From managing busy diaries and coordinating meetings to tracking expenses and keeping on top of competing priorities, technology plays a huge role in the modern EA’s day-to-day work. The best tools for executive assistants can take repetitive admin off your plate, reduce time spent chasing information and leave you with more time for the work that requires judgement and a human touch.
But you don’t need an app for everything. Here are some of the best tools for executive assistants, grouped by task, and what they can actually help you save time on.
Diary management and scheduling
Scheduling tools can take much of the back-and-forth out of arranging meetings. Tools such as Calendly and Microsoft Bookings allow people to select suitable times based on availability, while AI-powered options such as Reclaim can help organise tasks and protect time in the calendar.
For EAs managing several diaries, these tools can save considerable time spent emailing different people to find a slot that works. They can also help protect focus time, add buffers between meetings and make it easier to coordinate across different time zones.
Meetings and note-taking
Meetings can generate a surprising amount of admin, particularly when someone has to take detailed notes and then turn them into actions afterwards. AI meeting tools such as Microsoft Copilot, Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai can transcribe conversations, create summaries and identify key action points.
This can free EAs to concentrate on the conversation itself rather than trying to capture every word. Before using any AI transcription or meeting tool, however, check your organisation’s policies around recording, confidentiality and approved software.
Expenses and finance admin
Expense management can be another time-consuming part of an assistant’s role, particularly when receipts need to be collected, categorised and submitted manually. Tools such as Expensify and Pleo can simplify the process by allowing expenses and receipts to be captured digitally and managed in one place.
For EAs, the biggest benefit is often less time spent chasing receipts and entering information manually, leaving more time for other priorities.
Productivity and task management
When you’re juggling an executive’s priorities alongside your own projects, a good task management system can make it much easier to see what needs doing and when.
Tools such as Asana, Trello, Monday.com and Todoist can help you organise tasks, track deadlines and keep projects moving. The right option depends on how you work: a simple task manager may be enough for personal organisation, while a project management platform can be more useful when several people need to collaborate.
For more ideas, take a look at our guide to the top tools to help you be more productive at work.
AI tools for Executive Assistants
AI is becoming an increasingly useful part of the modern assistant’s toolkit, particularly for repetitive writing, research and organisation.
Tools such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Gemini can help with drafting and proofreading emails, summarising lengthy documents, creating meeting agendas, turning notes into action lists and researching topics for executive briefings.
The key is to use AI to support your work rather than replace your judgement. It can save time on a first draft or routine task, but important communications and decisions still require a human eye.
If you’re looking to strengthen your digital skills, our guide to the five essential digital tools every modern PA should master is a useful place to start.
How to choose the right executive assistant software
With so many executive assistant tools available, it can be tempting to sign up for every new platform you come across. But more software doesn’t necessarily mean more productivity.
Before adding a new tool to your tech stack, ask yourself:
- Does it integrate with the systems you already use?
- Will it genuinely save you time?
- Will your executive and colleagues actually use it?
- Is it secure enough for the information you handle?
- Is the cost justified by the time or admin it could save?
Sometimes the best solution is already available through the software your organisation uses, such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.
Build a tech stack that works for you
The goal isn’t to collect as many apps as possible. A good tech stack should remove repetitive admin, make information easier to manage and give you more time for the parts of the EA role that require judgement, problem-solving and strong relationships.
Start with the tasks that take up the most time, find a tool that genuinely solves that problem and build from there. For more inspiration, take a look at our guide to essential tech tools for top PAs.
