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Getting Started with Octigen

Welcome to Octigen, an AI-powered platform that transforms your content into professional PowerPoint presentations.

What is Octigen?​

Octigen is an intelligent slide deck generation system that combines:

  • Your PowerPoint templates as the design foundation,
  • Your data to populate charts and tables with real figures,
  • AI assistants to help create, structure, and refine content,
  • Flexible workflows for both guided and free-form presentation creation.

The Octigen Model​

Separation of Concerns:

  • Templates = Visual design and layout
  • Workflows = Structure and content approach
  • Slide Decks = Specific presentations with unique content

This separation allows:

  • Reusable templates across presentation types
  • Consistent branding without sacrificing flexibility
  • Standard structures for recurring needs
  • Creative freedom when needed

Content First, Design Later​

Traditional approach:

  1. Open PowerPoint.
  2. Choose slides.
  3. Type content while worrying about layout.
  4. Fiddle with formatting.
  5. Repeat for every presentation.

Octigen's approach:

  1. Create content without worrying about slides.
  2. Let AI organize into slides.
  3. Let AI handle formatting.
  4. Refine the result.
  5. Download and present.

Benefit: Focus on message, not mechanics

AI as Collaborator​

Think of AI as a junior colleague:

  • You provide: Strategy, key messages, data, priorities
  • AI provides: Structure, phrasing, organization, formatting
  • You review: Accuracy, appropriateness, quality
  • You refine: Adjust, polish, perfect

Not "AI does everything" or "I do everything" - it's collaborative.

Building a recurring report?

If you are building a report that looks the same every period and always reflects updated figures - like a monthly fund factsheet - follow the end-to-end walkthrough in Building a Recurring Report (Factsheets).

How It Works​

The Octigen workflow consists of three main components:

1. Templates​

Templates are your PowerPoint design files. Follow the template tutorial series to upload a template, configure it for the AI, and validate readiness before generating decks.

2. Workflows​

Workflows are pre-configured presentation blueprints that guide the AI in creating specific types of presentations. They define:

  • The overall tone and style,
  • Which slide categories to use and in what order,
  • Specific instructions for each section.

Examples of Workflows:

  • Quarterly Business Review
  • Product Launch Presentation
  • Investment Pitch Deck
  • Monthly Performance Report

You can set up and manage existing and new workflows under each template.

3. Slide Decks (Slide Decks)​

Slide Decks are the actual presentations you create. The creation process flows through distinct phases:

  1. Build - Create your content (text, data, research)
  2. Structure - AI organizes content into slides
  3. Populate - AI fills in the actual slide content
  4. Refine - Make adjustments and improvements
  5. Commit - Generate the final PowerPoint file

Your First Presentation​

Here's a quick overview of creating your first slide deck:

  1. Upload a Template - Start by uploading a PowerPoint template. See Part 1: Creating your template.
  2. Configure the Template - Categorize slides, name shapes, and set usage rules. See Part 2: Configuring your template.
  3. Explore Example Workflows - Visit your Organization page to restore pre-built workflow examples and learn how they work.
  4. Create a Workflow (Optional) - Define a reusable presentation structure. Alternatively, you can use a "Freeform" workflow where you leave all structuring choices to the AI.
  5. Generate or Upload Content - Work with the Content Assistant to create your presentation content, or upload what you already have.
  6. Structure & Populate - Let AI organize and populate your slides.
  7. Download - Get your final PowerPoint presentation.

AI Assistants​

Throughout the process, specialized AI assistants help you:

  • Template Assistant - Improves template organization and naming.
  • Content Assistant - Helps create engaging presentation content.
  • Structure Analysis Bot - Organizes content into slide structure.
  • Slide Population Bot - Fills slides with appropriate content.
  • Refinement Assistant - Makes adjustments to generated slides.

Next Steps​

Explore the documentation to learn more: