In the rush to adopt AI, many businesses make a common mistake: they skip the basics and start at the top of the AI Transformation Ladder. It's easy to get excited about using a conversational AI assistant like ChatGPT, which can answer complex questions and give advice. However, starting at the top ignores some of the most transformative parts of a company’s AI strategy.

Instead, think of AI adoption like climbing a ladder. You need to take it step by step, moving from specialist AI tools to more general ones. This way, you set yourself up for better results and faster success. Let’s dive into this approach and see why moving through each step of the AI Transformation Ladder is so important.

The AI Transformation Ladder

The journey of adopting AI involves four levels, which SpotDev calls the AI Transformation Ladder. In ascending order, the AI tools you should use at each step of the ladder are:

  • Agents: AI tools that handle specific, well-defined tasks on their own. An AI agent acts like a member of your team with a very specific job description.
  • Summarisers: AI tools that take complex information and give you the key points, making sure the right people get the information they need.
  • Copilots: AI helpers that can do a variety of tasks, but require specific instructions before they'll take action.
  • Advisors: Conversational tools such as ChatGPT that help with decision-making, brainstorming, and strategic thinking.

Each level builds on the one before it, improving your company’s capabilities as you go. Progressing through this ladder adds more depth and value to your business processes. Each step makes AI more effective and useful, allowing for better integration and results.

1. AI Agents: The Specialists

The first level of AI transformation involves using Agents. These are AI tools that handle specific, clearly defined tasks on their own—like writing case studies, sending prospecting emails, or managing social media. These agents help take specific tasks off your plate, letting you focus on more important work. Think of them as specialised assistants that do routine jobs quickly and accurately.

Some of the tasks that an AI agent could take on for your business include:

  • Creating and scheduling social media posts.
  • Researching prospects, writing personalised emails, and sending sequences of outreach emails at the appropriate times.
  • Writing case studies for your ideal target market based on recent project documentation.
  • Answering customer support requests via email and live chat using your knowledge base and previous successful interactions.

Importantly, an AI agent isn't waiting for you to give it a prompt—it works autonomously and proactively. Imagine having a team member dedicated to writing your social media posts who just gets on with the job. AI can already do this for you. Ideally, you'll put guardrails in place to ensure the output is on-brand and accurate, usually by adding an approval stage similar to the checks you would have with a human employee.

Starting with agents is like making that first strategic hire in a growing business: instead of hiring someone to do a little of everything, smart business owners hire someone with specific skills to take ownership of a task. AI agents do their jobs without needing much guidance from you, allowing you to free up time and focus on more complex tasks, thereby making your operations more efficient.

By automating tasks such as content creation, email outreach, and data entry, agents let your team spend more time on activities that require human insight and creativity.

2. AI Summarisers: Custom Prompted Curators

The second level of the AI Transformation Ladder is Summarisers. These AI tools help make sense of complex information. They can read through long reports, emails, or meeting notes and provide key points, ensuring the right people get the information they need at the right time.

One highly effective use of an AI summariser is to triage the information provided by users on your website when they submit a form. Even with clearly labeled forms or dropdown categories, your sales team might still receive support queries and your support team might still receive irrelevant messages. With an AI summariser in place, you can assess the actual content of the message and assign it to the right team automatically.

Any tool that uses AI to process large quantities of information and consolidate it into short, easily understood summaries will free your team from unnecessary distractions and improve their efficiency. Because these tools are triggered by actions—such as a form submission, an incoming email, or a Slack message beyond a certain length—they don't require users to interact directly with the AI, like ChatGPT. This means that the summarised information is available to the end user alongside the original message, but only if it's relevant to them.

This saves time, increases productivity, and improves customer satisfaction by ensuring quicker response times.

3. AI Copilots: The Generalists

Copilots are the third level of AI transformation. They are versatile AI tools that help with a wide range of tasks, such as building workflows in HubSpot, creating lists of potential clients, or generating reports.

Unlike an AI agent or summariser, a Copilot isn't proactive. They depend on you asking them to take action.

If an AI agent is a team member proactively handling tasks from a job description, then a Copilot is someone waiting to receive specific tasks that you delegate. Copilots are there to support you, but they can’t work without direction. They are excellent for helping you accomplish more without having to hire extra people. They add additional hands to get tasks done faster, increasing efficiency.

The value of a Copilot lies in reducing the time needed to complete multi-step tasks. With the right Copilot (such as HubSpot's Breeze Copilot), you can create a lead nurturing workflow with multiple branches and actions in just a few seconds—something that would otherwise take an hour or more.

A Copilot increases the productivity of your existing team. And, with Agents and Summarisers in place, your team already has more time available to complete their work.

4. AI Advisors: Conversational Partners

The final level of the AI Transformation Ladder is Advisors. If you've ever used ChatGPT, then you're familiar with this category. Advisors are conversational AI tools—what many people think of when they think of AI. Advisors are great for answering questions, brainstorming ideas, and helping with strategic decisions. They are useful for exploring different options and solving complex problems.

An AI Advisor is an incredible resource. You have access to knowledge, reasoning, and insights in an easy-to-use conversational interface.

But if you start with Advisors, you might end up frustrated. It’s like hiring a junior employee to do the job of an experienced manager—they can help, but they need a lot of input and support. You have to explain what you're trying to do, provide the context, and then apply the information they give you. Essentially, you still have to do much of the work yourself.

Advisors work best once you have everything else in place and running smoothly. Having gained the efficiencies of Agents, Summarisers, and Copilots, an Advisor can help you unlock new insights and see problems in new ways.

Advisors are most useful when your business processes are already efficient. They can help you make big-picture decisions and brainstorm creative solutions, but they should be used only once you’re ready to act on the insights they provide.

Climbing the AI Transformation Ladder: From Specialist to Strategist

Adopting AI step by step ensures each level is working well before moving to the next, improving the likelihood of achieving the results you want from AI.

Adopting AI is like building a team: you need the right specialists in place before adding more strategic roles. By climbing the AI Transformation Ladder, you ensure each part of your business benefits from AI in the best way possible. Each step builds on the previous one, creating a strong foundation that supports more advanced AI use.

Starting with Agents means you get quick, clear value—specific tasks are completely taken care of. Summarisers then help manage information overload, and Copilots scale your ability to handle various tasks. By the time you reach Advisors, you’re ready to truly use AI for strategic insights without worrying about unfinished daily tasks. This approach ensures that each layer of AI adds new benefits, building a complete system that handles both everyday and big-picture needs.