Articles

AI agents for a small business: how not to waste the money

Written for owners who are being offered an AI agent. Where it helps, where it doesn't, how to count the money and what to ask the vendor. The examples come from our audit agent's reports on invented companies.

Case filesLooking in the wrong place: nine traps we set for our audit agentNine invented companies we test our audit agent on. The owner looks for the loss in one place; it sits in a seam nobody owns.Read MoneyThe agent works, the money doesn't follow: five reasonsThe assistant answers, the bot messages, the schedule gets built — and the bank balance is the same. Five reasons, each visible before you buy.Read MoneyA hundred hours saved — how much money is that? Often noneA vendor counts an AI agent's benefit in hours. Money appears only where a payment changes: one rule and three checks to run before you buy.Read ChoosingBot, assistant, agent: three rungs, and a rung zero nobody mentionsHow a bot differs from an assistant and an agent, which rung is enough for whom, and why to start with a rule in software you already have.Read ChoosingWhat to hand an AI agent: five signs for yes, three for noHow to choose the first task for an AI agent in a small firm: five signs of a good fit, three of a bad one, and the rule of "free first".Read TrialA one-month AI agent trial: one number, not impressionsHow to set up an AI agent trial that gives an answer: one number, a term that covers a full cycle of the work, a stop condition and someone to watch.Read MoneyThe price of an AI agent: five lines on the bill, two of them quotedThe vendor quotes set-up and a monthly fee. The model, your people's time and changes surface later. How to add up the whole bill and what to set it against.Read ChoosingSeven questions for an AI agent vendor before you signSeven questions to put to an AI agent vendor word for word, and how to tell a good answer from a bad one. With promises from our sample reports.Read Inside52 unsent reminders: who answers when an AI agent gets it wrongAn agent will make mistakes. What matters is what it may do before a person sees them. Three shelves of actions and four questions to ask about any agent.Read InsideAn AI agent is not a clever model: seven steps to one reportOne task followed through our audit agent: where a program does the sums, where the model writes, where a person reads, and what each step is there for.Read MoneyThree months with an agent: "better" is not the same as "paid off"The number improved after launch. Four traps in before-and-after comparisons that credit the agent with what it never did — and a way round each.Read DentalDental patients not showing up? The patients are not the problemNo-shows get blamed on irresponsible patients. In our example 13 patients out of 2,430 missed twice, and fewer than half of appointments got a reminder.Read Road haulageHaulage overtime keeps rising. The drivers are not to blameThe owner thinks the drivers are taking their time. In our example three-quarters of overtime fell on days with a queue at two sites. What to check at yours.Read ConstructionFull order book but no money. The builder's estimates were accurateHours on the jobs run 20.5% over the estimate, so the owner blames the estimates. In our example contract work was 2% over. The rest was extras never invoiced.Read Fitness277 new memberships in a quarter, and the gym is still not growingThe owner blames slow replies to enquiries. In our example sign-ups are fine: the system itself ends memberships after two returned direct debits.Read