- By hand
- Export, copy, paste, fix the formatting, then repeat in the next tool.
- With AI
- An agent keeps your tools in sync and flags anything that doesn’t match.
The Manual Work Map
The manual work AI can take off your team.
Every team loses hours each week to the same kind of work: moving data between tools, building reports, writing up meetings and chasing people for updates. We’ve mapped 51 of these tasks, sorted by type of work and by team, with the AI system that handles each one.
- tasks mappedwith an AI system for each
- 51
- types of workfrom data entry to handoffs
- 9
- teamsfrom Marketing to Leadership
- 7
- back each weekper sales rep, at one client
- 13 hrs
// The full map
51 tasks your team does by hand. An AI system for each.
Jump to a type of work, filter by team, or open any card to see the AI system behind it. Tick the ones your team does and we’ll suggest where to start.
Moving data around
The copy, paste and re-type work that sits between your tools.
6 tasks
Tax filing data, per batch
6–7 hrs1 hr
From an AI system we’ve built
- By hand
- Reps type up every call and email into the CRM, or skip it.
- With AI
- The agent reads the call and the thread, then fills in the fields for you.
- By hand
- Someone reads each document and types the numbers into a sheet.
- With AI
- The agent reads each file and turns it into clean rows.
- By hand
- Hours of sorting and filtering, and spotting the same company spelled three ways.
- With AI
- The agent standardizes names, merges duplicates and fills the gaps.
- By hand
- Files saved as “final_v3” in whichever folder was open.
- With AI
- The agent names each file and puts it in the right place.
- By hand
- Receipts, orders and hours re-typed into the system by hand.
- With AI
- The agent reads the receipt or order and enters it for approval.
Reporting and updates
The numbers everyone needs, rebuilt by hand every week.
6 tasks
Quarterly management report
6 hrs45 min
From an AI system we’ve built
- By hand
- Pull the numbers, paste them in, format the slides, write the summary.
- With AI
- The agent builds the report and writes a first summary.
- By hand
- Five tabs open and the numbers copied into one sheet.
- With AI
- One view that updates itself from every source.
- By hand
- Someone digs through the data to explain the dip before the meeting.
- With AI
- The agent spots the biggest changes and drafts the likely reasons.
- By hand
- Every team lead writes the same kind of update from scratch each week.
- With AI
- The agent drafts each update from the work already logged.
- By hand
- Days of collecting slides, numbers and commentary from every team.
- With AI
- The agent assembles the deck and drafts the commentary.
- By hand
- Matching transactions line by line across bank, ledger and invoices.
- With AI
- The agent matches what it can and lists what needs a look.
Meetings
Everything before and after the call that nobody budgets time for.
5 tasks
Notes and actions after a meeting
30 min5 min
Typical time
- By hand
- Five emails to find one slot that works for everyone.
- With AI
- The agent finds the slot, sends the invite and handles changes.
- By hand
- Ten minutes of scrambling through emails and LinkedIn before each call.
- With AI
- A one-page brief on who they are and what changed, before every call.
- By hand
- Someone types notes while trying to listen.
- With AI
- The agent turns the recording into notes, decisions and owners.
- By hand
- The follow-up waits until the end of the day, or the next one.
- With AI
- A draft follow-up is waiting before you leave the call.
- By hand
- Actions agreed in the call never make it into the tracker.
- With AI
- The agent creates the tasks and updates the records.
Inbox and internal messages
The questions, requests and threads that fill the gaps between real work.
5 tasks
Morning catch-up across email, Slack, calendar and CRM
30–60 min51 sec
From an AI system we’ve built
- By hand
- The first hour of the day spent deciding what matters.
- With AI
- The agent sorts, labels and summarizes what needs you.
- By hand
- The same ten questions, answered by hand every week.
- With AI
- The agent answers from your own docs and flags the new ones.
- By hand
- Requests bounce around until someone owns them.
- With AI
- The agent reads each request and sends it to the right owner.
- By hand
- Scrolling back through 200 messages after a day of meetings.
- With AI
- A short catch-up of what was decided and what needs you.
- By hand
- The same kind of reply written from scratch, many times a day.
- With AI
- A draft in your tone is ready for every routine email.
Research and monitoring
Reading, searching and summarizing, so someone can make a call.
6 tasks
Monitoring stock-exchange filings
90%less effort
From an AI system we’ve built
- By hand
- Half an hour per company across websites, LinkedIn and news.
- With AI
- The agent builds a profile and finds the right people to contact.
- By hand
- Checked now and then, usually after a deal is lost.
- With AI
- The agent watches competitors and reports what changed each week.
- By hand
- Newsletters and alerts pile up unread.
- With AI
- A daily digest of only what matters to your business.
- By hand
- A 60-page report sits on the “to read” list.
- With AI
- A one-page summary with the points that matter to you.
- By hand
- Days of demos, websites and pricing spreadsheets.
- With AI
- The agent builds the comparison against your requirements.
- By hand
- Hundreds of comments, read once and forgotten.
- With AI
- The agent groups the feedback into themes, with real quotes.
Writing and content
First drafts and rewrites that start from a blank page every time.
6 tasks
A tailored client proposal
3–4 hrs10 min
From an AI system we’ve built
- By hand
- Every piece starts from a blank page.
- With AI
- A first draft in your voice, from a short brief.
- By hand
- One webinar, rewritten by hand into posts, emails and clips.
- With AI
- The agent turns one piece into posts, emails and short scripts.
- By hand
- Hours spent adapting the last proposal for the next client.
- With AI
- A tailored proposal from the client’s details and your past work.
- By hand
- Copying names, dates and terms into the same templates.
- With AI
- The agent fills the template from the record and flags any gaps.
- By hand
- The process lives in one person’s head.
- With AI
- The agent turns a recorded walkthrough into a written SOP.
- By hand
- Agencies, back-and-forth and weeks of waiting.
- With AI
- Drafts for each market, in the right language and tone.
Following up and chasing
The reminders and nudges that only happen when someone remembers.
5 tasks
Chasing overdue invoices, per week
4 hrs30 min
Typical time
- By hand
- Work stalls while someone waits for a yes.
- With AI
- The agent sends reminders and escalates when things stall.
- By hand
- A spreadsheet of who owes what, and awkward emails.
- With AI
- The agent sends the right reminder at the right time.
- By hand
- Leads go cold because nobody had time to follow up.
- With AI
- The agent drafts a relevant follow-up when a lead goes quiet.
- By hand
- Rounds of emails asking for the same missing file.
- With AI
- The agent tracks what’s missing and asks for it.
- By hand
- Status meetings that exist mainly to ask what’s late.
- With AI
- The agent nudges owners and lists what’s slipping.
Checking and reviewing
The careful second look that takes up senior people’s time.
6 tasks
Hiring, from screening to final interview
50%less time
From an AI system we’ve built
- By hand
- A senior person reads every piece line by line.
- With AI
- The agent checks every piece against your rules first.
- By hand
- Every contract read in full, looking for the risky clauses.
- With AI
- The agent highlights the clauses that need a closer look.
- By hand
- Every claim checked by hand against the policy.
- With AI
- The agent checks each claim and flags the exceptions.
- By hand
- Typos and wrong numbers caught after it’s published.
- With AI
- The agent checks spelling, facts and numbers against your sources.
- By hand
- Hundreds of résumés skimmed in a few seconds each.
- With AI
- The agent scores each résumé against the role and explains why.
- By hand
- Errors found in the board meeting instead of before it.
- With AI
- The agent checks new data for gaps, outliers and duplicates.
Handoffs and onboarding
The context that gets lost every time work changes hands.
6 tasks
Finding an answer in old docs
20 min30 sec
Typical time
- By hand
- Welcome emails, forms, kickoff decks and setup, done by hand each time.
- With AI
- The agent runs the onboarding steps and keeps everyone updated.
- By hand
- Accounts, documents and first-week plans arranged by hand.
- With AI
- The agent sets up the first week and answers new-joiner questions.
- By hand
- Someone reads each form and creates the tasks by hand.
- With AI
- The agent reads the form and creates the right tasks.
- By hand
- The client explains everything again to a new team.
- With AI
- The agent writes the handoff brief from every call and email.
- By hand
- Twenty minutes of searching, then asking a colleague.
- With AI
- Ask a question, get the answer with its source.
- By hand
- The wiki was last updated by someone who has since left.
- With AI
- The agent suggests updates when a process changes.
No tasks match that search.
“From an AI system we’ve built” figures are reported by the people who use those systems, at our clients and in our own team. “Typical time” figures are estimates for a mid-sized team; yours will depend on your tools and volume.
0 tasks your team does by hand
// How the AI systems work
Every AI system follows the same five steps.
Something starts it. The AI reads from the tools you already use and does the work. Then a person on your team checks it before anything goes out.
Click an example to see its AI system, step by step
Building the weekly or monthly report
- When it runsEvery Monday at 8 am
- Reads fromAds, CRM, analytics, finance sheets
- AI doesPulls the numbers, builds the report, drafts the summary
- You checkThe owner reviews and edits the summary
- ResultThe report is in inboxes before the meeting
The step that never goes away: a person approves before anything reaches a client, a candidate or your books.
// Where to start
Three ways to take this work off your team.
You can start using AI on your own today. The bigger gains come when the AI is connected to your tools and runs every time the work comes up.
01
Use a prompt
One person · today
- Paste the work into ChatGPT or Claude with a clear prompt
- Good for one-off tasks and first drafts
- Someone still has to start it every time
02
Connect AI to your tools
One team · in a week or two
- The AI reads from the tools you already use
- Runs on a schedule or when something happens
- A person approves before anything goes out
03
Build AI systems
Every team · first results in 30 days
- 5–7 AI workflows live per team in the first 30 days
- Your team trained to run and improve them
- Time saved measured against where you started
// Book a Strategy Call
Bring your list. We’ll map your first AI systems.
In 30 minutes with our founder, we’ll go through the manual work your team does and pick the AI systems that would save the most time first.