Podcast Summary: Built Online — "He Built an AI Agent That Runs Marketing on Autopilot"

Host: Cody McGuffie
Guest: Tom Hollands (Founder of AMT — Autonomous Marketing Team)
Date: September 8, 2025

Overview

In this episode of Built Online, Cody McGuffie interviews Tom Hollands, the founder of AMT (Autonomous Marketing Team), a cutting-edge AI company automating marketing tasks, especially in influencer campaigns. They dive into the practical applications and philosophy behind agentic AI in marketing, practical advice for entrepreneurs, the evolving landscape of business automation, and the future of online business in an AI-first world. The episode offers actionable insights for business owners looking to scale efficiently and leverages Tom's technical background and hands-on startup experience.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Tom Hollands' Path to AI Marketing (01:19–03:37)

• Background: Tom's journey starts in theoretical physics and machine learning research before joining tech startups on the technical and then the marketing/growth side.
• Observation: Many marketing/growth tasks are “repetitive manual tasks” ideal for automation.
• Company Mission: AMT automates the non-creative work in marketing, letting founders focus on strategy, while AI agents handle high-volume, repetitive actions like influencer outreach.
  • "With the advent of large language models and agentic AI, there's an opportunity to build a company that automates away a lot of those manual repetitive tasks within marketing." (02:45, Tom)

2. The Challenge & Promise of Influencer Marketing (03:37–05:08)

• Pain Points:
  • Influencer marketing requires extensive communication, relationship-building, product sending, and negotiation.
  • Scaling influencer outreach is especially labor-intensive.
• Solution: AMT acts like “Google Ads” for influencer partnerships, managing thousands of parallel conversations via AI.
  • "Everyone wants to partner with hundreds of influencers. No one wants to manually scroll on Instagram or TikTok... or manually reach out over email." (04:45, Tom)
  • "The experience for the marketer or the founder is like using Google Ads, but on the back end, there’s thousands of simultaneous conversations happening with all these creators in parallel." (05:08, Tom)

3. Trust in AI: Human vs. Machine in Relationship Management (05:29–09:09)

• Trust Factor: Brand-creator relationships are traditionally personal—how can AI manage these without losing authenticity?
• Tom’s Insight: AI can actually forge deeper connections than busy human managers by offering more personalized, attentive communication.
  • "AI can actually build stronger relationships with influencers than a busy founder... because AI can pay more attention." (06:35, Tom)
  • Automated follow-ups, personalized messages based on creator content, and celebratory thank-yous create a “paradoxical” but effective dynamic.
• Persona Choice: Brands can choose between using a human proxy (e.g., pretending the AI is a person from the team) or a distinct AI persona (“Lyra, the AI partnerships manager”).

4. Adoption & Future of AI Brand Personas (09:09–10:23)

• Inflection Point: Recent societal shifts mean that working with AI “employees” will soon be normal.
  • “In a year from now, it will not be that unusual to receive a message from an AI employee representing a brand.” (09:14, Tom)
• Advantages: AI offers instant response, multilingual communication, perfect memory, and continuous coverage.

5. Real-World Use Case: Automating Influencer Outreach at Scale (10:23–15:36)

• Scenario: Managing outreach and relationship upkeep with hundreds (or thousands) of creators is infeasible for humans.
• AMT’s Power: Lyra (the AI) watches content, provides personalized feedback/thanks, and manages updates for vast creator lists across multiple platforms.
  • "Lyra watches the content. The large language model can watch videos now... it really is as if it's... well, it's better than if you had a huge person on your team doing this." (11:25, Tom)
• Creator Discovery:
  • AMT uses YouTube's API and browser-based agents to identify and contact potential creators like a human would, even bypassing captchas and collecting emails.
    • “You get one of these [browser-based] agents and it will go to the YouTube about page... solve the captchas and just grab the emails behind that. And so that's one way you can build these lists of creators at scale.” (00:00, Tom; repeated at 13:17 and 14:01)

6. Productivity and Prioritization Frameworks (16:05–20:16)

• Tom’s Daily Practice:
  • Write top 10 business priorities, identify 3 key actionable items, and break them down—distinguishing 'signal' (high impact) from 'noise' (busywork).
    • “There’s a concept from Steve Jobs that I really like called signal to noise... there’s signal, which is the stuff you really need to get done... and noise is all the other stuff.” (16:48, Tom)
• Advice for Founders:
  • Ruthlessly prioritize, focus on unique value-add activities, and delegate low-value or energy-draining tasks as soon as possible.

7. The Future of AI-Driven Business: Solo Founders and Small Teams (21:06–25:28)

• Next-Gen Companies:
  • The “$100 million, one-person company” is on the horizon, thanks to AI agents and smarter automation.
    • _“Companies are going to grow faster... get smaller... and there’s going to be more of them." (22:10, Tom)
    • "Success will really only be limited by your imagination.” (23:25, Tom)
• Entrepreneurial Opportunity:
  • Lower barriers to entry mean more founder-driven, creative businesses, where AI handles execution at scale.
  • Multiple brand ownership and portfolio entrepreneurship become feasible for individuals.

8. Integrations and the Vision for Seamless Brand Automation (26:00–28:17)

• EverBee's "Brain" Feature:
  • Cody shares how their central “brain” system can unify brand knowledge, voices, and ensure AI-managed marketing stays on target.
• AMT Onboarding Philosophy:
  • AI agents start as “interns,” learning the brand, and quickly ramp up to “teams of 10 specialists,” continuously improving with brand training and integration.

Memorable Quotes

• Tom on AI Relationship Management:
  "AI can pay more attention to the influencers... and the creators are like, 'Thanks for watching the videos.' When creators post on behalf of our customers, we send an automated thank you message. They love this." (06:35)

• Tom on Business Prioritization:
  "Just ask yourself seven times a day: 'Is this the best use of my time right now?' If it’s not, you know what is—go and do it." (19:12)

• Tom on the Future of Business:
  "I see a future where there are more entrepreneurs and those entrepreneurs can be kind of solo founders or with really small teams... the ones with the best ideas are going to win the biggest. All the work is going to get done by AI agents." (22:10–23:25)

• On Creator Identity:
  "In 2025, I think a creator is anyone who is using social media to tell their own personal story or like leaning into their own kind of inner authenticity with the intention of building an audience." (29:08, Tom)

• On Who Should Be a Business Owner:
  "Anyone who's willing to take responsibility for everything they do. The upside is you’re in control... the downside is you’re responsible for everything. Anyone willing to do that should become a business owner." (31:12, Tom)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Tom’s Background and Company Mission (01:19–03:37)
• Influencer Marketing Complexity (03:37–05:08)
• How AI Builds Relationships (05:59–09:09)
• AI Personas: Human Proxy vs. AI Avatars (08:04–09:09)
• AI vs. Human Service Level (09:09–10:23)
• Automating Influencer Outreach—Scalability (10:23–15:36)
• Daily Productivity & Signal vs Noise (16:05–20:16)
• The Lean, AI-First Company Model (21:06–25:28)
• Brand “Brains” and Integration for Multi-brand Owners (26:00–28:17)
• Rapid Fire Questions (28:26–31:47)
• Where to Find Tom & AMT (31:53–32:17)

Rapid Fire Q&A Highlights

• Favorite business book: Good Strategy, Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt (28:28)
• Definition of a Creator (2025): Anyone building an audience through authentic, personal storytelling online. (29:08)
• Who should be a business owner: Anyone willing to take full responsibility for all outcomes. (31:12)
• Where to connect with Tom: LinkedIn (@Thomas Hollands), AMT website (amt.ai), Twitter (@tdoggyholehole) (31:53)

Conclusion

This episode is a treasure trove for entrepreneurs interested in automating their marketing, building influencer campaigns at scale, and embracing a future where small, creative founder-led teams leverage AI agents to compete with much larger organizations. Tom Hollands emphasizes the unique human elements that remain valuable—authenticity, vision, and creativity—while AI takes care of the busywork, letting business owners focus on what matters most.

For further learning, check out Tom Hollands on LinkedIn or AMT at amt.ai.