Liberating you and your business with AI: using AI agents
- Emma Walsh
- 12 minutes ago
- 3 min read
AI is transforming the way we work. But are you up to speed with how AI agents could improve and streamline your operations? We highlight 5 ways an agent can help your business.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has surged in popularity among business users over the past few years, with many small businesses now making AI a central part of their systems.
But AI isn’t just about having some machine learning capabilities hidden away in the background. There are now full fledged ‘AI agents’ on the market
But what is an AI agent? And how can adding these digital workers to your workforce help you scale, boost efficiency and become a more effective business operation?
What is an AI agent?
An AI agent is a digital entity that can carry out tasks to achieve specific operational or business goals. Unlike basic AI, which follows predefined rules, AI agents can learn, adapt and make autonomous decisions, mimicking our own problem-solving skills.
Think of your AI agent as a digital member of the team. A worker that can be entrusted with a specific task – like answering your business phone, or completing your bookkeeping.
Let’s take a look at five areas where an AI agent could be helping your business
1. Procurement and cost management
AI agents can work in the background to automate selection of suppliers, negotiate contracts, and monitor inventory levels. This helps you optimise your pricing, find the best supplier contracts and reduce your overall procurement costs.
GEP's AI agents help with supplier relationship management, automate your key procurement tasks and improve logistics, making your whole procurement process more efficient.
2. Client service and reception
Customer service AI agents are available 24/7 to provide AI-driven support, handle routine enquiries and personalise the way you interact with your customers. They can manage appointment scheduling, greet virtual visitors and route calls to the most relevant person.
HubSpot's Breeze Customer Agent can resolve routine FAQs, provide instant support and integrate with your CRM system to make those interactions seamless and personalised.
3. Sales and marketing
Sales and marketing AI agents are designed to automate your lead generation and personalise the company’s marketing campaigns. They can even analyse customer data to spot likely sales opportunities, boost conversion rates and drive up your revenue.
Salesforce's Agentforce can streamline your marketing operations in a number of different ways. Agentforce crafts campaign briefs, breaks down target audience segments and even generates initial drafts of marketing emails.
4. Finance and accounting
Finance-focused AI agents can automate many of your basic bookkeeping tasks, including invoice processing, expense tracking and bank reconciliation. This is great for reducing human errors and giving time back to your finance team. They can also generate cashflow reports, assist with budgeting and improve your overall financial management.
AppZen’s agent can automate manual accounts payable processes, optimise your financial decision-making and predict potential cashflow issues. It integrates with your existing financial systems to give you a completely transparent view of your financial health.
5. HR and people management
AI agents can automate many of your basic human resources (HR) tasks. This can include onboarding new starters, training staff, processing payroll and benefits, and answering HR queries. This gives time back to your HR team to focus on higher value tasks.
Leena AI provides an AI-powered virtual assistant that’s a central point of contact for employees. It can quickly answer HR-related questions, reducing the burden on your HR team.
Talk to us about making AI agents part of your business
Want to make the most of AI, but don’t know where to start? In this series, we’ll run you through the basics of AI, the main terms and the AI tools and agents that can transform your business.
And if you’re hungry to know more, why not talk to our team about the AI agents and AI-driven apps that would be most appropriate for your industry, niche or business type.
For advice about Accounting, Probate Law and Taxation; call our team
on 0203 488 7503, 01992 236 110 or contact us by email at
or via our website www.walshwestcca.com
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