Speaking at Cisco’s AI Summit in February, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang argued that concern over hypercapable AI replacing human knowledge workers en masse was overblown. “You’re not going to lose your job to AI,” he declared. “You’re going to lose your job to someone who uses AI.” You could regard this prospect as ominous in itself. Or you could seize the opportunity to become that “someone who uses AI.” These days, that doesn’t just mean querying a chatbot. It means harnessing AI agents. Using them can free up time for you to do your best work. Here’s a guide to getting started, avoiding pitfalls, and staying on top of the latest developments.
Explore your apps
The easiest way to dip your toe into agentic AI is to experiment with features built into apps you already use. Many large, established productivity platforms offer their own agents, and while the industry hype level is high, some are genuinely useful:
Asana AI Teammates
The project management platform Asana emphasizes the wide-ranging skills of its agents by calling them “teammates.” At your instruction, they can perform work such as mapping out timelines and performing competitive analysis based on market data.
Canva AI
Few long-established platforms have embraced AI as wholeheartedly as Canva, the design tool. You can use its Canva AI feature to crank out first drafts of presentations, PDFs, videos, apps, and more, then edit them as you see fit.
Google Workspace Studio
Part of Google’s Workspace suite, this tool lets you create agents to handle simple ongoing tasks—say, sending summaries after Google Meet meetings or monitoring your Gmail for messages that require a response.
Notion AI
Notion started out as a flexible, collaborative note-taking app. Now it’s evolved into a command center for AI-fueled workplace productivity. Along with being able to perform automated work using Notion’s own features on your behalf, it can access data from external sources such as Slack and Google Docs.
Slack Slackbot
Do you live in Slack? So does its built-in bot, giving it access to the information reflected in conversations and channels. It calls on this repository of work-related data to help it prep you for meetings, review projects in progress, and more.
ZoomMate
The video-calling giant’s agent can schedule meetings, propose ways to achieve agreed-upon goals, and share notes for follow-up.
Three agentic AI YouTube videos
AI Agents, Clearly Explained
Jeff Su, 10 minutes
If you’re still puzzling out what agentic AI is and what it can do for you, product marketer Su’s video will get you up to speed with plain-English definitions and real-world examples.
Vibe Coding Fundamentals in 33 Minutes
Tina Huang, 33 minutes
Offers basics for using AI to make your own apps: choosing the right tool to use, effectively telling it what you want to build, troubleshooting any bugs in the resulting code, and controlling the cost involved.
AI Agents Full Course 2026: Master Agentic AI
Nick Saraev, 2 hours
Once you’re ready to dig deeper, this meaty video shows how to create powerful agents using tools such as Anthropic’s Claude Code, Google’s Antigravity, and OpenAI’s Codex.
Three free agentic AI courses
Intro to AI Agents
Fifteen minutes of video instruction aimed at curious laypeople, plus a quiz to test your knowledge. (Codecademy)
AI Agents for Everyday Professionals
If you’re ready to try your hand at building your first agent, start here. (LinkedIn Learning)
The Manager’s Guide to Integrating and Managing AI Agents
Analyst Charlene Li on business use of agents, from measuring their impact to avoiding ethical traps. (LinkedIn Learning)
Try a specialist or two
Major workaday productivity platforms aren’t the only type of software that’s going agentic. A profusion of lesser-known AI agent upstarts are emerging to address specific work scenarios, from note-taking during meetings to pulling data into spreadsheets.
Gamma
Give this app your notes, and it will perform the heavy lifting necessary to convert them into a dynamic, visually compelling presentation or website.
Granola
In the crowded field of AI helpers that take notes during meetings, Granola’s accuracy and simplicity make it a favorite among busy, AI-forward types.
Paradigm
Lots of projects involve collecting data from the web, then plopping it into a spreadsheet. Tell Paradigm what you’re researching, and it’ll do the collecting and plopping for you.
Reclaim
A pioneering AI scheduling assistant now owned by Dropbox, Reclaim finds time on your calendar for you to actually check off your to-dos, build in buffer time between meetings, and even wedge lunch into the busiest of days.
Zapier
This platform serves as the glue connecting more than 9,000 apps and services. Its AI can figure out which tools to call on to accomplish tasks for you.
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Vibe a little code
Until recently, the only people who could create apps were those who’d invested a daunting amount of time and effort in learning how to program a computer. But one of agentic AI’s most remarkable feats is vibe coding—turning plain-language descriptions of software into working code. All of a sudden, app creation is open to a far broader swath of us than ever before.
Among the profusion of coding agents from companies large and small, the buzziest by far is Anthropic’s Claude Code, which has a knack for understanding even vague requests and producing slick, relatively bug-free software in response. Its rivals include OpenAI Codex, Google AI Studio, Bolt, Cursor, Lovable, Replit, and many more. Though literacy in a programming language is not required to use them, a willingness to learn about technical tasks such as setting up databases and creating API keys doesn’t hurt.
Maybe there’s an app you’ve always thought should exist, or just one that could solve a gnawing problem specific to your own daily workflow. Thanks to vibe coding, you may be able to will it into existence. Even if you don’t have one in mind, finding a few minutes to build something simple, just to prove you can—say, a basic to-do list—is both awe-inspiring and educational.
Three agentic AI newsletters
Wonder Tools
This aptly named newsletter by Fast Company contributor Jeremy Caplan is a trove of productivity-boosting AI app recommendations, agentic and otherwise. (Weekly)
One Useful Thing
The Wharton professor Ethan Mollick is one of AI’s top explainers, especially as new large language models (LLMs) hit the market. (1–2 times monthly)
The Neuron
Among zillions of daily AI newsletters, this one provides some of the best quick-takeaway analysis of the latest news. (Daily)
Take a (careful) look at computer-use agents
Released last November, OpenClaw captured the tech industry’s imagination with remarkable speed. It’s easy to see why. Rather than operating in some far-off data center, the free open-source app runs locally on its users’ computers, which it can control as if it were sitting at the keyboard. Using a messaging app such as WhatsApp, you can instruct it to perform complex, multistep tasks—such as doing triage of email that comes in before you’re up—and let it toil away without your oversight.
Many AI tools claim to be assistants. None has come closer to earning the title than OpenClaw. But in its present form, it’s hardly for the masses. For one thing, it must be installed and used from a command-line prompt, a nerdy form of interaction. Also, its deep access to a computer’s apps and data opens up an array of theoretical security nightmares, some of which are already playing out. That explains why many aficionados run it on Mac Minis they dedicate to the software, where it’s harder for mishaps to inflict serious damage.
If that sounds intimidating—and it should!—Anthropic’s Claude Cowork may be more your speed. Part of the Claude desktop app, it can ably chug away at useful work, such as organizing files on your computer, and can even tackle drudgery on a schedule, such as filing expense reports for you. It, too, should be used carefully. But it does more than OpenClaw to avert potentially perilous actions. For instance, it can send emails only once you’ve approved them.
How companies are diving in
51% of companies have already deployed AI agents.
16% expect to offload more than half of routine tasks to AI.
26% say they’re doing it to cut costs.
28% say they’re deploying agents to enhance customer experience.
40% of agentic AI projects will be abandoned by the end of 2027.
Three agentic ai podcasts
AI for Humans
Hosts Kevin Pereira and Gavin Purcell are true AI experts. Just as important, they refuse to get irrationally exuberant over the technology. (Episodes to date: 178; twice weekly)
Everyday AI Podcast
Jordan Wilson, a digital strategist and former journalist, features news, commentary, how-to advice, and hands-on deep dives on his show. (Episodes to date: 802; daily)
AI Daily Brief
Founder and investor Nathaniel Whittemore’s daily show goes beyond the headlines with topics such as “Why AI won’t actually take your job.” (Episodes to date: 1,000; daily)
Keep learning
Even by the fast-forward standards of AI, agentic technology is evolving at a dizzying pace. Existing products are growing smarter, new ones arrive daily, and the race for preeminence among major companies is just beginning. So no matter how useful you find today’s tools, don’t get too comfortable. Carving out some time to try the latest stuff as it comes along is the best way to understand what agents can—and can’t—do for you.