Long time lurker, now building an automation agency

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May 06, 2026

by a searcher from University of California, Berkeley - Haas School of Business in SF, CA, USA

Hey everyone, I have been testing and building with AI tools for a bit here and found success recently targeting SMBs who have particular pain points that are intense enough to need a solution but unique enough that existing SaaS tools won't help. There's certainly no way to "one-shot" a prompt to help either : you got to build something new. For example, I have been working with a one-time searcher who bought his first HVAC company and needed : 1. To completely automate the submission of rebates. Saving his offer manager at least 4 hours a week [not a quick one! I had to build an entirely new application that uses housecallpro API calls, a new classifier system to understand which rebates apply, and then a bot to actually complete the submission, and more) 2. To automate parts of the front office workflows, specifically aggregating next steps from the technicians into a database that provides transparency and accountability. We can now also work to automate parts of inventory 3. Looking next at a voice-enabled estimate helper, a sort of logic engine folks can use on-site to build estimates real time (based on project scoping, energy requirements, and rebates) Would love to chat with anyone who can relate to these sort of problems. Often times, technology is advanced enough it's not a case of "can we build it?" but rather "is this an intense pain point with clear upside IF we build it?"
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