I tested OpenAI's new workspace agents. Here's what happened.

Most AI tools just answer questions. They don't do the work.

OpenAI just shipped something that doesn't: workspace agents.

These are shared agents your team can deploy across Gmail, Slack, HubSpot, Calendar, Drive, and more.

They run long-running workflows inside your org's permissions and security controls. Not chatbots. Actual workers.

I tested two of them this week.

The chief of staff agent

I used OpenAI's template to build a daily operating brief. Connected Gmail, Google Calendar, and Slack.

11 minutes later, it delivered a scan-friendly brief with:

• My end-of-day focus areas and open loops

• Sales pipeline items and opportunities

• Product priorities (onboarding, ClickFlow updates)

• Speaking engagement follow-ups

• Recruiting and team updates pulled from Slack channels

Pretty useful.

I also tested a sales assistant that connects HubSpot (view-only), Gmail, Calendar,Slack, and Drive. It proposed a "seller control tower" daily brief pulling context from every connected system.

Solid for a 5-minute setup.

What I'd actually use this for

OpenAI is shipping prebuilt templates: software review agents, lead qualification, vendor risk screening, weekly metrics reports. They also have a team directory for sharing agents across your company, plus analytics showing runs, users, and trends.

Pricing is free to try now. Usage-based credits start May 6. You need a business plan ($20/month annual, $25/month monthly).

If you're a team of 10-50 people and don't have dedicated ops, these templates will save you real time.

Why I'm still building my own

Here's where it gets interesting.

We run an agent fleet internally that's built around revenue. Sales and marketing, tuned to our specific deals, our content strategy, our pipeline data.

It learns from every Gong call, every HubSpot update, every Slack thread.

That's not something a template gives you.

OpenAI's workspace agents are horizontal. They work for everyone, which means they're not deep on anything.

Our agents are vertical. They know my business. That institutional knowledge compounds every week.

This is the same pattern we've seen in SaaS for 20 years. Self-serve tools cover 80% of the market. The other 20% needs depth.

That's where the real value sits.

My take: Use OpenAI's templates for ops tasks (daily briefs, metrics, triage). Build custom agents for anything tied to revenue.

I break this down in this video: https://youtu.be/Ws5Ejll364Q

To building smarter systems,
Eric Siu

P.S.

1 - If you want to grow faster using the power of AI, my agency Single Grain is offering free marketing plans to qualified Leveling Up newsletter subscribers, check it out here.
2 - If you want help building AI agents that actually know your business, my team is doing this with Single Brain. It runs your revenue operations 24/7 and gets smarter every week, learn more here.
3 - We’re hiring AI-forward performance ad creative strategists, AI-forward SEOs and paid media people, AI short form creators, AI automation interns, and more. If you’re interested, apply at our Careers page.
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