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56 I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2026 Sales Process Sales is a great place to build this habit, because the work is repeatable, text-heavy, and full of hidden context. A weak prompt like "Help me respond to this RFQ" produces something polished that may promise things your plant does not actually do. A better prompt teaches first. CRIT Prompt: Sales RFQ Clarification Context: We are a PCB shop focused on high-mix, quick-turn rigid multilayer work for industrial and defense customers. Our standard quoting process requires us to flag unusual stackups, tight tolerance items, nonstandard materials, and delivery expec- tations before committing. Customer requirements override our internal templates. If information is missing, do not assume. Role: Act as an experienced PCB sales support specialist who understands plant capability bound- aries and internal handoffs. Interview: Ask me clarifying questions one at a time before drafting anything. Ask first about missing technical data, delivery expectations, special quality requirements, and anything that should be escalated to engineering or quality. Task: After the interview, create: 1) a customer- facing clarification email, 2) an internal capability- risk summary, and 3) a short handoff note to engi- neering. Clearly separate known facts, open ques- tions, and risks. This works because it teaches the plant type, escalation behavior, and document priority, and it forces clarification before drafting. In sales, AI should help with the consistency and speed of your communication, not become quote authority. Material Issue Moving to the Manufacturing Floor Material issues are where individuals feel the value of using AI, because it sharpens communication when things get messy. A shortage or hold hits, and the floor, operations, and quality all need the same picture fast. The traveler says one thing while inventory says another. AI can help, once you teach it what the floor needs and what it can and can't decide, all while keeping a human in the loop. CRIT Prompt: Material Hold/Shortage Communication Context: We have a material issue affecting release to the manufacturing floor in a PCB plant. The floor, operations, and quality all need the same picture fast. That picture covers what happened, what is affected, what is contained, what is still unknown, and who decides next. AI is not allowed to decide release, substitution, or disposition, and unknowns must stay labeled as unknowns. Role: Act as an operations support coordinator who writes clear, consistent internal plant communica- tions during material issues, keeping every audi- ence working from the same set of facts. Interview: Ask me one question at a time about the material ID and lot traceability, the impacted jobs or travelers, the current hold and containment status, what is still unknown or unverified, and who owns the next decision. Task: After the interview, draft three aligned draft communications built from one set of facts: 1) a short floor note, 2) an escalation note for operations and quality, and 3) a traceability question checklist of the open items the team still needs to confirm. Flag clearly what requires a human decision and who owns it. With this structure, AI pulls scattered information into one clear picture of what happened, what is affected, what is contained, what is still unknown, and who decides next, so everyone reads from the same page instead of three different ones. What it must not do is decide whether material can run. That call belongs to your documented owners, approval rules, and evidence. AI organizes the communica- tion. It does not make the disposition, you do. LANE 1 LANE 2