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This is the last part of a three-part series this week on AI and your business.

On Monday, we talked about how AI extrapolates from existing work but doesn't actually create anything new. On Wednesday, we talked about why your brand is the one thing AI can't copy, and why that makes it your strongest asset right now.

Today, let's talk about the part most people skip. How to actually use AI well.

Because here's what I'm seeing. Most people are using one AI tool for everything. They open ChatGPT or Claude or Gemini and they throw every single task at it. Writing emails, brainstorming strategy, generating images, writing code, doing research, all in the same place with the same model.

That's like hiring one person and making them do every job in your company. It doesn't work in business, and it doesn't work with AI either.

Today's advice

Stop treating AI like one tool. Start treating it like a team. Your job is to become the project manager who knows which team member to assign to which task.

Let me explain why this matters and how to think about it.

You Wouldn't Send a Lawyer to Get the Mail

Think about how a well-run business works.

You don't send your $500-an-hour lawyer to pick up the mail. You don't ask your senior architect to update a spreadsheet. You don't hire a CFO to answer the phone. Everyone has a role. The work gets matched to the right person based on what the task actually requires.

AI works the same way now. There are different platforms, different models within those platforms, and different price points for each one. They're not all good at the same things. And the cost differences between them are real.

Let me give you a quick look at what I mean.

Claude by Anthropic has multiple models at different levels. Opus 4.6 is their top-tier model. It's built for deep thinking, complex strategy, long-form analysis, and nuanced writing. It's the senior consultant on the team. You bring it in for the hard stuff.

Then there's Sonnet 4.6, which is significantly cheaper to run through the API. And for most everyday tasks, it performs almost as well as Opus. That's your reliable mid-level team member who handles the bulk of the daily work without you needing to bring in the heavy hitter.

If you're using Opus to draft a quick email, you're overpaying for the task. That's your $500-an-hour lawyer picking up the mail.

ChatGPT's Codex from OpenAI is a coding agent. It's purpose-built for writing, reviewing, and shipping code. It can work across multiple projects at the same time, fix bugs, propose changes, and run tests. If you need software built or maintained, this is the specialist you bring in. You wouldn't ask your general-purpose AI to do what a dedicated coding agent can do better and faster.

Google's Gemini has become one of the strongest tools for visual content. Their image generation and editing models can create, blend, and edit images with natural language prompts. Need product mockups, social media visuals, or creative assets? Gemini is where I'd start. I use it for image generation in my own workflow and the quality keeps getting better.

And that's just three platforms. There are tools built specifically for video, for audio, for data analysis, for customer service automation, and the list keeps growing.

The point isn't that you need to use all of them. The point is that you need to know they exist and understand what they're each good at so you can match the tool to the task.

Think About It Like Instacart

Here's an analogy that might help.

Instacart is basically an AI agent that does your grocery shopping for you. You tell it what you want. It figures out where to get it, sends someone to pick it up, and delivers it to your door. You don't need to know the layout of the store. You don't need to drive there. You just need to know what you need and communicate it clearly.

That's the same skill set you need with AI.

You don't need to understand how the models work under the hood. You don't need to know what a token is or how neural networks process information. You need to know what task you're trying to accomplish, and which tool is the right one to hand it to.

The better you get at that, the more you get out of AI. And the less time and money you waste asking the wrong tool to do the wrong job.

The Real Skill Is Delegation

This is where the project manager mindset comes in.

A good project manager doesn't do all the work themselves. They understand the strengths of their team. They match people to tasks based on capability. They set clear expectations. They review the output. And they make the final call.

That's exactly what working with AI looks like now.

Your job is to know what needs to get done, decide which AI tool or model is best suited for it, give it clear direction, review what comes back, and put your judgment on it before it goes out the door.

The people who are getting the most out of AI right now aren't the ones who know the most about technology. They're the ones who are best at managing it. They treat their AI tools like team members. They build workflows. They know when to use the heavy hitter and when the everyday model will do just fine.

And they keep the final decision-making for themselves. Because that's still the part that matters most.

The Cost Side of This Is Real

I want to touch on something practical here because I think it matters for business owners.

These AI models don't all cost the same to run. The differences are significant. If you're a developer using the API, the price gap between a top-tier model and a mid-tier model can be the difference between spending thousands a month and spending hundreds.

But even if you're not a developer, this translates to the subscription plans and tools you're paying for. Are you paying for the most expensive plan when a cheaper one does what you need? Are you using a premium model for tasks that a lighter one handles just as well?

This is basic business thinking applied to a new category of tools. You wouldn't pay enterprise pricing for software you use casually. Same logic applies here.

Know what you're paying for. Know what you're getting. And make sure the cost matches the task.

Here's how to start

Take stock of what AI tools you're currently using. Write them down. Then next to each one, write down what you're actually using it for.

Now ask yourself: is this the right tool for this task? Could something else do it better, faster, or cheaper?

If you're using one AI for everything, start experimenting. Try a different platform for image generation. Try a different model for quick tasks versus deep thinking. See what happens when you match the tool to the job instead of forcing one tool to do it all.

You don't need to become an AI expert. You need to become a good manager of AI tools. Know your team. Assign the right work to the right member. Review the output. And keep the thinking and decision-making where it belongs. With you.

That's the skill that's going to separate the businesses that get real value from AI from the ones that are just using it to look busy.

If you missed the earlier parts of this series, here's the quick version. AI extrapolates from existing work, it doesn't create from scratch, so the human element still matters. Your brand is your best defense against the wave of sameness AI is creating. And now you know how to manage your AI tools like a team instead of throwing everything at one.

The businesses that figure this out are going to have a real edge. I think you can be one of them.

Best, Jono