"AI-pilled" means you’ve realized AI is changing everything and your friends are tired of hearing about it. Most people think they’re at the top. Most are closer to the bottom.
The 5 levels come from OnlyCFO, a finance newsletter, which wrote them to help leaders see how AI-ready their teams really are. I’ve adapted them for individuals, with my own names for the middle three. Read it honestly. Most people land one level lower than they think.
01
The Prompt Guy or Girl
Everyone starts here. You ask AI one-off questions, draft emails and summarize documents. It feels magical, but your actual work hasn’t changed.
Your next move → Save 5 prompts you reused this month in one place. Saving them is the level-up.
02
The Magician
You have saved prompts and skills you reuse every week. You’re much more efficient, but nothing has changed for your team or company.
Your next move → Pick one task that takes you over an hour a week and build a Project or workflow around it.
03
The Power User
You’ve built Projects and workflows that handle whole tasks for you. This is the stage where people start asking whether every role is still needed.
Your next move → Connect your tools, like Gmail, Drive or your CRM, and set up a scheduled task. The moment something runs without you opening a chat, you’ve moved up.
04
The Builder
Your core systems are connected to AI and agents run big parts of your job in the background. Your role looks completely different than it did six months ago.
Your next move → Every Friday, ask what you did this week that an agent could have done. Rebuild one process a month.
05
Creative Mode
Your friends are genuinely concerned. You rebuild how you work as AI changes, spot new uses before they’re obvious and keep unlocking new things.
Your next move → Teach. Share what you know, get pushback and rebuild. Teaching forces you to explain the why, and that’s where the next idea comes from.
OnlyCFO On Level 5
"Folks have to be willing to destroy the old process and recreate again (better)."
The goal isn’t level 5 tomorrow. It’s knowing where you really are and climbing one level at a time.