How AI Helps Executive Secretaries & Executive Administrative Assistants
Executive assistants lose hours to inbox triage, scheduling back-and-forth, meeting notes and travel/expense paperwork. 12² builds a set of approved workflows on the tools the office already uses (Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace): prompt library, templates, a document-grounded assistant, and training, with human approval before anything is sent.
Executive Assistant Copilot Desk · From $2,500 + $249/mo, by team size · proposed estimate · It says it is an automated assistant whenever it talks to someone directly, and your team reviews what it drafts before it goes out.
Ai for executive assistants: the short answer.
AI can help an executive assistant by sorting routine email, drafting replies for approval, turning meetings into notes and action lists, and preparing travel and expense paperwork. In a large UK government trial, Microsoft 365 Copilot users reported saving about 26 minutes a day (self-reported). The assistant still reviews and sends everything.
Sources
- UK government trial, ~20,000 civil servants: self-reported average saving of 26 minutes/day with M365 Copilot (self-reported, not measured)gov.uk
- Microsoft 365 Copilot Business add-on listed at $21/user/mo ($18 promo) on Microsoft pricing pagemicrosoft.com
Where the hours go now.
Replies to routine email
Executive assistants lose hours to inbox triage, scheduling back-and-forth, meeting notes and travel/expense paperwork.
Turning meeting recordings into notes, decisions and follow-up lists
Written up by hand, one at a time, after the real work is done.
Agendas, briefing packs and travel itineraries
Rebuilt from scratch each time, usually at the end of the day.
What it handles, and what it never does.
What it handles
- Replies to routine emailIt triages and drafts replies to routine email for the assistant to approve.
- Turning meeting recordings into notes, decisions and follow-up listsIt turns meeting recordings into notes, decisions and follow-up lists.
- Agendas, briefing packs and travel itinerariesIt drafts agendas, briefing packs and travel itineraries from existing documents.
- Preparing expense reports from receiptsIt prepares expense reports from receipts for review.
- Hand-off to your teamAnything that needs a person goes to the right person, with the details attached.
What it never does
- Make up a price or a factIt works only from the documents, records and price lists you give it. Anything it can't find goes to your team.
- Promise a resultQuestions about outcomes go to the person who does the work.
- Pretend to be a personIt says it is an automated assistant whenever it talks to someone directly.
- Send anything on its ownDrafts wait for your team's approval before anything goes out.
Built and tested on your own work.
Before handoff, we run your build on your own real examples and fix anything that misses.
- Tested on your own workBefore handoff, we run your build on your own real examples and fix anything that misses.
- Retainer, then balance on deliveryRetainer up front. Work starts once the retainer is paid; the balance is due on delivery when the agreed test cases pass.
- Fixed price, scope and timelineAll three in writing before work starts. The timeline is set in your quote.
- What 12² buildsA set of approved workflows on the tools the office already uses (Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace): prompt library, templates, a document-grounded assistant, and training, with human approval before anything is sent.
- How it connectsWe confirm how it connects to the tools you already use on the first call and write it into your quote.
Related solutions: Admin Assistant Workflow Kit · Customer Support Answer Desk · Translation Post-Editing Workflow · all solutions
See also: all industry packages · pricing
From $2,500 + $249/moSetup + monthly, by size. The monthly fee covers monitoring, fixes and re-tests for your package as your templates, documents and staff change. AI and software usage is billed at cost. Proposed starting estimates by team size, not fixed prices; the final price is in a written quote.
- Small: Small office (1-10 staff)From $2,500 + $249/mo. The core build for 1-10 staff: a set of approved workflows on the tools the office already uses (Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace): prompt library, templates, a document-grounded assistant, and training, with human approval before anything is sent. Proposed estimate. Small tier is about the size of a 12squared.ai Proof build; monthly covers hosting, monitoring and fixes.
- Mid-size: Growing office (11-50 staff)From $6,500 + $549/mo. Everything in Small office, for more users, inboxes and calendars, with hand-off rules set for each role. Proposed estimate. Mid tier is about the size of a Core build (more users, more integrations).
- Enterprise: Multi-site / enterprise (50+ staff or multiple locations)From $15,000, custom quote. Everything in Growing office, across locations or departments, with system integrations and a security review scoped in your custom quote. Proposed estimate. Starts near the Product build range; scope, integrations and security review set the final number. No cap.
- Retainer up front Work starts once the retainer is paid; the balance is due on delivery when the agreed test cases pass. Scope, price and timeline are agreed in writing before work starts.
- You own itThe accounts, scripts, templates and data sit in your name. You can leave at any time.
- Compliance and dataLow regulatory load. Mailbox access is sensitive: least-privilege access, no auto-send, client data stays in the customer tenant.
Straight answers.
Do we need Microsoft Copilot licenses?
Not always. We use what you already pay for where possible and tell you if a license is the cheaper path (Copilot Business is listed at $21/user/mo).
How does payment work?
Retainer up front. Work starts once the retainer is paid; the balance is due on delivery when the agreed test cases pass.
How long does it take?
Timelines are set per project in the quote, after we see your systems and volume.
Are these prices final?
No. They are proposed starting estimates. You get a written custom quote after a short scoping call.
Tell us how you handle replies to routine email now.
A few lines is enough. If it's a fit we'll say so, and if it isn't we'll tell you why.
- A real replyWritten for you by 12², within one business day. Never an autoresponder.
- A free 20-minute callHow the work runs now, what gets missed, and what your team needs from it.
- A fixed quoteYour size, scope, date and price in writing before any work starts.
Prefer email? Write to [email protected]
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