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With everything that AI can do right now, do you even need a virtual assistant?  My answer is: it depends on what you’re expecting AI to do. Don't get me wrong. I love using AI. It's great. My team of VAs use AI. But there's a huge difference between getting an answer from AI and getting a task fully done in your business using AI. People have even asked me, "Diane, are you worried that AI is going to take the jobs of your VAs?" My immediate answer is no. First off, not everyone is going to use AI. Not everyone believes in it, and many people would rather use a person like a virtual assistant. But for those of you using AI, the virtual assistant can manage it. For those of you thinking, "I'm going to get rid of my VA and just use AI", the problem is you become the manager of the AI. You become the one who uses it and has to implement everything afterwards. Let me break it all down. The Three Buckets in Your Business Think of it as three columns: You (the CEO), AI, and your VA. What Stays With You As the business owner, as the CEO, these things should stay with you:
What AI Is Really Good At If you've used it enough, you'll know AI is really great at:
 Now, we all know that AI can hallucinate, meaning it can make up its own answers when it doesn't actually have the answer. AI is really like a puppy. It wants to do well for you. That's where you really have to know how to set it up properly so that it is a representation of you, doesn't sound like AI, and doesn't fall into some of the common AI troubles. What a Great VA Is Really Good At A great VA excels at:
The VA can manage the AI. This is where AI plus a VA becomes really powerful. Real Examples of AI + VA Working Together Podcasting You record the podcast. That's your job, and you do it well. AI can help create ideas, draft content, or pull things from your book to turn into podcast episodes. It might also suggest or support the editing process. Then the VA, using AI tools if needed, edits, formats, uploads, publishes, distributes, and repurposes the material. Email Newsletter You provide the idea or the story, or AI gives you some brainstormed ideas to start from. AI helps draft it. You read it over, then pass it to your VA, who formats the newsletter, adds the necessary links, tests it, and schedules it for the right group of people, using AI to support the process and make it even faster. Social Media You create the expertise, the knowledge, the wisdom, whether that's a video, a blog, or a book. That's something we don't want to outsource. Even though people use AI to potentially create content, we don't want to just pull from what's already out there. We want our own stories, our own expertise, our own way of saying things.  Once we create those things, AI can help repurpose them. We use AI often to suggest good cuts from long-form video to short-form video. My VA does that, not me. AI can also help choose B-roll clips, add captions, or create Canva posts. But the VA oversees all of that, making sure the content is created, scheduled, posted, and tracked. Then deciding what's doing well and what needs to happen next month, and reporting that back. Can AI be used in all of that? Of course. If you want to pay for the extra tools, and if you're going to have your VA use them like ChatGPT, or your Claude account to be able to do these different pieces. Systems and SOPs You tell the VA what different systems or processes you want made. The VA could make the SOP (standard operating procedure), or your VA could use AI to help create it. Then the VA implements it, maintains it, and makes necessary updates as things change. The Problem with Using AI Alone A lot of the business owners I talk to say that they go down the rabbit hole. They start on something and keep going, and they end up with 4,700 brilliant AI conversations. But if no one implements any of it, what has changed? Not much. There's still someone who has to go through it, check it, and make sure it's in alignment with your brand. Even if you've put all the specs in (your brand story, your essence, your branding style guide) someone should still oversee it. AI can actually create another version of the same problem we've always had: more ideas, more information, more things we could do. Someone still needs to step in between you and the AI to make the decisions, make it happen, manage the AI, to make sure it's doing its role, because even if you've set up a lot of AI things, mistakes can happen. Even if it works in the beginning, it might not be producing the right output or might be missing steps along the way. Things have to be checked. Do not outsource yourself. You still need to be in the mix. The goal isn't to replace you with AI, and it also isn't to give your entire business to a VA. The Three-Column Exercise Here's something practical you can do right now. Make three columns: Me, AI, and VA. Look back at everything you did last week and sort it. If you have a VA or assistant already, have them do this process as well. Then ask yourself: How much is still sitting in the Me column that doesn't belong there? If your VA column is really short, you’re probably the cog in the wheel stopping your business from getting where it needs to be. You might be:
What do you do if that Me column is too long? Get a VA to take on some of the AI stuff and take things off your plate. Ready for Support? We currently have availability through VA Made Easy, a company I run with 16 virtual assistants that I match with busy business owners. You don't have to know exactly what you want to delegate or even have any SOPs made. I can help you figure that out. Just reach out while we have spots available. If you're still wondering what you could even give a VA, "Could they just do my email and calendar management?" — no. Way beyond that. I have a free gift for you: 229 Tasks You Can Delegate. I made this years ago when I started delegating to my own virtual assistants and bringing on clients. It's a fillable PDF; go through it and check the boxes or print it out and highlight everything you're currently doing that someone else could potentially own. Imagine the hours you could save. We currently have a limited number of VA openings. If getting support has been on your mind and you don't want to wait until everything's perfectly organized, just reach out now. We'll have a conversation, help you figure out what you need, and determine whether VA Made Easy is the right fit. Reach out: [email protected] I hope that you will embrace not only having a VA, but using AI in your business, and that you won't put on the hat of managing AI in every part and every goal and every task. Let someone else take that on so you can do the parts that you love and the parts that people hire you for. Until next time, stay dynamic! Diane Frequently Asked Questions Do you still need a virtual assistant if you use AI? Yes, and here's why. There's a huge difference between getting an answer from AI and getting something done in your business. AI is excellent at brainstorming, drafting, summarizing, and analyzing. If you rely on AI alone, you end up managing it and implementing everything it produces. A virtual assistant bridges that gap and can actually manage the AI for you, making the combination far more powerful than either one alone. What is the difference between AI and a virtual assistant? AI is a tool that generates ideas, drafts content, summarizes information, and speeds up repetitive thinking tasks. A virtual assistant is a person who implements, follows up, manages workflows, communicates with clients and leads, publishes content, organizes systems, and makes sure things actually happen. The most powerful combination is using AI to accelerate the work and a VA to own it, so you can stay focused on the vision, expertise, and relationships only you can bring. Can AI replace a virtual assistant? Not entirely. While AI can handle many thinking and drafting tasks, it cannot replace the judgment, communication, accountability, and implementation that a skilled virtual assistant provides. AI can hallucinate, miss brand nuances, and produce output that still needs checking and management. Someone still needs to step in between you and the AI to make sure it's working correctly, staying on brand, and actually producing results. That someone is your VA. I'm Diane Rolston: wife, mom, connector, athlete, nature lover, cheerleader, and the coach for high-achieving women who want to be successful AND satisfied. I work with everyday successful women who have spent their entire lives creating an identity based on their achievements and responsibilities, and are ready to put themselves and their desires first. Through my 10-area life assessment, values work, and life design process, I help women stop measuring their lives by success alone and start measuring by satisfaction, so they can take a stand for the AND. Learn more at dianerolston.com.
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