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Getting Started Using AI Agents with Dheeraj Sharma

A recording from Margaret Williams, MS, ACC's live video

GenAI Unplugged

Dheeraj Sharma: Founder & Content Creator, GenAI Unplugged

Dheeraj Sharma is an AI systems expert dedicated to helping solopreneurs scale their revenue through intelligent automation without increasing their workload. He is the creator of GenAI Unplugged, where he provides plain-English, “no-fluff” tutorials on building AI agents and workflows.

Core Focus & Expertise

  • AI Automation: Specializes in building robust systems using tools like Claude Code, n8n, and custom AI agents.

  • Reliability: Known for developing “Workflow Contracts” and prompt engineering techniques designed to prevent AI hallucinations and system breaks.

  • Content Systems: Teaches “AI Content Multiplication” systems to help creators 10x their output efficiency.

  • Education: Focuses on removing jargon to make complex AI implementation accessible for one-person businesses.

Philosophy

Dheeraj advocates a “document-first” approach to AI, emphasizing that a well-designed system should prioritize accuracy over confidence and be able to admit when it lacks information.


Talking Points: AI Agents for Leaders

First, the language

Tech people throw around words that make this sound harder than it is. Here’s the translation:

What they say and what it means

AI model

The brain. Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini — those are brands of brain.

Agent

A brain with hands. It can take action, not just answer.

Prompt

The instructions you give it. Same as briefing a staff member.

Tool/integration

An app may access your calendar, email, and files.

Workflow

A routine you’ve built. “When X happens, do Y.”

Output

What it hands back to you.

Context

The background info you give it so it understands the job.

Hallucination

When it makes something up. Yes, it happens. That’s why you review.

You don’t need to memorize this. You just need to stop letting the vocabulary intimidate you.


What an AI agent actually is

A chatbot talks. An agent acts.

You give it a goal. It breaks it into steps. It uses your apps, email, calendar, documents, and the internet to get the job done. Then it hands the work back to you for review.

It’s a junior assistant that works fast, doesn’t sleep, and only performs as well as the orders you give it.


What to hand off (start here)

1. Repetitive tasks: the obvious wins. Inbox triage. Email drafting. Meeting recaps. Calendar coordination. Status updates. Recurring reports. Data entry. CRM updates.

If you do it the same way every week, an agent should be doing it.


2. Research and intel. Competitive scans. Background on people you’re meeting. Market briefs. Pulling stats. Summarizing long documents.

You don’t need to read the 40-page report. You need the five things that matter.


3. First drafts. Newsletters. Social posts. Articles. Speaking outlines. Proposals. Client emails. Internal memos.

You’re not paid to stare at a blank page. You’re paid to refine.


4. Pattern recognition and review. Spotting issues in contracts. Checking documents for tone and gaps. Reviewing data for outliers. Catching inconsistencies across files.

A second set of eyes that never gets tired.


5. Thinking partner work. Pros and cons of a decision. Stress-testing a strategy. Brainstorming angles. Playing devil’s advocate.

Not a replacement for your judgment. A sparring partner for it.


6. Scale work. Personalizing 50 outreach messages. Generating ten versions of a headline. Producing variations of a post or pitch.

Work that used to require a team. Now requires an afternoon.


What you lose by sitting it out

  • Time: doing low-value work on a high-value calendar.

  • Speed: competitors moving while you’re still drafting.

  • Bandwidth: admin is eating your decision-making power.

  • Talent leverage: your team is stuck on busywork.

  • Relevance: In 18 months, “I don’t use AI” will sound like “I don’t use email.”


What you “avoid” by sitting it out

  • A learning curve. Real, but short.

  • Mistakes in the work. Real, but review fixes it.

  • Privacy concerns. Real, but manageable. Don’t feed it secrets. Read the terms.

  • Loss of “the human touch.” The touch is yours. The typing isn’t.


The honest read

The downsides of using AI are friction temporary, fixable, on your side. The downsides of not using it are structural; they compound every quarter you wait.

Same word. Opposite direction.


The mindset shift

Stop asking “Can AI do my job?” Start asking, “What part of my job shouldn’t be eating my time?”

That’s the part you hand over.


Share

Thank you Mandy Ohman, Magick Mica, Rajendran, Krithika, Emmett Tatter Brandon Ellrich and many others for tuning into my live video with Dheeraj Sharma! Join me for my next live video in the app.

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