Workflow and Process Automation
Your team stops retyping data, chasing approvals and building the same report every week. We automate the routine steps and leave people only the decisions, with a log of everything that ran and an alert when something fails.
- AI
- 7 deliverables
- Set with you at the start
Who it is for
Sound familiar?
Someone retypes the same data from one system into another every day
Approvals sit in inboxes until someone remembers to chase them
The same report gets built by hand every Monday morning
An automation broke quietly once, and nobody noticed for a month
What you receive
What you receive
- A map of the current process, with the steps worth automating marked
- Automated workflows for approvals, handoffs and notifications
- Document reading for invoices, forms and contracts, with a check step
- Scheduled reports and alerts that arrive on their own
- An exceptions list, where a person decides the odd cases
- Run logs, error alerts and a recovery guide
- Documentation your team can read and edit later
The Path
How it runs
- Starts day one
Listen
A documented brief
- Before any build
Shape
A technical plan, screen layouts and a scope you can hold us to
- Built in sprints you can see
Build
A working demo at every sprint
- When you are ready
Launch
Every source file, login and a recorded walkthrough
- Ongoing
Evolve
A portal where every request and approval is on record
Evolve leads back to Listen, so the work keeps improving for as long as you want it to.
Stack
Tools we usually reach for
n8n
Anthropic
- Make
- Zapier
- REST APIs and webhooks
- Scheduled jobs
Read more
The detail
Workflow automation is for operations, finance and admin teams that spend their days moving information between inboxes and systems. Software takes over the routine steps, such as approvals, handoffs, data entry and weekly reports, and people keep the decisions. You get working automations, an exceptions list for the odd cases, and an honest view of what is not worth automating.
What is workflow automation, in plain words?
Take any task that follows rules. An invoice arrives, someone reads it, types the numbers into accounts software, asks a manager to approve and files the PDF. A connected workflow can do each of those steps. The manager still approves, but the request arrives with the numbers filled in, and the record updates when they click.
Work moves on its own, and stops only when something unusual needs a person.
What kinds of work can be automated?
- Approvals and handoffs: leave, purchase, discount or content approvals that reach the right person and send reminders.
- Document reading: invoices, forms and contracts read into separate fields, then checked against your rules.
- Reports and alerts: weekly summaries, matching of two sets of figures, and alerts when a number crosses a limit.
- Back-office jobs: scheduled tasks, data clean-up and syncs between your CRM, accounts and spreadsheets.
- Older systems: for tools with no way to connect, software that works through the screen as a person would.
How we automate a process
We watch the process as it is really done, including the workarounds, and count the steps and the exceptions. Then we choose what to automate and what to leave. Each workflow gets a written plan: what starts it, the steps, the checks, and who receives the exceptions.
We build in n8n, Make or plain code, depending on volume and your team. You see each workflow running on real data before it goes live. At launch, old and new run side by side for a while, so you can compare the results before switching over.
How the TechSum Standard applies to automation
- Secure by default: each workflow gets only the access it needs, passwords and keys are stored as secrets, and personal data is not copied anywhere it does not have to be.
- Built to scale: workflows are built so more volume or a new step means editing them, not rebuilding them.
- Tested before it ships: every workflow runs on real data, alongside the old way, before you rely on it.
- Looked after after launch: we read the run logs, fix failures and adjust the workflow when your rules change. The automation that quietly breaks is exactly what this prevents.
- Small changes handled, not invoiced: a new approver, a changed limit or an extra field in a report gets done, not quoted.
- Honest advice: if a process changes every week, automating it creates more work than it saves, and we will say so.
When automation is not what you need
If nobody agrees how the work should be done, fix the process first, and we can help you write it down. If a system is about to be replaced, we avoid building deep automations around it. If the job is open-ended questions rather than fixed steps, an AI agent is the better fit.
What automation connects to
Automations are the wiring between everything else. They often feed business dashboards, carry enquiries from WhatsApp AI reception into your CRM, and send updates through the WhatsApp Business API. Workflows that touch personal data follow our DPDP Act work. If you are unsure where to begin, the AI Opportunity Audit ranks candidate processes by impact.
How do we start?
Tell us about a process that eats your team's time. You can also read about our wider AI Systems & Automation work.
FAQ
Questions we get asked
How do you decide what is worth automating?
We map the process and look at how often each step happens, how much effort it takes and how often it goes wrong. Steps that are frequent, follow clear rules and are easy to check are good candidates. Rare steps, or steps that need judgement, usually stay with a person.
Do we need AI for automation?
Often not. Many workflows are plain rules and connections between tools. We use AI where the input is untidy, such as scanned documents or free-text emails, and we always add a check step after it.
What happens when an automation breaks?
Each workflow keeps a log of what it did and sends an alert when a step fails. Failed items land in the exceptions list with the reason attached, so nothing disappears silently. You also get a short recovery guide.
Can you automate an older system that cannot connect to anything?
Sometimes. For older tools with no way to connect, software can click and type on the screen the way a person would. It breaks more easily than a proper connection, so we explain the risk before you decide.
Who owns the workflows after you build them?
You do. Each one is documented, stored in your own account and explained to your team. If you want us to keep looking after them, a Care Retainer covers that.
AI Systems & Automation
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Or start smaller
AI Opportunity Audit
Get a straight answer on where AI would save your business time or cost, and where it would not, ranked in one written report.
- A walk through how work gets done in the areas you choose
- A list of tasks where AI or automation could help
- Each opportunity ranked by likely impact and effort
- A note on what is not worth automating, and why
- Ends in a short written report you keep
Let's Talk
Tell us what you need
- A reply from a person on the team
- Or book a short call
- We say so if another team suits you better
Write to us in plain words
Or book a short call
Pick a time that suits you. You will speak with the people who would do the work.