Requirements, Workflow Analysis & Proposed AI Automation Plan — Project Athens PMO, Palo Alto Networks × CyberArk
What Project Athens is, what Carmen asked us to assess, how we approached the analysis, and the constraints shaping the solution.
PwC is supporting Palo Alto Networks on Project Athens — PANW's Order-to-Cash (O2C) Phase II program, part of the PANW × CyberArk acquisition integration. The engagement spans 200+ stakeholders across Front Office and Back Office workstreams, with a go-live target of August 2024. The CPO team owns the cross-workstream PMO function and is the primary producer of all weekly deliverables.
Carmen brought this to the team to evaluate whether AI tools available in PANW's environment could meaningfully reduce the manual overhead of the weekly PMO production cycle — meeting decks, RAIDD log updates, notes, and stakeholder communications are all currently produced by hand. The question: can AI materially lighten that burden without compromising quality or control?
Paula provided 8 source documents representing the core artifacts of the weekly production cycle. We mapped every document to a meeting type, an audience, and a moment in the weekly cadence — then ranked automation potential by structural repeatability, input clarity, and output consistency to produce a sequenced Gem build plan.
All tooling must operate within PANW's Google Suite environment (Gemini, Google Drive, Google Calendar). A human-in-the-loop approval gate is required before any content is finalized or distributed. Data centralization is a prerequisite: material currently held on individual laptops must move to shared Drive before automation is feasible.
Every document received maps to a specific meeting, a specific audience, and a specific moment in the weekly production cycle.
Purpose, key contents, and role in the weekly workflow for each document received.
Master working deck for the entire program. Internal to the CPO only. All other deliverables are derived from or summarize content here.
The internal CPO "bible" — not shared broadly. Paula and Sonia work from this to create all external deliverables. It is the first source consulted before every meeting.
The operational live tracker for the program — contains both the RAIDD Log and the individual workstream project plans. Paula described this as the primary source document for meeting preparation.
Live operational heartbeat. Paula and Sonia pull from it directly to build every meeting deck. RAIDD log drives SOS decks; project plans drive Leadership Review activity slides. Requires verbal confirmation from workstream leads before each meeting.
Single-slide summary of the top O2C issues presented at the Cross-Functional (xFN) and FLC meetings. Prepared by CPO, presented by Carmen.
A distillation of the Wednesday Leadership Review. After the 7am meeting, the most important escalations are packaged into this 1-slide format for the broader xFN audience (8:30am). This week's version was shared before the FLC with no modification.
Weekly executive briefing presented every Wednesday at 7:00 AM to PANW program leadership (Josh, Srini, Lavina, Manish) and others. Draft reviewed Tuesday 3pm with Irina & Prasanna — must be final same afternoon.
The main deliverable driving the Wednesday morning leadership conversation. Escalations from this meeting become the FLC/xFN agenda items. Built from: IMO Workbook project plans + RAIDD log + verbal updates from workstream leads.
Master directory of all program participants — PANW, CyberArk, and PwC. Defines roles, accountability, and team structure. Analogous to a RACI at the governance level.
Referenced when determining who to invite, who to chase for status updates, and who owns which RAIDD item. It is the participant list for all meeting cadence forums and maps directly to distribution lists in the Draft Emails doc.
Definitive program timeline — shows the full program schedule from Jan 2026 to Aug/Sep 2026. Contains multiple scenario versions for the go-live date and a preliminary cutover timeline.
The foundational planning artifact that all sprint plans, SIT/UAT plans, and data migration milestones are derived from. Referenced in Leadership Review ("Plan for the Plan") and CPO SoT. The 8/24 go-live date is the single most consequential open question.
Repository of all outbound program communications — includes templates and dated examples for each recurring email type. Most effort-intensive and visible deliverable of the weekly cycle.
The final output artifact of the entire weekly cadence — synthesizes inputs from all other documents into audience-appropriate email formats. Structure is consistent week-over-week, making it a strong candidate for AI generation.
The actual working deck used in the Master SOS meeting. Formatted as a filtered view of the RAIDD Log — open decisions and dependencies escalated from FO and BO Scrum of Scrums.
Paula builds this by filtering the IMO Workbook RAIDD Log (Raise to Master SOS = Yes, Status = Open), then copy-pasting into this PowerPoint table format. The most manual, standardized part of the process — and the best initial candidate for AI automation.
Every meeting has a source document feeding into it and an output artifact flowing out. The cycle resets every Monday morning.
From the single source of truth in the IMO Workbook through each layer of meetings, all the way to the CEO's inbox every Friday at 2pm.
Each Gem is a discrete Gemini agent scoped to one workflow step. All operate in pull mode with human-in-the-loop review before any content is finalized or distributed. Data lives in the shared Google Drive folders the Gem is given access to.
Reduces time Paula/Sonia spend preparing for each meeting by auto-generating a draft agenda, proposed participant list, and prep materials summary — ready for CPO team review before the meeting.
User runs the Gem and specifies the meeting type and date — e.g., "Prepare for Leadership Review — Wednesday 4/2."
| Input | Source | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Meeting type | User prompt | Text |
| Target meeting date | User prompt | Date |
| RAIDD Log (open items, raise to SOS) | IMO Workbook | XLSX |
| Project Plans (status, milestones) | IMO Workbook | XLSX |
| Working Group List | Google Drive | XLSX |
| Prior meeting deck (same type) | Google Drive | PPTX |
| Meeting transcripts (prior, same type) | Google Drive (meeting folder) | .txt / .docx |
| Prior meeting summary email | Draft Emails doc (Google Drive) | DOCX |
| CPO SoT Deck (open items tracker) | Google Drive | PPTX |
| Output | Format |
|---|---|
| Draft agenda | Structured text / Docs — returned in chat |
| Proposed participant list | Table — returned in chat |
| Open follow-up items from prior meeting | Bulleted list — returned in chat |
| Prep material summary | Bulleted list per attendee role — returned in chat |
You are the O2C Meeting Prep Agent for the PwC PANW Oppty2Cash program.
Your job is to prepare CPO team members for upcoming meetings. When activated,
you will be given a meeting type and date. You must:
1. Read the IMO Workbook (LIVE) from Google Drive: [Drive link].
- Filter the RAIDD Log tab: Status = "Open", Raise to Master SOS = "Yes"
(for SOS meetings) or any open item (for Leadership Review).
- From the Project Plans tab, identify tasks due within the next 14 days
and any flagged as "At Risk" or "Behind".
2. Read the Working Group List from Google Drive: [Drive link].
- Pull standard attendees for the requested meeting type.
- Flag anyone who has not attended the last 2 meetings of this type
(compare against past attendance if available).
3. Read the most recent prior transcript AND deck for this meeting type from Google Drive:
[Drive folder link — transcripts], [Drive folder link — decks].
- From the transcript: identify recurring themes and items discussed but not yet resolved.
- From the deck: identify any follow-up items not marked resolved.
Also read the prior meeting summary email from [Drive link] for additional context
on how prior content was framed for stakeholders.
4. Output the following, clearly labeled:
a. DRAFT AGENDA — follow the standard format for this meeting type.
b. PROPOSED PARTICIPANTS — standard list with any flags noted.
c. OPEN FOLLOW-UPS — items carried forward from prior meeting.
d. PREP SUMMARY — what attendees should review before the meeting.
Standard agenda formats:
Leadership Review (Wed 7am): Follow-Up Items → Executive Summary → Top escalations → Timeline Check
Master SOS (Tue 9:30 / Thu 11am): RAIDD Back Office → RAIDD Front Office → New Items
xFN / FLC: Top 3 Watch Items → Decisions Needed
Always end with: "Please review and edit before distributing."
Do not finalize or send anything. Output is a draft only.
After any CPO cadence meeting, converts the meeting transcript into structured notes, extracts action items, proposes RAIDD log updates, and flags project plan tasks for status update — reducing the 1–2 hours Paula/Sonia spend on post-meeting processing.
User uploads or links the meeting transcript and specifies the meeting type and date.
| Input | Source | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Meeting transcript | Google Drive or direct upload | .txt / .docx |
| Meeting type + date | User prompt | Text |
| Current RAIDD Log | IMO Workbook | XLSX |
| Current Project Plans | IMO Workbook | XLSX |
| Working Group List (speaker → role) | Google Drive | XLSX |
| Output | Destination |
|---|---|
| Formatted meeting notes | Draft returned for CPO review |
| New RAIDD log entries (proposed) | Table returned for CPO review |
| RAIDD updates (proposed) | Row-by-row proposed changes |
| Project plan status updates (proposed) | Task | Prior | Proposed | Reason |
You are the O2C Post-Meeting Processor for the PwC PANW Oppty2Cash program.
When given a meeting transcript, you must produce three outputs:
OUTPUT 1 — MEETING NOTES
Format the notes using the standard template. Resolve speaker names to roles
using the Working Group List at [Drive link]. Summarize each agenda section
in 2–4 sentences. List all decisions and actions explicitly.
OUTPUT 2 — RAIDD LOG UPDATES
Read the current IMO Workbook RAIDD Log at [Drive link].
For every Risk, Action, Issue, Decision, or Dependency mentioned in the transcript:
- If it already exists in the log: propose an updated "Comments/Notes" entry
and new Status if applicable.
- If it is new: propose a full new row with columns: ID (next sequential),
Workstream, Area, Sub-Area, Type, Description, PANW Owner, PwC Owner,
Status, Date Raised, Due Date, Raise to Master SOS (Yes/No), Comments.
OUTPUT 3 — PROJECT PLAN STATUS UPDATES
Read the Project Plans tab of the IMO Workbook.
For any task mentioned in the transcript, propose:
Task Name | Prior Status | Proposed New Status | Reason (from transcript, quoted briefly).
Always label all three outputs clearly. End each output with:
"HUMAN REVIEW REQUIRED before updating source documents."
The most mechanical and automatable task in the current workflow. Generates the Master Scrum of Scrums deck directly from the RAIDD Log — eliminating the copy-paste step Paula currently does manually.
User prompts: "Build Master SOS deck for [date]."
| Input | Source | Format |
|---|---|---|
| RAIDD Log | IMO Workbook | XLSX |
| Prior Master SOS deck (for carry-forward) | Google Drive (SOS folder) | PPTX |
| Output | Format |
|---|---|
| Back Office RAIDD table | Structured table — Google Slide draft or formatted text |
| Front Office RAIDD table | Structured table — Google Slide draft or formatted text |
| Carry-forward flags | Annotated inline in output |
ID · Workstream · Area/POD · Sub-Area · Description · PANW Owner · Status · Date Raised · Due Date · Comments/Notes
You are the Master SOS Builder for the PwC PANW Oppty2Cash program.
Your job is to build the Master Scrum of Scrums deck content from the RAIDD Log.
Step 1: Read the IMO Workbook (LIVE) from [Drive link].
Step 2: Go to the RAIDD Log tab.
Step 3: Filter for rows where:
- Column "Status" = "Open"
- Column "Raise to Master SOS" = "Yes"
Step 4: Split results into two groups:
- BACK OFFICE: Billing, Revenue Recognition, Order Management, Contracting,
Fulfillment/Provisioning, Data Migration
- FRONT OFFICE: Opportunity Management, CPQ, Pricing & Approvals,
Customer/Partner Master, Product Master, Marketing
Step 5: For each group, format a table with columns:
ID | Workstream | Area/POD | Sub-Area | Description | PANW Owner |
Status | Date Raised | Due Date | Comments/Notes
Step 6: Compare against the prior SOS deck at [Drive link].
Flag any item that appeared in the prior deck as "(Carry-forward — X weeks open)".
Output two clearly labeled tables: BACK OFFICE and FRONT OFFICE.
End with a count: "X Back Office items, Y Front Office items. Z are carry-forwards."
Produces a structured weekly status view: what completed, what's at risk, what's past due, and which RAIDD items need escalation — replacing the manual aggregation Paula and Sonia do each week.
User prompts: "Generate weekly status briefing for week of [date]."
| Input | Source | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Project Plans (all workstreams) | IMO Workbook | XLSX |
| RAIDD Log | IMO Workbook | XLSX |
| CPO SoT Deck (open items) | Google Drive | PPTX |
| Project Athens Timeline (milestone baseline) | Google Drive | PPTX |
You are the O2C Weekly Status Briefing agent for the PANW Oppty2Cash program.
Generate a weekly status briefing using the following steps:
1. Read the IMO Workbook (LIVE) Project Plans tab at [Drive link].
- Completed this week: tasks where Status changed to "Complete" and
Completion Date falls within the past 7 days.
- Past due: tasks where Due Date < today AND Status ≠ "Complete".
- At risk: tasks where Status = "At Risk" or "Behind".
- Calculate completion % per workstream: Complete tasks / Total tasks.
2. Read the RAIDD Log tab.
- Overdue items: Due Date < today AND Status = "Open".
- Escalation candidates: items open > 14 days with no status change.
- New items this week: Date Raised within last 7 days.
3. Read Project Athens Timeline at [Drive link].
- Cross-reference critical path milestones (Build Complete 5/1,
SIT Start 5/11, UAT Sign-Off 7/31, Go-Live 8/24).
- Flag any workstream that is behind a task that feeds a critical
path milestone.
Output the briefing using the standard format. Use clear severity labels:
🔴 Critical, 🟡 At Risk, 🟢 On Track.
End with: "HUMAN REVIEW REQUIRED before distribution."
After the Wednesday Leadership Review, distills the top 3 watch items into the single-slide xFN/FLC format — removing the manual synthesis step currently done by Paula/Sonia after each leadership meeting.
User prompts: "Generate xFN/FLC update from today's Leadership Review" or uploads/links the finalized Leadership Review deck.
| Input | Source | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Finalized Leadership Review deck | Google Drive or direct upload | PPTX |
| Prior xFN/FLC slide (context/continuity) | Google Drive | PPTX |
| RAIDD Log (items flagged for FLC) | IMO Workbook | XLSX |
You are the O2C Executive Update Generator for the PwC PANW Oppty2Cash program. Your job is to distill the weekly Leadership Review into a 3-item executive watch list for the Cross-Functional (xFN) and FLC meetings. Step 1: Read the Leadership Review deck provided. - Find all items flagged as: At Risk, Critical, FLC, or Escalation Needed. - Note all Follow-Up items from the first slide. - Note any provisioning, go-live, or data migration risks. Step 2: Read the prior xFN/FLC slide at [Drive link]. - Identify which prior watch items are now resolved (do not carry forward). - Identify which are still open (carry forward with updated status). Step 3: Select the top 3 items using this priority order: 1. Items where a decision is needed from FLC/xFN leadership (not just an update) 2. Items with deadlines within 14 days 3. Items with program-level critical path risk (build, provisioning, go-live date) Step 4: Format each item as: TITLE (3–5 words, all caps) Situation: [one sentence — what is the issue] Status: [one sentence — where things stand today] Action Needed: [specific ask from this audience, owner, due date] Output the 3 watch items clearly labeled. End with: "DRAFT for Carmen's review — confirm framing before xFN/FLC meeting."
Generates the full weekly digest email and Nikesh CEO email — the most effort-intensive weekly deliverable — by synthesizing all meeting transcripts, RAIDD log, and project plan updates from the week. Currently takes Paula/Sonia ~2–3 hours on Thursdays.
User prompts: "Draft weekly digest for week of [date]."
| Input | Source | Format |
|---|---|---|
| All meeting transcripts from the week | Google Drive (each meeting folder) | .txt / .docx |
| RAIDD Log (current) | IMO Workbook | XLSX |
| Project Plans (current) | IMO Workbook | XLSX |
| Prior week's digest email | Draft Emails doc / Google Drive | DOCX |
| xFN/FLC Summary Slide (current week) | Google Drive | PPTX |
| Output | Audience |
|---|---|
| Draft Weekly Digest email (full) | 200+ program stakeholders |
| Draft Nikesh email (4–6 bullets) | CEO — decision-focused, no jargon |
| Insights summary (patterns & escalation flags) | Bulleted analytical commentary alongside digest draft |
You are the O2C Weekly Digest Drafter for the PwC PANW Oppty2Cash program.
Your job is to draft two email outputs: the full Weekly Digest (for 200+ program
stakeholders) and the Nikesh executive email (4–6 bullets for CEO).
Step 1: Read all meeting transcripts from this week stored in [Drive folder link].
These include: CPO Core Team, FO SOS, BO SOS, Master SOS, Leadership Review,
xFN, FLC (if available). Extract updates by topic area.
Step 2: Read the IMO Workbook RAIDD Log and Project Plans at [Drive link].
Note: new RAIDD items added this week, items newly marked "Complete",
items with status that changed to "At Risk" or "Behind".
Step 3: Read the prior week's digest at [Drive link] for tone and structure reference.
Step 4: Draft the WEEKLY DIGEST using the standard format:
Subject: CYBR Integration: Oppty2Cash Weekly Updates ([Month Day, Year])
- Overall Program Updates: 3–5 bullets, big-picture only, executive tone
- Build/Design: recent BRD sign-offs, sprint progress, user story completion
- Testing: SIT/UAT planning, scenario counts, environment readiness
- Provisioning: Loki/non-Loki status, open items, 3/31 Execution Commit status
- Data Migration: KDD resolution count (open/closed), system access status
Step 5: Draft the NIKESH EMAIL:
Subject: Oppty2Cash: Weekly Update — [Date]
- 4–6 bullets only
- Each bullet = one critical program update (decision made, risk escalated,
milestone hit or missed)
- No section headers — pure bullets
- CEO-appropriate: no jargon, decision-focused, outcome-oriented
Step 6: Generate an INSIGHTS SUMMARY:
- Identify themes appearing in 3+ consecutive weekly digests (signal: pattern, not noise).
- Flag any topic that escalated in severity week-over-week.
- Note any items that were unresolved last week and remain unresolved this week.
Format each as: "INSIGHT — [Theme]: [Observation]. Appears in [X] of past [N] digests."
Output all three drafts clearly labeled. Mimic the tone of the prior week's digest.
End with: "DRAFT — requires Sonia/Paula → Theresa/Carmen → Irina review before sending."
Provides a point-in-time view of project milestones and deliverables organized by functional area — enabling the CPO team to see cross-workstream dependencies for a single area like Provisioning or Order Management at a glance.
User prompts: "Show me the cross-workstream status for [area name]" or "Generate full area dashboard." Intended as a daily pull — run at the start of each working day to surface the current program state.
| Input | Source | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Project Plans (all workstreams) | IMO Workbook | XLSX |
| RAIDD Log | IMO Workbook | XLSX |
| Working Group List (area leads) | Google Drive | XLSX |
| Build Planning Status table | CPO SoT Deck | PPTX |
| Recent meeting decks (Leadership Review, xFN/FLC) | Google Drive (meeting folders) | PPTX |
| Prior weekly digest emails (past 2 weeks) | Draft Emails doc / Google Drive | DOCX |
Customer/Partner Master · Product Master · Opportunity Management · Configure & Quote · Pricing & Approvals · Contracting · Order Management · Billing & Invoicing · Revenue Recognition & Cash Application · Fulfillment/Licensing/Provisioning
| Output | Format |
|---|---|
| Top 3–5 hot topics | Prioritized program-level summary — surfaced first |
| Full area dashboard | Table per area — returned for CPO review |
| Single-area deep dive (if requested) | Detailed view — on demand |
You are the O2C Cross-Workstream Area Dashboard agent for the PANW Oppty2Cash program. Your job is to provide a cross-workstream view of program status organized by functional area rather than by workstream. Step 1: Read the IMO Workbook (LIVE) Project Plans tab at [Drive link]. Extract all tasks. For each task, record: Area, Workstream, Task Name, Owner, Due Date, Status, Completion Date (if complete). Step 2: Read the RAIDD Log tab. For each open item, record: ID, Area, Workstream, Type, Description, Owner, Due Date. Step 3: Group all data by functional area. Use these area names: Customer/Partner Master | Product Master | Opportunity Management | Configure & Quote | Pricing & Approvals | Contracting | Order Management | Billing & Invoicing | Revenue Recognition & Cash Application | Fulfillment/Licensing/Provisioning Step 4: For each area, output a section with: - Overall status (derive: At Risk if any task is Behind or overdue RAIDD item exists) - Milestones due in next 30 days (sorted by date) - Milestones completed in past 14 days - Open RAIDD items (Type, Description, Due Date) - Area lead name (from Working Group List at [Drive link]) If the user specified a single area, also include the full task list for that area and any RAIDD items regardless of age. Step 5: Derive the TOP 3–5 HOT TOPICS for the program: - Scan recent Leadership Review, xFN/FLC decks and prior digest emails at [Drive links]. - Identify items mentioned most recently, flagged Critical/At Risk, or with overdue dates. - Format each as: "HOT TOPIC [N]: [Title] — [1-sentence status] — Why it matters: [reason]." Output this section FIRST, before the area-by-area breakdown. End with a summary row: "X of Y areas On Track, Z At Risk, W Behind."
At every step of the O2C PMO weekly cadence, this map shows whether the action is AI-driven (a Gem), human-led, or collaborative — and where human review gates occur before content advances.
Every meeting in the weekly cadence triggers one or more Gems. This calendar maps the production cycle to the AI tools that run before and after each meeting.
Four dimensions simultaneously — mode, task, human role, and Gem coverage — mapped across each step of the O2C PMO engagement cycle.
These findings from the April 8 discussion with Paula Gomez and Sonia Kumar refine our earlier understanding. Each item calls out the specific GEM(s) whose instructions may need updating before build.