AI automation agency for UK businesses.
We find the routine work worth automating, build it around the tools you already use, and keep it running. A person approves anything that goes to a customer.
Book a free 30-minute callWhat does an AI automation agency do?
An AI automation agency finds the routine work in a business that software can take on, then builds and looks after the automations that do it. Propel is an AI automation agency for UK businesses, based in Grimsby. We start with how your work actually runs, connect the tools you already use, add AI only where a task needs reading, writing or judgement, and keep it all running afterwards. A person approves anything that goes to a customer.
AI and automation aren’t the same thing.
Most of what an AI automation agency builds is plain automation. AI earns its place where a task needs reading or writing.
Automation
Follows rules you set: when this happens, do that. A new web enquiry becomes a job; a signed-off job becomes an invoice. Predictable, and easy to check.
AI
Reads, writes and sorts where rules run out: drafting a reply to an enquiry, turning site notes into a report, pulling the details out of an email.
Both together
Most useful systems mix the two. Automation moves the details between your tools, AI drafts the part that needs words, and a person checks it.
Sometimes neither
Sometimes the answer is a better setup of the software you already pay for, or a simpler way of working. If so, we’ll say so.
Typical automations for owner-managed businesses.
Illustrative examples, not client work. Every business is different, so a Fit check finds what fits yours.
New enquiries
Enquiries arrive by web form, email and phone. Someone re-types the details into the job system and writes a reply from scratch, between other jobs.
What we’d automateThe details logged in your job system, and a reply drafted from your own information. A person checks it and sends it.
Quotes
Survey notes, photos and the price list sit in different places, so the quote goes out days after the visit.
What we’d automateA first-draft quote built from the notes and your own price list. A person checks the figures and sends it.
Job paperwork
Notes, photos and voice memos come in from site, and the office turns them into job sheets and reports at the end of the day.
What we’d automateThe job sheet or report drafted from what was sent in, and filed with the job. A person reads it and signs it off.
Bookings and updates
Confirmations, day-before reminders and “on the way” messages are sent by hand, when someone remembers.
What we’d automateEach message drafted at the right moment from your calendar and job status. A person approves it before it goes.
Invoices and chasing
A finished job waits to be invoiced, and overdue invoices are chased when someone gets round to it.
What we’d automateThe invoice raised in your accounts software when the job is signed off, and a polite reminder drafted when it’s overdue. A person approves both before they’re sent.
The weekly numbers
Someone spends a morning each week copying jobs, invoices and hours out of three systems into a spreadsheet.
What we’d automateOne dashboard that collects the figures from your systems and keeps itself up to date. You read it and decide what to do.
Built around the tools you already use.
We connect and extend the software you already pay for before suggesting anything new, and check what yours can connect to before we recommend anything.
The tool’s own connections
Most business software has an API or built-in integrations: a supported way for other software to read and update it. That’s the first thing we look for.
An automation platform
Tools such as Zapier, Make, n8n or Power Automate pass details between apps when something happens. We use one where it’s the simplest option that will keep working.
A small piece of software
Where a platform can’t do the job well, we write a small, focused piece of software to make the connection or do the step.
When a tool won’t connect
Some software offers little or no access. Then we work with what it can send or export, such as emails, reports or files, or tell you plainly it isn’t worth it.
What we usually connect
- Job management and field service software
- Accounts software
- CRM and quoting tools
- Email and calendars, in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
- Website forms
- Spreadsheets and shared drives
A person approves anything that goes to a customer.
Runs on its own
Routine steps inside your business: moving details between systems, filing documents, updating a dashboard, telling the right person a job has changed.
Drafted for a person to approve
Anything a customer will see: replies, quotes, invoices, reminders, booking confirmations and updates. Your team checks it and sends it.
Left to people
Prices, decisions, complaints, disputes and anything unusual. Automation gives your team what they need to decide; it doesn’t decide for them.
Agency, freelancer or do it yourself?
All three can be the right answer. It depends on how many tools and people the work touches, and who will look after it afterwards.
Do it yourself
- Best when
- One simple step between two apps, set up with a tool such as Zapier or Make by someone on your team who enjoys it.
- What you look after
- Everything: setting it up, noticing when it fails and fixing it when one of the apps changes.
- Watch out for
- Automations only one person understands, which quietly stop working when that person is busy or leaves.
A freelancer
- Best when
- A single, well-defined build where you already know exactly what you want.
- What you look after
- Deciding what to build, joining it up with the rest of your work, and finding help when something breaks later.
- Watch out for
- Several freelancers each building one piece, with nobody owning how the pieces fit together.
An AI automation agency
- Best when
- Work that runs across several tools and people, where you want someone to find what’s worth doing, build it and keep it running.
- What you look after
- Time with the people who do the work, access to your tools, and the decisions.
- Watch out for
- Agencies that start with the technology rather than your work, or build it and leave. Ask who will look after it in three months.
Where a do-it-yourself tool is the better answer, we’ll say so.
How we work.
Three stages. You decide after each one whether to go on.
- FindA Fit checkA paid look at how your business runs, ending in a written plan with a price for anything worth building.How the Fit check works
- BuildBuilt around your toolsAssistants, automation and software that fit the way you already work.How we build
- RunOngoing supportWe monitor, fix and improve what we’ve built, and train your team.How ongoing support works
How we keep it running.
Automations break when a connected tool changes. Ongoing support stops that becoming your problem.
- We monitor what we’ve built and the tools it connects to.
- When a connected tool changes or something stops working, we put it right.
- We adjust it as your business changes, so it keeps fitting how you work.
- We train your team, including new starters, so nothing depends on one person.
- The people who built it look after it. It’s optional, and agreed separately after the build.
Who it’s for, and who it isn’t.
A good fit
- Owner-managed UK businesses, from a handful of people to a couple of hundred
- An office keeping work moving on site, on the road or on the shop floor
- The same admin every week: enquiries, quotes, paperwork, invoices, reports
- Software that doesn’t talk to each other, so details get typed twice
- You want it looked after once it’s built, not handed over and left
Probably not a fit
- You want a chatbot on your website and nothing else
- You want AI to message customers with nobody checking
- You need one simple step between two apps: a do-it-yourself tool may be all you need
- You want AI for its own sake, rather than to fix how the work runs
Questions to ask any AI automation agency.
Including us. These are our answers.
Who will actually do the work?
Jacob and his team. The people on the first call look at how your work runs, build it and keep it running. There’s no sales team and no hand-off.
Will it work with the software we already have?
We check what your tools can connect to during the Fit check, before we recommend anything. In most cases you won’t need to replace your software.
Who checks what goes to our customers?
A person on your team, every time. Automation handles the routine, and your team approves anything a customer sees.
What will it cost to run, not just to build?
Any software subscriptions, including AI services, are paid to the provider, and we point them out up front. Ongoing support is optional and priced separately.
What happens when something breaks?
With ongoing support, we fix it. Keeping watch on what we’ve built, and putting it right when a connected tool changes, is what ongoing support is for.
Do we have to commit to everything at once?
No. You decide after each stage whether to go on. There’s no commitment to build after the Fit check: you can act on the plan with us, on your own, or not at all.
Can we see what you’ve done before?
We don’t publish client results or testimonials, and the examples on this site are illustrative. Our founder runs operations at an agency and built the internal system it runs on for planning work and team capacity. On the free call, we’ll talk through how we’d approach your work.
Plain answers.
How the cost works is set out on How we work. More in the full list of questions.
What does an AI automation agency do?
It finds the routine work in a business that software can take on, builds the automations and AI assistants that do it, and looks after them once they’re in use. A good one starts with how the work actually runs, not with the technology, and uses plain automation wherever AI isn’t needed.
How much does an AI automation agency cost in the UK?
It depends on how many tools, steps and people the work touches, so we don’t publish prices. With us, the 30-minute call is free. Afterwards we tell you what a Fit check would cover and what it costs, and the Fit check prices anything worth building, in writing, before work starts. Software subscriptions are paid to the provider, and ongoing support is optional and priced separately.
What’s the difference between an AI automation agency and an AI consultancy?
A consultancy usually advises and leaves you with a plan. An automation agency builds the systems and looks after them. We do both as one offer in three stages, Find, Build and Run, with the same people throughout.
How long does an AI automation project take?
It depends on how many tools and people a change touches. Connecting two systems is quicker than a change that runs across the whole office. The Fit check ends with a written plan that sets out roughly how long each part would take, before you decide anything.
Will AI send messages to our customers on its own?
No. A person approves anything that goes to a customer. Automation can draft the reply, the quote or the reminder; your team checks it and sends it.
Do we need to replace our software?
In most cases, no. We build around the tools you already use, and only suggest something new where it would clearly help.
Which automation tools do you use?
Whatever fits your business: the connections your software already has, an automation platform such as Zapier, Make, n8n or Power Automate, or a small piece of custom software. We prefer the simplest option that will keep working.
Do you work with businesses across the UK?
Yes. We’re based in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, and work with businesses anywhere in the UK. Most of the work happens remotely, in the tools you already use. If seeing the work in person would help, we can talk about visiting.
What happens once it’s built?
That’s the Run stage: ongoing support. We monitor it, fix it when something changes, improve it and train your team. It’s agreed separately, and it’s your choice.
What we build.
- AI assistants and agentsAI that drafts, sorts and summarises routine work, and agents that carry a task through several steps.
- Workflow automationThe routine steps between your tools happen on their own, so details are entered once.
- Custom AI softwareDashboards, planners and internal tools built around how you work, with AI where it helps.
- Ongoing supportWe monitor, fix and improve what we’ve built, and train your team, so it keeps working.
Related.
Book a free 30-minute call.
On Google Meet, with Jacob. Tell us about one job that takes more effort than it should, or how a normal week goes.
Pick a timeOr email jacob@propelai.co.uk