FAQ
Everything you want to know about AI employees.
- Is this just a chatbot?
- No. A chatbot answers questions and stops. We hire AI employees that run a business loop end to end: answer or follow up, qualify the request, book or route it, update the CRM, escalate the exceptions a human should own, and report what happened. If it doesn't produce proof, it isn't done.
- What do we install first?
- The leak costing you most — usually missed calls, speed-to-lead, estimate follow-up, dormant-customer reactivation, or AR follow-up. The free Revenue Leak Audit reads your numbers and names the first install, with a payback window in writing.
- What is an AI employee?
- An AI employee is a software agent that does one job, on its own — answering inbound calls, chasing unpaid invoices, following up stalled proposals, or watching subscription churn. A general chatbot answers questions. An AI employee has a defined role, a number it's accountable for, and a home inside your actual business systems. StartupFormulas hires named AI employee roles for SMB operators in trades, services, and property management.
- Do AI employees replace human employees?
- Mostly no. Sometimes yes. We tell you which one you are up front. An AI employee absorbs the work you can't hire for today: the 6pm callback, the 73-day AR chase, the proposal follow-up nobody owns. If you've carried an open req for six months, the AI employee fills that seat and the math finally pencils. If you've got a strong office manager already buried in it, the AI employee hands her week back — so she does what only a human can: the relationships, the judgment calls, the hard customer save. We name which scenario you're in during the Week 1 audit.
- How long does it take to install an AI employee?
- The median install runs 27 days from kick-off to live. Simple roles — AI Front Desk, basic AR dunning — typically go live in 14 to 21 days. Roles that need deep CRM integration or compliance review take 45 to 60. Every install opens with a stack audit in week one, so the timeline holds no surprises.
- What results can I expect from an AI employee?
- Results depend on the role and your starting numbers. A few representative examples: an AI Front Desk could cut voicemail rate from 30% to under 5% within 30 days; an AI Collections Specialist could pull $80K of stuck AR current within 90 days; an AI Customer Success Manager could trim annual churn from 24% to 18% within 90 days; an AI Tax-Season Coordinator could free 80+ partner hours a season. These are illustrative ranges drawn from typical operator data — not guarantees.
- What industries do AI employees work for?
- AI employees work best in HVAC and mechanical contracting, roofing and exterior trades, property management, bookkeeping and accounting firms, marketing agencies, and B2B service businesses. The sweet spot for a managed install is $5M to $15M in revenue — multi-location operators and scaling owner-led shops where the hiring pain bites hardest. We also serve $2M to $5M owner-operators on a smaller install, and post-acquisition holdcos on a separate track. The common thread: high-repetition, rules-based work with volume you can count — calls answered, invoices collected, proposals followed up.
- What businesses are not a good fit for AI employees?
- VC-backed tech startups with engineering teams should build their own agents. Businesses under $2M in revenue usually don't run enough volume to justify a managed install — start with the $198 skill instead, which tells you exactly when an install would pencil. Heavily regulated verticals — medical billing, legal practice, certain insurance lines — need a compliance review before any install. And if you want a strategy deck instead of a working system, we're the wrong fit.
- How much does a managed AI employee install cost?
- Every managed install is scoped to your business. There's no list price, because no two installs are alike. The cost depends on which revenue loops you install and the stack you run. It's a one-time setup plus an ongoing monthly — the monthly keeps your AI employees monitored, tuned, and reported, and covers stacking new loops as you grow. We name the figure on your free audit call, in writing, with a payback window. No hourly billing.
- Is there a retainer or ongoing monthly fee?
- Yes. The managed install is an ongoing engagement, not a one-and-done. It's a one-time setup plus a monthly that keeps your loops monitored, tuned, and reported — and lets you stack new ones as you grow. The monthly scales with how many loops you run; an annual option saves you two months. We name the figures on your audit call.
- What does a managed install include?
- A managed install includes a Week 1 stack audit and team interviews, a vendor selection memo that names the specific tools and contracts, AI employee integration on your existing infrastructure, operator and team training on working alongside the AI employee, and 90 days of managed operation — capped with a hand-off playbook your team can run on its own after we leave.
- Can AI employees integrate with HubSpot, QuickBooks, or my existing CRM?
- Yes. Most AI employees connect to standard SMB software: QuickBooks and Xero for accounting, HubSpot, Jobber, ServiceTitan, and GoHighLevel for CRM, Twilio and RingCentral for telephony, and email platforms for outreach. The Week 1 stack audit maps every integration point before a single line gets built. If your software isn't compatible, you hear it in the audit — not after the install.
- What if the full install does not produce results?
- We don't guarantee specific outcomes — businesses vary too much for that to be honest. What we do guarantee is transparency: if the install isn't producing measurable results by day 30 of the pilot, we say so and rearchitect before you pay the back half. The install is only complete once the first output metric is on the board.
- How is StartupFormulas different from an AI consultant or agency?
- Consultants hand you a strategy deck. Agencies run your existing campaigns. We hire working AI employees that produce measurable output from week one. The engagement ends when your team can run the AI employees without us — not when a retainer runs out. We charge for the install, not the hours.
Still have questions?
The scope call is free. Twenty minutes, an honest go/no-go, and I’ll answer anything the FAQ didn’t.