The rise of the Builder EA
The big shift that's underway
There’s a theme running through every conversation I’ve been having with executive assistants lately.
EAs are becoming builders.
Not just using AI tools…
but building them.
I’m talking about AI assistants, automations, agents, and even vibe-coded apps designed to solve real problems in everyday work.
It all starts with mindset
There's something really powerful that happens when an assistant realizes:
"Wait... I don't have to wait for IT or product or engineering. I can build something myself."
It all starts with mindset.
The mindset to question how you've always done it.
The mindset to ask yourself if there's a better way.
The mindset to pause + explore how AI or automation could help.
Inside the Capstone: 32 builds, one big shift
In Carve AI, we run a Capstone Project – a "choose your own adventure" build (an automation, an AI assistant, an AI Playbook or occasionally something totally different). No two projects are ever the same, and that's the point.
I just finished reviewing 32 different projects from our autumn cohort 🤯 Some were tiny but mighty. Some were wildly ambitious. Some saved minutes a day, others reshaped whole processes.
Above all they offer a glimpse into where the executive assistant role is going 🔮
Here are a few that really stayed with me:
Irene built an AI assistant for her CEO to draft his written comms… her CTO walked past, saw it, and immediately asked her to run a session at their company’s AI Day
June built an AI agent that proactively requests agendas and pre-reads and compiles a weekly brief
Kate vibe-coded an emotions app that helps her name the emotion she's feeling, then nudges her towards a few actions to nurture her in that moment
Sarah built a daily exec summary automation for her exec and CoS, pulling together meetings completed, meetings tomorrow, and a running list of to-dos
Rachel created an AI assistant to answer common queries buried across 47 files and now plans to roll it out across the EA team, goal = cut ramp time for new joiners from 90 to 45 days
If you want to be a builder, too...
Ready for the guidance + structure to help you do this for real in 2026? Consider joining the winter cohort of Carve AI.
This isn’t a cookie-cutter course, it’s choose your own adventure style. You’ll experiment with AI tools, learn automation, and get inspired by a community of ambitious assistants on the same journey.
Here’s what you get:
✔️ 7 weeks of live sessions + hands-on projects
✔️ Just 2-3 hours per week to transform how you work
✔️ A supportive community to share experiments and wins with
Bottom line? You’ll walk away more confident, more efficient, with a deep understanding of how to use AI + automation in your daily work.
Two days left! Early Birds save £300 | $400 through Nov 26 (that's a mega 23% off)