AI
Do not chase the hype or be overwhelmed by the online hype. Be systematic in your adoption of AI and AI Agents. Start small: pick your biggest time-drain, choose the friendliest platform, and give it Context, Scope, and Training. That is the whole formula. Then build bit by bit.
MARKETING AFRICA
AI
Jan Okonji
How To Build An AI Agent 101: Plus 7 Answers To Questions About AI My Clients Keep Asking Me
There is a question that has replaced " Jan, how do I get my first client?" in my coaching sessions this year. It goes something like this: " Jan, I keep hearing about these AI agents everywhere. But where do I even start? Do I actually need one? Do I need to enrol in some expensive course? And which platform is the best one to use?"
I get asked a version of this at least three times a week now. By coaching clients, by former workmates who suddenly remembered I exist, by strangers in my DMs who found me because someone forwarded them a WhatsApp voice note about " AI agents taking over jobs." Everyone is asking but very few are getting straight answers.
So let me be the guy who gives it to you straight and simple. Just a business mentor breaking down what you need to know, in the order you need to know it.
What, exactly, is an AI Agent?
Think of an AI Agent as a digital employee, not a digital assistant you have to babysit. And not like a chatbot that has to be micro-managed. A chatbot waits for you to ask it something and answers while an Agent does not wait around- it works unprompted, it works largely unsupervised, and it works autonomously- meaning it can make small decisions on its own within the boundaries you set for it, the same way you would trust a competent employee to handle a client email without running it by you line by line.
And here is where things get really interesting: unlike the AI tools you have used before, a good Agent retains memory. It remembers your preferences, past instructions, business context- you name it, and it gets better at its job the longer it works with you.
Okay, but what can an AI Agent actually do for me?
Here is the mental model I give every one of my clients: the starting point is to think of an AI Agent not in terms of a tool or a machine but rather, as a human resource. In this case, simply ask yourself the question you would ask about any new hire- " What would I want this employee to do for me?"
Do not chase the hype or be overwhelmed by the online hype. Be systematic in your adoption of AI and AI Agents. Start small: pick your biggest time-drain, choose the friendliest platform, and give it Context, Scope, and Training. That is the whole formula. Then build bit by bit.
The reality is that almost anything a human can do on a computer; an Agent can now do too. Things like: managing your inbox and flagging what needs your attention; replying to routine customer queries proactively; creating social media content- drafts, captions, various formats; monitoring the latest and relevant trends in your industry; researching insights and compiling them into actionable items; generating comprehensive company reports; preparing presentations from raw notes; scheduling tasks and following up on your behalf; segmenting and following up on leads; analysing data and pulling out the story behind the numbers.
The biggest advantage of using AI Agents is not only with regards to their capacity to handle large, complex amounts of information on behalf of business owners and professionals alike, but to also save companies time, money and energy.
Which AI platforms are the top ones for building an Agent?
I know. I know. There is no shortage of noise here, and with social media these days everybody with a laptop and a Canva subscription is suddenly a " prompt engineer " selling you a course. As mentioned earlier I won’ t sell- I will just list the top platforms which in my opinion are best for building an AI Agent: Manus, Claude, OpenAI, OpenClaw, and N8N. I can vouch for these ones.
Each has its own personality- some are better for research-heavy Agents, some for workflow automation, some for pure conversation and content. For now, we will not turn this into a technical AI course, but it is worth noting that these five names are where the serious, credible work is happening right now. It is not an exhaustive list, but
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