Use AI to Prepare for a Meeting That Needs a Decision

September 14, 2026 · By Michel Valenzuela, Founder of Daryl

You arrive at the meeting with notes, a presentation, and a clear understanding of the project.

Halfway through, it becomes apparent that everyone came to discuss a different question.

One person wants to approve the budget. Another wants to reconsider the scope. Someone else believes the meeting is an opportunity to explore ideas.

The discussion may be productive, but the decision you needed remains unresolved.

Preparation should establish what people are being asked to decide and what they need to understand before making that choice.

An AI conversation can help you work through that preparation.

Name the decision before building the agenda

“Discuss the launch” is a subject.

“Agree on the scope of the first release” is a decision.

That distinction gives the meeting a practical purpose. It helps determine which information belongs in the discussion and who needs to participate.

Before preparing slides, try completing this sentence:

“By the end of this meeting, we need to decide…”

If the sentence contains several unrelated decisions, consider whether they belong together.

Some choices depend on others. Agreeing on scope may need to happen before approving the delivery schedule. Making that relationship explicit helps you organise the discussion.

Identify who can make the choice

A meeting can reach agreement without having the authority to commit.

Perhaps the budget owner is absent. Perhaps a technical dependency needs confirmation from someone outside the group. Perhaps the people attending can recommend a direction but cannot approve it.

Clarify that before the meeting.

You might ask an assistant:

“This is the decision we need to make. Help me identify which responsibilities need to be represented and what approval may be required afterward.”

Use the response to check your preparation. The assistant will not know your organisation’s actual authority unless you explain it.

The useful outcome is knowing what the meeting can realistically accomplish.

Bring the information that could change the decision

You may have a great deal of background material. The group needs the parts that affect the choice.

For a release-scope discussion, that could include the core user need, current readiness, unresolved dependencies, and consequences of adding or removing features.

Ask:

“Which facts are necessary to compare these options? Which details are background that can be provided separately?”

This can help you reduce a presentation without losing its substance.

Keep important uncertainty visible. If an estimate has not been confirmed, label it accordingly. A polished slide should not make a provisional figure look settled.

Present workable options

A recommendation is easier to assess when people can see the alternatives.

Suppose you favour a smaller initial release. Explain what that achieves, what it leaves for later, and how it compares with delaying to include more.

A concise comparison might cover:

The details should come from your actual situation.

AI can help organise the comparison. You need to verify that every option is feasible and represented fairly.

Prepare for reasonable disagreement

People may challenge your recommendation because they are responsible for different outcomes.

A sales lead may worry about the offer. An engineer may focus on reliability. A project manager may see a dependency you overlooked.

Prepare to understand those concerns.

Ask:

“What reasonable objections might someone raise about this proposal? Identify the information I should have ready to address them.”

Review the suggestions against the people and responsibilities involved.

You are preparing to discuss the decision intelligently. That includes being willing to revise your position when another person brings relevant evidence.

Decide which questions belong in the room

Some questions can be resolved before the meeting.

Confirming a figure, checking availability, or clarifying a requirement may only require a message to one person.

Other questions need the group’s judgment: which trade-off to accept, which priority takes precedence, or whether the proposed direction serves the objective.

Resolve straightforward facts beforehand where possible.

That leaves more time for the discussion that actually benefits from having people together.

Prepare an opening that establishes the purpose

The first minute can orient the room.

For example:

“Today we need to agree on the scope of the first release. I’ll briefly cover the user need and current readiness, compare three options, and explain my recommendation. We then need to decide which direction to take and identify any conditions that must be met.”

That opening tells people what the meeting is for and how the discussion will lead to the decision.

It also gives someone an early opportunity to flag a missing prerequisite.

Define what happens afterward

A meeting decision needs an owner and a next step.

If the group approves a smaller release, who updates the scope? Who communicates the change? Which deadline follows?

If the decision remains open, identify exactly what is missing and who will resolve it.

“Let’s revisit this” leaves the work suspended.

“We need the reliability test results before approving the release; the project lead will circulate them on Thursday” gives the follow-up a purpose.

Where Daryl fits

Daryl is a personal AI for Mac, currently in development, designed around local conversation and support for decisions.

I want it to help people prepare for situations like this: clarify the choice, organise relevant information, examine alternatives, and understand what the discussion needs to accomplish.

This article describes a preparation approach. It does not announce meeting recording, calendar access, or other released Daryl capabilities.

For confidential work, use only information you are authorised to share and understand how the application handles it.

A useful preparation conversation should leave you ready to explain the decision clearly and listen to what others bring.

The meeting can then do the work it was arranged to do.