How Businesses Are Using AI Agents to Save Time, Cut Costs and Create New Opportunities

By: Real AI Use Cases Business Owners Roundtable

September 22, 2026

How are real businesses using AI right now? In this episode of Real AI Use Cases Business Owners Roundtable, Elizabeth Gearhart and Richard Gearhart are joined by Michael Housman of AI Performance Lab and Chris Fabregas of Chris Fabregas Fine Art Prints for a candid discussion about practical AI applications, AI agents, automation, creativity, marketing, copyright, AI tools, jobs, and the rapidly changing business landscape.

Michael Housman explains how AI agents automate his speaking engagement process, saving him two to three hours every day by tracking inquiries, contracts, travel, follow-ups and preparation. He also shares how businesses are using AI to automate repetitive work, increase marketing output, reduce costs and give employees opportunities to focus on higher-value work.

Chris Fabregas explains how he is using AI to enhance photography, create massive fine-art prints, animate photographs, streamline Shopify product descriptions and transform his creative business. He also shares how he used Suno AI to help produce his song “Fireflies on I65” after writing the lyrics himself.

The conversation tackles a major question for creative professionals: Can AI be both a threat to creative work and a powerful new tool for creators? The guests discuss AI-generated art, photography being copied or used to create derivative artwork, copyright concerns, and how creative professionals may need to adapt their businesses as AI becomes more capable.

The roundtable also explores AI agents that can access computers and perform tasks, including drafting emails, creating presentations, browsing the web, managing calendars and interacting with files. The group discusses the importance of safeguards when AI has access to sensitive business information.

Elizabeth Gearhart shares how she uses AI for content creation, deep research and answer engine optimization (AEO), including researching how businesses can become more visible in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and other AI answer engines.

The discussion also compares different AI models and tools, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok and Microsoft Copilot, and explores their different strengths for research, writing, multimedia, automation and business tasks.

The episode goes beyond the hype to examine what AI actually looks like inside businesses today—and how entrepreneurs, small business owners, creatives and professionals can use AI to save time, increase productivity, develop new capabilities and adapt to rapid technological change.

To access the original podcast, click here.