# A filing assistant for a shared drive

Entry E03. Sector: Small business consultancy. Status: in production. Delivered: 2026-05.
Source: https://ai.prospicience.in/work/filing-assistant-shared-drive

Prospicience built a filing assistant for a small business consultancy's shared drive. It reads each new file, works out which client or partner it belongs to, names it properly and files it, converting Word and Excel so the team's AI tools can read them. It has no permission to delete, and flags anything uncertain for a person.

Speed: Built in a day.

## The challenge

Meeting notes, client profiles, decks and trackers piled up unfiled in one shared folder, and the team's AI tools could not read Word or Excel files at all.

## Why it mattered

Every search for a client document started from a heap, and anything in Office format was invisible to the AI tools the team worked with. As the client list grew, the pile grew with it.

## What we built

- Built an assistant that reads each new file, identifies the client or partner, renames it to the house convention and moves it to the right folder.
- Set it to create folders for new clients and partners as they appear.
- Converted Word, Excel and PowerPoint files so every AI tool the team uses can read them.
- Closed each run with a report: what was filed, what was new, and what needs a person to decide.

## The result

- A shared drive that files itself, organised by client and partner.
- Every Office file readable by the team's AI tools.
- A short report after each run, so the team sees exactly what changed.
- No file deleted, by design.

## Built for trust

Deletion is simply not in the assistant's permissions, so no bug or misread file can destroy anything. It never fills in fees or commercial terms, and anything uncertain goes to a review folder for a person to decide.

## AI at work

AI reads every new file dropped into the shared drive, works out which client or partner it belongs to, names it to the house convention and files it. It opens folders for new clients and partners as they appear and hands anything uncertain to a person.

What it produces: files named and filed by client or partner, folders for new clients and partners, Office files converted so AI tools can read them, a run report of what changed and what needs a decision.

- The team stops sorting a pile by hand, and every search starts from an organised drive.
- A new client gets a folder the first time they appear, so the structure keeps pace with the client list.
- Converted Office files become readable to the team's other AI tools, so notes and trackers feed straight into the next piece of work.

How it works day to day: Files land in the drive. AI reads each one, names it, files it and converts Office formats, then reports what it did. Anything it is unsure of waits in a review folder for a person, and nothing is ever deleted.

## Figures from the delivered system

- files deleted: none, by rule
- file types converted: Word, Excel, PowerPoint
- unsure files: flagged for a person

## The technology

- Reads each new file in the shared drive
- Works out which client or partner it belongs to
- Gives it a proper name and moves it to the right folder
- Converts Word and Excel so other tools can read them
- Reports what it filed and what needs a person

AI models used: Claude (Anthropic).

### Technical notes

- Python agent against the Drive API with scoped credentials
- Document conversion to markdown so downstream tools can read Office formats
- Deletion is absent from the granted permission set, by design rather than by policy
- Low confidence classifications route to a review folder with a flag

## Questions

### Will an AI filing assistant delete or overwrite our files?

No. Deletion was left out of its permissions entirely, so there is no path to destroying anything. The worst case is a file in the wrong folder, which a person can move back.

### What happens when it is not sure where something belongs?

It puts the file in a review folder and flags it. After each run it reports what it filed, what was new, and what needs a human decision.

### Does it touch commercial terms or fees?

No. It names and files documents and leaves the contents alone, including every fee and commercial term.

Capabilities: ai-agents-and-automation, document-intelligence.