By now, you’ve heard about AI. Which means you’ve heard of the most popular one—ChatGPT.
Most likely, you’ve used it to ask questions and execute little tasks.
But here’s the thing: that’s like saying you’re “building a house” because you bought a hammer.
I see this constantly with the founders I work with. They’re excited about AI. They’re using it. But they’re not getting the real transformation they expected. And honestly? I get it. I was there too.
Here’s what most people don’t understand
Using ChatGPT for random tasks is not the same as having an AI system.
One is a starting point. The other completely upgrades how your business operates.
And understanding the difference changes everything about how you grow your business without burning out.
Let me walk you through what I’ve learned after spending the last year deep in AI tools, experimenting with workflows, and building systems for myself and my clients.
The 8 levels of AI implementation
There’s a full landscape of how AI can work in your business. Most people get stuck at the first level and wonder why AI isn’t “changing their business” like everyone promised.
Here’s the complete picture:
Level 1: AI Tool (the starting point)
This is what most people mean when they say “I use AI.”
You open ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. You ask a question. It gives an answer. Then it forgets everything.
It doesn’t know your business. It doesn’t follow a process. It doesn’t take action for you.
Think of it as a very smart search-and-write tool.
It’s useful—but it’s not a system. You’re still doing all the thinking, all the planning, all the organizing. The AI is just helping with individual tasks.
Level 2: Custom AI Assistant
Now you’re getting somewhere.
A custom AI assistant, like a Custom GPT or Claude Project, is an AI tool that’s been trained for a specific job.
You give it instructions. You feed it documents. It writes in your tone. It follows rules.
Think of it as a trained helper who follows instructions.
So you don’t repeat yourself from scratch every single time. You don’t have to explain your brand voice again. Or remind it about your offers. Or clarify who your audience is.
Just give a simple one-line command, and it knows exactly what to do, every time.
This is where things start feeling less chaotic and more consistent.
Level 3: AI Workflow
This is where things really start to click.
A workflow is a clear list of steps where AI is used at specific points, using custom AI assistants.
Let me give you a real example from my own business. When I created the email that inspired this blog post, here’s what happened:
I told my Researcher AI to compile info on all types of AI.
I told my Email AI to write an email based on that info.
I told my Presentation AI to create a PPT based on that email.
15 minutes total. Research, email, presentation—all done.
Think of it as an assembly line.
Now you’re not just using AI—you’re building a repeatable process that you can use again and again. Same quality, fraction of the time.
Level 4: AI Automation
Same workflow as Level 3—but now it runs by itself.
Someone fills a form → AI summarizes the lead info → System sends an email → Task is created automatically.
No manual input. Just a trigger and a result.
Think of it as an assembly line that runs on its own while you’re focused on other things.
This is where you start getting your time back. Not just saving minutes, but reclaiming hours.
Level 5: AI Agent
Now we’re getting into more advanced territory.
An AI agent is NOT just “AI that does things.”
An agent is built to reach a goal, not to follow a script.
Instead of fixed steps, it repeats this loop: Look → Decide → Act → Check → Adjust.
This loop is what makes it an agent.
A real agent can choose what to do next, change the plan if something fails, check if it’s getting closer to the goal, use tools when needed, and stop when the goal is reached.
Simple example: You say, “Help me plan a trip to Paris.”
A real agent might ask questions first, check flights or trains, compare options, change its approach if prices change, and stop early if it finds a great option.
There’s no fixed order. The agent decides the next step each time based on what it learns.
Level 6: Agentic Workflow
This is an AI workflow with one or more smart decision steps, run by several agents.
Example: Collect information (fixed) → Analyze the situation using AI (flexible) → Apply rules (fixed) → Send result (fixed).
The structure stays controlled. Some steps are allowed to think and adjust.
This gives you flexibility where you need it and consistency where you want it.
Level 7: Multi-Agent System
Several AI agents, each with a role, work together.
Example: One agent researches. One agent writes. One agent checks quality. One agent edits.
Each agent focuses on one job. Think of it as a small AI team working together autonomously to solve a complex problem.
This is powerful, but it also requires careful planning and oversight to make sure everyone’s playing nicely together.
Level 8: AI System (the big picture)
This is the endgame.
A complete setup that combines AI assistants, workflows, agent or agent-like steps, automations, business rules, and knowledge—all designed to reach a clear business goal.
Key point: An AI system is planned and designed. It’s not just “adding AI tools.”
Think of it as your business process turned into software that works for you 24/7.
Why this matters for your business
Most founders are at Level 1.
They’re saving a few minutes here and there. But they’re still going back and forth with AI, spending too much time explaining what they want, fixing outputs that don’t quite work, and feeling like the whole point of using AI is lost in the process.
An AI system changes that completely.
Without a system, you’re:
Creating everything from scratch each time, which takes forever and drains your energy.
Constantly asking yourself, “What do I do next?” because there’s no clear process.
Spending hours figuring out how to do something that should take minutes.
Feeling like you’re the only one who can do it right, which keeps you trapped in the business instead of working on it.
With a system, you’re:
Using repeatable processes that reduce manual hours dramatically.
Following clear SOPs that let you execute independently without second-guessing every decision.
Onboarding new team members who can be productive in days, not months.
Getting hours back to spend on what actually grows your business—getting clients, building relationships, and improving your offers.
Same result. One takes 3 hours. The other takes 30 minutes.
That’s not just efficiency. That’s freedom.
Which type of AI should you use and implement?
Here’s my honest recommendation: Go level by level.
Don’t jump to the next level before you’ve mastered the previous one.
Start with levels 1-4. This is where most service businesses get 90% of the benefit with 10% of the headache.
Master creating custom AI assistants. Build your first workflow. Set up an automation or two. See how it feels. Analyze what your business needs most to save time and grow, then decide which AI systems will help you do that.
Don’t start with the tool. Start with the need.
For levels 5-8, only explore these if you have very complex workflows and specific technical needs. AI agents are powerful, but they need more oversight and control. They’re not necessary for most service businesses.
I spent months experimenting with different levels of AI because I was overwhelmed with content creation. I thought using AI would make my work easier, and it did—to an extent. But I still had to spend hours getting the output I wanted.
So I spent a lot of time understanding how AI works, trying different tools, heavily experimenting, refining prompts, and training AI to get the right output much faster.
That’s when I combined my experience in brand strategy, SEO, and content to create what I now teach—systems that actually work without the chaos.
The bottom line
The power isn’t in having AI tools. The power is in having a system.
For example, that presentation I created from my email? Same content, different format. Created in seconds with my AI assistant because I have a system in place.
That’s the difference between using a hammer and building a house.
Which one will you build next?
