I Asked AI How It Could Help Me Navigate Office Politics And Here's What It Said
A practical guide provided by AI to strengthen influence, visibility, and connection at work.
Hi, I’m Bonnie Marcus and welcome to Own Your Ambition. As a former CEO, published author and executive coach, I write about the challenges and opportunities women face in their careers, and empower them to successfully navigate the complexities of the workplace today.
I am admittedly a novice at AI but acknowledge that within certain guardrails it is a powerful tool to enhance your performance.
With that in mind, I decided to ask AI what tools would be helpful for anyone in the workplace today who wants to improve their political savvy.
The response from AI is detailed in this newsletter. I have not personally used all these tools for these purposes but I’m excited to pass along the specifics and hope to hear from you what you use, what works, and what is not the best use of your time.
As part of my research for writing The Politics of Promotion: How High Achieving Women Get Ahead and Stay Ahead, I surveyed hundreds of women, not only about their challenges with office politics, but also their feelings about it.
The emotions about this topic were strong, mostly negative. Many women felt that office politics was ‘evil’ and for the most part, didn’t want anything to do with it.
But as I highlighted in the book, you ignore office politics at your peril. If you’re not tuned into the culture and the power structure (who really has power beyond the organizational chart), you are setting yourself up to be blindsided. And take it from me, I had my head down, worked hard, and paid little attention to the dynamics around me. That didn’t end well. I was passed over for a promotion that I rightly deserved.
Lesson learned. It’s critical for anyone interested in doing their best work and being rewarded for that work to understand that you need both political will and political skill. You need to understand the importance of engaging and how to play the game with political savvy.
Now fast forward to the age of AI. While I continue to emphasize the skills and strategies I offer in the book, I was curious how one could use AI to enhance those skills.
So I asked ChatGPT what AI tools and prompts are helpful for reading a room, building influence and trust, connecting with key stakeholders, communicating your value, and navigating difficult relationships and conversations.
The advice given is very specific to the tools and prompts for each situation.
It’s important to understand that NONE of this advice means you should forgo your judgement, natural ability to connect or listen to your gut. These tools simply offer a sounding board, a way to enhance your skills, and should never be relied on 100% for political savvy.
AI isn’t a magic wand, but used thoughtfully it’s a superpower: it helps you listen better, prepare smarter, tailor your message, and practice the conversation so you show up calm, confident, and credible.
Below is a tactical guide provided by AI with tools for specific purposes and ready-to-copy prompts
1) Read the room — what actually happened (and what people felt)
Before you react, gather reliable signals.
What to use
Meeting transcription & highlights: Otter and Grain automatically transcribe, summarize, and let you clip moments so you can review who said what and spot repeated objections, allies, or silence. Use them to check alignment and patterns rather than rely on memory.
Conversation intelligence for patterns: Platforms like Gong (and similar conversation-intelligence services) surface themes across calls (e.g., recurring objections, who tends to defer, who names competitors), which reveals structural dynamics you can act on.
Copilot in Teams / Microsoft 365: if your org uses Teams, Microsoft’s Copilot can join meetings to summarize major positions, suggested action items, and even attribute disagreements or alignments to speakers — fast context before you follow up. (Check org policy first; these tools are powerful but often gated by admin controls.)
How to use it
After a meeting, pull the transcript and run a two-minute “pattern scan”: search for repeated words/phrases (budget, timeline, risk, “we need”), note who interrupts whom, and mark any explicit commitments. Then decide: do I follow up 1:1 with an ally, or clarify publicly in an email?
Prompt example for Otter/Grain summary: “Summarize the meeting into 6 bullets: decisions, open questions, who supports each decision, any objections, and 3 suggested follow-ups I should own.”
2) Build trust and influence — intentionally and ethically
Influence is not manipulation; it’s consistent, reliable presence and relevance.
What to use
Personal CRM / relationship tools (Clay and similar): keep a living rolodex of colleagues’ contexts, career moves, and triggers so you remember what matters to them before reaching out. Clay automatically enriches contact info and surfaces timely reminders. Use it to sustain authenticity — people notice when you recall what’s important to them.
Personality & communication insight tools (Crystal, Humantic AI): these platforms provide personality-style summaries (DISC, communication preferences) you can use to tailor approach — e.g., brief bullet email vs. long context-for-change memo. Do not use personality tools to stereotype or to override direct observation; use them as one input among many and always respect privacy.
How to use it
Before asking a favor, check Clay for recent mentions (kids’ soccer, new role) and lead with that — “Saw your note about X — congrats. Quick ask…”
Use Crystal/Humantic as a prep step: “If Alex is a high-detail, data-first communicator, what two evidence points would make them support my idea?” — then deliver those two data points.
3) Connect with key stakeholders — map and move
Influence often comes down to who knows you, trusts you, and can help.
What to use
CRM + AI assistants (HubSpot Breeze / HubSpot AI, Clay): for stakeholder mapping, use CRM data to identify who has influence over decisions and who has the network reach you need; HubSpot’s AI tools can draft personalized outreach and propose meeting prep based on CRM context.
How to use it
Run a quick stakeholder map: list decision, primary approver, influencer, skeptic, and two potential allies. Use HubSpot/Clay to surface prior interactions and prepare a one-paragraph “value brief” tailored to each person.
Outreach prompt for AI: “Draft a 3-sentence meeting request to [Name]. They prefer direct, data-led communications. My objective: secure 15 minutes to explain a proposal that will save X hours/month.” Then A/B test two small variants and send the one that keeps the tone succinct.
4) Communicate your value — show impact without grandstanding
Packaging your results so they’re seen as team wins is political wisdom.
What to use
Writing & tone tools (Grammarly Business): polish the tone, clarity, and call-to-action in emails, updates, and slide copy. Grammarly’s tone detector and brand-voice features help you hit the right mix of confidence and humility.
Research & evidence (Perplexity Deep Research, ChatGPT/Claude for synthesis): when you need a crisp one-page case for resources, Perplexity’s deep-research features can compile facts fast; then use an LLM to turn that research into a concise executive summary.
How to use it
Structure your “value email” in three parts: 1) measurable result (what changed), 2) attribution to the team and your role (one sentence), 3) clear next step ask. Run it through Grammarly for tone and use an AI to shorten it to 2–3 bullets for busy leaders.
Example prompt: “Summarize these results (bullet list) in one short paragraph suitable for an executive update. Use a confident, non-defensive tone.”
5) Navigate difficult relationships and conversations — rehearse, get feedback
The single best use of AI for politics: rehearsal and debrief.
What to use
Role-play & conversation rehearsal (ChatGPT/Claude, LinkedIn Learning role-play features, specialized apps like ToughTongueAI): practice your phrasing, anticipate pushback, and get suggested responses. LinkedIn Learning and other platforms now include AI-driven role-play modules to build confidence.
Speaker coaching & in-meeting assistants (Microsoft Speaker Coach, Copilot): For presentations and town-halls, Speaker Coach gives private feedback on pace and inclusive language while Copilot summarizes meeting positions so you can rebut with facts instead of emotion.
How to use it
Role-play prompt for ChatGPT/Claude: “You are [Name], a direct but detail-focused colleague who will push back on budget. I am the project lead. Push back at least twice with common objections; then let me reply. After the role-play give me a 3-point debrief on my tone, key blindspots, and a suggested one-sentence opener that would reset the conversation.”
After the real conversation, paste the meeting transcript into Otter/Grain and ask the AI: “Highlight the three moments where the conversation shifted from productive to defensive.” Use that to refine your approach next time.
Ethics, privacy, and political safety: the guardrails
AI can’t replace integrity. A few non-negotiables:
Don’t weaponize personality tools. Use them to adapt communication, not to manipulate. Respect consent and privacy policies.
Follow your company’s policy. Many orgs require admin approval to run Copilot, ingest meeting data, or connect mailboxes — check before you plug in.
Attribution and transparency. When AI drafts something substantive (e.g., an exec summary), be ready to stand behind the facts and disclose if AI significantly shaped the content — especially in regulated fields.
Quick-start prompts & mini-playbook (copy-paste)
Pre-meeting prep: “Summarize the last 3 meetings on [project] into 5 bullets: main decisions, who pushed back, unresolved items, and 2 suggested opening lines for this next meeting.” (Run in Copilot/Otter + LLM.)
Stakeholder outreach: “Draft a 2-sentence ask to [Name]. They prefer concise, data-led messages. Include one line showing relevance to their priorities.” (HubSpot/ChatGPT) HubSpot
Rehearsal: “Role-play as [Stakeholder]. Ask tough clarifying questions and push back on budget. Then give me a 3-bullet debrief.” (ChatGPT/LinkedIn Learning/ToughTongue)
Value-notice for execs: “Write a 3-bullet executive update on X metric, one sentence linking to team impact, and one suggested next-step to request resources.” (Perplexity/Grammarly)
Final notes — use AI to amplify your judgement, not replace it
AI accelerates the political work: quicker listening, cleaner messages, safer rehearsals. But the real currency is judgment — the human ability to decide when to escalate, when to give credit, and when to sacrifice short-term wins for long-term relationships. Use these tools to surface facts, test your framing, and practice your tone — then bring empathy and integrity to every move.
Interesting, thank you!