When a small business owner strikes out on their own, they expect to be a leader and builder for their business. It’s their job to dream big and have a long-term vision. To be a business owner means the buck stops with them – they’re the Chief Executive Officer, and they’re responsible for their business’ success.
But they quickly realize there’s so much more involved. Not only are they the Chief Executive Officer – they’ve also become the “Chief Everything Officer.” They wear all the hats and need to handle everything, including HR, compliance, and taking care of their teams. Big or small, every decision comes down to them or a member of their small team. It’s a fast recipe for mental fatigue.
That’s why more than a decade ago, we launched Gusto to help solve real problems for real businesses. We built our platform and products to help tackle the complexity and pain points of payroll, HR, compliance, and benefits – and now, we’re harnessing AI to make it even simpler.
That’s why today, we’re announcing Gus, an AI-powered assistant. We’ve been building Gus in a way that only Gusto can do, leveraging everything we know about HR, payroll, benefits, and compliance to help small business owners save their time and mental energy on what really matters – growing their businesses.
Gus can provide business owners with quick answers to their most frequently asked questions – like their compliance requirements or what they need to do to file their taxes. It can also give them personalized insights specific to their own businesses, based on their information on the Gusto platform. And Gus can help quickly execute tasks on business owners’ behalf – while giving them final approval on any actions taken.
With Gus, small business owners can focus more on bigger picture decisions and remove some of those many hats – shifting them from being the “Chief Everything Officer” to focusing on their roles as “Chief Executive Officer.”
Gus Answers Business Owners’ Critical Questions
Today, what business owners need is access to the right information, without having to be experts in how to access it. Instead of having to learn a new interface or platform, they can simply ask Gus in the way they best know how – in plain English.
For example, if business owners want to ask – “How do I onboard a new employee?” – Gus can quickly provide simple step-by-step instructions. And it will link to a relevant Gusto support article in case they want to learn more.
We’ve also built compliance into every product and feature we offer. We believe AI can help even further. Today, Gus can already answer compliance-related questions around common regulatory issues like overtime rules, exempt versus non-exempt employees, and requirements for employers like workers’ compensation.
For example, business owners can ask about overtime rules for exempt and non-exempt employees in the states where their employees are based.
Gus Gives Business Owners Personalized Insights
Not only can Gus help business owners with their most frequently asked questions – it can also give them personalized insights about their own businesses. With quick insights at their fingertips, they’ll have the power to make smarter, data-driven decisions about their businesses.
For example, a business owner could ask questions like, “How many employees worked for my company in 2023?” It will run a report for them, share the insights they need in simple, natural language, and link to where they can download the full report.
Gus Helps Complete Tasks on Business Owners’ Behalf
Finally, Gus can help business owners with actually completing tasks. All they need to do is ask.
For example, business owners can ask Gus to approve their employee’s PTO request, make changes to an employee’s salary, change someone’s manager, or add accountants to their businesses on their behalf. From there, it will ask them to confirm changes before they are implemented.
Gus only completes an action when a business owner approves – ensuring they’re always in the driver’s seat when making decisions for their business.
In the future, Gus will be able to proactively surface the right information at the right time for them – and to also think, plan, and act on that information directly. Gus will be able to look at a problem, break it down into smaller chunks to better understand it, choose from its range of tools and skills to solve it, and then actually execute on the solution it proposes.
For example – once a business hits 50 full-time employees, it could flag their Affordable Care Act compliance requirements, advise on employee eligibility and affordability, recommend the right healthcare plan, and help employees get set up for open enrolment.
While Gus is still early in its development and capabilities, we believe in the coming months, we’ll be able to quickly expand its capabilities and skillsets, so it can help business owners achieve more.
We’re excited for what Gus will be able to accomplish as we add hundreds of capabilities and skills – while supporting business owners on their journey to shift from Chief Everything Officers to Chief Executives.
Gus will soon be available for Gusto customers and partners. Interested in trying out Gus? Sign up to be one of the first to get access.
