HUMAN FIRST
Build a grant process your team can trust when AI is in the room.
ChatGPT and Claude can help a good team move faster. They can also make missing strategy, weak evidence, and unresolved decisions sound finished. This CEO playbook gives your team a practical Human First standard for using AI without losing responsibility for the people, money, and promises involved.
The playbook is available at no cost to invited leaders. Mike’s deeper implementation process remains protected.
This is for the leader who has to stand behind the application.
You may have a major opportunity approaching. Your team may already be using AI. The drafts may sound polished while the facts, budget, evidence, and commitments are still moving.
This work is designed for leaders who want a faster process and a trustworthy one.
Common situations:
- Historical grants contain old or conflicting information.
- Program and finance teams are working from different assumptions.
- AI-generated language could belong to any organization.
- Nobody can trace a statistic back to its source.
- The team is unclear about who approves the final claims and commitments.
- A high-value opportunity has exposed weaknesses in the current process.
Start with the operating frame.
The playbook gives your team a shared standard and a practical starting point. It includes the five Human First principles, a grant workroom, context and research practices, a standing grant-search radar, compliance controls, review lanes, prompts, and reusable working pages.
How ready is your grant process for AI?
The strongest prompt cannot repair a missing strategy, a stale fact sheet, an unapproved budget, or unclear ownership. Take the short assessment to see where your process is strong and where the next application may be exposed.
Ten questions. About five minutes. You will receive a score, the gaps to address first, and a recommended next step.
The send button opens an email with your score and answers addressed to Mike. Nothing is sent until you press send in your own mail app.
What this process is built to catch
The Human First standard exists because polished drafts can hide real exposure. In practice, disciplined review surfaces things like a statistic no one can trace to a source, a budget that disagrees with the work plan, a partnership described as committed before the partner agreed, boilerplate that describes a program the organization retired two years ago, and requirements buried in an FAQ that never made it into the draft.
Anonymized examples from real engagements will be added here as they are approved for sharing. Nothing on this page will ever be an invented result.
Bring Mike into the room.
The playbook helps your team see the full process. A Human First Grant Readiness Review applies that standard to your organization, your people, and the funding work in front of you.
Mike will help you identify the highest-risk gaps, clarify what leadership must decide, and build a practical next-step plan.
Ways to work with Mike
Human First Grant Writing with AI
- Protected access to the CEO playbook
- Human First readiness assessment
- Readiness score and next-step guidance
- Selected updates and practical resources
No cost
Human First Grant Readiness Review
Find the gaps before the next deadline finds them for you.
This is a working session for CEOs and senior leaders who want to use AI in grant development with stronger strategy, evidence, ownership, and control.
Before the session, you will complete the Human First readiness assessment and share basic information about one current opportunity or grant workflow. Mike will review the material, meet with you for 75 minutes, and provide a concise action brief identifying the issues to address first.
You will leave with:
- A clear readiness assessment
- The most important gaps ranked by risk and value
- Decisions that require executive ownership
- Practical actions for the next 30 days
- A recommendation for internal implementation or further support
Investment: $495
The readiness review is strategic and operational guidance. It does not include writing or submitting a complete grant application, legal advice, or a guarantee of funding.
For teams that want to go further after the review, Mike also leads a facilitated Grant Workroom Build, a Live Grant Sprint on one active opportunity, and ongoing strategy advising. Scope and pricing for those are discussed after the readiness review.
The playbook
Mike Baker. Shareable CEO Edition, August 2026. Access is by invitation: Mike adds your email, then you sign in below to read the full playbook. No cost. Access includes Mike’s letter, Just an Ordinary Tuesday.