Make AI Agents Work For You (Part One)
I was sitting at my desk last week, staring at the blinking cursor on my screen, thinking about one thing: what’s the point?
Not in the existential “why are we here?” sense.
I mean in the stupid, day-to-day “why does booking a flight feel like running a marathon?” sense.
Or…
Why am I decoding my medical bills like I'm trying to crack the Da Vinci Code? "Procedure code XJ447" - is that for my checkup or did they charge me for a spacecraft?
Or…
Why does managing password requirements feel like I'm protecting nuclear launch codes? "Must include one uppercase letter, one number, one hieroglyphic, and one particle of dark matter..."
I digress.
The point:
We’re all bombarded by busywork—stuff no one really wants to do. Stuff that feels unnecessarily complex. It eats your day, your energy, your ability to do literally anything else with your time.
Enter AI agents.
Before we get into the BEST and SIMPLEST explanation on what they are…
Let me say: I’m not excited about AI agents because they’ll allow billion-dollar companies to get rid of entire departments of people.
I’m excited because of what the individual will be able to do with them to improve their lives.
AI agents won’t JUST give small teams the ability to compete with the big boys in ways previously impossible (they will)...
They have the potential to help out with the boring and tedious stuff in our daily lives.
They can help us:
> Save time.
> Save money.
> Launch businesses.
> Learn faster.
> Live smarter.
In this three-part series (this is part one), I’m going to go into what AI agents are… why they matter… and where I think this could all be headed (World 2.0).
Let’s get started.
What Are AI Agents?
The big breakthrough with AI right now is “natural language computing.”
Meaning, you can speak in natural language to a computer and it can go through huge data sets, make sense out of them, and speak back to you in natural language.
That alone is a huge breakthrough.
The next leg? AI agents. Where they don’t just speak back to you.
They take action.
Here’s the definition I like best: an AI agent is an autonomous system that uses tools, memory, and context to accomplish goals that require multiple steps.
Everything from simple tasks (analyzing web traffic) to more complex goals (building executive briefings or optimizing websites).
They can:
> Reason across multiple steps.
>Use tools like a real assistant (Excel spreadsheets, budgeting apps, search engines, etc.)
> Remember things.
And AI agents are not islands. They talk to other agents.
They can collaborate.
Specialized agents that excel at narrow tasks can communicate and amplify one another’s strengths—whether it’s reasoning, data processing, or real-time monitoring.
What it Looks Like
You wake up one morning, drink your coffee, and tell your AI agent, “I need to save $500 a month.”
It gets to work.
First, it finds all your recurring subscriptions. Turns out you’re paying $8.99 for a streaming service you forgot you had.
It cancels it. Then it calls your internet provider, negotiates a lower bill, and saves you another $40. Finally, it finds you car insurance that’s $200 cheaper per year.
What used to take you hours—digging through statements, talking to customer service reps on hold for an hour, comparing plans—is done while you’re scrolling Twitter.
Another example: one agent tracks your home maintenance needs and gets information from a local weather-monitoring agent. Result: "Rain forecast next week - should we schedule gutter cleaning now?"
Another: an AI agent will plan your vacations (“Book me a week in Italy for under $2,000”), find the cheapest flights, and sort out hotels with a view.
It’ll remind you to pay bills, schedule doctor’s appointments, and track expenses so you’re not wondering where your paycheck went every month.
The old world gave you tools—Excel spreadsheets, search engines, budgeting apps. The new world gives you agents who do the work for you.
Don’t Get Too Scared (or Excited) Yet
William Gibson famously said: "The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed."
AI agents will distribute it.
For decades, the tools that billionaires and corporations used to get ahead—personal assistants, financial advisors, lawyers—were out of reach for regular people.
AI agents could change that.
BUT, remember…
We’re in inning one.
AI agents have a ways to go.
They’re imperfect. They mess up. They need more defenses to get ready for prime time.
To be sure, AI is powerful, but it’s not a miracle worker. It’s great at helping humans solve problems, but it’s not going to replace all jobs overnight.
Instead of fearing AI, think of it as a tool to A.] save you time on boring stuff and B.] amplify what you’re already good at.
Right now is the BEST time to start experimenting. It’s also the best time to find investments that will “make AI work for you”.
More on that tomorrow.
