What Are AI Agents and How Can You Actually Use Them in Your Business

What Are AI Agents Introduction: A simple breakdown for business leaders on what AI agents are, how they work, and tools you can use right now to save time and boost productivity.

First, What Are AI Agents?

Think of an AI agent as a digital assistant with a job to do automatically.

Unlike a simple chatbot or prompt-based tool (like asking ChatGPT a question), an AI agent is task-driven, meaning it takes a goal and works to complete it without constant human input.

It uses rules, data, and sometimes other tools to:

Monitor for triggers (like a new lead or form submission)
Take specific actions (like sending a response or logging the info)
Keep going until the task is complete

In short: AI agents act more like employees than one-time assistants.

AI Agents in Action

1. Small Agency: Faster Client Responses

A boutique marketing firm wanted to improve their lead response time.

Before: A team member had to manually check DMs, copy info into a spreadsheet, and send a follow-up email. This often took hours or got missed entirely during launch weeks.

After setting up an AI agent using Make:

The agent detects form submissions or DMs.
It pushes the data to their CRM.
It generates a draft email with OpenAI and sends it once approved.
It tags the right person for a human follow-up.

The result: Response time dropped by 70%, and no one is stuck babysitting the inbox.

This works well for small teams managing client communications who need to protect their time while staying responsive.

2. Mid-Sized Nonprofit: Streamlining Volunteer Onboarding

A nonprofit org needed a way to onboard dozens of volunteers each quarter without overwhelming staff.

Before: Their operations lead sent manual emails, added names to lists, and double-checked availability. It took hours, and mistakes were common.

After implementing an AI agent with Zapier + Google Sheets + Gmail:

When someone signs up via their Typeform, the agent logs the info in a master sheet.
It sends a welcome email with onboarding steps.
It schedules a reminder email 48 hours before their first shift.

The result: Staff saved 8+ hours/week, and volunteers actually showed up more consistently.

Perfect for operations or program teams at nonprofits, schools, or community orgs juggling limited admin capacity.

3 Tools to Build Your First AI Agent (No Coding Required)

1. Zapier

Best for: Small teams and service providers connecting common business tools
Use it for: Lead follow-up, onboarding emails, task handoffs
Pricing: Free for up to 100 tasks/month, paid plans start at $19.99/month
Pro tip: Use “AI Actions” to embed OpenAI into your workflows—like drafting responses or generating personalized summaries.
Example: Auto-send a next-step email every time someone books a call, without touching your inbox.

🔗 Explore Zapier AI tools to know what are AI agents.

2. Make (formerly Integromat)

Best for: Organizations or tech-savvy teams building multi-step workflows

Use it for: Project tracking, automating internal processes, managing approvals

Pricing: Free plan includes 1,000 operations/month; paid plans start at $9/month

Bonus: Their drag-and-drop builder makes it easy to see the full process laid out visually.
Example: Assign tasks in ClickUp, notify in Slack, and update a report all in one flow.

🔗 Try Make’s AI modules to know what are AI agents.

3. IFTTT (If This Then That)

Best for: Solopreneurs or very small teams

Use it for: Cross-posting content, syncing calendars, setting smart reminders

Pricing: Free for basic use, Pro plans start at $3.33/month

Bonus: Connects with both business tools and smart devices.
Example: When you publish a blog post, automatically share it on LinkedIn and log the link in Notion.

🔗 Get started with IFTTT to know what are AI agents.

Why This Actually Matters for Your Team

AI agents aren’t just “cool tech.” They help you:

Reduce manual work using an AI agent to help your team work on the task you actually hired them for
→ Let your ops or marketing staff focus on growing the business, not chasing spreadsheets.
Improve response time to the task that take way longer than it needs to because someone is manually doing something repetitive
→ Skip the bottlenecks that happen when someone forgets to follow up.
Increase consistency using an AI agent to boost your branding
→ Every lead, task, or process gets the same treatment every single time.
Help lean teams act bigger by assigning an AI agent tasks that could help free up your team for other important events
→ You don’t need to hire a full department when your tools can work smarter.

Let’s be real: you didn’t hire your team to copy/paste all day. AI agents let them focus on what really matters; customer problems, business growth, and strategic work.

Ready to Build Your First AI Agent?

We’ll help you spot the best opportunities for your business and walk you through setting up a custom agent with no tech background needed. Learn what are AI agents and how you can use them to boost your business.

Visit Endless8 Marketing and Book a free strategy session!