Where to start with AI automation (and what it actually costs)
Most businesses we meet don't have an AI problem. They have a dozen small, boring processes that quietly eat a day a week — re-keying data between systems, chasing documents, formatting the same report every month. The question isn't whether AI can help. It's which of those jobs is worth automating first.
Pick the process, not the technology
A good first automation has three properties: it happens often, it follows rules a person could write down, and someone can tell you roughly how many hours it takes. If you can't answer the third one, start by measuring for a fortnight — the numbers almost always surprise people.
- High frequency — daily or weekly beats quarterly every time.
- Clear rules — if two people would do it differently, agree the rules first.
- Measurable — hours saved is the only ROI number that survives scrutiny.
What it actually costs
Pricing in this market is opaque, so here is ours. A fixed-price audit is £495 and gives you a written map of where automation pays back. A single focused build starts at £2,500 and is live within a month. Ongoing partnerships, where two or three systems are built and supported, start at £3,500 a month.
For most businesses the first build pays for itself within a quarter. If it won't, we say so at the audit stage rather than after you've spent the money — see what that looks like in practice.
The mistakes that waste six months
- Starting with a tool instead of a process, then looking for somewhere to use it.
- Automating a broken process rather than fixing it first.
- Replacing systems the team already knows, when connecting them would do.
- Skipping governance — no audit trail, no rules about what the system may decide.
A sensible first ninety days
Spend two hours mapping opportunities, pick the single process with the clearest payback, build and deploy it inside a month, then measure. Once one system proves itself, the second and third are much easier conversations internally.
If you'd like that map for your own business, an automation audit is the fastest way to get it.
James founded Pro AI in York and leads its development work — custom automations and AI agents for growing UK businesses, including work for the NHS. He writes about what actually works when small teams adopt AI.
More about the teamStart with an audit
Two hours with your team, a written opportunity map, a fixed £495. If AI won't pay back in your business, we'll tell you.