FAQ
Everything you want to know about AI employees.
- What is an AI employee?
- An AI employee is a software agent that performs a specific job role autonomously — answering inbound calls, chasing unpaid invoices, following up stalled proposals, or monitoring subscription churn. Unlike a general chatbot or AI assistant, an AI employee has a defined scope, an accountability metric, and is installed into your specific business systems. StartupFormulas installs named AI employee roles for SMB operators in trades, services, and property management.
- Do AI employees replace human employees?
- Mostly no, sometimes yes — and we'll tell you which one you are up front. AI employees absorb the work you currently can't hire for: the 6pm callback, the 73-day AR chase, the proposal follow-up nobody owns. If you've been carrying an open requisition for six months, an AI employee replaces that hire and the math finally pencils. If you've got a strong office manager already doing the work, the AI employee gives her her week back so she can focus on what only humans do — relationships, 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 time is 27 days from kick-off to live. Simple installs — AI Receptionist, basic AR dunning — typically go live in 14 to 21 days. More complex roles requiring deep CRM integration or compliance review take 45 to 60 days. Every install starts with a stack audit in the first week so there are no timeline surprises.
- What results can I expect from an AI employee?
- Results depend on the role and your starting numbers. Representative outcomes: an AI Receptionist cuts voicemail rate from 30% to under 5% within 30 days; an AI Collections Specialist pulls $80K of stuck AR current within 90 days; an AI Customer Success Manager reduces annual churn from 24% to 18% within 90 days; an AI Tax-Season Coordinator frees 80+ partner hours per 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 best-fit revenue band for a managed install is $5M to $15M — multi-location operators and scaling owner-led businesses where the hiring pain is sharpest. We also serve $2M to $5M owner-operators on a smaller install, and post-acquisition holdcos as a separate engagement track. The common thread is high-repetition, rules-based work with measurable volume: 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 revenue typically don't have enough throughput to justify a $30K+ install — start with the $198 skill instead, which tells you exactly when an install would pencil. Businesses in heavily regulated verticals — medical billing, legal practice, certain insurance lines — require compliance review before any install. If you want a strategy deck rather than a working system, this is not the right fit.
- How much does a managed AI employee install cost?
- Managed installs are priced at three tiers based on revenue band and scope. The Owner-operator tier ($30,000) suits businesses at $2M to $5M revenue with two AI employees installed over 30 days. The Multi-location tier ($50,000) is the best-fit band — businesses at $5M to $15M with four AI employees over 60 days. The Mature operator tier ($70,000) suits businesses at $15M+ with five-plus AI employees over 90 days. All tiers are fixed-fee — no hourly billing.
- Is there a retainer or ongoing monthly fee?
- No. The managed install is a one-time fixed fee. After the 90-day pilot and hand-off, you run the AI employees yourself. Optional quarterly optimization retainers are available but not required for the AI employees to keep working.
- What does a managed install include?
- A managed install includes a Week 1 stack audit and team interviews, a vendor selection memo naming 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 with a hand-off playbook your team can run independently 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 data, HubSpot, Jobber, ServiceTitan, and GoHighLevel for CRM, Twilio and RingCentral for telephony, and email platforms for outreach. The stack audit in Week 1 maps every integration point before any build begins. If your software is not compatible, we tell you in the audit, not after the install.
- What if the full install does not produce results?
- We do not guarantee specific outcomes — businesses vary too much for that to be honest. What we guarantee is transparency: if the install is not 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 when the first output metric has been recorded.
- How is StartupFormulas different from an AI consultant or agency?
- Consultants give you a strategy deck. Agencies manage your existing campaigns. We install 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 the retainer ends. We charge for the install, not the hours.
Still have questions?
The scope call is free. Twenty minutes, honest go/no-go, and I’ll answer anything the FAQ didn’t cover.