What’s Your 2026 AI-Implementation Plan?

By: Kathy Kent Toney, Chief AI Strategist & Founder, Kent Solutions

Image by rawpixel on Freepik

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2026 is approaching quickly, and AI has officially transitioned from a buzzword to a business tool. What's your plan to put it to work profitably?

Approximately 58% of U.S. small businesses currently use generative AI (U.S. Chamber of Commerce), and this trend will continue to rise. That's why I've compiled a list of ways to implement AI in your business to help keep you ahead of the curve and stay ahead of that trend!

Here's the good news: you don't need to be techy—or even that curious—to benefit from AI. If you've ever wished for a clone to keep up, a simple AI assistant might be the next best thing. It's easy to implement and will make a significant difference in your business operations.

AI Assistants Are Quietly Saving Hours, Easing Your Workload
Employees report saving approximately five hours a week on average with AI-assisted work (≈approximately 52 minutes/day). That's nearly a full day back every week—without adding anyone to payroll.

What Can These AI Assistants Do?
Think of them like reliable, no-drama assistants that don't need sleep, coffee, or context switching.

With the right tools and prompts, they can help you:

1. Plan your day based on energy and urgency
2. Reword emails in your voice
3. Summarize messy notes or meeting transcripts
4. Sort your to-do list by impact
5. Follow up with leads (without you even thinking about it)

Small tasks? Yes. But when they run consistently, they give you back focus—and sanity.

The Best No-Code Tools for Building Your AI Assistant
Here are the top tools grouped by function:

Planning, Focus, and Daily Support

1. ChatGPT (Free or Plus): Acts like a sounding board, planner, and editor in one—with the right prompts
2. Notion AI: Great for organizing notes, SOPs, and team updates
3. Tability: Keeps team OKRs and goals on track with lightweight updates

Client Communication & Follow-Up

1. Springboard: My favorite CRM for automating email workflows, lead follow-up, and reminders
2. Tidio or ManyChat: Easy-to-use chatbot tools for websites or Messenger
3. Chatbase: Lets you train a bot on your documents so it can answer FAQs for you

​Workflow Automation

1. Zapier: Links tools together to handle tasks like email sends, CRM updates, or tagging
2. Make: Similar to Zapier, but with more customization and logic branches

A Quick Word on ChatGPT's Newer "Agent" Feature
Some of you may have heard about OpenAI's newer Agent tool. It can browse, plan, and even attempt to act on tasks such as booking a service or placing an order. It's powerful but not infallible—treat it like a sharp intern: helpful under supervision, not for high-stakes tasks.

Start Small. Save Hours. Repeat.
It's as simple as picking one task you're tired of doing, choosing one tool, and giving it a chance. Let it free up some space in your week and see the difference it makes.

Want some help with that? Then sign up for my 5-Day AI-Powered Business Boost Challenge! This email challenge will guide you through the process of selecting and implementing an AI tool for a specific task in your business. Each day, you'll receive a new lesson and a task to complete, helping you to start putting AI to work for you!

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Start the 5-day AI email challenge today!

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