Give AI tools the first draft: replies, summaries, meeting notes and suggested times, for about $10 to $30 per user a month. Give a human executive assistant everything that needs judgment, relationships or accountability: what is urgent, what to say to a board member, what to book and what to escalate. The strongest setup is a human EA who uses AI, with clear rules on what they can send without your approval.
Why executives are looking for help now
Microsoft's 2025 Work Trend Index found that the average worker receives 117 emails a day and 153 Teams messages per weekday. For the most-interrupted fifth of users, a ping arrives every two minutes during core hours, 275 times a day. Of all meetings, 57% are ad hoc calls without an invite, and nearly a third span several time zones.
Over half of leaders (52%) say their work feels chaotic and fragmented. Both AI tools and assistants promise to fix this; they fix different parts of it.
What AI assistants do well, and what they cost
AI assistants are fast and cheap at producing a first version: a reply, a summary of a long thread, notes from a call or a proposed schedule. These are the published prices of common options.
| Tool | Published price | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (enterprise) | $30 per user / month, paid yearly | Drafts and summarizes in Outlook, Teams, Word; needs a qualifying Microsoft 365 license |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot Business | $21 per user / month (promotion: $18), paid yearly | The same assistant for smaller companies |
| Google Workspace with Gemini | Standard $14, Plus $22 per user / month | Gemini in Gmail, Docs and Meet |
| Reclaim.ai | $10 to $22 per seat / month | Schedules focus time, habits and meetings automatically |
| Motion | $19 to $29 per seat / month | Plans your day and tasks around your calendar |
Prices read on each vendor's page on October 28, 2026. Google showed an introductory discount for new customers.
Where AI tools fall short on their own
- Accountability. A tool cannot be responsible for a missed flight or a message sent to the wrong person. Someone still has to check its work.
- Context and politics. Knowing that one investor always gets a call back the same day, or that two board members should not be seated together, is not in your inbox.
- Relationships. Other executives' assistants, hotels and partners respond to a person who knows you.
- Follow-through. AI drafts the follow-up; it does not chase the person who never replied.
- Sensitive work. Contracts, HR matters and confidential deals should not pass through a tool without a human deciding what goes where.
Who should do what
| Task | AI tool alone | Human EA using AI | Who approves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inbox triage and replies | Drafts replies, summarizes threads | Decides priority, writes in your voice, follows up | EA sends routine replies; you approve sensitive ones |
| Scheduling across time zones | Suggests slots, blocks focus time | Negotiates with other assistants, resolves conflicts | EA alone |
| Meeting preparation | Summarizes documents and past emails | Builds the brief, checks facts, chases missing material | EA alone |
| Travel and logistics | Searches options | Books, rebooks on disruption, knows your preferences | Your OK above a spend limit |
| Contracts, HR and legal | Summarizes for reading | Routes to the right people and keeps it confidential | Human only |
| Follow-ups | Sets reminders | Chases people and closes the loop | EA alone |
How approval modes keep you in control
At Hedly you set, once and per task type, one of four modes: AI drafts it, EA sends alone, needs your OK or human only. Routine replies and scheduling usually run on their own; travel above a limit needs your OK; contracts and NDAs stay human only. Every action is logged, and the Friday report adds up what was done, by whom and when.
When an AI tool alone is enough
If you get a few dozen emails a day, run your own calendar and rarely travel, an AI tool may be all you need. Once you are spending hours a week on scheduling, travel and follow-ups, or a mistake would cost a relationship, a human EA pays for itself. See what an executive assistant costs.
Frequently asked questions
01Will AI replace executive assistants?
AI is replacing the drafting part of the job, not the judgment, relationships and accountability. The EAs in demand are the ones who use AI to do more in the same hours.
02Is it safe to give an AI tool access to my inbox?
Use only tools your company has approved, and decide what can be sent without you. At Hedly, EAs sign NDAs, access is managed and logged, and legal, HR and key relationships are never handed to an AI tool.
03What is an approval mode?
A rule you set once per task type: AI drafts it, the EA sends alone, it needs your OK, or it stays human only. It decides what goes out without you.
04Is a Hedly EA a person or an AI?
A person. Your EA uses AI tools to work faster, but every decision and every message is theirs, and they answer to you.
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