What is an AI employee?
An AI employee is an AI agent with a name, a defined job and a human manager. It works in Teams or Slack, uses your tools and hands every result to a person for approval.
A simple definition
An AI employee is an AI agent that has a name, one clearly described job, access to the tools it needs, and a human manager. You talk to it in Teams or Slack like you would a colleague. It does the work, then hands the result to a person to approve.
That last part matters. An AI employee prepares, drafts and checks. People decide.
How it differs from a chatbot or an automation
A chatbot answers whatever you ask, but it doesn't own a job. A classic automation follows fixed rules and breaks when something unexpected turns up. An AI employee sits between the two: it can read messy inputs like emails and documents, works across several tools, and always checks back with its owner.
AI employees don't replace people. They take repeatable work off the team so people spend more time on customers and decisions.
Where to go from here
If this sounds like the way you want to work with AI, the next step is a short conversation. We'll look at the work your teams repeat every week and tell you honestly which of it suits an AI employee and which doesn't.
From there you have two routes. On Platform your team builds its own AI employees after one onboarding call. On Managed, Switch runs a workshop, presents the plan to leadership, builds up to five AI employees, rolls them out and holds weekly implementation calls. You can try it first with a free test alongside a Switch team member.
Example jobs
Job
Works in
Produces
Approved by
Has a name and a job description
Teams or Slack
Mentionable colleague
Manager
Uses your connected tools
CRM, finance, documents
Prepared work
Owner
Asks before acting
Approval in thread
Approved result
Named person
See what an AI employee would do for your team.
30 minutes with Switch. We map your first agents with you.
How it works with Switch
Step 1
Agree the plan
Agree the steps, owners and dates together.
Step 2
Map your needs
Understand your workflow, pain points and goals.
Step 3
See it on your work
See a working agent on your own workflow.
Step 4
Business case
Connect the value to cost, revenue and margin.
Step 5
Price and terms
Agree scope and price for one first agent.
Step 6
References
Hear from customers who have done it.
Step 7
Procurement
Clear legal, security and vendor onboarding.
Step 8
Sign and start
Sign the shared scope and book the kick-off.
Related integrations
By company size
Questions
How is it different from a chatbot?
A chatbot answers questions. An AI employee does a defined job across your tools and delivers work for approval.
Will AI employees replace people on the team?
No. They take repeatable work off the team's plate so people spend their time on judgement, customers and decisions.
Does a person still approve the work?
Yes. Every AI employee hands its result to a named person in Teams or Slack, who approves, edits or rejects it before anything is sent or changed.
How do we get started?
Start with a free test together with a Switch team member, then choose Platform to build your own AI employees or Managed to have Switch find, build and roll them out for you.