Don't Trust AI, Prompt It

Trusting AI isn’t the goal, prompting it well is.

#011

Every trust story starts the same way: with an awkward action or reaction.
And so it is with AI — one rough, awkward prompt.

Where am I going with this?

About two weeks ago, I commented on a LinkedIn post about AI adoption.
The post stood out because it was not about hype. It was about something practical: how companies could integrate AI without creating chaos.

By chaos, I do not just mean confusion.
I mean resistance to change that slows teams down.
Inefficiency that creeps into operations when old workflows stay in place.
Wasted resources spent on tools that no one wants or knows how to use effectively.

What struck me about the post was not just the practical tips the author shared.
It was one quiet truth that stayed with me:

"Trust the process, not just the tools."

That simple reminder made me reflect on my own journey with AI, and how trust, at least for me, did not come from belief.
It came one prompt at a time.

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Building Trust (and Skill) One Prompt at a Time

When I first started using AI tools like ChatGPT, my prompts were basic.

• "Write an article on cold emails."

• "Rewrite this extract."

• "Summarize this post."

I expected magic.

Instead, I got generic drafts, misinterpretations, and sometimes even more work.

Editing AI outputs often took longer than writing from scratch.
Sometimes it felt like ChatGPT was inferring meaning that was not even there, or ignoring the heart of what I wanted.

It was frustrating.

And for a while, I started to believe maybe AI was just "overhyped."

But then something shifted.
I realised that prompting is a skill, not a command, not a shortcut, but a conversation.

The better I got at setting clear expectations, giving examples, and steering AI toward my voice, the better the outputs became.

One prompt at a time, I stopped seeing AI as disappointing and started seeing it as a collaborator that needed training, not just instructions.

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Why This Matters for Bootstrapped AI Founders (Especially on LinkedIn)

When you are a bootstrapped AI SaaS founder, your biggest challenge is not always the product.

It is building enough visibility and credibility to open doors:

• Doors to enterprise clients

• Doors to strategic partnerships

• Doors to better fundraising opportunities

The reality is, those doors often start opening long before you send a pitch.

They open when people trust your thinking, your approach, and your presence, especially on platforms like LinkedIn.

Here is where AI becomes a secret weapon, but only if you use it right.

If you treat AI like a co-creator, not a crutch, it can help you:

• Turn half-formed ideas into polished, consistent posts

• Stay visible even on days when you feel stuck or overloaded

• Refine your messaging faster without sounding robotic

• Build momentum by showing up with clarity, not just frequency

You cannot outsource your authority.
You have to train it, one prompt, one post, one connection at a time.

Just like I had to learn how to prompt better, founders have to learn how to communicate better, both to AI tools and to the market.

That is what builds visibility.
That is what builds trust.
And that is what ultimately makes enterprise sales conversations easier down the line because you are already known, respected, and understood.

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3 Ways Founders Can Build Real Trust with AI

Here is what worked for me, and what I believe can work for other founders too:

1. Start Small, but Specific

Do not try to write a manifesto or a product whitepaper at the beginning.
Start smaller: a comment, a LinkedIn caption, or a cold email opener.

Small, specific prompts build confidence faster than big, vague ones.

My first breakthrough was asking AI to help tighten a LinkedIn comment, not write it from scratch but reword it to sharpen my voice.

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2. Let It Learn You

AI mirrors what you teach it.

If you only ask for "more professional" or "summarized," it will stay generic.
But if you say:

• "Rewrite this to sound curious but still grounded."

• "Tighten this without losing my conversational tone."

You start building a relationship where AI reflects your actual style.

The more you guide it, the sharper it becomes. The better it reflects you, the faster you build trust.

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3. Build a Workflow That Fits You

Random experiments will not get you far.

Trust builds when AI becomes part of your content system, not something you only turn to when you feel stuck.

For me, the pattern looks like this:

• Engage first — leave thoughtful comments on posts that align with what I want to be known for.

• Capture insights — notice which comments or conversations spark ideas or resonate.

• Expand with AI — use ChatGPT to help sharpen those insights into clearer posts or talking points.

• Refine manually — polish the drafts myself to sound fully like me.

• Post consistently — show up even when it feels imperfect because trust grows from regularity, not perfection.

AI does not replace my thinking.
It supports me in showing up with more clarity and consistency.

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The Skill You Can’t Skip

At the end of the day, using AI tools like ChatGPT is not about chasing trends or automating away your brain.

It is about amplifying your clarity and consistency.

It is about making sure your best ideas do not stay stuck in your head because you were "too busy" or "too tired" to show up.

That is the real unlock:

• Clear prompts lead to clearer thinking.

• Clearer thinking leads to clearer content.

• Clearer content leads to deeper trust.

One prompt at a time.
One post at a time.
One opportunity at a time.

If you are serious about growing your SaaS business, especially toward enterprise, the trust you build today is the authority you will leverage tomorrow.

If building more visibility and authority on LinkedIn is something you have been thinking about, I am offering a free 30-day test run of my LinkedIn Authority Accelerator for bootstrapped AI founders.

It is about growing trust one post, one conversation, and one connection at a time — without getting overwhelmed.

If you would like to explore it, I would be happy to share more details. No pressure.