From chasing invoices to writing reports, every business has processes that chew up man-hours every week.
This is where AI agents come into their own – providing real-world, tangible benefits that save your team time and help boost overall productivity.
If you’re new to AI, it can be tricky identifying the tasks where you can deploy an agent to speed up the process. The agent will operate within a defined workflow, accessing approved information and following specific instructions. Implementation is required – but identifying the process itself is the first step.
To help give you an idea of where an AI agent can prove useful, today we’re identifying five business processes that represent low-hanging, ripe fruit. Most businesses will be able to relate to one or more of these, but before we delve into them, let’s define what an AI agent is.
What Is an AI Agent?
An AI agent is a software tool that can complete a series of tasks across your business systems.
Unlike a chatbot that simply answers questions, an agent takes action. Reading emails, checking records, analysing data, assigning requests – the scope of what AI agents are capable of is genuinely incredible.
They can work across different platforms too, whether it’s Microsoft 365 or your accounting software, calendars and customer databases. Think of them as a digital assistant taking care of a specific process that you’ve configured them to do.
Examples of Processes AI Agents Can Take Care of
AI agents can be used for countless processes in different industries. Here are five that resonate with a lot of businesses, no matter their size.
1. Responding to Customer Enquiries
You’ve got multiple ways for customers to get in touch with your business. Website forms, emails, LinkedIn messages, Meta DMs, phone calls, voicemail. An AI agent can streamline how you handle these.
You can set your agent up to review incoming enquiries, identify what the customer needs and direct the request to the appropriate team member. You can also train it on your publicly available business data so that it can answer questions from prospects, request missing info from them, or flag and escalate urgent requests.
Customers get quicker acknowledgement and your staff can focus on the important enquiries.
Industry example: Strata management
You run a large apartment complex. One tenant reports water leaking through their ceiling. The AI agent can identify the issue as urgent and escalate it appropriately, notifying a team member and preparing a request for the complex plumber. It will then follow up to ensure someone on the team has taken ownership of the issue.
2. Invoice Processing
Invoices and payments can be labour-intensive. An invoice often goes through a few sets of hands before it’s paid: supplier details are checked, the amount is matched to a purchase order, the work is confirmed as completed, approval is requested and granted.
An AI agent can do much of the heavy lifting here. It will receive the invoice, extract key information, flag inconsistencies, and monitor due dates. It can forward it to the right approver and alert when a payment is overdue.
Although a team member still makes final decisions, the agent handles much of the preparation and follow-up.
Industry example: Construction
You run a construction company where a subcontractor submits an invoice for excavation work. Your AI agent matches it with the purchase order, but notices the invoice is higher than the approved amount. It flags the discrepancy and notifies the project manager who can investigate and approve or disapprove the discrepancy.
3. Employee or Contractor Onboarding
New employees or contractors need to be onboarded with accounts, access requirements, induction training and hardware. There’s a lot to do and it normally sits across a number of departments.
An AI agent can help streamline and coordinate everything, notifying the right people, tracking progress, helping with system access and prompting incomplete actions. It gives the team member in charge of onboarding oversight of what’s completed or outstanding, so they know where to focus their attention.
Industry example: Mining
You’re a mining corporation onboarding contractors for a site project. Your AI agent can request the relevant documents from them, check their certifications are supplied and valid and flag any incomplete mandatory requirements.
4. Appointment Management
When you’re running a busy organisation, seamless scheduling is the secret sauce that keeps the working day ticking over smoothly. Here’s the thing – it takes a lot of effort to do it right. Staff need to check calendars, suggest times, send confirmations, follow up and shift bookings to accommodate changing plans.
This is where AI agents really shine, as they handle much of that coordination work. They’ll check availability, confirm bookings, send notifications and reminders and collate all the necessary information before an appointment takes place.
Industry example: Legal services
A prospective client contacts your law firm about a property matter. The agent collects the necessary basic information, identifies the appropriate solicitor and offers available consultation times. It confirms the booking, sends appointment reminders and advises the documents the client needs to provide.
5. Report Writing
We’ve all been there – sitting at the start of the day with a massive pile of report writing to get through. You sit there gathering information from several platforms, collating it, analysing it, and compiling your report.
It’s a time-consuming process, one that an AI agent can make far more efficient. It will gather information from approved sources, identify notable patterns within it, highlight results needing attention, research authoritative sources, draft your report and help polish it once you’ve made your own adjustments.
Industry example: Hospitality
You manage a hotel group with multiple properties. Every week you compile occupancy and revenue management reports. Your AI agent flags that one property is approaching 100% capacity for an upcoming busy weekend, while a nearby sister hotel sits at 60%. You can adjust your marketing and pricing accordingly.
How to Decide Which Business Processes Suit an AI Agent
To identify processes within your own business where an AI agent can make a difference, look for tasks where:
- Staff repeatedly enter or transfer the same information.
- Requests follow predictable patterns.
- Delays happen during handovers.
- Routine decisions can follow clear rules.
- The task is taking staff away from higher-value work.
A simple automation may handle the job, in which case setting up an AI agent is overkill. Having the right guidance is crucial in determining what you need.
Start With the Right Foundations – Contact Smile IT
If your IT environment and tech stack is slightly chaotic – disorganised documents, multiple software platforms that don’t communicate with each other – the success of an AI agent will reflect that.
They thrive on accurate information, connected systems and sensible access controls. They also need clear rules around privacy, approvals and access to sensitive information. You don’t want to compromise your cybersecurity in the quest for greater efficiency.
If you want guidance in preparing your environment for AI agents and then configuring them correctly, get in touch with Smile IT. Our AI consulting team can chat about your existing systems, the processes slowing your team down and whether an agent is the right fit.
Frequently Asked Questions About AI Agents
Is an AI agent the same as a chatbot?
No – a chatbot answers questions or provides information. An AI agent is able to complete a task or series of tasks you configure it for.
Will AI agents replace employees?
AI agents will empower your employees by reducing repetitive administrative work. They’re not going to replace employees who make decisions, grow customer relationships and have specialist skills.
Can AI agents work with Microsoft 365?
Yes, AI agents can operate within the Microsoft 365 platform. What they are able to do will depend on how your systems and permissions are configured.
Are AI agents suitable for small businesses?
Yes. Small businesses can benefit when an agent reduces time spent on recurring tasks such as managing enquiries, scheduling appointments or chasing paperwork.
Is business information secure when using AI agents?
If you configure your AI agent correctly, it will only access the information it needs to complete its task. You can keep your business data safe by assigning the correct permissions and enabling activity monitoring and human oversight.
How much do AI agents cost?
Costs will vary as they depend on a number of factors. These include the AI tool used, the process being automated and how much setup is required.
