Save Thousands of Hours (and Dollars) with Cassidy's New Research Agent

This might be the biggest opportunity in AI right now: take your industry expertise, apply new AI knowledge, and become the AI expert in your industry.

See, a recent McKinsey report stated that AI adoption in the workplace has actually remained stagnant from 2021 to 2023.

I believe that’s because most people have a general understanding of AI, but they have no idea how to use it in their specific industry. There’s a huge opportunity to become the person who shows people how to apply AI to your industry. Focus on teaching use cases actually relevant to their daily work.

The more niche you get, the bigger impact you can have.

How do you become the AI expert in your industry?

First, position yourself as the "AI Person" at your company. Share your learnings and experiments with colleagues and other people in your industry.

There's no shortage of people looking to make their lives easier. Start by helping those around you.

To take it a step further, share your insights online.

You know I love TikTok, but it doesn’t matter which platform you choose. TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, whatever. The steps are simple.

1. Learn about AI
2. Use it in your industry
3. Share online how you’re doing that.
4. Repeat for months-years

If your content is helpful and you do it for long enough, you’ll start to be seen as the AI expert for your industry. You'll have the opportunity to make a significant impact by applying the power of AI to address specific problems within your field.

Remember: every industry needs an AI expert, you can be it.

AI-Powered Automation vs. Traditional Workflows

Automation has evolved beyond simple “if this, then that” workflows. Cassidy is an AI-native automation platform, built for teams that need automation with human-level judgment—not just rule-based triggers. Zapier, on the other hand, is a traditional automation tool designed to connect apps with simple workflows.

While Zapier is great for basic, repetitive tasks, Cassidy takes automation further by infusing AI into every workflow, integrating deeply with business knowledge, and enabling non-technical users to build advanced automations.

Here’s a quick comparison of Cassidy vs. Zapier:

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AI Integration: Built-in AI vs. “Add-on AI”

Cassidy is AI-first, meaning every workflow uses intelligence at its core. Whether automating sales outreach, drafting RFP responses, or summarizing customer inquiries, Cassidy’s AI understands context and makes informed decisions—just like a human would.

Zapier, on the other hand, treats AI as an add-on. You can add AI as a step in a Zap (e.g., sending data to OpenAI), but AI isn’t natively built into workflows. It’s an external tool you have to configure and integrate manually.

Cassidy makes AI a seamless part of automation, while Zapier simply calls AI when told to.

Cassidy is No-Code & Built for Non-Technical Users

One of the biggest differences between Cassidy and Zapier is who can use it.

• Cassidy is designed for non-technical users. Anyone—sales teams, support reps, marketers—can build and customize AI-powered workflows without writing code.
• Zapier is better suited for technically inclined users. While it offers a simple interface, more advanced automations require complex setup, API configurations, and manual logic building.

For example:

• In Cassidy, a sales rep can automate lead enrichment, and Cassidy will research a prospect, pull insights, and generate a personalized outreach email.
• In Zapier, you’d have to manually connect multiple apps, trigger API calls, and piece together responses with no contextual understanding.

If you want a platform that empowers every team member to build their own AI-driven automations—without waiting on developers—Cassidy is the clear choice.

Automation Logic: AI-Powered vs. Rigid “If-Then”

Zapier follows a strict “if this, then that” model. Every Zap follows a predefined sequence: if a condition is met, a specific action happens. While this works for repetitive tasks, it doesn’t adapt to complexity.

Cassidy enables flexible, AI-driven workflows. Instead of following a fixed set of rules, Cassidy’s automation:

• Understands context and makes real-time decisions
• Learns and improves over time
• Handles complex, text-based tasks that traditional automation tools can’t

For example, Cassidy can automatically process and respond to RFPs, pulling from historical proposals to generate accurate answers. This simply isn’t possible in Zapier.

AI Assistants: Cassidy Provides Real-Time AI, Zapier Doesn’t

Cassidy doesn’t just run background workflows—it also provides real-time AI Assistants that work inside your favorite tools.

• Slack & Teams Assistants – Employees can ask Cassidy questions, pull reports, and get AI-driven insights without leaving chat.
• Chrome Assistant – AI that can analyze webpages, summarize information, or draft content in real time.
• Embedded AI Assistants – Add Cassidy’s AI into your existing apps via API or UI embeds.

Zapier has no AI assistant functionality. It runs in the background, but users can’t interact with AI in real time. If you need AI that works inside the tools you already use, Cassidy is the only option.

Security & Enterprise Scalability

For businesses with security and compliance needs, Cassidy is built for enterprise use.

• SOC 2 Type II, SSO, and granular permission controls
• Knowledge Base permissions so AI can only access authorized data
• Built to scale across teams, with centralized security settings

Zapier, on the other hand, is designed more for individuals and small teams. It offers team accounts, but lacks Cassidy’s granular security controls, making it less ideal for large enterprises with strict compliance needs.

Who Should Use Cassidy vs. Zapier?

Use Cassidy if you need:

✔️ AI-powered automation that understands context
✔️ No-code, enterprise-ready automation for non-technical teams
✔️ Real-time AI Assistants for Slack, Teams, and Chrome
✔️ Advanced security, scalability, and compliance

Use Zapier if you need:

✔️ Simple, rule-based automation for moving data between apps
✔️ A personal productivity tool for repetitive tasks
✔️ A lightweight solution for basic workflows

Both platforms serve different needs. If you need true AI-powered automation that can handle complex workflows and scale across your organization, Cassidy is the better choice.

Final Thoughts: Why Cassidy Wins

Zapier is a great tool for basic, trigger-based automation, but it wasn’t built for AI-first workflows. If you want automation that thinks, learns, and adapts, Cassidy is the future.

Cassidy doesn’t just move data—it automates the impossible. Ready to see it in action? Book a demo today.

There are two primary categories for integrating AI into your business:

1. Boosting Internal Productivity - In other words, figuring out how to make your employees and workflows more efficient, so you can deliver better results faster.
2. Enhancing the Customer Experience - Exploring what you can offer on top of your existing products and services to make your customers even happier.

Focusing on internal productivity will help cut costs, while improving the customer experience will help you earn more.

Internal Productivity

In my view, it’s easier to start with internal productivity. Greater AI adoption within your team or even by yourself will lead to a substantial increase in overall productivity. The right AI strategy will turn everyone in your organization into a top performer.

Of course, figuring out the best AI strategy can be tricky. But, I think it’s important to not overthink it. Just starting to use AI tools and sharing them with your team can pave the way for in-depth AI integration across your organization. It’s crucial for everyone to have that “Aha” moment with AI.

At CassidyAI, we’re all about this mission. While we’re still slowly rolling out early access, we’ve been documenting our process publicly because we believe everyone can benefit from the thinking we’re putting into how to build features that truly speed up internal workflows.

We showcased our plugin feature that allows you to bring an AI assistant, custom-trained for your business, virtually anywhere on the internet. It’s been a game-changer for sales, customer success, and marketing teams.

(Check out the demo here. You can also signup for the Cassidy waitlist here)

The point is this: When integrating AI into your business, consider the workflows and tasks that currently exist and explore how AI could be introduced to enhance them. Never assume AI can't help--even small steps towards incorporating AI eventually become meaningful time savings.

Customer Experience

On the other hand, you can drive significant customer retention and growth by thoughtfully using AI in your products and services. This approach requires creativity, as it is not as simple as purchasing an off-the-shelf solution for internal workflow optimization.

AI-enabled features in your products and services could include personalized recommendations, an AI chatbot, or simple AI features that make it easier for people to use your product. The catch is that these features must be unique to your business.

For instance, Shopify customers struggled to optimize their stores properly, so their AI sidekick was developed to do it automatically. Another example: I recently spoke with a personal trainer who introduced an AI chatbot for fitness-related questions because clients struggled with guidance on days they weren’t seeing the trainer.

When considering AI implementation, think about the biggest pain points for your current customers. Why do people churn? Is something stopping them from using your product or service more often? What are their unmet needs?

It’s within these questions, you’ll find opportunities to enhance the customer experience using AI.