Why I Use AI Agents and How You Can Use Them Too

By Reed Hansen, Founder of Market Surge

When people ask me what I’m excited about in AI right now, my answer usually surprises them.

It’s not the biggest enterprise tools or the splashy headlines. It’s AI agents. Little assistants you can train with your own knowledge, your own preferences, and your own quirks.

I recently sat down with Ellie McIntyre on the Conversion Zoo podcast to talk about AI agents and their impact on society and business. 

The Cooking AI Agent That Changed My Thinking

I built an AI agent for helping me plan the family meals — and it changed the way I think about AI in business.

At home, I handle dinner every night of the week. Four people. Different schedules. Different dietary restrictions. Different preferences. Add in grocery store quirks (this store has bulk items, that one has specialty goods) and suddenly dinner is a project manager’s nightmare.

So I trained an AI agent to handle it for me. 

I fed it recipes, family preferences, grocery store details. Now I just tell it: “Four people for five nights. Two people for two nights.” It gives me a full meal plan, a shopping list, and which store to hit.

It’s not just a convenience hack. It’s a reminder: AI agents thrive on logistics. The same model can be applied to content calendars, video scripts, or customer onboarding.

Why AI Isn’t Ready to Be Your Boss

During my chat with Ellie, we talked about one of the biggest misconceptions: that AI will manage teams.

Here’s the problem: management isn’t just about task delegation. It’s about having empathy. It’s about reading the nuance in someone’s voice. It’s catching burnout before it explodes.

AI can remind you to submit a report. But it can’t look you in the eye and know you’re not okay. That’s why surveys show only about 30% of people are comfortable being managed by an AI agent. And I don’t see that number spiking anytime soon.

Where AI Falls Short: Persuasion

Another limitation with AI Agents? Persuasion.

AI agents are currently being used in sales. If someone already wants to buy, an agent can handle the workflow. Appointment booking. Form-filling. Follow-up emails. No problem.

But if someone’s on the fence? That’s where AI falls flat. 

Persuasion is human. It’s about tone, timing, and empathy. It’s knowing when to pause, when to push, when to shut up. AI doesn’t have that.

Offshore Hiring vs. AI Agents

This often leads to the question: if AI agents are so powerful, why hire offshore help at all?

Here’s my answer: judgment.

I’ve worked with offshore teams in Asia and Latin America. Some were sourced on platforms like Upwork, others through niche sites like OnlineJobs.ph. 

The biggest lesson? The best hires weren’t the most skilled. They were the most willing to learn.

AI can automate tasks. Offshore hires can adapt. Put them together and you get leverage for your business.

Vibe Coding: My Favorite Discovery

I’ll admit—I’m not a developer. But AI has made me feel like one.

I’ve been experimenting with “vibe coding,” where you lean on tools like ChatGPT or Cursor to troubleshoot code. I’ll throw in a broken script or messy CSS. The AI explains it, fixes it, and lets me iterate.

The result? 

I’m building things I never thought I could. Not because I suddenly became a coder, but because AI closed the gap between “clueless” and “competent.”

That’s the real promise of AI: not replacement, but participation.

Where This All Leads

AI isn’t going to replace us. It’s going to replace the boring parts of what we do. The logistics. The repetition. The grunt work.

The future isn’t about whether AI agents run our lives. It’s about how we use them as leverage while keeping our human edge: our empathy, persuasion, and creativity.

That’s what I talked about on the Conversion Zoo podcast, and it’s what I’ll keep experimenting with. Not the shiny hype. The messy middle. The real stuff that saves time today.

Because if AI can plan dinner, it can plan your workflows. If it can troubleshoot CSS, it can troubleshoot your business processes.

And if you don’t believe me, try vibe coding something this week. You’ll see what I mean.

👉 Listen to my full conversation on The Conversion Zoo Podcast here: Spotify | Apple | YouTube

👉 Learn more about my work at MarketSurge