Traditionally a developer tool, scheduled tasks ('cron jobs') can be adopted by non-technical managers to automate repetitive oversight. For example, a cron job can scan a Slack channel at noon and automatically flag team members who missed their daily check-in.
To determine if a task is automatable, ask three questions: 1) Does it move data between apps? 2) Does it involve complex decisions? 3) Are inputs/outputs consistent? If the answers are yes, no, and yes, it's a prime candidate.
Instead of static documents, business processes can be codified as executable "topical guides" for AI agents. This solves knowledge transfer issues when employees leave and automates rote work, like checking for daily team reports, making processes self-enforcing.
Shift automation from an ad-hoc tech project to a core management responsibility. Mandate that department leads systematically eliminate monotonous tasks, forcing teams to focus exclusively on high-value, strategic work.
Overwhelmed by Slack messages and internal documents? Build a Zapier agent connected to your company's knowledge base. Feed it your job description and current projects, and the agent can proactively scan all communications and deliver a weekly summary of only the updates relevant to your specific role.
Task your AI agent with its own maintenance by creating a recurring job for it to analyze its own files, skills, and schedules. This allows the AI to proactively identify inefficiencies, suggest optimizations, and find bugs, such as a faulty cron scheduler.
To prevent constant interruptions from automated tasks, schedule recurring AI agents to align with your work week. For example, receive competitive research on Fridays before planning and support summaries on Mondays before the team meeting. This integrates agent output into your natural workflow.
To find tasks ripe for AI automation, simply screen record yourself performing a repetitive, hour-long task. Then, upload the video to a multimodal LLM like Gemini 3 and ask it what parts can be automated and how much time you could save. This provides concrete, actionable suggestions.
Don't get distracted by flashy AI demonstrations. The highest immediate ROI from AI comes from automating mundane, repetitive, and essential business functions. Focus on tasks like custom report generation and handling common customer service inquiries, as these deliver consistent, measurable value.
Instead of traditional IT roles focused on software, an AI Ops person focuses on identifying and automating workflows. They work with teams to eliminate busy work and return hundreds of hours, shifting employees from performing tasks to directing AI.
Teresa Torres defined a `/today` slash command in Claude Code. This shortcut triggers a detailed, pre-written prompt that scans her task files, checks for team updates, and generates a prioritized daily to-do list in Obsidian, automating a repetitive and complex morning routine.