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How We Use AI to Run a Leaner Agency (And How You Can Too)

Lee-ann Cordingley
Lee-ann Cordingley ยท 24 February 2026 ยท 3 min read

We're a small agency. We don't have a massive team. We don't have unlimited budgets. And we compete with agencies that are significantly larger than us.

AI is how we level the playing field.

Not in a "we've replaced our team with robots" way. In a "we can do more, faster, with fewer bottlenecks" way. Let me walk you through how we actually use AI day to day.

Content Creation

First drafts used to take ages. A blog post like this one would have been a couple of hours of writing, editing, rewriting. Now, I use AI to generate a solid first draft based on an outline and key points I provide.

I then edit it, add my voice, cut the fluff, and make it mine. The writing is still mine. The thinking is still mine. But the blank-page-to-first-draft part takes a fraction of the time.

We do the same for social media captions, email sequences, proposal templates, and client reports. AI handles the structure and the legwork. We handle the strategy and the personality.

Client Communication

When a lead enquires, our AI chatbot handles the initial conversation. It answers common questions, collects information, and books appointments. The first human touchpoint happens when it needs to, not a minute before.

For email responses, AI helps us draft replies faster. Not send them automatically, but draft them. We review, tweak, and send. This means faster response times without sacrificing the personal touch.

Research and Analysis

Need to understand a client's industry before a discovery call? AI can summarise key trends, competitor positioning, and market dynamics in minutes.

Need to analyse a website's SEO performance? AI tools can crawl the site, identify issues, and suggest improvements faster than any manual audit.

Need to compare CRM options for a client? AI can compile feature comparisons, pricing, and pros/cons while I make a cup of tea.

Process Documentation

We use AI to help document our internal processes. I describe what we do step by step, and AI turns it into clean, structured documentation that anyone on the team can follow.

This has been massive for onboarding new team members and maintaining consistency as we grow.

What AI Doesn't Do for Us

It doesn't make strategic decisions. It doesn't manage client relationships. It doesn't design systems architecture. It doesn't replace the creative, human, "this is what makes us us" stuff.

AI is the tool. We're the craftspeople. The tool makes us faster and more consistent, but the quality and direction still come from us.

How This Applies to Your Business

You don't need to be a tech company to use AI this way. Whatever your business does, there are parts of your workflow that are repetitive, predictable, and time-consuming.

Identify those parts. Find AI tools that address them. Start using them.

The businesses that integrate AI into their operations now aren't just saving time. They're building a competitive advantage that compounds over time. Every month they get more efficient while their competitors are still doing everything manually.

That gap only widens.

Our Recommended Stack

Here's what we currently use and recommend:

Claude (Anthropic) for writing, analysis, and complex reasoning tasks. It's become our go-to AI assistant.

GoHighLevel's AI features for chatbots and conversation AI within our CRM.

ChatGPT for quick brainstorming and idea generation.

Various AI-enhanced tools within our existing software stack, things like AI-powered SEO analysis, design suggestions, and data processing.

The specific tools matter less than the mindset. Look at every task and ask: "Could AI do part of this?"

More often than you'd expect, the answer is yes.

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