Most entrepreneurs think they're "using AI." After decades running businesses, I've identified five distinct levels of AI adoption. Most people are stuck at Level 1 or 2. Here's the full map — and what each level actually looks and feels like inside a real business.
Level 1 — Generative AI: You're Using a Tool
Prompt in, output out. No memory. No tools. No initiative. Every conversation starts cold. The AI has no idea who you are, what you've asked before, or what you're trying to build.
This is where most people are. This is also where most "AI transformation" initiatives start and stop. ChatGPT on a Tuesday afternoon.
Level 2 — AI Agents: You're Running Automation
You've connected AI to tools — it can search the web, read files, send emails, trigger workflows. It can take action. But it's still reactive. You build the workflow, you start it, it runs, it stops.
No identity. No continuity. It doesn't know you. This is what most enterprise AI vendors are selling. Most "advanced" users live here.
Level 3 — Multi-Agent AI: You're Building Systems
Multiple specialized AI models working on the same problem simultaneously. Each with different strengths. An orchestrator ties it together. Complex decisions get better input. This is genuine analytical power.
This is where my AI Board of Directors operates — four frontier models debating strategy from different analytical angles before I make a decision. Claude for long-term risk. Grok for market reality. GPT for execution planning. Gemini for customer experience.
Level 4 — Resident AI: You Have a Partner
This is the leap most people haven't made yet — and it's where the game changes.
Persistent identity. It remembers. It acts without being asked. It monitors things while you sleep. It has opinions about your business. It drafts, files, builds, and ships — and when you come back to it, it knows exactly where you left off.
This morning I was at a doctor's appointment. While I was gone, my AI shipped a security tool to GitHub, fixed a blog post, filed financial documents, and delivered two intelligence briefings. Nobody asked it to start.
That's not automation. That's a resident partner.
Level 5 — Leveraged AI: You ARE Leveraged
This is where Resident AI becomes full collaboration. You're not just letting it act — you're actively co-creating with it. You bring the strategy, the judgment, the relationships. It brings the execution, the memory, the analysis, the speed.
At Level 5, AI isn't something you use. It's something you compound. Every session makes the next session better. Every decision gets informed by every prior decision. Your AI knows your business better than most employees do.
The people at Level 5 are pulling further ahead of Level 1 every single day.
Which Level Are You At?
The question I ask every entrepreneur I work with: which level are you at right now — and what would it take to move up one level?
You don't have to jump from 1 to 5. One level at a time is enough. But standing still isn't an option.
In the years ahead, you'll either leverage AI… or be leveraged by it.