exact number and what it covers.

To confirm

Late-July start

Assumed, pending the senior team (two SLT + one) back from leave - you would rather not start mid-crunch.

To confirm

Finance-client data carries confidentiality limits

Likely, given the client base - to confirm what may and may not go through AI.

To confirm

No current outbound motion

Every client has come inbound since 2016 - stated; AI-BD stays parked unless you pull it in.

High confidence

Next steps

  • Phase one: we sit down with you and a couple more of the team, map every pain point and its impact, and rank what phase two tackles. This is your walk-away gate - if it is not clicking, no obligation.
  • Phase two: we implement as much as the ~$30k government-funded budget allows, and train you and the team to keep going. Your shortlist from today: build the brain and connect it, get Claude + Gemini working with light training, and solve the briefs.
  • Timing: aim to kick off late July, once the senior team is back from leave.
  • We are sending this guide straight after the call - it becomes the central place the work lives.
  • Team homework: each time you think "the brain should have known that", jot it down - those become what we feed it first.