[ Guides by topic ]

Automation and AI agents 6 guides for UK businesses.

These guides cover the work AI can actually take off a team: agents that read, decide and act inside your tools, chatbots and assistants, inbox and document automation, and the plain workflow automation that often does the job more cheaply. Each one says what the work costs to build and to run each month, and where it falls short. Augustova builds agents and automations at fixed prices, so the numbers come from systems we have built and run.

AI automation agency in London →All guides →AI strategy and consultancy →Building software and MVPs →AI tools: Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot →Governance, GDPR and risk →Costs and ROI →Industries →
7 October 2026 · 12 min read

AI Knowledge Assistant on Your Own Documents: What UK SMEs Get, What It Costs and How to Do It Right (2026)

An assistant that answers from your own documents, and the three ways to get one.

  • What it is
    Answers from your documents, with sources
  • Three routes
    Shared project, configured assistant, custom build
  • Custom build
    £8,000 to £25,000, plus running cost
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6 October 2026 · 11 min read

What Is an AI Agent? When a UK SME Needs One, What It Costs and What Can Go Wrong (2026)

An agent decides and acts across several steps, and most SMEs need one less often than they are told.

  • Agent
    Decides a sequence of actions across systems
  • Needs one when
    Unattended, at volume, with decisions
  • First agent
    £4,000 to £15,000 to build, plus running cost
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2 October 2026 · 12 min read

Integrating AI With Legacy Systems: A UK SME Guide to Old Software, APIs and Cost (2026)

Four ways to connect AI to older systems, and the mistake that doubles the cost.

  • Four ways in
    API, export and import, email and documents, screen-level
  • Rule
    The existing system stays the record of truth
  • Cost
    £4,000 to £15,000 for a first implementation
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14 September 2026 · 13 min read

What an AI Agent Costs to Build and Run in the UK (2026)

Building an agent costs £750 to £15,000, and running it costs pennies a task, mostly in texts and calls.

  • Build, single agent
    £750 to £15,000
  • Model, per conversation
    Under 2p at list price
  • SMS, per message
    $0.056 (about 4.1p)
  • AI voice, per minute
    15p to 20p plus 1p to 3p telephony
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14 September 2026 · 12 min read

n8n, Make, Zapier or Custom Code: Which Automation Fits? (2026)

Zapier or Make for simple jobs, n8n for multi-step volume, custom code when failure is expensive.

  • n8n Cloud Starter
    €20 a month, 2,500 executions
  • Make Core
    $9 a month, 10,000 credits
  • Zapier Professional
    From $19.99 a month, 750 tasks
  • Self-hosted n8n
    Free licence; $12 server
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9 September 2026 · 13 min read

Does AI Phone Calling Work? Real UK Call Outcomes and Rules

In our own platform an AI call reached a human one time in eight, so use it as one channel with text as backup.

  • Reached a human
    About 1 in 8
  • Voicemail
    About 1 in 2
  • Never connected
    About 1 in 4
  • Field experiment
    12% more offers after AI interviews
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