When we talk about the rise of AI, most people immediately think of automation, disruption and fear.
But the real story is very different.
If you look at what is happening inside businesses today, you will realize that AI has not closed doors.
It has opened an entirely new set of opportunities for those who know how to use it.
- World Economic Forum (2023): Predicts AI will create 97 million new jobs, outpacing the 85 million roles it displaces. Source
- McKinsey Global Institute: Estimates that automation could increase global productivity growth by 1.4% annually, generating demand for roles like AI trainers, ethicists, and hybrid managers. Source
To understand how you can use AI as a virtual assistant, you must first understand what is happening inside companies across the world.
Every business, whether it is a startup, a professional practice, an e-commerce brand or a services agency, runs on two major engines.
One is the revenue engine, the part of the business that ensures customers discover the brand, understand the offer, enquire, purchase and stay engaged.
The other is the delivery and operations engine, the part that ensures the promises made to customers are fulfilled correctly, consistently and on time.
Here is the work that gets impacted by AI for both these engines:
Revenue generation
- Lead generation
- Website and landing pages
- Ads
- Organic content
- Blogging
- Video content
- Image-based content – memes, infographics, etc.
- Lead nurturing
- Email funnel
- Organic content – video, podcasts, blogposts
- Conversion/Sales
- Sales call – requires sales script/tracking/sales training
- High Conversion Copywriting
- Live & recorded webinars – requires script/content
Delivery and operations
- Product & service creation
- Market research
- Conceptualization/prototyping/building a service delivery system
- Delivery – logistics, making sure paying customers get what they were promised
- Customer support & troubleshooting
- Finance, HR, administration, legal
- Hire better people
- Retain them and enable them
- Track performance
- Reward
- Remove non-performing or non-aligned assets
- Safeguarding the interests of the organization
- Technology – automating and streamlining processes
- Leadership – build this entire system and keep everyone aligned
Earlier, building a business with these two engines required large teams and specialized roles.
Revenue work depended on marketers, designers, video editors, copywriters, sales teams, and customer-facing staff.
Delivery and operations required operations managers, administrative teams, customer support executives, analysts, researchers, HR personnel and finance coordinators.
For a small business, hiring all of these people was impossible.
For a mid-sized business, it was slow and expensive.
For professionals such as dentists, accountants, lawyers, coaches and consultants, it was completely out of reach.
This is where AI has changed everything.
Now, as a virtual assistant who can use AI, you can do a wide variety of tasks that earlier required specialized professionals with decades of work experience in a particular industry or advanced degrees.
That is no longer necessary.
As you start doing this, you over time become a generalist capable of handling many responsibilities for a business owner and earn very well.
The reason is simple: if you learn how to use AI as a virtual assistant, you can support both the revenue and delivery engine over time, as you develop more skills.
AI does not run the business automatically.
Someone has to manage the workflow, structure the inputs, understand the business context, refine the outputs, communicate with teams, maintain consistency and ensure that the work actually solves the client’s problems.
That “someone” is the virtual assistant who understands how to use AI.
This is why virtual assistants today are able to perform the work of multiple people.
What skills do you need to learn to solve these problems?
Here is a list of 15 skills:
- How to do lead generation with AI using WhatsApp, SMS, email & social media (with or without ads).
- How to launch a blog or newsletter for your clients.
- How to create and test high-converting ads, organic videos, and write copy.
- How to create landing pages for your employer’s/client’s products and services.
- Use AI & automation for SEO projects.
- How to do lead nurturing through marketing funnels (with AI).
- How to do personal brand building work for your clients.
- How to solve customer & employee onboarding for your clients.
- How to automate operations & customer support, create knowledge bases, chatbots, voice agents with a human in the loop.
- How to assist clients in hiring & managing remote talent.
- AI-driven project management (tech & non-tech teams).
- How to assist businesses with review management services & collecting testimonials.
- How to create automations,
- Data-driven decision making, analytics, and reporting with AI.
- How to set up and monitor a sales process with AI (training AI, creating voice agents, AI audits, AI transcriptions).
Bonus
- Basic bookkeeping for foreign startups, tracking financial information, and budget management.
- How to build internal documentation & internal training that speeds up onboarding (ideal for teachers).
If you learn just 3-4, you can start working with your own clients and earning money, and if you learn at least 10 of these skills, you can get a remote job.
This is why the demand for AI-literate VAs is increasing rapidly in the US, UK, Canada, Europe, Singapore, Dubai and Australia.
And this is why you, irrespective of your background, career gap or current job, can build a remote career faster than ever before.
If you are stuck in an office job where you are constantly struggling to balance family responsibilities and long work hours, AI allows you to step out of that cycle.
If you have taken a career break and feel unsure about how to re-enter the workforce, AI gives you a way to rebuild your confidence and learn skills that are relevant today, not ten years ago.
And if you have experience in teaching, finance, administration, HR, operations, customer service, marketing or content, AI gives you the ability to offer services in a way that was unimaginable earlier.
When AI becomes part of your workflow, you can assist clients with lead generation, content creation, research, customer support, process documentation, personal brand management, recruitment coordination, inbox management, onboarding systems, meeting preparation, data clean-up, basic analytics and dozens of other responsibilities.
You are no longer restricted by your past role or the narrow description of your last job.
You become someone who can support a founder or a CXO across multiple functions.
That makes you invaluable.
Even if you have worked in a specific career before, you can work as a virtual assistant in that industry.
Given your prior experience in that work, you are highly likely to excel.
If you are from accounts, banking, audit or someone who understands basic finance, you can work as a virtual assistant for fintech founders, CFOs, investment advisors or wealth managers. AI can help you quickly prepare research notes, reports, summaries, newsletters and LinkedIn posts. You can then refine them, check accuracy, simplify the language and adapt the tone to match your client’s brand.
If you are from an operations or admin background, you can support CXOs, founders and project teams as an operations virtual assistant. AI can help you create checklists, SOPs, tracking sheets, meeting notes and follow-up plans in minutes. You can take care of coordination, reminders, implementation and day-to-day problem solving.
If you are a teacher, you already know how to explain concepts simply, break down lessons and handle doubts. You can work for professors, trainers and edtech companies abroad as a virtual assistant by helping them create curriculum, lesson plans, worksheets, quizzes, course summaries, email updates and community communication much faster.
If you are from a back-end admin background, you are already used to handling data, documents, compliance, forms and follow-ups. With AI, you can work as a virtual assistant for financial advisors, small business owners or CXOs and help them with basic reports, documentation, process tracking, MIS updates and routine communication.
This is not limited to these categories.
Irrespective of which background you are from, whether it is teaching, HR, banking, operations, customer service, law, sales, or even a long career break as a homemaker, you can become a remote virtual assistant.
There are incredible opportunities for remote VA work in the US and other developed economies like the UK, Canada, Singapore, Dubai and European countries.
These can be performed by anyone who understands basic English, has a computer or even a phone to get started with and an internet connection in India.
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