Bolt Method
Decide where AI belongs. Then work there well.
Every piece of work needs a deliberate choice about people, AI and responsibility.
Bolt Methodâ„¢ gives you one map for choosing and four parts for working well in the Way you choose.
Where does AI belong in the work in front of you?
One map with five legitimate answers.
Five Ways of Working With AI is a decision map.
A Way belongs to the work, not the person. It describes the role AI plays at that point.
Human
Keep the work human.
Tools
Direct AI to perform a defined task.
Agents
Brief AI to plan and carry out a sequence.
Partnership
Work with AI through sustained context and shared ways of working.
Network
Coordinate people, AI partners and agents within a directed system.
More AI is not the goal, the right Way is.
Human can be the most capable choice.
Some work gets its value from the person who does it.
A final moral judgement. A conversation where trust depends on human presence. Confidential reflection. Care, grief or responsibility whose meaning changes when it is delegated.
AI may help prepare, organise or follow up. The decisive work can still remain Human.
Choosing Human is a deliberate use of the Method.
The Way changes as the work changes.
Consider a new service launch.
Human. Set the purpose, the promise being made and the boundaries that must not move.
Tools. Summarise interviews and compare the material already gathered.
Agents. Carry out defined research and organise the evidence against clear criteria.
Partnership. Challenge the proposition, expose assumptions and work through competing choices.
Network. Coordinate people, suppliers, systems and AI through delivery.
This project can use all five Ways. The Method does not label the project. It directs each meaningful part of it.
Choosing the Way is only half the work.
The map shows where AI belongs. Values, Judgement, Thinking and Habits shape how you work there.
Values. Protect what must remain true while the work is being done.
Judgement. Know what to trust, what to question and when to act.
Thinking. Ask better questions, develop stronger options, make useful connections and examine consequences.
Habits. Carry the Method into repeated daily practice.
A role for AI does not guarantee good work. People still set the purpose, standards and direction, and remain accountable for what follows.
Values hold the line, and habits carry it into the day.
Values stop capability from outrunning responsibility. Habits keep good practice from disappearing when the day gets busy.
Five Values
- Human First. Keep human need, dignity, responsibility and wellbeing central.
- The Golden Rule. Do not use AI in ways you would consider unfair, invasive or careless if they were applied to you.
- Test Against Reality. Fluent language is not evidence. Check important claims, assumptions and recommendations against reliable sources and real conditions.
- Control What You Can. Turn concern into responsible action where you have the power to act.
- Hold Opposing Truths. Keep valid tensions present long enough to understand the decision properly.
Five Habits
- Walk and Talk. Use voice to provide fuller context, think aloud and continue the work beyond the keyboard.
- Make It Personal. Give AI the goals, background, constraints, values and voice the work needs.
- Maintain Memory. Keep useful context alive, accurate and reusable so the work does not restart from zero.
- Choose Your Tools. Select the tool that fits the job and learn enough to use it well. The tool follows the job.
- Consult the Council. Bring sceptics, specialists, evidence and contrary perspectives into the work before the decision is made.
Built for changing tools.
Models, platforms and interfaces will change.
Bolt Method follows the work, not the platform.
The duties remain: set purpose, choose boundaries, test claims and stay accountable.
Use the Method alongside the expertise, policy and relationships the work requires. It does not replace them or move accountability away from people and organisations.
Put the Method to work.
The Method earns its value in the decision, not the diagram.
Bring one real decision to Discovery. With a facilitator, choose the Way, test what the work requires and decide what follows.
Think better with AI
Bolt Practice is a trading name of Athena Veritas Ltd.