The Agents of Change Digital Marketing Podcast · Rich Brooks | Interviews with Marketing Experts | SEO | Social Media Market

Create Custom AI Assistants with Mike Allton

November 12, 2025·38 min·3 clips

Mike Allton's aha moment came when he heard AI could handle 95% of marketing work—was his job at risk?

This episode of the Agents of Change Digital Marketing Podcast features host Rich Brooks and guest Mike Allton, an AI architect for creators and solopreneurs, discussing practical strategies for building custom AI assistants. They explore how AI can enhance business workflows without replacing human judgment. Mike Allton shares his journey from initial skepticism about early AI tools to a pivotal moment when he realized AI's potential impact on marketing work. He details his process for creating a "podcast showrunner" AI assistant that helps generate episode topics, titles, and guest introductions. Rich Brooks describes his own AI assistant that analyzes sales call transcripts to tailor client proposals by suggesting which sections to keep or modify. The conversation highlights the importance of training AI assistants to challenge assumptions and ask clarifying questions, rather than simply agreeing with the user. Mike explains the analogy of Leonardo da Vinci's workshop, where specialized assistants handle specific tasks, allowing the master to focus on high-value work. He outlines the technical steps for building an assistant using custom instructions in platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, and emphasizes attaching "knowledge docs" for consistency. A key insight is that AI assistants should be treated like employees, even placed on an organizational chart, and require ongoing iteration and testing to refine their outputs. Mike warns that AI is not a magic bullet and businesses must first fix broken processes before applying automation. He offers a free scalability audit worksheet to help listeners identify repetitive tasks suitable for delegation or AI support. The tone is conversational and educational, blending personal anecdotes with actionable advice. This episode is ideal for small business owners, marketers, and solopreneurs looking to integrate AI efficiently into their daily operations. Listeners seeking highly technical AI development details or those opposed to using AI in their workflow might find it less relevant.

As heard by us

AI helps most once the process is already in shape.

Rich Brooks and Mike Allton keep the focus on a simple idea: AI helps most after the work itself is in order. The talk stays practical, with a sales and marketing example from Flight New Media grounding the point.

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Why you'd press play

If you want a sane way to turn repetitive sales and marketing work into a custom assistant.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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