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How It Works

What happens in a Discovery Session

Norton Lam  ·  Minneapolis, MN  ·  Updated

Before you click into an unfamiliar AI interview, here's exactly what it asks, how long it takes, and what you walk away with.

Short answer: a Discovery Session is a solo, AI-led interview you take on your own time. You request it, I send you a private link, and you complete it whenever you're ready. No scheduling and no sales call. Over roughly 20 to 45 minutes it asks about your business one question at a time, follows the thread when something sounds manual or repetitive, and then produces three documents: an executive summary, a full transcript, and a structured context file. I review all three before your first real conversation, so you start ahead instead of from scratch.

Most discovery calls spend the first thirty minutes on background you've explained a dozen times. This replaces that part. It's a real interview, run by AI, that does the listening, so by the time we talk the groundwork is done and I have a clear picture of how your organization runs.

Step by step

1
It starts with a request, not an instant interview
You reach out, using the button below or by email. I get you set up and send you your own private link, so you can take the interview whenever you're ready rather than on the spot. No calendar, no prep. If you give it your website, it reads the site first and starts from what it found instead of making you explain the basics.
2
It figures out who it's talking to
Early on it works out your role and adapts. If you own or run the organization, it runs the full interview. If you're a manager or team lead, it focuses on your own work instead of pushing for revenue and ownership details. If it's a personal project, it drops the business questions entirely.
3
It walks through how the work actually gets done
One question at a time, unhurried. It covers what you sell and who buys, your team, the tools you use and whether they connect to each other, and a start-to-finish walkthrough from a customer placing an order to the job being finished and paid. When something sounds manual, repetitive, or data-heavy, it digs in instead of moving on.
4
It listens, it doesn't pitch
The interview never sells you a tool or lists AI ideas. Its only job is to build a complete, honest picture. The recommendations come later, from me, once I've read everything.
5
You finish, and three documents are generated
When it has enough, it wraps up and you click Finish. The session then produces your three exports automatically and delivers them.
6
I review everything before we talk
I read the summary, transcript, and context file before your first real conversation, so we start from a clear picture instead of a blank slate.

What you get out of it

An executive summary
A short, readable overview of your organization and where AI is most likely to help. Short enough to forward to a partner or a board member.
A full transcript
The complete conversation, cleanly labeled, so nothing gets lost between the interview and the work. Yours to keep.
A structured context file
The most useful piece: a profile of your business you can paste straight into an AI tool. It's also what my AI analysts use if you go on to a bigger project like the Executive Committee.

A few honest notes

It's private. The session is a confidential interview about your business. What you share is used to help you, not published.

You can be brief. The more you give it, the sharper the output, but there are no wrong answers and no grade. Even a short session gives me a real starting point.

It costs you nothing to find out. The session is an easy way to see whether AI is worth it for you, before any money or calendar time changes hands.

Request a session
Reach out and I'll set you up with your own private link to take on your own time. It's the best way to start working together, and even if we never talk again, you keep the three documents.
Request the Discovery Session →
Or just email me: aiconsultant@nortonlam.com →
Is my business ready for AI?
If you're weighing whether it's even worth it yet, start here: five signals you're ready, and honest signs to wait.
Read the readiness guide