AI Agent – Agentic AI Consultant: Separating Reality from Hype

AI Agent (Agentic AI) Consultant: Separating Reality from Hype

We’re entering a period of exponential change in the business world. Agentic AI is being hailed as a revolution that will transform how we work, manage teams, and run operations. Microsoft’s Colette Stallbaumer recently stated that “if you haven’t started yet, you’re already behind.” Tech giants are racing to launch autonomous AI agents that can approve expenses, onboard clients, and collaborate on projects with minimal human oversight.

But here’s what the headlines aren’t telling you: truly autonomous AI doesn’t exist yet.

As someone who’s implemented solutions for over 400 clients, I’ve seen both the transformative potential and the overblown promises. I’ve doubled my business in the past year by implementing AI agents strategically, not by believing the hype, but by understanding what actually works. My income has doubled, client inquiries have doubled, and I’m now automating 80% of workflows that used to require manual work.

The question isn’t whether AI agents will change your business. It’s whether you’ll implement them strategically or fall victim to what experts are calling “agentic washing”, companies selling you on capabilities that don’t quite exist yet.

What Are AI Agents? (And Why Most Explanations Miss the Point)

Think of an AI agent like a wind-up toy: you set it up with access to multiple platforms, give it a task, and off it runs until the job is done. Unlike traditional automation that follows fixed rules, agents are supposed to make decisions, adapt to context, and act with increasing autonomy.

But here’s where theory meets reality. The Financial Times recently reported that while tech companies are spending billions on AI development, “truly agentic AI, totally autonomous AI, does not yet exist.” Industry experts acknowledge that these systems “get things wrong all the time” and still require human oversight.

So what’s the difference between automation and AI agents?

Traditional Automation moves data around, transforms it, and follows predetermined rules. If this happens, do that. It’s reliable but rigid.

AI Agents can create things, make contextual decisions, and adapt to new situations. They don’t just execute, they think, analyse, and act. The key difference? Agents can handle ambiguity and make judgment calls that would paralyse traditional automation.

I recently built an email routing agent for a client that uses three different AI models that vote on where to send each inquiry. Why three models? Because even the best AI makes mistakes. By having multiple agents analyse each email and reach consensus, we surprised even the most skeptical.

Another example: I created an RFP analysis agent for a team that was drowning in proposal requests. Previously, a human had to read each RFP, assess whether it met 10-12 criteria, and decide whether to pursue it. Now, the agent reads the document, evaluates it against their criteria, and provides five reasons to pursue or pass on the opportunity. If it’s a go, the agent creates the project in their system and assigns it to the right person.

That’s not replacing humans, it’s amplifying them.

The Business Case: From 40 Hours to 20 Hours (With Better Results)

Here’s where AI agents get interesting for business leaders: they don’t just save time, they improve quality.

I’m currently working with a development firm that spent 40 hours on each client discovery and strategy process. They’d conduct interviews, analyse documentation, identify opportunities, and create deliverables. Skilled consultants doing valuable work, but time-intensive and expensive.

After implementing their AI co-pilot system, they’re down to 20 hours per client. But here’s what shocked them: **the AI-generated output is often better than what they created manually.**

The agent digests call transcripts, analyses homework documents clients complete, and creates prep materials for kickoff meetings. It asks questions they never thought to ask, especially around emotional dynamics and team concerns that technical consultants typically overlook. After each call, the agent prepares the agenda for the next meeting and progressively builds toward the final deliverable document and presentation.

Their team members, even developers who typically focus on technical requirements, are now having deeper, more human-focused conversations with clients because the AI is helping them ask better questions.

That’s a 50% time reduction with quality improvements. The ROI is undeniable.

Agentic Washing: The Problem Nobody’s Talking About

Research firm Gartner surveyed over 3,000 business leaders about their AI agent plans. Nearly half are planning conservative investments, and only 1% of companies say they’ve completely implemented their AI strategy. Why the hesitation?

Because as FT’s AI correspondent Melissa Heikkila put it: “A lot of it is hype, for sure.”

Tech companies are in a peculiar position. They’re spending billions on R&D, but revenue isn’t covering costs yet. Agentic AI is marketed as more expensive than standard ChatGPT because it supposedly can do more. The problem? Melissa Heikkila explains that the fully autonomous AI being sold “does not yet exist.”

This is what experts call “agentic washing”, the tech industry’s version of greenwashing. Companies are selling autonomous AI capabilities that are actually semi-autonomous at best, requiring significant human oversight and guardrails.

So are we all just guinea pigs for half-baked technology?

Yes and no.

The technology isn’t a finished product. It requires testing, tuning, and iteration. But here’s the critical distinction: when implemented strategically with proper oversight, AI agents deliver measurable value right now.

The Four Pillars of Strategic AI Implementation

After implementing AI solutions for clients, I’ve identified four areas where agents add genuine value today:

1. Sales & Marketing

AI-powered lead magnets are revolutionising how consultants demonstrate value. I’ve seen firms create assessment tools that analyse a prospect’s website, identify AI opportunities, and generate a customised report, all powered by multiple AI agents working behind the scenes.

One agency I work with created an “AI Opportunities for Your Business” lead magnet. Behind that simple interface, three different agents analyse different aspects: one researches the prospect’s industry, another analyses pain points, and a third identifies specific opportunities. The result? A personalised report that pre-qualifies leads and positions the agency as experts who’ve already implemented what they’re selling.

2. Service Delivery

This is where I’ve seen the most dramatic impact. AI agents can onboard clients, track project progress, and create deliverables. One company I’m working with uses AI to monitor public data in construction, identifies potential customers, and generate qualified leads before their competitors even know the opportunity exists.

Client communication is another breakthrough area. AI Agents that prepare meeting agendas, automate documentation, and maintain follow-up sequences allow consultants to scale operations while maintaining (or improving) the human touch.

3. Finance & Admin

Email routing, task prioritisation, and documentation, the “drudgery” that eats up productive hours, this is where agents shine. They handle the repetitive, rules-based tasks that drain energy and creativity from your team.

As technology strategist Zig Serafin explains: “The nature of work that can be agentic means taking the rudimentary, basic, repetitive, highly predictive rules-based tasks and having AI do that work, allowing people to spend time on things that are more human.”

4. Innovation

AI agents excel at pattern recognition and data analysis. They can identify opportunities and strategic insights from data sets that would take humans weeks to process.

What Actually Won’t Be Replaced (And Why That Matters for You)

The tech world is buzzing about the possibility of “one-person unicorns”; billion-dollar companies run by a single human and an army of AI agents. But as FT’s Melissa Heikkila points out: “If you want real genius or really good quality, you still need a human.”

Language models work by generating the next statistically likely word. They often produce the most average result. You still need humans for true ingenuity, creativity, and anything that goes beyond average.

Here’s what won’t be replaced in the consulting and automation world:

– Understanding customer needs behind what they’re saying
– Translating business requirements into effective workflows
– Strategic thinking and system architecture
– Knowing which problems AI should solve (and which it shouldn’t)

Trust expert Rachel Botsman frames this as a “trust leap”; whenever you ask someone to trust a new system or technology, you’re asking them to move into the unknown. Humans resist change because we like the known and familiar.

This is where experienced consultants become more valuable, not less. My role shifts from executor to architect, from doing the work to designing systems that do the work. As one colleague told me: “Your value will be in understanding the customer, giving them advice, and translating it into workflows.”

The Chris Wray Approach: Revenue, Content, Reality

I’ve built my consulting practice on three principles:

1. Concentrate on the Revenue – AI should drive measurable business results
2. Create Content – Share what actually works, build authority through transparency
3. Ignore Everything Else – Stay focused on what matters

This approach has helped me work with 400+ clients across Pipedrive, Asana, Airtable, AI, Make.com, and Zapier. I’m a systems architect: give me blocks with inputs and outputs, and I’ll build you a solution.

But here’s what’s changed in the past year: I’m no longer just automating processes. I’m adding intelligence to automation. I’m helping clients figure out where AI agents make sense and where they’re overkill.

My Service Model

I offer clients two approaches:

Option 1: Build and Manage

I build your AI agent systems and manage them ongoing. This keeps us aligned, if your automation breaks, I fix it. If opportunities emerge, we capture them. You pay a service fee, and I’m motivated to make your systems work brilliantly because your success is my success.

Option 2: Build and Transfer

I build the solution, train your team, and hand over the keys. This works best for clients with technical resources who want to own their systems but need expertise to get started.

Either way, we’re pulling in the same direction toward your success.

Real Client Scenarios (You’ll Recognise Yourself)

“I want AI to do everything”

This is the red flag scenario. When someone says they want to “AI their entire business,” I know we need to pump the brakes. The right question isn’t “can AI do this?” but “should AI do this?”

I start by asking about workflows and SOPs. If you haven’t documented your processes, AI can’t intelligently improve them. Sometimes the answer isn’t AI, it’s traditional automation. Sometimes it’s process improvement. Sometimes it’s both.

“We have complex lead qualification workflows”

This is where AI agents excel. Multi-step qualification processes that require humans to review, assess, and route opportunities, these are perfect agent candidates.

I worked with a company that needed to identify leads from public data. We built an agent that monitors public databases, identifies opportunities, qualifies them, and generates actionable leads. They’re literally getting to customers before anyone else knows they exist.

“We’re drowning in client communication”

This is the AI-Agent use case. Agents that prepare meeting agendas, document conversations, and maintain follow-up sequences. The goal isn’t to eliminate human interaction, it’s to make those interactions more valuable.

Ready to Explore AI Agents for Your Business?

The Financial Times is right: we’re in the “early innings” of the AI agent revolution. The technology isn’t finished. Truly autonomous AI doesn’t exist yet. But strategic implementation of what exists today delivers measurable results.

I compare this moment to the website boom of the 1990s. Everyone panicked that websites would replace businesses and jobs. Instead, websites spawned entire industries: web development, SEO, e-commerce platforms, hosting, security, and dozens of specialisations we couldn’t have imagined.

AI agents will follow the same pattern. Multiple specialisations will emerge. Early adopters, like my business, which has doubled in the past year, are already seeing returns. Late adopters will scramble to catch up.

The question isn’t “if” but “when” and “how.”

Two Ways to Get Started

1. Book a Free Call

Book a 30-minute consultation. We’ll discuss your workflows, identify quick wins and long-term opportunities, and get clarity on where automation ends and AI agents begin.

2. AI Accelerator Program

Get comprehensive analysis of your business processes, a prioritised roadmap of AI opportunities, and implementation support from ideation through deployment.

The Future Is Agentic (But Still Needs Humans)

The org chart is changing. Companies are mixing human workers with AI-based colleagues. As Rachel Botsman warns: “This is the first time in history that the line between human trust and technological trust is not even blurred; we don’t know where that line begins and ends.”

That ambiguity is exactly why you need an experienced guide.

I’ve helped 400+ clients automate their businesses over the years. Now I’m helping them add intelligence to that automation. I’ve made the mistakes, tested the tools, and learned what works (and what’s just hype).

The AI agent revolution is coming. But unlike the tech giants spending billions on R&D and trying to recoup costs by selling half-finished products, I’m focused on delivering value with what works today.

Let’s talk about what AI agents can actually do for your business, not what the marketing promises, but what the technology delivers.

Because in the end, the best AI agent implementation isn’t the most autonomous, it’s the one that drives real results for your business.