What can an AI assistant take off a small team’s admin?
An AI assistant can take repeat admin such as lookups, lists, first drafts and weekly checks, while money and people decisions stay with you.
An AI assistant for small business owners works best on repeat admin that has a clear answer. That covers lookups, rounded-up lists, first drafts and weekly checks. Money decisions, staff decisions and anything sent in your name should stay with a person.
The Australian Government’s business.gov.au says AI can take care of a lot of routine business tasks. Its list includes data entry, scheduling appointments, spreadsheet formulas, project management, quotes, invoices and accounting. That is a general list, not what any one product does. The rest of this post sorts admin by how much a person should stay involved, and explains why sending invoices stays with a person.
What admin can an AI assistant take off a small team?
It can take four kinds of admin: lookups, rounding up, first drafts and scheduled checks. Each one has an input the assistant can read and an output a person can check quickly.
- Lookups. Find a record, a name or a status in a tool the team already uses.
- Rounding up. Pull a list together from one place, such as the contacts in your CRM or the timesheets waiting for a manager.
- First drafts. Write the first version of a note, a summary or a message, which a person then edits.
- Scheduled checks. Run the same check at the same time each week and post what it finds.
In each case the assistant reads something, and a person decides what to do with it. The business.gov.au page also points out that many tools you already use probably have AI features, so start by looking there.
Which admin should stay with a person?
Keep anything that moves money, affects a person’s job or goes out under your name. An assistant can prepare the material, but a person makes the call. An invoice that goes out under your name is a good example.
The same business.gov.au page is direct on this point. Your business is responsible for everything your AI tools do. It suggests making someone senior accountable for the risks of AI. It also warns that an AI summary may not be fully accurate. Check it against a trustworthy source before you rely on it.
| Kind of admin | Good fit for AI? | Who checks it | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Look up a record | Yes | The person who asked | Find a customer’s status in the CRM |
| Round up a list from one tool | Yes | The person who asked | List timesheets still waiting on a manager |
| First draft of a note or message | Yes, as a draft | The person who finalises it | Draft a meeting summary |
| Weekly check on a schedule | Yes, once the first result is right | The owner of the job | A Monday brief of what is on this week |
| Approve or pay | No, keep with a person | An authorised person | Paying a supplier invoice |
| Decide on a person | No, keep with a person | A manager | Hiring, rostering disputes, pay changes |
How do you pick the first job to hand over?
Pick one small job that reads information instead of changing it, and where you already know what a good answer looks like. The business.gov.au page suggests starting by trialling AI in 1 or 2 areas of your business.
- Write down the jobs your team repeats each week, with who does each one.
- Cross out anything that moves money or affects a person’s job.
- From what is left, pick a job that reads information and does not change it.
- Choose one where you can check the answer against something you already know.
- Give it one clear owner, and ask that person to check the first few results.
- Add a schedule only when the results are right, and review it every month or so.
If a job fails the check in step 4, leave it alone for now. A job nobody can verify is a poor first choice, however dull it is to do by hand.
Chat assistant or AI coworker: what is the difference for admin?
A chat assistant answers what you type into its own window. An AI coworker works inside the chat app your team already uses and can reach the tools you connect.
For admin, four differences matter in practice.
| Chat assistant | AI coworker | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it works | In its own window or app | In your team chat, such as Slack or Microsoft Teams |
| What it can reach | Usually what you paste in or upload | The tools you connect |
| Who sees the result | The person who asked | The team, in the thread |
| Repeat jobs | Usually you ask again each time | Can run on a schedule |
A chat assistant is still the right pick for one person drafting their own email. A human virtual assistant suits work that needs phone calls, judgement or a relationship. Our guide to what an AI employee is goes further on how the labels differ.
What does this look like in Slack or Microsoft Teams?
You ask in a thread, and the result comes back in the same thread for the team to check. Toby is our AI coworker for this kind of work. It lives in Slack or Microsoft Teams and connects to the tools a team already pays for. It works the same way in both.
You message Toby in plain English, or mention it in a thread. It breaks the request into steps, uses the tools you connected and posts the result in the thread. You choose which channels it can see during setup. You can also give it a schedule, and it runs a job such as a morning brief or a weekly report without being asked again.
In three tools, these are the jobs Toby handles.
- Xero. Toby reads invoices and bank transactions.
- HubSpot. Toby reads contacts and companies, and creates a note after an Approve step.
- Deputy. Toby reads the employee list, unapproved timesheets and rosters.
Before an external action, such as adding a HubSpot note, Toby shows an Approve or Reject step. The last call stays with a person.
Example. The names below are made up, and the thread contains no real results.
> Priya (Northwind, operations): @Toby can you list the unapproved timesheets in Deputy? > > Toby: I read the unapproved timesheets in Deputy. Here is the list.
Priya still approves the timesheets herself. Toby only gathered the list. That is the shape we recommend for a first job. It is a read, it has one owner, and a person checks the answer.
Toby is not the best fit for everything. If you want a meeting notetaker or a personal assistant, Lindy may suit you better, as our comparison with Lindy explains. To see a whole job from start to finish, book a demo. Plans are on the pricing page.
Xero is a trademark of Xero Limited. HubSpot is a trademark of HubSpot, Inc. Deputy is a trademark of Deputy.
Questions
Can AI do admin work?
Yes, for routine admin that has a clear answer and a person to check it. Lookups, lists, first drafts and scheduled checks are the usual starting points.
Is an AI assistant the same as a virtual assistant?
No. A virtual assistant is usually a person who takes on work for you, including calls and judgement. An AI assistant is software that handles repeat tasks in your tools and still needs someone to check the result.
Will an AI assistant take over an office manager’s job?
No. It takes repeat jobs, such as pulling a weekly list together. The office manager still owns the decisions, the exceptions and the relationships with staff and customers.
How can AI help with administrative tasks in Slack or Teams?
It can take a request in plain English, use the tools you have connected and post the result where the team already talks. Start with a read, such as a list or a lookup, and have one person check it.
What should a small business try first?
One small job that reads information instead of changing it, with a clear owner. Check the first few results before you add a schedule or hand over a second job.
