Let’s talk about the actual problem.
The most useful first message is a short description of something that is currently taking too long. You don’t need to have decided whether AI is the answer — working that out is the job, and I’d rather do it properly than have you pre-diagnose it.
I read everything and reply to anything specific. If it isn’t a fit I’ll say so plainly, and point you somewhere better if I can think of one.
Four things worth including.
None of this is required. Two paragraphs is plenty, and a messy description of a real problem beats a tidy description of an imagined one.
What the task is
In plain language. "Every new matter, someone reads forty pages and fills in a form" is perfect. No need to describe a solution.
How often it happens
Daily, weekly, twenty times a month. This is usually the number that decides whether anything is worth building.
Who does it now
You, an assistant, a rotating cast of whoever is free. It changes the answer more than people expect.
What good looks like
How you'd know it had been done well. This is the part most briefs leave out and the part I most need.
A note on what happens next.
Usually a short call, at no cost, to work out whether there’s something here worth looking at properly. If there is, I’ll quote a fixed fee for a diagnostic. If there isn’t, that call is the end of it and neither of us has lost much.
No sequence of follow-up emails, no proposal deck, no pressure to decide on a call. I’d rather work with people who took their time.