AI Is the New Intern—Only Smarter, Faster, and Doesn’t Take Coffee Breaks
Here are some ways smart people like you are leveraging AI to help with the monotonous parts of work.
Let’s be real: some parts of work just suck. I'm talking about death-by-spreadsheet, endless inbox triage, and systems that only run in Internet Explorer (RIP). Thankfully, AI is stepping in—not to replace us, but to rescue us from all the tasks that drain our souls and leave no room for creativity or impact.
Here’s a fresh look at how companies are actually using AI to automate routine tasks, plus a few cool use cases that might just inspire your next internal hackathon.
1. Microsoft: Giving AI a Mouse and Keyboard
Microsoft recently dropped a Copilot Studio update that lets AI agents use your computer like a human would—clicking, typing, tabbing through apps, even legacy UIs that don’t expose APIs1. It’s like RPA on steroids, but the AI is context-aware and adaptable. Imagine having an intern that doesn’t ask where the “Any” key is.
What it’s good for:
Filling out forms
Navigating intranet tools
Repetitive back-office workflows
2. Walmart: Retail Staff With AI Sidekicks
Walmart launched an internal GenAI assistant called My Assistant to help 75,000 employees draft documents, summarize content, and even ideate on new product displays2. It's not writing poetry, but it’s saving people hours of busywork so they can focus on, you know, helping customers.
Why it works:
Trained on Walmart’s data
Integrated into existing workflows
Speaks “retail” fluently
3. JPMorgan: Large Language Model, Larger Impact
JPMorgan gave 60,000 employees access to a private LLM-powered assistant that drafts emails, wrangles spreadsheets, and summarizes complex documents3. It’s internal-only (sorry, no ChatGPT stock tips), but it’s making big waves in how work gets done across finance and ops teams.
Bonus points: They’re monitoring how this affects productivity, not just shipping tech for the sake of it.
4. UPS: ORION Is Basically an AI Dispatcher
UPS’s ORION platform uses AI to optimize driver routes in real time. It considers weather, traffic, delivery windows—you name it. The result? Over 100 million miles saved and nearly $300 million cut from operations4.
TL;DR: Agentic AI isn’t just for digital workflows. It’s literally reshaping the roads.
Key Patterns You’ll See Again and Again
Agents that act – No more just generating answers. These AIs can do stuff.
Domain-specific models – They know your acronyms, workflows, and weird edge cases.
Telemetry feedback loops – The best AI tools get better the more you use them.
Thinking About Using AI in Your Org?
Start with something that’s annoying but stable. Think: formatting expense reports or classifying incoming emails. Then grow into bigger tasks. Don’t wait for perfection—wait for the first “whoa, that saved me 30 minutes” moment. That’s the magic.
References
Tom Warren, “Microsoft lets Copilot Studio use a computer on its own,” The Verge, April 16, 2025. Link
Walmart Press Center, “Walmart’s Expanding One-Of-A-Kind Associate GenAI Tool,” Jan 9, 2024.
Dominic Catacora, “JPMorgan Adopts AI to Streamline Tasks for 60,000 Employees,” Allwork.Space, Aug 9, 2024.
Carsten Krause, “UPS and Agentic AI: A Case Study in Logistics Innovation,” CDO Times, Jan 6, 2025.