We've all been there: drowning in a sea of emails, trying to plan a trip, managing endless to-do lists, and wishing we had a personal assistant. While AI chatbots are great for answering questions, the next wave of AI is here to actually do things for you. They're called AI agents, and they are moving out of the research lab and onto our laptops, for real.
Forget just asking for information. These tools can take a goal, create a plan, and execute tasks across multiple steps. Ready to see what's out there? Here are seven AI agents you can start using right now to bring some automation to your life.
What are AI Agents, Anyway?
Think of it this way: a chatbot is like talking to a librarian—it can find and give you information. An AI agent is like giving a task to a team of junior researchers. You give it a high-level goal (e.g., 'research the best coffee makers under $200 and create a comparison table'), and it can autonomously browse the web, read reviews, identify key features, compile the data, and present you with the final table. They have memory, planning capabilities, and can use other tools.
7 AI Agents to Help Automate Your Life
1. AgentGPT
One of the most accessible ways to try out agent technology. AgentGPT lets you assemble and deploy autonomous AI agents directly in your browser. You give your agent a name and a goal, and watch as it creates a task list, starts executing, and thinks through the process step-by-step.
Best For: Simple, web-based research tasks. For example: 'Create a detailed travel itinerary for a 3-day weekend in Lisbon, Portugal, focusing on historical sites and local food.'
2. Auto-GPT
This is one of the original and more powerful open-source agents, but it requires a bit more technical setup. Auto-GPT is known for its ability to recursively debug, develop, and self-improve as it works towards a goal. It can write code, create files, and has more robust capabilities.
Best For: More complex tasks for those comfortable with some tech setup, like 'Analyze the top 5 competitors for my new productivity app and create a feature comparison report.'
3. Zapier Central
From the company famous for automation, Zapier Central is a new AI workspace that lets you build and train bots to work across thousands of apps (like Google Sheets, Slack, Gmail, etc.). You can give it instructions in plain English, and it will interact with your apps to complete tasks.
Best For: Automating your existing digital workflow. Example: 'When a new lead comes in from a Typeform, add them to my Google Contacts, create a draft introductory email in Gmail, and send me a Slack notification.'
4. MultiOn
MultiOn's AI agent acts as a browser extension that can perform actions on your behalf across different websites. It's designed to be a true 'action model.' You can ask it to book flights, order food, fill out forms, or reserve a table by having it navigate websites just like a human would.
Best For: Hands-free completion of web-based chores. Example: 'Find and book a reservation for two people at a well-rated Italian restaurant near downtown for 7 PM on Saturday.'
5. Taskade AI Agents
Taskade is a productivity and project management platform that has deeply integrated AI agents into its workflow. You can assign different roles to agents (Research Agent, Task Management Agent, etc.) within a project, and they will help generate ideas, create task lists, and organize your project from start to finish.
Best For: Supercharging project management and collaborative work. Example: 'Generate a complete project plan for launching a new podcast, including research, task lists for pre-production, production, and marketing.'
6. Adept
Adept is another AI agent that can turn a text command into a set of actions across different software. It’s particularly useful for business and data tasks within enterprise software like Salesforce or spreadsheets.
Best For: Business professionals looking to automate complex software tasks. Example: 'Generate a sales report from Salesforce for the last quarter for all clients in the tech sector, and create a chart in Google Sheets.'
7. Rabbit r1 / Perplexity
While Rabbit r1 is a hardware device, its underlying AI acts as a sophisticated agent, and Perplexity offers a similar conversational search and action experience. These 'answer engines' are designed to understand complex questions, perform live web searches, synthesize information, and present a direct answer.
Best For: Complex research and information synthesis. Example: 'What are the key differences in battery technology between the latest electric cars from Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid, and what is the real-world range for each?'
The Bottom Line
AI agents are still an emerging technology, and they're not perfect. They can sometimes get stuck in loops or misunderstand complex goals. However, for a growing number of tasks—especially in research, planning, and automating digital workflows—they are already incredibly powerful. The key is to start with clear, well-defined goals. Pick one of these tools, give it a simple mission, and see how much time you can get back in your day.