For a long time, I thought using AI just meant typing a question into ChatGPT and reading the answer. Then I found a post that showed me how much I’d been missing, and I can’t stop thinking about it.
The author is a founder who has built businesses on far less than what AI offers today. They said something pretty honest. They thought they understood technology, but then they realized they were stuck at level three themselves. They were leaving hours on the table every week, and once they saw the full ladder, they felt a bit embarrassed at how low they’d been aiming.
According to this LinkedIn creator, most founders are stuck even lower, on level two. They ask AI questions, write a decent prompt, and call it a day. That’s the beginner tier, and almost everyone is already doing it.
🪜 What is the AI ladder?
The original poster lays out 11 levels between asking ChatGPT a question and having it run parts of your business for you. Think of it like a staircase. Each step unlocks something new the AI can do for you.
Most founders never make it past level three. The few who do are quietly pulling ahead right now. Here’s the full ladder, from beginner to power user, with a plain-English note on each term.
🌱 Beginner (levels 1 to 3)
- Ask it questions: get concepts explained, brainstorm, and solve everyday problems.
- Prompt it properly: a “prompt” is just the instruction you type. A good one includes context, tone, format, and a clear goal.
- Create and improve: use it for your first drafts, emails, and ideas.
As the author puts it: ask, prompt, create. Nothing wrong with it, but it’s nowhere near the ceiling.
📈 Intermediate (levels 4 to 7)
- Search the live web: look up current news, competitors, and real numbers. Basically, the AI checks the internet right now instead of relying only on what it learned in training.
- Upload files: share screenshots, spreadsheets, and documents, and let it read them for you.
- Use deep reasoning: turn this on for harder tasks like coding, strategy, and planning. “Reasoning” modes make the AI think step by step before it answers.
- Learn with study mode: use practice sets and real tutoring, like having a patient teacher on call.
🚀 Advanced (levels 8 to 10)
- Run deep research: it searches dozens of sources and hands you a proper cited report. “Cited” means it shows where each fact came from.
- Personalize it: use memory and project context so it actually knows your business. “Memory” lets the AI remember details about you between chats.
- Connect your tools: link it to the apps you already use and automate the repeat work you used to do by hand.
🏆 Power user (level 11)
Delegate entire workflows and let it browse, research, and act while you’re doing something else entirely. People often call this an “AI agent,” which is an assistant that takes action on its own instead of just answering.
💡 Why most people stop climbing
The gap between level three and level eleven isn’t skill. It’s exposure.
Nobody teaches you this ladder exists, so most people stop climbing early. The post’s author has watched founders who find it early pull ahead fast, sometimes within weeks.
Meanwhile, the people stuck on level three keep doing the same work by hand, falling a little further behind each week. A few extra hours here and there doesn’t feel like much, until you add up a whole year of it. The author’s message is simple: save yourself the year they lost figuring this out the hard way, on their own.
I think that’s the most encouraging part. You don’t need to be technical. You just need to know the next step exists.
🛠️ How to climb one step this week
The expert’s advice: pick one level above where you are right now and actually use it this week, not someday. Here are a few easy ways to start:
- On level 1 or 2? Try a fuller prompt, like “You’re a marketing advisor. I run a small bakery. Write three email subject lines for our fall menu, friendly tone, under 8 words each.”
- On level 3? Ask it to search the web for your top three competitors’ latest pricing.
- On level 4? Upload last month’s sales spreadsheet and ask, “What are the three biggest trends here?”
- On level 8? Turn on memory or set up a project with your business details, so you stop re-explaining yourself in every chat.
So, where do you actually sit on this ladder right now? Be honest with yourself, then share this with a founder who’s still asking basic questions and calling it a day.
Check out the full LinkedIn post to see the original ladder and the author’s take on it.