Business Process Automation
Business process automation services: fixed fee, built on your stack, owned by you
For $1-20M operators. Builds from $3K with public floor pricing, delivered in weeks, handed off as code you own. No retainers, no hourly meter, no lock-in.
Live map
activeSystem type
overlayReplacement
not requiredNext step
scanWhat business process automation services should actually deliver
Business process automation services come in three flavors, and only one of them ends with you owning a working system. The first flavor is advice: a consultant maps your processes, produces a deck, and leaves the building before anything runs. The second is rented software: a platform that automates the parts of your process that happen to fit its template, billed per seat, forever. The third is a build: someone scopes the broken process, builds the automation on your stack, and hands you the keys. This page is about the third one, because it is the only one we sell.
The deliverable test is simple. At the end of the engagement you should hold four things: running automation in production, the code in your repo, the credentials under your accounts, and a runbook that lets any competent developer maintain it without calling the person who built it. If a vendor cannot commit to all four in writing, you are buying one of the other two flavors.
The five systems operators buy first
Lead response and intake. Inbound leads answered in under a minute instead of whenever someone checks the inbox, intake forms that route themselves, and missed calls that turn into texts instead of voicemails nobody hears. For most service businesses this is the highest-dollar fix because speed to first touch decides who wins the job.
Handoff repair. The work that dies between people: sales to operations, intake to fulfillment, field to office. An exception queue that flags what stalled, where, and since when. This is usually what operators think is a software problem and is actually a handoff problem; the recruitment workflow field note walks through the pattern in one industry.
Reporting that assembles itself. The Monday-morning spreadsheet ritual replaced by a scheduled digest: pipeline state, stalled deals, job status, cash position, posted where the team already looks. Owners buy this one for themselves.
Back-office grind. Invoice matching, reconciliation, document processing, data entry between systems that refuse to integrate. Unglamorous, high-volume, and the easiest payback math on this list.
AI agents on top of your existing tools. Not a new platform: an AI teammate wired into the Slack, ATS, CRM, and inboxes you already run, doing research, drafting, and monitoring on a schedule. The productized versions are Recruiting OS for recruiting firms and Pulse for team Slack; custom versions get scoped like any other build.
What it costs, with the floors public
Every build is custom and fixed-fee, and the floors are published so you can self-qualify before booking a call.
| Light | Medium | Heavy | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floor price | From $3,000 | From $7,500 | From $15,000+ |
| Ships in | 1-2 weeks | 3-4 weeks | 5-6+ weeks |
| Scope | Single workflow or agent, 1-3 integrations | Multi-step pipeline plus dashboard | Cross-team architecture, MCP layer, custom data model |
| Replaces | ~25-60 DIY hours | ~60-140 DIY hours | 140-260+ DIY hours |
The comparison that matters is not Light versus Heavy. It is fixed-fee versus the alternatives: an hourly automation consultant at $100-250 per hour with no defined end state, an agency retainer that invoices monthly whether or not anything ships, or another per-seat subscription that grows with your headcount. A fixed-fee build costs once, delivers a defined system, and stops costing you money the day it ships. The exact number for your scope gets locked on a free 30-minute call, and the fastest way to make that call useful is to run the AI Operations X-Ray first: 90 seconds, no call required, and it returns the five highest-leverage automations for your specific operation ranked by dollar value.
How the engagement runs
First the X-Ray, which reads your live operation and produces the ranked plan. Then a 30-minute scoping call where the build gets a fixed number and a fixed delivery window in writing. Then the build, in weekly increments you can see, on your infrastructure from day one. Then handoff: code, credentials, runbook, and a walkthrough. Vertical-specific patterns are documented on the industry pages: recruiters, used-car dealers, contractors, and facilities teams. Past builds with before-and-after numbers live in the case studies.
When not to buy automation services
Do not hire us, or anyone, if the process you want automated changes weekly, because you will be automating sand. Do not buy a build to avoid a staffing decision; automation amplifies a working process and embalms a broken one. Do not buy anything this page describes if you want a strategy deck, a lead-gen funnel, or someone to run your tools for you on retainer; we build systems and hand them over, full stop. And if your whole operation fits in one person’s head and a shared spreadsheet, keep the spreadsheet and revisit this page at your next hire.
If you are past those filters, two clicks matter: the free X-Ray for the ranked plan, or a short note if you already know exactly what is broken. Either way, the path ends with a fixed number and a system you own.
Frequently asked questions
- What do business process automation services cost?
- Fixed-fee builds with public floors: Light from $3,000 (one workflow, 1-3 integrations, ships in 1-2 weeks), Medium from $7,500 (multi-step pipeline plus a dashboard, 3-4 weeks), Heavy from $15,000 and up (cross-team architecture, MCP layer, custom data model, 5-6+ weeks). The exact number gets locked on a free 30-minute call after the AI Operations X-Ray, and it does not move after that. Compare that to hourly automation consultants at $100-250 per hour with no defined end, or agency retainers that bill whether or not anything ships.
- What is the difference between hiring an automation consultant and buying a build?
- A consultant sells you hours and advice; you still have to get the thing built. A build engagement sells you a working system: scoped fixed-fee, delivered in weeks, handed off as code, credentials, and a runbook you own. We used to sell hours at $130 per hour. We stopped, because the incentive is backwards: hourly pays the consultant more the longer your problem survives.
- Why not just buy software instead?
- Sometimes you should, and we will say so on the call. Per-seat SaaS is right when your process fits the vendor's template and your headcount is small. It stops being right when the subscription scales with headcount instead of results, when your edge lives in a process the template sands off, or when you are paying for five tools that do not talk to each other. A custom build costs once and runs on infrastructure you own.
- How long does a business process automation project take?
- Light builds ship in 1-2 weeks, Medium in 3-4, Heavy in 5-6 or more. The timeline is part of the fixed scope, not a rolling estimate. The X-Ray and scoping call happen before any money moves, so by the time the build starts, what ships and when is already in writing.
- What should we have ready before hiring anyone?
- Four things make any engagement faster and cheaper: admin or API access to the systems in the workflow, a named owner on your side who can answer process questions within a day, an honest answer to which handoff loses the most time or money right now, and the tolerance to start with one process instead of ten. If you cannot name the broken handoff, run the free X-Ray first; it exists for exactly that.
- Who owns the automation after handoff?
- You do. The code lives in your repo, the infrastructure runs under your accounts, the credentials are yours, and the runbook documents how it all works. Fire us the day after handoff and everything keeps running. That ownership test is the fastest way to evaluate any automation vendor: ask what still works the day you stop paying.
Next step
Want this mapped for your business?
Run the 90-second AI Operations X-Ray. Free, no credit card.