How to Use GenAI with OKRs (Without Letting It Think for You)

There’s a dangerous temptation with AI right now: outsourcing your thinking. Don’t.

Your brain is still your most important asset. AI’s job isn’t to think for you — it’s to help you think better. AI can be great for generating more ideas, which can be helpful when you struggle with finding outcomes to measure.

Here’s a practical way to use GenAI tools like Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini to sharpen your OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) without losing control of your strategy:

1. Start a Dedicated OKR Project in Your AI Workspace

Set up a project in your favored GenAI tool focused on your company. Upload key context:

• Your mission statement
• Your vision for the future
• Your current strategic priorities
• General company information: how big you are, what industry you are in, current initiatives etc.
• If you have them, potential big bets and major initiatives

Give the AI everything it needs to understand where you are and where you’re headed — the same way you would onboard a new team member.

2. Use AI to Ask You the Right Questions

Don’t jump to asking it for answers. First, ask the AI to ask you questions. A prompt I use is

“You are Christina Wodtke, and I’ve hired you to help me write my OKRs for next quarter. Ask me questions, one at a time, to understand what the right OKR set would be.”

(you can also hire the real Christina to help you, BTW.)

Let it push you. Clarifying your thinking is half the battle.

3. Then, Generate First Drafts of OKRs

When you’re ready, prompt the AI:

“Using the format for OKRs in Radical Focus by Christina Wodtke, create 5 very different OKR sets for the next quarter. Make sure the KRs are results, not tasks.”

AI is really good at creating options, unlike humans that typically fixate on the first thing that comes to mind. The AI will suggest diverse sets of Objectives and Key Results. Review them ruthlessly. If none fit? Ask for five more. Mix, match, and adapt them. This isn’t about accepting what the AI gives you — it’s about using it as a brainstorm partner.

4. Critique the OKRs Before You Commit

Before you finalize anything, force the AI (and yourself) to critique the proposed OKRs using three tough standards:

• Is the Objective inspiring and aspirational?
• Are the Key Results actually results you can measure — or just tasks?
• Can these OKRs realistically be accomplished in a quarter?

A prompt I like is

“Those KRs look like tasks. Generate 10 ways I could measure success at [my objective] and make sure they are outcomes”

Surprisingly, the AI often make results that are tasks even when you clearly ask it not to. I assume this is because the internet is so full of terrible examples.

Final Word

GenAI is a powerful amplifier. If you feed it your best strategic thinking, it can speed you up, sharpen your focus, and help you create better OKRs faster.

But if you abdicate your thinking to it, you’ll end up with OKRs that are generic at best, and actively destructive at worst.

The future belongs to those who stay in the driver’s seat — and use AI as the co-pilot it’s meant to be.