00Use cases
Where the hours go in your industry.
For six industries, we set out the bottlenecks we look for first, where automation can help and one example agent. Each example shows where a person keeps the decision.
Accounting, legal and consulting
Firms that sell expertise spend part of every week on work no client pays for: collecting documents, chasing deadlines and rebuilding timesheets.
Typical bottlenecks
- Client documents arrive by email, scan and phone photo, and someone renames and files each one by hand.
- Before every VAT, payroll or filing deadline, staff chase clients for missing papers one email at a time.
- Timesheets are rebuilt from memory at month-end, so bills go out late and some hours are never billed.
Opportunities
- Draft engagement letters and proposals from your templates and the notes taken on the first call.
- Keep a live list of what each client still has to send, with reminders drafted for staff to approve.
- Draft time entries from calendars, emails and document activity, for each person to confirm.
Example scenario
Client document intake agent
Reads each document a client sends, extracts the key fields and files it to the right client, period or matter. It keeps a checklist of what is still missing before each deadline.
Staff approve each reminder before it reaches a client and check any document the agent could not classify.
Logistics and wholesale
Every shipment leaves a trail of documents: the order, the delivery note, the signed proof of delivery and the carrier's invoice. Someone reads, checks and types each one into the next system.
Typical bottlenecks
- Orders arrive as PDFs, spreadsheets and emails, and each line is retyped into the ERP or transport system.
- Signed delivery notes and CMR consignment notes stay on drivers' phones until someone matches them to the job.
- Carrier invoices are checked against agreed rates line by line, or not checked at all.
Opportunities
- Turn emailed orders into entries in your ERP or transport system, checked against prices, stock and credit limits.
- Match delivery photos and signed notes to each job, so it can be invoiced the day the goods arrive.
- Draft replies to delivery-status questions from live tracking data, for your team to send.
Example scenario
Carrier invoice checker
Matches every line of a carrier invoice to the shipment and your agreed rate card. It lists each difference, such as an extra surcharge or a duplicate charge, with the evidence attached.
Finance decides which differences to dispute. Every dispute is reviewed and sent by a person on your team.
E-commerce
Online shops run on small tasks repeated all day: order questions, price and stock updates, and listings for every marketplace and language.
Typical bottlenecks
- The inbox fills with where-is-my-order and returns questions, each answered by checking several systems.
- Supplier price and stock files arrive in different formats and are pasted into the shop by hand.
- Every product needs its own title, description and attributes for each marketplace and language.
Opportunities
- Check each return request against your policy, send the label and draft the refund for a person to approve.
- Import supplier price files every night and flag any price change above a limit you set.
- Keep stock levels in step between your shop and every marketplace, with an alert before an item oversells.
Example scenario
Product listing agent
Turns a supplier's data sheet and photos into a title, description and attributes for your shop and marketplaces such as Allegro or Amazon. It drafts a version in each language you sell in.
A person approves each listing before it goes live and checks any claim about size, materials or safety against the source.
Real estate
Agencies and property managers sit between owners, tenants, buyers and contractors. Every request, from a viewing to a dripping tap, arrives by phone, email or portal message and is passed on by hand.
Typical bottlenecks
- Enquiries from Rightmove, Zoopla or Otodom arrive in the evening and at weekends, then wait until the office opens.
- Tenants report repairs by phone, email and text, and each report is retyped into a job for a contractor.
- Certificates, inspections and renewal dates live in a spreadsheet that someone has to remember to check.
Opportunities
- Reply to each portal enquiry with the property details and open viewing slots, clearly marked as an AI reply.
- Turn each repair report, with the tenant's photos, into a contractor job with access details and priority.
- Track every certificate and renewal date, and remind owners and tenants before each one falls due.
Example scenario
Repair request agent
Reads a tenant's message and photos and finds the property and tenancy. It asks for any missing details, suggests a priority and drafts the job for the right contractor.
Emergencies go straight to the on-call person. A property manager approves the priority and any job above the owner's spending limit.
Recruitment
Recruitment depends on judging people well. Around that judgement sits the admin: CVs into the applicant tracking system (ATS), CVs into client templates, interviews into calendars.
Typical bottlenecks
- CVs arrive from job boards, email and referrals, and each one is keyed into the ATS by hand.
- Every CV is reformatted into your template, with contact details removed, before it goes to a client.
- Interviews take a chain of emails to arrange between candidate, consultant and hiring manager.
Opportunities
- Read each CV into the ATS with work history and skills, and flag people who are already on file.
- Offer interview times from everyone's calendar, then send confirmations and reminders.
- Read temps' timesheets, check the hours against the booking and pass them to payroll and invoicing.
Example scenario
Candidate submission agent
Turns a candidate's CV into your client template, with contact details removed, and updates the ATS record. It drafts the submission email from the consultant's notes.
The consultant decides who is put forward and approves each CV and email. The agent never scores, ranks or rejects candidates.
Manufacturing and trades
Workshops and trade firms earn their money on the shop floor and on site. The paperwork around each job decides how quickly they are paid: quotes, job sheets, change records and invoices.
Typical bottlenecks
- Quote requests arrive with drawings and specs, then queue for the one person who can price them.
- Job sheets, site photos and timesheets come back on paper or by text and are typed in before invoicing.
- Extra work agreed on site is easy to forget by the time the invoice is written.
Opportunities
- Draft quotes from the drawing, your costing rules and similar past jobs, for the estimator to check.
- Check supplier confirmations against your purchase orders and flag changed dates or prices to the planner.
- Record extra work on site with a photo and the customer's approval, so it reaches the invoice.
Example scenario
Job completion agent
Turns a technician's photos, voice note and job sheet into a completed job record, a materials list and a draft invoice. Extra work agreed on site goes on the invoice as its own line.
The office checks each draft invoice before it goes out. Extra work is billed only when the customer's approval is on record.
Treat these as starting points. Your process will differ in the details, so the audit maps and measures it before we build anything. If your industry is not listed, the method still applies.
Measure the bottleneck you recognised.
Tell us which one looked familiar. The audit measures it in your own business and shows whether an agent is worth building.