Episode 3 — Manus: The AI Agent That Actually Does the Work For You

Welcome to Episode 3 of the 25 AI Tools of Christmas.

If you’re new here — we’re Ariel and Justin, two 90s-kid founders documenting our journey of learning AI one tool at a time.

Throughout this series, we sit down with a real professional who actually uses the tool in their workflow — not someone “experimenting,” but someone who depends on it. And we’re learning each tool right alongside you.

Today’s gift under the tree: Manus — an autonomous AI agent that has its own computer and actually goes and does the work for you.(Manus)

⭐ What Is Manus?

Manus is an AI agent that doesn’t just give you answers — it takes action.

Think of it as an assistant with its own virtual computer and browser. It can open apps, click around, run commands, build things, and ship work while you go do something else.(Manus)

You tell it what you want in plain language. It plans the steps, connects to your tools, and executes.

Think:

Turning meeting recordings + screen recordings into full proposals
Building websites and landing pages — layout, copy, media, and database
Embedding a chat agent on your site with its own “monitor” so you can see what it’s doing
Creating forms, storing submissions, and wiring up automations
Connecting to Gmail, Google Calendar, Stripe, Notion, Slack, Zapier, and more(Manus)
Scheduling recurring tasks like “check industry news and email me a summary”

It feels less like chatting with a bot… and more like delegating to a junior operator who has their own machine.

💬 Who We Interviewed Today

Today’s guest is Wyatt Baguley, founder of GTM Planetary — a go-to-market consultancy focused on bringing automation and AI to the trades (electricians, plumbers, roofers, blue-collar operators).

Wyatt spent the last 10 years in rev ops, enablement, and sales leadership, especially in transportation and logistics software. In other words: he’s lived the “too many tools, not enough time” problem.

With Manus, Wyatt:

Turns five screen recordings + a few client calls into a polished proposal
Consolidates tools into one place to start and end his day
Uses Manus to build and host his own website, including:

- Design (with his favorite 80s retro / neon vibe)
- Embedded video
- Voice AI agent toggle on the page
- Built-in database + analytics
- Replaces tools like Jotform because Manus can create forms, notifications, and automations inside his own site

🧠 Why Manus Matters

Writing proposals, building sites, wiring tools together… those are the things that quietly steal your week.

For founders, operators, and service businesses — especially in the trades — the bottleneck isn’t ideas. It’s execution:

Taking scattered notes and recordings → into actual deliverables
Stitching together Gmail + Calendar + Stripe + CRM + forms + analytics
Logging in everywhere, copying and pasting, exporting, reformatting

Manus removes that bottleneck by:

Giving your business a dedicated AI operator that can actually click, type, and build on its own (Manus)
Letting you consolidate systems instead of adding more tools
Turning messy, unstructured inputs (recordings, ideas, “hey, we should…”) into real assets

Wyatt estimates Manus is saving him at least 20 hours a week on proposals, proof of concepts, and site updates — just by offloading the build-and-assemble part.

🎥 How Manus Works (Simple Breakdown)

Here’s the simple version of how Manus fits into your day:

Sign up and give it a “workspace”
Manus runs in a secure, sandboxed environment with its own virtual computer and browser.(Wikipedia)
Connect your tools
Hook up Gmail, Google Calendar, Stripe, Notion, Slack, your browser, and more so Manus can act across your stack.(Manus)
Describe what you want — like you would to a contractor
“Take these recordings and build a proposal.”
“Create a landing page for GTM Planetary in an 80s neon style.”
“Set up subscriptions and checkout flows in Stripe for this new offer.”(Manus)
Watch Manus work (literally)
You can see its “monitor” as it types, clicks, opens terminals, runs commands, and edits. It’s like screen-sharing with your AI.
Review, tweak, and publish
You stay in the role of editor and decision-maker. Manus does the tedious parts.

🔥 Wyatt’s Real Workflow Example

Here’s how Wyatt uses Manus in his real business.

Before Manus:

👉 Spend hours writing proposals from scratch
👉 Re-build similar docs for each new client
👉 Jump between recording tools, notes, docs, and email
👉 Manually wire his site, forms, analytics, and payments

With Manus:

🎙 Records meetings + short screen walkthroughs
🧠 Tells Manus: “Use these recordings to create a proposal for [client] based on what we’ve done before”
🏗 Manus drafts the full proposal, structures solutions, and pulls in past ideas
🌐 Manus builds and updates his website (retro neon theme and all), embeds the AI agent, and sets up forms + database
📈 Manus shows him traffic, bounce rate, and visit duration right inside the same interface
💳 When he’s ready, Manus can even configure Stripe subscriptions and checkout flows for him, using its Stripe integration.(Manus)

Result:
Wyatt saves around 20 hours per week — and gets to stay in strategy and client conversations instead of clicking through a dozen tools.

🎁 Who Manus Is Perfect For

Founders and solo operators
Agencies and rev ops leaders
Trades businesses going digital (electricians, plumbers, roofers, etc.)
SaaS and service providers with proposal-heavy sales
Creators who want landing pages, subscriptions, and websites without devs
Anyone who thinks, “I know what I want… I just don’t have time to build it.”

If your brain is full of projects you “could” ship with more time → Manus is your executor.

🎄 Episode 3 Takeaways (From Ariel & Justin)

Manus isn’t “just another chatbot” — it’s an AI operator with its own computer.
It’s one of the clearest examples we’ve seen of AI actually doing end-to-end work.
If you’ve ever wished you could delegate “build this site / proposal / flow” to someone — this feels very close.
For agencies and GTM teams, the consolidation angle is huge: fewer tools, more done.
This is a tool we can see ourselves using for client sites, offers, and internal ops.

📚 Explore This Tool on the DefineMe Stacklist

We’ve curated every tool from this series (plus bonus resources) for you here:
DefineMe Stacklist — Episode 3: Manus
👉 https://stacklist.app/defineme

🎬 Watch the Full Episode

See the full conversation, demo, and real workflow:
👉 Watch Episode 3 on YouTube

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