Alfred Pennyworth might be the coolest fictional butler in pop culture. He doesn't just run Bruce Wayne's enormous manor, but he's also an assistant to the Caped Crusader. If you didn't dream of becoming Batman, you sure wished you had an Alfred in your life at some point.

The reality: You're not a superhero, and most people don't have a butler. But with Amazon Alexa, you can get close to it. Alexa is a virtual voice assistant that, much like Mr. Pennyworth, can help make your life easier.

By just saying, "Alexa" (or whatever your chosen wake word is), within earshot of any Alexa-enabled device, you can ask it to play music, get the weather forecast, the day's news headlines, and much more.

Alexa can also handle the more practical matters in your life, like managing your calendar, creating appointments, setting timers, and adding items to your to-do lists. Connect your favorite smart home devices and you can control your security system, lights, and other smart appliances with a simple voice command.

And because Alexa is built by Amazon, you can also get your shopping done. Alexa can order and reorder items, track your shipments, and even grocery shop through Whole Foods.

The sky truly is the limit with Alexa. With Skills, which are like apps, you can expand what Alexa can do. Just browse the Skill Store and add what you'd like, or create your own Skill.

Here are some workflows to get started:

→ Automate your work and home life with Zapier's Alexa integrations.