Nerry R. is one of HireSmart’s star virtual employees. She’s a former “VE of the Year” who has built a large social media following by sharing advice and insights with other virtual employees, and she recently became co-host of CEO Unfiltered with HireSmart co-founder Anne Lackey. 

The monthly conversations give Nerry and Anne a chance to talk about virtual employment while also learning about each other’s lives. Nerry brings questions she hears from VEs and aspiring VEs, and Anne offers the perspective of someone who has spent years hiring, training, and working with Filipino virtual employees. 

Nerry has already accomplished a lot in her virtual career, and HireSmart is still investing in what she can learn next. 

Her latest opportunity was an AI Leadership class led by Anne. 

Of course, Nerry had already used AI before the class, mostly for simple tasks and for her social media content. Like many people, she thought of it as a way to write faster, brainstorm ideas, or get a starting point when she was staring at a blank page. 

But the class gave her practical ways to do those things better. She learned to give AI more context about the audience, goal, tone, and restrictions of a task. For her final project, she created reusable prompts for recurring social media work instead of starting from scratch every time. 

But ask Nerry what she really took from the class, and she talks less about prompts than you might expect. 

She talks about judgment. 

“I own the judgment, the accuracy, the ethics, the confidentiality, and the decision behind anything I produce with the AI,” she said. 

That idea changed the way she looks at the technology. AI can give her a starting point and organize information, but she doesn’t believe it should be doing all of the thinking. 

“If we allow AI to do all the thinking, it really weakens our problem-solving and decision-making skills,” she said. 

She has also become more intentional about what information she gives an AI platform and more aware of issues involving confidentiality, intellectual property and company policies. When the class raised the importance of businesses having clear AI policies, Nerry took that conversation back to her client. Her client was already working on one, and the two planned to talk more about it. 

That is part of the reason HireSmart continues offering training after a VE has been hired and placed. 

A client isn’t hiring someone for what that person knows on one particular day. The goal is for that employee to have a long-term career, and during that time, technology will change, and the employee and the business will both need to change with it. 

Nerry sees AI as one of those changes. 

She knows some VEs are nervous, and she’s heard about VA agencies downsizing as AI takes on more of the work people once performed themselves. “Will AI replace me?” People in many industries are asking themselves that question, but Nerry thinks VEs are better served by asking a different question. 

“Instead of asking, ‘Will AI replace me?’ VAs should ask, ‘How can I use AI to become more valuable?'” 

Her answer isn’t simply to become better at AI prompting. 

She talks about communication, critical thinking, adaptability, and understanding the client’s business. A good VE should be looking for problems, finding ways to improve systems and anticipating what the client may need. 

“We do not just use AI to finish a certain task faster,” she said. “We need to use it to identify the problems, to solve the issues, and to improve or organize better systems in our client.” 

For HireSmart, that’s a big part of the value of continuing to train VEs after placement. The employee who was a strong hire several years ago should have opportunities to become an even stronger employee today. 

This was Nerry’s third training with Anne, and she is quick to point out that continuing education isn’t something every VA agency provides. 

“Not all the VA agencies in the Philippines do this kind of stuff, like the training,” she said. 

She also appreciates that the AI class wasn’t simply a lesson in how to use the newest technology. 

“I appreciate the training because it touches the leadership, like how we use it responsibly and ethically, and we have to use our own judgment,” she said. “I always tell Anne that all of those trainings really molded and shaped me to be the better version of myself every single day.”  

Nerry was already working successfully with her client. HireSmart could have considered its job finished when it made the placement. But years into that relationship, Nerry is still being trained and developing new skills, then taking what she learns back to the business she serves. 

For the client, that is part of the value of having an agency remain involved long after the employee’s first day. 

Curious what a fully supported, continually trained virtual employee could add to your team? Click here to schedule a free consultation.