How to Build a Custom GPT for Your Team: A Non-Technical Executive Guide

A custom GPT is a ChatGPT instance configured with: a specific set of instructions (how it should behave, what tone it should use, what it should and should not do); optionally, a set of uploaded documents it can search and reference; and optionally, connections to external tools via the API.

For example, a 'Board Paper Assistant' custom GPT might be configured with: instructions to produce outputs in a formal, concise style appropriate for board-level communications; access to uploaded governance policies, previous board papers, and the company's strategic plan; and instructions to flag when any request is inconsistent with the company's documented governance framework.

A team using this custom GPT gets a consistent assistant that already knows the company's context, style, and governance requirements, without each user having to provide this context in every conversation.

To build a custom GPT, you need a ChatGPT Plus, Team, or Enterprise subscription. Open ChatGPT, click 'Explore GPTs,' then 'Create.'

The GPT builder uses a conversation interface to help you configure your GPT. It will ask you what the GPT is for, what it should do, and how it should behave. You can also switch to the 'Configure' tab to write detailed instructions directly.

Key configuration steps:

Name and description: something clear that tells team members what this GPT is for.

Instructions: write detailed instructions covering what the GPT should do, what tone it should use, what it should always include or never do, and any specific expertise it should apply. The more specific, the more consistent the outputs.

Knowledge: upload documents the GPT should be able to reference. Your company's AI governance policy, your communication style guide, your strategic plan. These documents are searchable by the GPT when responding to queries.

Capabilities: enable or disable web search, image generation, and code execution as appropriate for your use case.

Board Paper Assistant: configured with your governance framework, board paper style guide, and previous papers as knowledge. Produces consistent, policy-compliant board paper drafts and reviews.

Executive Communication Coach: configured with your company's communication principles and tone of voice guidelines. Reviews and improves executive communications before sending.

Strategic Analysis Partner: configured with your strategic plan and key business context. Provides strategic analysis and scenario modelling informed by your actual strategy rather than generic frameworks.

Competitor Intelligence Brief: configured to produce competitor profiles in a standard format your team uses, drawing on knowledge documents containing your competitive analysis framework and existing competitor profiles.

The principle is the same in each case: pre-loaded context and consistent instructions mean every interaction produces outputs that fit your organisation's specific standards without requiring each user to provide that context themselves.

Custom GPTs built with the ChatGPT Team or Enterprise plan process data under OpenAI's enterprise data handling terms, which specify that data is not used to train models and can be subject to data residency configurations.

For custom GPTs built on the personal ChatGPT Plus subscription, data handling terms are those of the consumer product. Do not upload documents containing sensitive commercial information, personal data, or market-sensitive content to a Plus-tier custom GPT without verifying the applicable data handling terms.

Custom GPTs shared within a ChatGPT Team workspace are available only to members of that workspace. They are not publicly accessible. If you upgrade your sharing settings to make a custom GPT publicly available, review the content of the uploaded knowledge documents to ensure nothing sensitive is exposed.