In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay are joined by Kirk Chester, CEO of Grit Insurance, to talk about something more agency owners are quietly wrestling with right now. Artificial intelligence, and whether it's actually a practical business tool or just the latest industry buzzword.

Kirk comes at the topic from a different angle than most. Rather than using AI to write emails or summarize documents, he has built AI agents, complete with names, personalities, and a place on his website's team page, to handle his agency's marketing. These agents research topics, write SEO optimized content, and appear on camera teaching prospects about insurance around the clock. He shares how the idea came about, why he intentionally gave each agent a distinct voice for a distinct audience, and what it actually took to build the first one, which took less time than you might think.

Perhaps most interesting is his perspective on what this means for the industry. Kirk doesn't see AI replacing the judgment and relationships at the heart of the business. He sees it handling the work nobody wants to do, so his people can focus on the work that actually matters.

A few things we cover in this episode.

• How AI agents differ from the AI tools most business owners are already using
• Why Kirk built different AI personas for different client types
• How a small agency started competing with companies spending $30,000 a month on marketing
• What the shift toward AI powered search means for how clients find you
• Why new producers at Grit are writing business faster than seasoned hires
• Why Kirk started with internal friction instead of lead generation
• How to think about AI as leverage for your existing team, not a replacement for it

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Show previously named Insurance Refocused