Section 3: Creating documents, reports, presentations and visual content

Scenario 26: Decision brief from a long technical PDF

Level: Intermediate · Tools: Gemini summary cards in Google Drive; file referencing and Chat only with Copilot in Word; suitable plans and licenses

Who and in what situation

Burak works in purchasing operations at a logistics company. Equipment manuals and maintenance descriptions arrive every month. His goal is not to provide legal interpretation, but to identify technical points for review at the operations meeting.

How it is done today

Burak scans the PDF, marks important pages, and writes a brief note and questions for the maintenance team himself.

How to do it with AI

  1. Open the PDF in Drive on the web. If a summary card appears, read it; Drive can display summary cards for PDFs. [52]
  2. For a detailed list of questions, open Copilot in Word and select the PDF using Reference a file. Copilot in Word supports generating content from source files. [58]
  3. In Chat only, ask for the main technical specifications, maintenance requirements, open questions, and information missing from the text under separate headings. This mode responds without changing the document. [55]
  4. Compare the response with the PDF pages. Word may not always cite content from later sections of a long document. [63]
  5. Include only verified items in the final document and assign open questions to the maintenance team.

Example prompt

Summarize the file {PDF name} for the operations meeting. Headings: purpose, critical technical specifications, maintenance requirements, usage limitations, and questions for confirmation. Try to specify the PDF page for each item. Do not guess information that is not in the text.

Evidence and real-world example

No published organizational case study was found. The basis is Drive’s PDF summary card and Copilot in Word’s capabilities for generating content from source files and understanding long documents. [52] [55] [58]

Points to consider

The summary is not a technical approval or a maintenance instruction. Remember that citations may not be available for every section. If the PDF contains personal or customer information, follow your organization’s access and data processing policy. [55] [63]

Sources for this scenario

  1. Get updates and summaries on your files with Gemini in Drive (support.google.com)
  2. Welcome to Copilot in Word (support.microsoft.com)
  3. Start from an existing Word document (support.microsoft.com)
  4. Create a summary of your document with Copilot in Word (support.microsoft.com)