Why Top Performing Teams Use AI Workflow Automation and How You Can Do the Same

“In the event you construct it, they’ll come” labored effectively in “Subject of Goals.” However, like a variety of entrepreneurs, I took a extra cautious (but nonetheless curious) method towards AI integration.

When ChatGPT first hit the scene, it was thrilling to see all the thrill however it left me hungry for extra:

• What’s AI truly good for?
• How does it work in a enterprise atmosphere?
• And might it save me time, or am I going to rewrite completely all the things it produces?

Effectively, like 75% of entrepreneurs, I consider AI will become a workplace staple within the subsequent couple of years. And that can have lots to do with how AI-powered instruments assist us automate our day by day work.

Let’s discover the concept of AI workflow automation and the way entrepreneurs stand to achieve their time and lives again from repetition.

Desk of Contents

We’re now seeing agentic AI emerge as a dialogue level in firm boardrooms. As a substitute of making one thing as generative AI does, agentic AI accomplishes particular duties autonomously.

You’ll see these subtypes as you discover workflow automation. Every has its makes use of, and so they sometimes work collectively to automate workflows. However know that they’re designed for barely completely different use instances and pay attention to it in your planning.

AI is poised to assist entrepreneurs automate vital chunks of their workflows. And entrepreneurs are beginning to embrace it: Our analysis exhibits that 64% of marketers use AI in some kind at work. But, solely 21% have built-in AI extensively into their workflows. There’s room for progress.

So, why do I believe you must be a part of the highest 21% of AI-powered entrepreneurs?

Saved Time

Our analysis lately discovered that marketers using AI save a mean of 12.5 hours per week. That’s practically 26 working days per yr. What might your group do with an additional month?

Timesaving advantages fluctuate relying on the place you incorporate AI into your processes. As an illustration, utilizing AI to automate components of content material manufacturing can prevent time drafting and modifying — typically essentially the most time-consuming items of the method.

I’ll focus on setting targets and goals of AI workflow automation later, however know that it’s necessary to establish time-consuming duties earlier than you combine AI considerably into your course of.

Efficient Knowledge-Pushed Choices

Knowledge is drowning entrepreneurs. Amid oceans of data, what knowledge issues to your group? And how will you use it to plan your subsequent strikes?

I believe a key to conducting effective marketing is to search out which knowledge is most related to your wants and perceive tips on how to deploy it. AI is very attuned to ingest knowledge from the numerous sources in your group’s workflow, analyze it for patterns, and ship actionable insights to make issues occur.

Concentrating on and buyer expertise personalization are ripe fields for AI disruption.

Think about AI dealing with person knowledge assortment, course of, and perception technology. You obtain an inventory of “right here’s what to do subsequent” and might develop and execute campaigns to match.

Actual-world instance: Yum Manufacturers (which owns KFC and Pizza Hut, amongst different fast-food stops) is seeing double-digit increases in consumer engagement and extra purchases with AI-driven advertising selections.

Scalability

Calls for on entrepreneurs’ time and power are hovering — I do know I really feel it, and I’m positive you do too. Current surveys discovered that over 60% of marketers feel overwhelmed by what their jobs ask of them.

Entrepreneurs might at all times use an additional pair of fingers — and that’s now began to incorporate AI fingers.

Entrepreneurs can use AI to automate repetitive or predictable duties like knowledge assortment and evaluation or social media put up drafting. Or, AI can use all that knowledge it analyzes to routinely personalize outbound messages, serving to you attain individuals extra successfully with out guide effort.

AI doesn’t change the human marketer (I’ll add extra on that later), however it does assist us do extra — even when your marketing budget is stagnating.

All through my exploration of AI workflow automation, you’ll hear from fractional CMO Tim Hickle. He’s invested considerably in understanding AI’s function in advertising for firms of many sizes and constructions, and he shared a variety of nice perception with me.

Staff Wants and Ache Factors

What’s truly bogging down your group? What duties frustrate them or suck away their time from the higher-level, strategic work you want completed?

Answering these questions takes quantitative and qualitative knowledge. Sit down and ask your group what they really feel eats at their time. Their responses received’t be precisely the identical, however you’re more likely to see patterns emerge. From these patterns, you may outline the workflow steps prepared for automation.

As an illustration, once we first explored AI integration, I sat with my content material group to listen to about their struggles. Every had their very own curiosity, want, and want for AI, however gadgets like repurposing our long-form work for social media distribution felt time-consuming and irritating. We might then kind a speculation that AI integration might assist us automate that course of.

Professional tip: It’s additionally good to offer your self a couple of numbers to assist — particularly in the event you want govt buy-in. Have your individuals time-block their calendars or monitor utilizing a particular hours-tracking device (challenge administration instruments like Monday have these options built-in). See if their emotions match their precise time spent. You possibly can then quantify the impression AI instruments might need in your group’s time and productiveness.

Your Tech Infrastructure

Earlier than you commit {dollars} to new AI instruments, perceive what programs you’re working now. It’s essential to understand how your present collection of digital programs and instruments (aka, your tech stack) can help AI integration.

For instance, like many entrepreneurs, I cope with a variety of unstructured data in my workday. Emails, telephone calls, conferences, social media feedback, that random Powerpoint my coworker despatched me a month in the past — it’s all info I have to do my job, however it’s scattered throughout a number of platforms. For me to profit from automated workflows, I need to perceive which of those instruments have an effect on my challenges essentially the most.

Relying in your group’s wants, examine your present instruments like:

• Buyer relationship administration (CRM) platforms (e.g., Salesforce or HubSpot)
• Content material administration programs (CMS) like WordPress or Notion
• Advert and analytics platforms like GA4 or Tableau

Professional tip: I’ll share extra about our AI instruments later, however relying on the extent to which you’ve built-in HubSpot into your programs, you might need entry to a bunch of inner AI instruments and assets already. Both manner, examine your tech stack for capabilities and integration factors.

Price range

Many AI instruments are priced moderately to fulfill the wants of small or medium-sized companies. Smaller advertising groups may get away with a couple of lower-cost AI instruments with out raiding the finances.

Profitable AI workflow automation ought to ultimately scale — inside and out of doors your group. Chances are you’ll not want a big finances now, however profitable integration will seemingly price you way more down the street. That’s not a foul factor — it means you discovered one thing helpful.

Professional tip: I’ll speak later about pilot testing, however begin small and low-cost whereas focusing extra on measuring return on funding and enchancment to your group’s ache factors. Profitable pilots and knowledge will assist equip you to advocate for bigger budgetary wants.

Inner Information Structure

Whereas choosing the right instruments to your group definitely issues, once I talked to Hickle he raised an attention-grabbing level about making ready your info for AI integration, and the way that may make or break your workflow automation makes an attempt.

“Most advertising leaders are asking the fallacious query. They’re obsessing over which LLM to decide on — Claude, ChatGPT, or Jasper — when they need to be laser-focused on constructing their inner data structure,” says Hickle.

“The selection between AI fashions may prevent 10% of your time, however a well-structured data administration system can 10x your outputs. The true aggressive benefit isn‘t through which AI you employ — it’s in the way you arrange and leverage your organization’s distinctive mental capital.”

Professional tip: Amid planning to unravel your group’s wants, overview the way you’re storing info. The place does your helpful knowledge reside, and might your AI instruments entry and use it to assist your group?

Knowledge Administration Technique

Together with the way you architect your info, Hickle additionally notes you want a robust plan about managing the particular items of knowledge you propose to make use of in AI integration.

“The muse of efficient AI automation isn‘t the LLMs — it’s your knowledge administration technique,” he says. “Advertising groups want to consider their inner knowledge like Lego blocks: discrete, well-organized databases of high-quality info that can be utilized to coach narrowly-focused AI fashions. With out this basis, you are constructing on sand.”

You may’ve run into the concept of data hygiene earlier than. Primarily, it’s cleansing up rubbish knowledge out of your info system and guaranteeing AI will get the good things wanted to make good selections.

Professional suggestions:

• Run a knowledge audit to wash previous, outdated knowledge earlier than you embrace AI in your course of.
• Develop SOPs and procedures so individuals know what to make use of AI for — and what knowledge not to offer it. Like greater than three-quarters of employees, entrepreneurs are nonetheless considerably confused about utilizing AI at work.
• Create a construction, rationalization, and approval course of to offer your individuals extra help of their decision-making.

The Human Contact

Central to wholesome AI deployment is the human you’re serving to. There’s nonetheless lots we’re studying about AI and the way it matches into advertising workflows. Groups can’t go away behind the individuals facet.

Whereas AI presents a lot potential, don’t rely too closely on it. HubSpot’s newest State of AI report discovered that 62% of entrepreneurs agree that they need to use AI — however not use it an excessive amount of.

How a lot is an excessive amount of? I’d say that reply depends upon what workflows you’re automating.

As an illustration, in the event you’re automating content material creation, it’s oh-so-tempting to let the bot fill within the blinking cursor amid a bout of author’s block. However, the writing course of helps refine your model voice, establish concepts to research additional, and share your distinctive stance with the world. That, and also you don’t need to let AI hallucinations slip via your content material overview unseen.

Hickle has seen that firsthand along with his advertising shoppers.

“The true energy of AI in advertising isn‘t in changing human creativity — it’s in amplifying it via structured suggestions loops,” he mentioned. “By coaching AI fashions on rigorously curated buyer interactions and advertising outcomes, we‘ve remodeled every bit of content material into a chance for automated focus teams. This isn’t about amount over high quality; it is about utilizing AI as a high quality multiplier whereas sustaining human oversight for strategic route.”

Professional tip: Stock how your group makes use of their time and spot the most important mismatches between effort and reward. Perhaps there’s excessive worth in writing long-form content material your self, however reworking it into snippets for 5 social media platforms bogs down your individuals. AI ought to assist your individuals, not change them.

Use your group’s wants and ache factors to determine what you need to automate and the way you’ll get it completed. Body your targets like some other enterprise objective (I just like the SMART format) and be extra particular about answering questions like:

• Which duties are too repetitive and eat too many assets?
• The place are we getting caught in execution?
• What selections might use a lift from AI?

Additionally, set particular standards for fulfillment, together with measurement requirements. Are you attempting to save lots of hours spent on these duties? The variety of instances you contact that process manually? What bigger enterprise goals or priorities can this course of help? Set benchmark knowledge primarily based on the place you at the moment are — that’ll do wonders to your future.

You may not have each element at this stage, however higher particulars result in higher outcomes. From there, you may establish the repeatable processes prepared for AI integration.

2. Analysis AI instruments.

I’ve included choices in a while, however your targets and goals ought to drive your search. You’ve additionally reviewed your tech stack and know what integrations work with them. So, it’s a matter of discovering the correct instruments to fulfill your wants and enterprise actuality.

Once I’m taking a look at AI instruments, I overview factors past integrating with my tech stack, together with:

• Knowledge administration insurance policies. How is the seller defending me and my firm’s knowledge? Are they compliant with rules like GDPR or SOC 2?
• Ease of use. How shortly can I rise up to hurry utilizing the product? Does the person expertise make sense to me? And might I shortly prepare one other particular person to make use of it, too?
• Assist. Have they got a strong data base for fast questions? Does the help system rely solely on chatbots, or can I get to a human? Does that price me additional?
• Stability. Many AI distributors have solely lately entered the market. I’ll select the device that finest helps my wants, however it’s good to know if the seller has legs underneath them. I verify Crunchbase for funding profiles and seek for case research and feedback on locations like G2 or Reddit.

Professional tip: Run a couple of free trials or overview product demos to visualise the way you’ll use every device. A full workflow automation may require 3-5 separate AI instruments, relying in your wants, tech stack, and data structure. Test how a lot it’ll price to run all these instruments — and see if these new instruments play good with each other.

3. Practice your group.

A device is barely pretty much as good because the particular person wielding it. And roughly two-thirds of entrepreneurs say {that a} lack of education and training is the biggest barrier to AI adoption. Ideally, your AI instruments embrace coaching supplies, product walkthroughs, and demo movies. Share these together with your group and stroll via an important components collectively.

It’s additionally good to incorporate smaller coaching tidbits all through your common group conferences. A part of AI integration is making it really feel proper, like this device has been wanted all alongside. A complicated or misplaced AI useful resource will throw that feeling out of steadiness.

Professional tip: Ask for normal suggestions from group members and hear rigorously to their responses. Whereas individuals are normally prepared to offer it a go, continued frustration with AI instruments will stop you from getting the adoption you should scale your automations.

4. Construct a focused pilot challenge.

Begin your AI journey with a tightly managed pilot. At this stage, draw a map displaying every step in part of a workflow you need to automate. Put together for fulfillment, however get able to be taught from failure.

As an illustration, when ChatGPT launched its public fashions in late 2022, my content material group noticed nice potential in incorporating the device into our workflow. Particularly, we wished to make use of GPT 3.5 to repurpose our long-form content material into shorter items we might share with shoppers to make use of on their social media platforms.

We mapped the steps on this course of:

We executed this course of for 2-3 months. It failed spectacularly.

Why?

1. On the time, GPT’s output wasn’t outstanding, and our shoppers demanded outstanding. We hadn’t correctly assessed the necessity.
2. We spent far an excessive amount of effort and time tinkering with the output; it might’ve been a lot quicker to repurpose the content material ourselves. We noticed no time profit.

So, our pilot failed.

However, GPT did assist us brainstorm higher concepts on the leap and prep for shopper interviews. We realized and tailored to make use of the instruments the place we actually wanted them. Deliver that mindset into pilot testing.

5. Combine AI into day by day workflows.

It might take a couple of small pilot checks earlier than you discover the correct mixture of workflow steps, instruments, assets, and coaching to make it work. When you do get it, doc it.

Professional tip: Draw a diagram or map of the steps in your workflow so you may see how automation flows and the way every step relates again to your targets and goals. From there, encourage your group to repeatedly interact your chosen AI instruments. Observe will breed habits, and it’ll show you how to iron out any nagging challenges or hiccups.

Be a supply of consistency together with your group as they be taught to make use of AI each day. That’s why you took time to create SOPs, insurance policies, and data architectures.

6. Measure success standards.

Continued success with AI workflow automation comes with measurement. Bear in mind while you set your targets and goals? Evaluate your benchmarks to the place you find yourself. Frequently monitor numerical knowledge over time, comparable to hours saved or content material items produced per week.

You’ll need to hold refining your processes, too. Knowledge can let you know the place a device isn’t performing effectively or the place eddies are swirling round within the workflow river.

Professional tip: Pay shut consideration to your knowledge and your group’s suggestions throughout this tinkering stage (normally 3-6 months after day by day implementation). You’ll see traits emerge and know tips on how to tackle them as you’re employed towards full scalability.

And, whilst you can automate many workflows, most entrepreneurs are centered on utilizing AI to create, optimize, and distribute content. These instruments may also help you try this (and different issues) at scale.

Related articles

Anthropic Launches the World’s First ‘Hybrid Reasoning’ AI Model

What’s Next for Creators? [Expert Insights]

1. HubSpot Breeze AI

Breeze is designed to function throughout the complete HubSpot suite. In the event you’re working your total buyer expertise via HubSpot instruments, you may take full benefit of Breeze and amplify its effectiveness.

Breeze presents the same old chatbot-style AI assistant, utilizing your HubSpot knowledge to generate insights. You additionally get agentic AI (in beta) to routinely deal with prospecting, content material technology, social media, and customer support.

What I like: The mixing into the programs I’m already utilizing. Having AI proper at my fingertips with out leaving the HubSpot platform makes it a lot simpler to persuade group members to make use of AI day by day.

Greatest for: Firms utilizing HubSpot to run and automate some or all of their buyer journeys.

Pricing: HubSpot features a fundamental degree of Breeze AI, together with Breeze Copilot, without spending a dime throughout the HubSpot platform. Numerous superior AI options, like our beta brokers, unlock with completely different paid plans.

2. Descript

Video is an extremely highly effective advertising device. However boy, does it take a lot effort and time to arrange. Small advertising groups may really feel particularly pressured to “do video” with, shall we embrace, “restricted time and finances.”

With Descript, you should use AI to:

• Routinely transcribe audio and video recordings.
• Take away background noise and enhance recording high quality.
• Take away filler phrases like “um.”
• Insert AI voices educated on a bunch of voice knowledge.
• Appropriate misspoken phrases with an AI-generated overdub.
• Write episode titles and present notes.
• Select and prep social clips.

Primarily, it’s an AI video editor in a field.

What I like: The text-to-video modifying device. Particularly as somebody who doesn’t need to take heed to his personal voice all day, I like modifying by way of the transcript. You possibly can reduce, shift, and paste video similar to a Phrase doc.

Greatest for: Small to medium-sized advertising groups who have to deal with podcast and YouTube video modifying for his or her groups and management.

Pricing: Simply leap to the Creator plan at $24/month (billed yearly). It’s chock stuffed with helpful assets at an affordable value.

3. Lately AI

I educate social media advertising, and I can let you know — it’s a jungle on the market. Widespread platforms change their algorithms with out warning. Others wrestle to remain operational as of late (taking a look at you, TikTok). As such, it’s powerful for entrepreneurs to maintain tempo with social media calls for.

Currently AI reduces that demand by automating the social media content material technology and distribution processes. It’ll ingest your organization knowledge and content material (e.g., blogs, movies, podcasts) and produce good social posts. Automated calendaring capabilities establish the correct time and schedule content material for you. And, you get complete marketing campaign and put up analytics to find out the best methods.

Source

What I like: The content material calendar automation element saves a variety of time. The AI factors out impactful phrases from long-form content material that can assist you create higher social posts and places them proper into the calendar. Plus, I like the way it appears to be like. Don’t take aesthetics and good UI/UX without any consideration.

Greatest for: Companies and companies managing heavy quantities of social media content material manufacturing and distribution.

Pricing: Currently has a Starter package deal for people, however I’d solely use Currently in the event you’re at a rising enterprise or company. Purchase the Development package deal at $199/month (billed yearly). That’s the place you unlock AI-automated calendaring, voice mannequin modifying, and efficiency analytics.

4. Notion

I take advantage of Notion to deal with content material methods, plans, calendars, and content material itself. It’s additionally extremely helpful as a repository for firm data and knowledge, as Hickle factors out.

“Personally, essentially the most invaluable device I’ve discovered for incorporating AI into automation is Notion,” he mentioned. “The open API makes it simple to tug knowledge from and I can use ChatGPT to show any Notion database right into a helpful chatbot, purpose-built for what I would like.”

Notion can also be nice for doc automation and group collaboration. The file construction can take some apply to excellent. However, Notion comes with a ton of inner capabilities and exterior connectors to suit into any tech stack.

What I like: Notion’s built-in AI bot is very helpful while you feed it inner databases and content material. Whereas I wouldn’t name it the strongest AI author, it will possibly summarize paperwork effectively and develop insights utilizing a number of Notion pages, supplying you with insights personalised to your organization.

Greatest for: Content material entrepreneurs and advertising ops specialists who’re planning methods, executing techniques, and analyzing knowledge.

Pricing: You can begin a Notion area without spending a dime, however significant options actually solely come round at $10-15/seat/month (billed yearly). Notion AI is an additional $8/seat/month (billed yearly).

5. Customized GPTs with ChatGPT

Regardless of ChatGPT having a couple of years underneath its belt, most individuals have but to learn to construct effective prompts and use ChatGPT’s full potential.

As Hickle famous, ChatGPT can ingest person knowledge and construct helpful instruments like chatbots. I take advantage of the Customized GPT perform to construct consulting instruments, like a request-price-quote (RPQ) calculator primarily based on my firm’s capabilities and pricing knowledge.

The Customized GPT pane allows you to tinker with directions, add knowledge sources, and activate capabilities to remodel knowledge. You can too add actions, which lets your GPT function outdoors of ChatGPT (like Hickle’s chatbot idea). Plus, with the newly released “tasks” performance, GPT is transferring into agentic AI with process scheduling capabilities.

What I like: The management over how my GPT operates. There’s a lot I can add, change, and regulate to get it to work how I need it.

Greatest for: Advertising groups of assorted sizes seeking to scale content material manufacturing and administration, deal with documentation and knowledge evaluation, or leverage AI insights to enhance their campaigns.

Pricing: Discover the Staff choice, which grants you entry to Customized GPTs and extra options. That’ll be $25-30/seat/month (billed yearly). Or, in the event you’re a group of 1, get Plus for $20/month.