Klariti Checklist for Writing Business Continuity Plans with AI

You have been tasked with producing or updating a Business Continuity Plan (BCP). You know the document is critical, but you may be unsure how to structure it, how much detail is required, or how to balance speed with accuracy. You may also be working from incomplete notes, legacy documents, or fragmented input from multiple stakeholders.

This guide shows, in practical detail, how to use AI prompts to draft, refine, and review a Business Continuity Plan. It moves from simple prompts to advanced and complex prompt techniques, while showing how a structured template keeps the output professional, consistent, and reviewable.

What a Business Continuity Plan must achieve

A Business Continuity Plan documents how an organisation will continue critical operations during and after a disruptive event. It typically covers scope, governance, business impact analysis, response procedures, recovery strategies, and communication plans.

Weak Business Continuity Plans often fail not because teams lack commitment, but because the document is vague, incomplete, or disconnected from how the organisation actually operates. Articles in Klariti’s AI writing section repeatedly show that structure and review discipline matter as much as content.

Where AI fits in business continuity planning

AI tools such as ChatGPT are particularly effective when applied to documentation-heavy tasks like business continuity planning. Used correctly, AI can help you:

• Draft clear first versions of standard BCP sections
• Rephrase content for clarity and consistency
• Identify gaps, assumptions, and unclear responsibilities
• Review the plan against common best practices

As explained across Klariti’s AI-assisted writing guides, AI should support professional judgment, not replace it.

Using simple prompts to draft a Business Continuity Plan

Simple prompts are best used when you want to overcome a blank page or create an initial draft quickly. These prompts focus on clarity and completeness rather than optimisation.

Purpose and scope

Example simple prompt:

“Draft a clear Purpose and Scope section for a Business Continuity Plan for a medium-sized organisation operating across multiple departments.”

Roles and responsibilities

Example simple prompt:

“Create a Roles and Responsibilities section for a Business Continuity Plan, including senior management, incident response teams, and communications roles.”

At this stage, the goal is speed and coverage. The output is not final, but it provides a working baseline you can refine.

Using advanced prompts to refine BCP content

Advanced prompts help you improve quality, realism, and alignment with business context. They work best once you already have a draft.

Business impact analysis

Example advanced prompt:

“You are an experienced business continuity consultant. Review the following Business Impact Analysis section and improve it by clarifying critical activities, impact categories, and recovery priorities.”

Response and recovery strategies

Example advanced prompt:

“Refine the response and recovery strategies in this Business Continuity Plan so they are realistic, role-specific, and aligned with a multi-site organisation.”

This approach mirrors techniques described in Klariti articles on business continuity documentation, where iterative refinement produces better outcomes than rewriting from scratch.

Using complex prompts to review and stress-test the plan

Complex prompts are used late in the process to test quality, completeness, and usability. These prompts combine multiple instructions and require careful review of the output.

Gap and risk review

Example complex prompt:

“Act as an external auditor. Review this Business Continuity Plan and identify missing sections, unclear responsibilities, unrealistic assumptions, and areas of operational risk.”

Scenario-based validation

Example complex prompt:

“Evaluate this Business Continuity Plan against a scenario involving loss of premises, IT outage, and supplier disruption. Identify where the plan would fail in practice.”

These techniques align closely with Klariti guidance on risk management documentation and help turn a static document into a practical operational tool.

Why a structured template still matters

AI-generated content is only as effective as the structure it fits into. A proven template ensures consistency, completeness, and ease of review.

The Business Continuity Templates (MS Office) provide a comprehensive framework covering governance, analysis, response, and recovery. You can insert AI-generated drafts into each section and then refine them based on organisational reality.

Many teams also use related Klariti products, such as Disaster Recovery Plan templates and Risk Assessment templates, to ensure alignment across continuity and resilience documentation.

Klariti checklist for writing a Business Continuity Plan with AI

• Confirm scope, assumptions, and organisational context
• Use simple prompts to draft initial sections
• Apply advanced prompts to refine clarity and realism
• Use complex prompts to review gaps and risks
• Validate the plan with stakeholders
• Baseline and maintain the approved document

Final thoughts

AI does not eliminate the need for business continuity expertise, but it can significantly reduce the time spent drafting, refining, and reviewing plans. When combined with a structured template and professional judgment, AI becomes a practical writing assistant rather than a shortcut.

If you are responsible for business continuity documentation, mastering simple, advanced, and complex AI prompts is now a core professional skill. Used correctly, it allows you to produce plans that are clearer, more complete, and easier to maintain over time.