Field Notes
What Agentic Work Actually Does for a Small Business (And Where I Still Drive)
Short answer: agentic assisted research and deployment does the collecting, checking and building. I stay in the driver's seat the whole way.
This is actually how I started this company. AI had just gone mainstream, and I needed to learn it. So I thought, why not learn, document, create a business and see where I can take it with my imagination and some new tools. I know that sounds like another bandwagon junkie. It's not. This is how I transform businesses, small or enterprise. Same formula.
WHAT IT DOES IN A NORMAL WEEK
The agentic side runs everything I want in front of me daily or weekly. Follow-ups, daily activity, and especially builds of systems. As they say, the days of prompting are gone. Everything runs in a managed loop. So now, more than ever, knowing how to build a team and lead one matters most.
WHAT IT CAUGHT ON MY OWN SITE
Bad info. Missing info. Inconsistencies across pages. Dead links. All sorts of things that got overlooked.
WHERE IT GOT IT WRONG
When I wasn't specific enough, it guessed, and it posted to the site. I have guardrails to prevent that now. That was my dev phase, learning how much I can really trust agentic processes. To me, this is the perfect tool for a mechanic and an engineer. I can make and design anything.
WHERE MY JUDGMENT STAYS
Along the entire path. The agents collect and analyze the data. I review it. I turned the reports into graphical views for quicker review, because I'm a very visual person. Designs, patterns and colors are what make sense to me.
WHY I STILL TAKE ONLY 3 CLIENTS
For true bespoke work, I have to be involved and guiding the path. Agents are designed to hit the mean. My ability and knowledge drive them. Yes, they learn from me. But when today it's "agentify everything," you need the personal touch.
DOES AI MEAN NO HUMAN IS CHECKING?
No. When people hear AI, they think, no worries, I know what I'm doing. Search for the most common problems with AI in the enterprise. Even they aren't immune. Your business isn't any different. That's the key. This is how small businesses can level the playing field in the agentic era.
IF YOU'RE DOING IT YOURSELF, START HERE
First, look at the plugins or skills you're given. Do they match your process, your ideas, your way? This is where you get to design how you want to work with YOUR system.
If you want a second set of eyes on yours, that's what the 15-minute call is for. In person around Philadelphia or remote, your call. You leave with a short written plan of attack.