113: Using AI Agents for Business: From Chatbots to Autonomous Workflows with Bryan McAnulty

Summary
The biggest shift in AI may be moving from asking questions to assigning work. In this episode Chris sits down with Bryan McAnulty, founder and product director of Heights Platform and LatchLoop, to explore why leaders should approach AI as a worker assigned to tasks and projects rather than a chatbot producing one-time answers. Bryan explains how long-running agents can conduct research, analyze information, automate recurring work, and support teams without constant human supervision.
Chris and Bryan also unpack the operating model leaders need around context, permissions, approval gates, prompt injection, process ownership, and human judgment. Listen to learn how to begin with specialized agents, protect critical systems, and use expanded AI capacity to create better customer outcomes rather than simply reduce headcount.

Chapters
Episode Trailer
Meet Brian McAnulty: From Creator Platforms to AI Agents
New Chat vs. New Task: A Fundamental Shift in AI
Three Ways to Work with AI Agents
How AI Agents Actually Work Behind the Scenes
Security & Guardrails: Keeping AI Agents Safe
Will AI Agents Replace Jobs? A Better Question to Ask
Owning Your Processes: Why It Matters in the AI Era
What Is an Agent Harness? Explained
How Soon Is Too Soon to Deploy AI Agents?
Closing the Implementation Gap: Getting Started with Agents