Supercharge Your Non-Technical Role with Cursor

Working at a technical company as a non-technical person? Turn AI tools into your technical translator and become the bridge between code and business value.

The Daily Reality of Being Non-Tech at a Tech Company

📥 A customer reaches out and asks how your platform compares to a competitor's approach.

📝 Marketing needs to write about the latest release.

💸 Sales needs to handle objections about technical capabilities.

In each case, you need to understand what your company actually builds well enough to do your job. Sometimes, though, the technical details can feel like a foreign language.

You could reach out to product or engineering departments, but so often they're swamped and the response is slow. You could wing it with buzzwords, but customers see right through that. You could wait for official docs, but by then the competitive moment has passed.

You end up smiling, taking notes, and plan to corner an engineer later to translate everything into English. Except engineers are busy. Really busy. And asking them to explain repos from scratch feels like asking a surgeon to teach anatomy during an operation. Having been the busy technical person getting constant "quick questions" that aren't actually quick, I know this frustration goes both ways.

The problem isn't that you don't understand technical things. The problem is that you're asking busy people to do work that, thanks to AI tools like Cursor, you can actually do yourself.

Cursor: Your Technical Translation Layer

Cursor is a coding environment designed to make AI feel like a natural collaborator rather than a separate tool. The magic is how it turns AI into a bridge between technical and non-technical work. You can use Cursor to explore a feature, draft content, or prep enablement. This allows you to go into conversations with more context. Instead of relying entirely on someone technical, you can say: 'I worked through this in Cursor and here's what I took away. Did I get this right?

The difference? You are bringing something to review that you've already drafted. This is much faster for the other person vs explaining from scratch. You'll get a lot further, faster.

Don't let the technical component scare you! Here's a breakdown of using Cursor for technical self-sufficiency.

Prerequisites & Setup

What you'll need:

• Choose an open source project such as OpenTelemetry, Vercel, or even Kubernetes. You won't need a GitHub account since these are public repositories (also called "repos").
• Cursor downloaded (https://cursor.com/)
• 30-60 minutes of uninterrupted time

Step 1: Clone the Repository

• Head to GitHub and choose the repo you want to explore
• You can copy the URL from your browser

Step 2: Open Cursor

• After you've downloaded Cursor, open it and set up your account
• Click Clone repo

• Once clicked, you will be prompted to add the URL. Do that and click return on your keyboard

• A window will pop up asking you where you want to save the repository on your computer.
  • Pick a folder (or create a new one) and click Select as Repository Destination.

You have Cursor ready to read your repo!

Step 3: The Initial Discovery Prompt

• If you do not see the chat on the right hand side then press ⌘ L (Command + L) to open a new chat.
• Choose Ask mode to chat with the built in Cursor agent.

• Use this prompt:

• After Cursor responds ask it to save the response in a new file called agents.md

Step 4: Build Specific Insights

• Once Cursor has read the repo and created the agents.md file, you can prompt it toward what you need.
• Example: From this repo, list common pain points it solves and a 3-sentence cold email draft."
• Want to try something role specific? See the extra prompt examples at the end of this guide.

Step 5: Try Role-Specific Prompts

Now that you've explored the repo, try some example prompts tailored to different roles. Copy and paste one into your Cursor chat to see what happens.

Sales / Outreach

• "From this agents.md file, what are the top 3 pain points it solves that I could highlight in a prospect email?"
• "Summarize the benefits here in plain business language I can use on a call with a CIO."
• "Draft a 3-sentence cold outreach email to a Head of Engineering that ties this repo's capabilities to cost savings."

Customer Success

• "Summarize this repo in a step-by-step 'getting started' guide I can share with a customer."
• "Turn the benefits described here into 3 talking points I could use on a QBR call."
• "What risks or mistakes are implied in this file that I should proactively warn customers about?"

Marketing

• "Give me 3–5 blog post ideas inspired by this file, with a short pitch for each."
• "Distill 3–4 key product messages from this file in benefit-driven language."
• "Write a headline, subheadline, and 2–3 bullets I could use on a landing page."

Step 6: Save and Reuse

• Export your chat as Markdown and drop it into Notion, Google Docs, or email drafts.
• Pin or save prompts you like for future reuse.
• Try variations such as different files, different roles to see how Cursor adapts.

Why This Changes Everything

Before Cursor:

• You: "Hey, can you explain what this competitor's tool actually does?"
• Engineer: internal sigh "Sure, give me 30 minutes to walk through their entire codebase..."

After Cursor:

• You: "I used Cursor to analyze that competitor. Here's my summary of their approach. Is my understanding accurate?"
• Engineer: "Actually, you missed this key difference..." 5-minute focused correction

The engineer becomes the expert reviewer, rather than the basic explainer. You get faster, more focused answers. Everyone wins.

This isn't about understanding code. It's about becoming a more effective bridge between technical work and business impact. When you can quickly translate technical capabilities into customer value, competitive advantages, and clear communication, you become more valuable to both sides.

The goal isn't to become technical. It's to become technically literate enough to supercharge your non-technical role.

Video Walkthrough