You've used AI to write things. An agent actually does things. Here's the difference — and why it matters for your business.
Most people are still in the "talking to AI" phase — typing a question, getting an answer, copying it into something else. That's useful. But it's a fraction of what AI can actually do for a business.
The next step is an AI agent. And the difference is significant enough that once you understand it, you'll wonder how you ran your business without one.
Regular AI (like ChatGPT or Claude) is a conversation. You ask, it answers. You have to copy the answer somewhere, act on it yourself, start a new conversation for the next thing.
An AI agent is different. It has a job. It can take actions — send emails, update records, check your calendar, respond to customers, run multi-step workflows — not just answer questions. You set it up once, point it at a task, and it handles it while you focus on something else.
Say you get 20 customer inquiries a week that follow the same pattern: someone asks about your service, you respond with an overview and a link to book a call. That's 20 emails, 20 copy-pastes, 20 context switches — every week.
An AI agent can handle that entire workflow. It reads the inquiry, understands what they're asking, responds in your voice with the right information, and sends the booking link. You review the conversation — or just let it run and jump in when it escalates something unusual.
That's not future tech. That's something you can build this week with tools that are already free or close to it.
Agents aren't a replacement for your judgment. There are things you should keep doing yourself:
Think of an agent as a very capable junior team member, not a CEO. It handles volume and consistency. You handle judgment and relationships.
No. The tools available right now — OpenClaw, Claude Projects, custom ChatGPT agents, and others — are built for business owners, not developers. If you can write a Google Doc, you can build a basic agent. The hard part isn't the tech. It's the thinking: what job do you want it to do, and how clearly can you describe that job?
Imagine hiring a new team member. You'd write a job description. You'd explain your brand voice and expectations. You'd walk them through the processes. You'd give them access to the right tools. Building an AI agent is exactly the same — just cheaper, available 24/7, and infinitely patient with your instructions.
The fastest way to build your first agent: identify the one task in your business that you do at least three times a week, takes more than 10 minutes each time, and follows a consistent pattern. That's your first agent candidate.
Build that one. Make it work. Then build the next one. Most business owners who follow this approach have 3–4 active agents running within 90 days — and get back 5–10 hours a week as a result.
The full playbook
The AI Agent Guide walks you through the whole thing: identifying your first agent, setting it up, training it on your business, connecting it to your tools, and scaling to a full AI team. No coding. No technical background required.
Get the AI Agent Guide →Or have Michelle build your full AI team → apply.html