How AI Took Over Our Day-to-Day Operations
I don't know if this is true outside my little world, but it seems like every conversation these days eventually gets around to AI. And I'm usually one of the people bringing it up. 😊
I don't profess to be an expert. I started the way a lot of us did, asking ChatGPT to help me with an email, a letter or an article. Then I started wondering what else it could do for our shlichus. Could it take on the work we were doing over and over again just to keep our Chabad House running?
I wrote separately about what I think is happening on a spiritual level and why it matters that this transformation is taking place now, on the heels of Moshiach. I think that context is important. Here I want to get into the practical side and show you what we actually did at Chabad Intown.
For 11 years, we had a full-time operations director. That position cost us $110,000 a year. Today, we have a person in a $20,000-a-year role as our AI Supervisor, overseeing a system that handles much of the recurring operations work. To understand how we got there, it helps to see what went into the job in the first place.
What Our Operations Director Had to Keep Track Of
Our operations director's responsibilities included the following.
Scheduling security.
Scheduling the cleaning crews for our preschool and Chabad House.
Scheduling the crews that set up all our events.
Purchasing the supplies we use regularly and the special supplies we need for particular programs.
Ordering linens.
Handling maintenance requests as they came in.
Keeping up with annual maintenance and inspections, including fire extinguisher checks, sprinkler system checks and health department inspections.
And plenty more that would come up in the course of a week.
All of that meant coordinating with our preschool for its regular schedule and special events, with YJP, adult education, Hebrew school and youth programs, and with the staff who run our community events, including our event coordinator.
Think about what goes into one Shabbos dinner. Somebody has to know how many people are coming, which room we're using, how many tables to set up, how many linens to order, when the room needs to be cleaned and when security should arrive. Then do that for a month's worth of programs, with different people running each one. It really was a full-time job.
What We Built
One Master Spreadsheet
I started with a spreadsheet. Each program leader has their own tab and keeps their ongoing schedule up to date, including what they need for setup. Every event has a start and end time, an expected head count, the number of security officers needed and a link to the folder with the room diagrams.
Once the information is there, we can give the system rules to apply across all our programs. Security is scheduled to arrive 30 minutes before an event and stay 30 minutes after it ends. The sheet calculates how many linens we need from the event setup and carries that number into the linen order.
How We Get Ready for the Next Month
One of the biggest changes was giving the whole process a calendar of its own. Here's how it works each month.
On the 18th, the system automatically sends the list of upcoming events to all program leaders and our event coordinator for review.
Through the end of the 20th, program leaders can edit their events and confirm the details. As part of the review, the system looks at past events and fills in suggestions for room setups, security and other needs.
On the 21st, the system prepares the schedule for the security company, the order list for the linen company and the schedules for the cleaning and setup crews. It also updates the inventory.
On the 22nd, our AI Supervisor reviews the schedules and orders and gives final approval.
By the 23rd, everything goes out.
If we're running a dinner similar to one we've held before, the system can use that earlier event to suggest a setup. The person running the dinner can look at the suggestion and adjust it for this month's crowd. By the time our AI Supervisor sits down on the 22nd, the schedules and orders are ready to review, and our supervisor can focus on the details that need attention.
How We Know What to Reorder
Our master inventory lives in the same system. Each category has a person responsible for it. Each item has a product link, a quantity on hand and a par level, which is the quantity we want to keep in stock.
Our cleaning lead works from a simple checklist each week. She counts what we have and enters the numbers. The sheet subtracts what's on hand from the par level to figure out how much to reorder. If we want to keep 12 of something in stock and we have five, the sheet puts seven on the reorder list.
When our AI Supervisor gives the green light, the system uses the product links and quantities to build the cart. Our supervisor gives final approval before any order is placed. Our cleaning lead checks what's actually on the shelf, and the system handles the arithmetic and puts the cart together.
Then There's Parking
Our parking lot is a source of income for Chabad Intown. We run paid parking and rent out individual spaces. The lot is monitored automatically, and a car that isn't authorized can get ticketed.
That works fine until the person getting the ticket is someone you invited to Shabbos dinner. Or to a class. Or to their child's preschool event. Try explaining that one after you've just welcomed them to Chabad.
We gave parking its own calendar, and the only thing on it is when to suspend monitoring. Every event on the master calendar automatically creates a window that starts an hour before the event and ends an hour after it. Monitoring is turned off for that window and resumes afterward. We can keep earning income from the lot, and our guests can come to a program without getting a ticket.
That's what the shift from a $110,000 operations director to a $20,000 AI Supervisor looks like in practice. We still need a person who understands how our Chabad House works, can spot when something looks off and knows who to call when there's an exception. That person now has schedules, lists and orders ready to review.
A Few Suggestions if You Want to Try This
Play around with different AI tools. Give a few of them the same real task and see what each one comes back with. I've learned more about what they can do by giving them work from my own desk than by hearing what they're supposed to be able to do.
Look at your work a little differently. The next time you find yourself putting together a schedule or sending the same request to five people, ask yourself what information you started with, what decisions you made and what you needed at the end. Once you can describe those steps, you can see which ones could happen automatically.
Test, test, test. Take an event you've already run and give the system the information you had at the time. Does it come up with the right security hours? Does the linen order make sense? You can ask AI to help revise the instructions or formulas, then run the process again and check what changed.
Start with the work that repeats. For us it was schedules, security, linens and lists. Look for the job that takes the same few hours every month. You probably know that job well enough to catch a mistake, and you'll get to use what you build again next month.
Give everyone one place to put the information. If the event time is in somebody's email, the head count is in a text and the setup is on another spreadsheet, someone still has to chase down all three. We have one master calendar and one master inventory. Everyone knows where to make a change.
Write down what you'd tell a new employee. Security arrives 30 minutes early. Parking monitoring goes off an hour before the event. One person owns each inventory category. These sound like little things, but they're the details you've been carrying around in your head. Writing them down is a big part of building the system.
Put a person in charge of reviewing the work. In our case, our AI Supervisor reviews and approves every schedule and order before it goes out. The routine schedules are already built, so our supervisor can spend time on the events that need a phone call or a judgment call.
When you find a mistake, go back to the rule. If a linen order comes out wrong, of course we fix the order. Then we look at what produced it. Was the setup missing a table? Did we forget to account for a buffet? Fix that at the source and check that the next order gets it right.
Put the reminders and deadlines on the calendar. The review goes out on the 18th, changes are due on the 20th and the schedules are ready on the 21st. I used to think of the work as making the schedule. There's also the work of remembering to start it, asking everyone for their information and following up. Giving those steps a date is part of what makes the whole thing run.
There are still plenty of moving pieces at our Chabad House. But on the 18th, I can be teaching a class or sitting with someone who came in to talk, and the review goes out on its own. On the 22nd, our AI Supervisor goes through the schedules and orders and gives final approval. I can give my attention to the person in front of me.