Small-Business Owners Are Deploying AI Agents to Handle Daily Work
Scott Bell, a bankruptcy lawyer in Temecula, California, has handed significant portions of his daily work to AI agents. He's installed software called OpenClaw on his computer, which spawns AI "agents" that respond to emails, track expenses, conduct research, and communicate with clients on his behalf.
Bell is not an outlier. Reddit forums dedicated to OpenClaw are filled with small-business owners reporting similar deployments. The software allows users to grant AI agents access to their files, folders, and online accounts-giving the agents the ability to log in and work independently across email, financial systems, and customer platforms.
How the Agents Work
OpenClaw agents don't perform tasks through independent reasoning. Instead, they send continuous requests to large language models like OpenAI's ChatGPT Codex, Google's Gemini, or Anthropic's Claude Opus. The LLM provides answers, and the agents execute tasks based on those responses.
Users teach agents how to complete work by providing step-by-step instructions or simply describing their workflows in conversation. Over time, agents retain information about these processes and reportedly become more effective.
Because OpenClaw's logo is a lobster, users affectionately call their agents "lobsters."
Why Adoption Is Accelerating
Bell has a track record of early technology adoption. He moved his law practice paperless in the early 2000s and adopted online bankruptcy software when it became available. He began experimenting with AI chatbots for legal research in the 2020s before discovering OpenClaw this January.
For managers overseeing teams, the appeal is straightforward: agents can handle routine office work without human intervention. The question now is what happens when those agents operate across sensitive business functions-finances, customer communications, and client data.
Learn more about AI Agents & Automation and how to implement these tools in your organization. For management professionals deploying AI in their workflows, explore AI for Management.
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