A Beginner’s Guide to Prompt Engineering: Getting Smarter Answers from AI

Prompts are like conversation starters. A clear, thoughtful one opens the door to better ideas, smarter decisions, and more creativity. A vague one? Not so much.

The good news: writing great prompts (ie – prompt engineering) is a skill anyone can learn. And with the new AI tools available in 2025, you don’t need to be “techy” to get great results. Let’s break it down together.

Why Better Prompts Lead to Better Answers

Think of AI like a super-smart teammate. If you say, “Help me with this,” you’ll probably get a general, so-so answer. But if you say:

“Pretend you’re a career coach. Help me rewrite my LinkedIn summary so it sounds confident but approachable, and keep it under 200 words.”

Now you’re cooking! You’ve given it a role, some direction, and guardrails. That’s how you unlock the real problem-solving magic.

Key takeaways:

• Be specific about what you want.
• Add examples or scenarios so the AI “gets it.”
• Ask for the format you’d like (bullets, summary, step-by-step).
• Don’t be afraid to say what you don’t want included.

Simple Tricks for Writing Prompts That Work

Here are the prompt “cheat codes” that make AI way more helpful:

1. Set the scene. Tell the AI who it should act as (teacher, coach, analyst, etc.).
2. Break big problems into steps. Instead of “Plan my marketing strategy,” try “Step 1: Identify my top 3 customer groups. Step 2: Suggest messaging for each.”
3. Show examples. Give a sample of what you like — or what you don’t.
4. Use guardrails. Add limits like “Explain in 5 bullet points” or “Keep it under 150 words.”
5. Encourage honesty. You can even say, “If you’re not sure, tell me.” That builds trust. AI is notoriously complementary, so if you want honesty and transparency, you have to tell it.

How AI Can Boost Team Problem-Solving

AI isn’t just about speed — it’s about perspective.

• It can scan through lots of info and surface patterns humans might miss.
• It can play different roles in brainstorming (the dreamer, the skeptic, the customer).
• It gives quieter team members a way to “speak up” by feeding their ideas into the AI and sharing them in the group.

Teams that use structured prompts see more creative ideas, better collaboration, and less time wasted chasing the wrong path.

Real Examples of Teams Using AI to Get More Perspective and Better Outcomes

Here are what others are doing — so you can see how these ideas play out in real life.

1. Scanning Lots of Info & Finding Hidden Patterns

Case: McKinsey’s internal chatbot “Lilli”

• McKinsey built an AI tool called Lilli that pulls from 100+ years of internal knowledge (documents, interviews, reports). When consultants need to research something, they ask Lilli, which surfaces the most relevant content and points them to experts. Business Insider
• This saves people from manually digging through piles of files. The model spots connections and relevant bits they’d likely miss.

Case: Secoda’s data teams

• Data teams in companies now use AI to automate documentation, set up database transformation (dbt) workflows much faster, and just reduce friction in “getting ready” work. One group reported their dbt setup speed improved by a factor of ~6. secoda.co

2. Playing Different Roles in Brainstorming (Dreamer, Skeptic, Customer)

Case: CarGurus “AI Forward” working group

• This is a cross-functional team (product, engineering, legal, sales) set up at CarGurus to explore AI experimentation. They run workshops and jam sessions. Different people bring different lenses, and the AI helps them shift perspective. Sometimes AI is used to role-play (e.g. “Act as a skeptical customer” or “What if the competitor does X?”) in those sessions. Business Insider

Case: BCG’s custom GPTs & tools

• At BCG, employees built thousands of internal GPTs. Some are meant to help with “review-this” style feedback: a junior consultant might use a tool that gives feedback as though from a senior leader, or critique from a different standpoint. That forces thinking beyond just “what I want” into “what others might see.” Business Insider

3. Helping Quieter Team Members “Speak Up”

Case: Prompt libraries and shared tools

• Shared prompt libraries (for example, via platforms like Prompts.ai) give everyone access to tested prompts. If someone who’s less experienced or quieter doesn’t know how to phrase things, they pull from the library. That levels the playing field. Prompts.ai+1

Case: Structured AI-enabled meeting tools (Microsoft Teams + Copilot)

• Microsoft Teams + Copilot automates meeting summaries, documents action items, and cleans up agendas. That means if someone missed part of the conversation, or didn’t want to interrupt, they still get to see what was discussed, what decisions were made. Helps those who didn’t speak much stay aligned. Microsoft

4. Structured Prompts → More Creativity, Less Time Wasted

Case: “PromptOps” and prompt-feedback loops

• Companies are using frameworks where prompts are versioned, tested, and shared. For example, Harvard Business Review has written about a structured prompt-query alignment model (PQAM) with a prompt library + customization + feedback loop. Organizations investing this way report better quality, more relevant outputs. Harvard Business Review

Case: Prompt collaboration platforms

• On platforms like Prompts.ai, teams can co-edit prompts, see analytics (which prompts worked better, which cost more, which gave better responses), share among departments. That means less duplication, fewer vague prompts, and more consistent, useful AI-assisted work. Prompts.ai

Keeping Your Prompt Engineering Fresh and Effective

Prompts aren’t one-and-done. The best results come when you:

• Test and tweak. Try different wording and see what works best.
• Get feedback. Ask teammates, “Did this help?”
• Save your winners. Keep a little “prompt library” so you don’t start from scratch every time.
• Stay flexible. AI tools change fast — what worked in 2023 might not work as well in 2025.

Small Shifts, Big Results

The truth is, better prompts = better problem-solving. It’s that simple.

When you give AI the clarity it needs, you get more useful answers, your team collaborates more smoothly, and you save hours of frustration.

Start small: pick one upcoming project and write three clear, specific prompts for it. See how much faster (and more fun) the process feels. You can try your hand using some of the free prompts on our ChatGPT prompting page.

Remember, you don’t need to be perfect — just a little more intentional. The power of prompts isn’t about being technical. It’s about being clear, curious, and human.