Do you use a virtual assistant? How?

As somebody who automates many repetitive or administrative tasks, I was wondering if anybody had found a good way to work with a virtual assistant?

I find that I usually want help with time consuming tasks that require human intelligence (like doing research, for example). But when you're paying by the minute, this gets expensive very quickly.

I shied away from using a VA to help with my day-to-day personal admin because this felt like too much of a luxury, as it wouldn't directly drive any growth.

As technical people, aren't we better off using automation? Where would a VA really shine for an indie hacker?