Hey. Hope you had a great week! I’m Kathleen, and every week I dig through the noise to find the easiest, coolest AI updates you can use immediately.
Let’s jump in.
Gusto Launches “Cofounder” AI Assistant for Small Businesses
Gusto — a payroll and HR platform used by many small businesses — announced a new AI assistant called Cofounder. There is no setup, and you can ask it to do tasks for you as if you were talking to a team member. Plus, it monitors your business proactively. For example reminding you if you haven’t approved an expense or telling you if payroll costs increased too much.
What you need:
A Gusto account
Employee and payroll information already set up inside Gusto
Access to Gusto’s AI features
Current pricing:
Gusto payroll plans currently start around $49/month plus per-employee fees
AI features may initially be included during rollout periods, with expanded pricing expected later
How it works:
The AI assistant connects directly to your Gusto account with your permission
It uses payroll, HR, and employee data already inside the platform
Users can ask operational questions conversationally
The system provides guidance, reminders, summaries, and recommendations
Human review and approval still remain part of payroll and HR processes
In short, Cofounder is a built-in operational assistant that helps simplify the use of Gusto. It will help flag compliance risks, generate helpful reports, or even find staffing conflicts before they become issues. Very helpful!
Meta Launches AI Business Agents for Messenger
Meta announced new AI-powered business agents designed for Facebook Messenger and enterprise business communication. The goal is to help businesses automate customer communication directly inside messaging platforms customers already use.
These AI business agents can:
answer customer questions
provide product recommendations
assist with scheduling
help with order updates
respond to common support requests
handle conversations 24/7
What you need:
A Facebook Business Page
Messenger enabled for your business
A Meta Business account
Product, service, or FAQ information prepared for setup
Access to Meta’s AI business tools as they roll out
Current pricing:
Meta has not fully finalized long-term enterprise pricing
Some features may initially be included within Meta business tools during rollout phases
Advertising and advanced automation features may involve additional costs later
How it works:
The AI is trained using business information, FAQs, products, and services
Customers interact conversationally inside Messenger
The system can answer questions or route conversations to humans when needed
Businesses can monitor and adjust responses over time
For smaller teams, this may help reduce missed leads and improve response times.
It looks like it will work best when handling repetitive or straightforward questions — while more personal or complex conversations can be transferred to a person.
Your Quick Win This Week
Try this prompt with ChatGPT or Claude:
“Act as an operations consultant. Review the repetitive questions, tasks, or customer messages I handle every week and identify which ones could realistically be simplified with AI while still maintaining a personal customer experience.”
You may find that a few small automations can save more time than expected.
Yours in success,
Kathleen
P.S. Forward this to one business-owner friend who’s still “figuring out AI.” You’ll look like the smart one. 😊