What to Delegate to an AI Coworker (and What to Keep)

The hardest part of working with an AI coworker is not the asking. It is deciding what to ask for. Hand over too little and it is a novelty. Hand over the wrong things and you spend more time checking than you saved.

So here is a practical way to think about it: a simple test, a list of work to hand off, a list to keep, and how to handle the grey areas in between. (If you are new to the idea, start with how to delegate work to an AI coworker.)

The test: legwork vs judgment

Almost everything on your plate is one of two things.

Legwork is the work that has to happen but does not require you specifically: gathering, drafting, formatting, chasing, updating, monitoring. It eats hours and fragments your attention, and it rarely changes the outcome based on who does it.

Judgment is the work that is yours: the decision, the relationship, the taste, the call that draws on what only you know.

The rule is simple. Delegate the legwork. Keep the judgment. An AI coworker is built to take the first kind off your plate so your time goes to the second. Most people are surprised how much of their week is legwork wearing a meeting invite.

Hand it off: the work that should disappear

These are the jobs an AI coworker should be doing for you, whatever your role:

• Inbox and follow-ups. Triage the inbox, draft the replies, and chase the threads that have gone quiet. The follow-up you keep meaning to send gets sent.
• Research and prep. Turn a name and a meeting into a brief. Turn a messy folder of documents into a summary. Walk in prepared without spending the morning getting there.
• Keeping systems current. CRM records, trackers, and notes that go stale the moment they are created. An AI coworker keeps them current in the background.
• Recurring weekly work. The report you compile every Friday, the digest every morning, the list you rebuild each week. Set it once and it runs on a schedule.
• Monitoring. Watching for the thing you would notice if you had the time: a change in an account, a piece of news, a deadline approaching.

The common thread is that none of it needs you. It needs doing, reliably, by someone who works in the tools you already use. You can see more of what people hand over if you want examples for your role.

Keep it: the work that's yours

Just as important is what not to delegate. Keep the work where you are the point:

• The decisions. What to prioritize, who to hire, whether to do the deal. An AI coworker hands you the prepared options; you make the call.
• The relationships. The conversations that build trust are yours to have. Let the prep and the follow-up be handled so you can be present for the part that matters.
• Taste and voice. The judgment of what is good, the line that only sounds like you. Delegate the first draft of the boring things; keep authorship of the things that carry your name.

Delegating well is not about handing over everything. It is about handing over enough that you have room for the things only you can do. You decide; your coworker delivers.

The grey areas

Some work sits in between, and the answer is usually "delegate the legwork inside it, keep the judgment."

• A board update? Let it be drafted from the numbers and your notes; you write the part that sets the narrative.
• A hiring shortlist? Let the sourcing and first-pass screening be done; you decide who to meet.
• A proposal? Let the research, structure, and formatting be handled; you own the pitch.

When you are unsure, hand over the version that has a clear right answer and keep the version that needs you. Over a week or two you will calibrate quickly, and the line will move further toward delegation than you expected.

Start with the most annoying thing

You do not need to reorganize how you work. Pick the single most annoying recurring task on your plate, the one you dread on a Monday, and hand it to your AI coworker first. That is the fastest way to feel the difference, and it is usually pure legwork.

Amy is the AI coworker you delegate to, right in the channels you already use. Claim your $50 in credits and start with one task.

FAQ

What should I not delegate to AI? The decisions, the relationships, and anything that carries your taste or voice. Delegate the legwork around them, not the judgment itself.

How do I know if a task is a good fit? Ask whether it needs you specifically. If the result would be the same regardless of who does it, it is legwork, and a good candidate to hand off.

Can it handle recurring work, not just one-offs? Yes. Recurring work can run on a schedule and in the background, so it is done before you ask. See how delegation works.

Is this different from an AI chatbot? Yes. A chatbot answers; a coworker does the work end to end. Here is the full difference.