Founder-led since 2011. Serving clients across the United States.Austin, TX(360) 305-7882info@truecedar.com
Automation & AI Agents

Put AI inside the workflow.

We design and implement AI agents for businesses across the United States. They connect to the systems your team already uses, take repetitive work off people's plates, and keep a human in control where judgment matters.

Beyond the Demo

Production AI Should Behave Like a System.

We design agents as durable operational components—not novelty chatbots. That means clear inputs and outputs, permissions, exception handling, monitoring, auditability and human review when appropriate.

Workflow Agents

Agents that triage, summarize, route, research, draft, update records or initiate actions inside a defined business process.

Knowledge Assistants

Secure assistants grounded in internal procedures, documents, policies and operational knowledge.

System Automation

Connect APIs, SaaS platforms, databases and internal software to reduce manual handoffs and repetitive work.

Human-in-the-Loop Controls

Require review or approval where actions have material business, financial, legal or customer impact.

Governance & Auditability

Create clear ownership, logging, access controls and operational boundaries for AI-enabled workflows.

Agent-Enabled Applications

Embed agents within custom applications so AI becomes part of the product experience rather than another separate tool.

Why Most AI Agent Projects Fail Before Any Code Is Written.

It isn't usually because the AI isn't good enough. It's because the company picked the wrong first job for it.

The typical first request is huge: "an agent that runs sales," or "an agent that handles customer service." Those goals are too big, too vague, and have too many ways to be wrong. Nobody can say what "done" looks like, so nobody can tell whether the agent is working. The project turns into a demo that impresses once and then gets quietly shelved.

Start Boring.

The agents that actually work start with one narrow, repetitive job. For example:

Each of these has one job, clear inputs and a clear definition of "done." A person checks the output until the agent earns trust. Then you give it the next job.

That's how you end up with an agent you rely on instead of a demo you show once.

Run the Math Before You Build.

Before we build any agent, we put a rough number on the work it would take over:

Hours per week spent on the task × loaded hourly cost × 52 weeks

Example only: a task that takes 10 hours a week at a loaded cost of $40 an hour comes to 10 × $40 × 52 = $20,800 a year, for one person doing one repetitive process. Your numbers will differ.

Then we ask three questions:

  1. Does the task follow the same steps most of the time?
  2. Is the information it needs already digital, in email, forms, spreadsheets, a CRM or a database?
  3. Can a person quickly check the result?

Three yeses, and you've probably found a good agent candidate. Two or more nos, and you should fix the process first. An agent will only automate the mess.

This isn't about replacing the person. It's about giving them those hours back for work that needs judgment. Results depend on the process, the data quality, the integrations and how much review the work requires.

Write the Agent's Job Description First.

If you can't write down what the agent does, you can't build it. Every agent we implement starts with a seven-line job description:

LineWhat It Answers
RoleWhat is this agent responsible for?
InputsWhere does its information come from?
ToolsWhich systems can it read? Which can it change?
RulesWhat must it never do without a human?
DoneWhat does a finished task look like?
EscalationWhen does it stop and ask a person?
ScorecardHow do we know it's working?

Most companies skip these seven lines and go straight to picking a tool. Then they wonder why the agent "hallucinates," goes off script, or quietly does nothing. The agent usually wasn't the problem. The missing job description was.

Here's what the seven lines can look like for an invoice-matching agent (illustrative):

How We Implement an Agent.

  1. Pick the first job. We go through your repetitive processes together and run the math and the three questions on each one. We pick the one with the clearest payoff and the lowest risk.
  2. Write the job description. We agree on the seven lines in writing, including what the agent is not allowed to do.
  3. Build it inside your systems. The agent works where your team already works (your CRM, inbox, ERP or a custom app), with the narrowest permissions that get the job done.
  4. Human-in-the-loop launch. At first, a person reviews every output. We log what the agent did and why, and track the scorecard.
  5. Earn autonomy. As the scorecard holds up, we reduce review where it's safe. Anything with material financial, legal or customer impact keeps a human approval step.
  6. Next job. Once the first agent is trusted, we pick the next process.

We don't publish a separate price list for AI agents, because the cost depends on the job, the systems involved and how much review the work needs. See our published pricing for custom software, or book a scoping call and we'll give you a fixed price for your first agent. Every engagement is fixed price under its own statement of work.

Good First Agents vs. Bad First Agents.

Good First AgentBad First Agent
One defined task with a clear "done""Run sales" or "handle customer service"
Inputs already digital and in one or two systemsInformation lives in people's heads
Output a person can check in secondsOutput nobody can verify
Mistakes are cheap and caught in reviewMistakes go straight to customers or money
Happens daily or weeklyHappens twice a year
Agents in Production

Agents We Have Put Into Real Workflows.

These are running inside real businesses, not sitting in a demo environment.

Nationwide Paving Contractor

AI Bidding Agent, Integrated With Zoho

< 1 week to delivery

An AI bidding agent built and integrated directly into the Zoho environment the business already runs on.

Education Company

AI Portal for 500 Users

< 2 weeks to delivery

A production AI portal giving students and administrators controlled access to AI. All 500 users have since been onboarded.

Large Law Firm

HIPAA-Compliant AI Agent Solution

HIPAA compliance-scoped delivery

An AI agent solution designed and delivered against HIPAA requirements.

Selected recent engagements. Client names withheld. Timelines reflect these specific projects and are not a guarantee for every scope.

Common Questions

Questions About AI Agents.

What is an AI agent, compared with ordinary automation?

Ordinary automation follows fixed rules: if this, then that. An AI agent can handle inputs that vary, like reading an invoice in any layout or understanding an email request, and then take defined actions in your systems. We often combine the two. Rules handle the predictable steps, and the agent handles the parts that need reading and judgment.

What makes a good first AI agent project?

One repetitive job, with inputs that are already digital and output a person can check quickly. If you can write the seven-line job description (role, inputs, tools, rules, done, escalation, scorecard), it's probably a good candidate.

How do you keep an AI agent from making costly mistakes?

We give it the narrowest permissions that get the job done, write down what it must never do without a human, log its actions, and have a person review its output until the scorecard shows it can be trusted. High-impact actions keep a human approval step permanently.

Will an AI agent replace my staff?

That's not the goal. The goal is to take the repetitive part of a job off someone's plate so they can spend those hours on work that needs judgment.

Can the agent work inside the systems we already use?

Usually, yes. We build agents into existing tools such as CRMs, inboxes and databases, or into a custom app. For example, the paving contractor's bidding agent is a button inside their Zoho CRM.

How do I estimate the return?

Multiply the hours per week the task takes by the loaded hourly cost and by 52. As an example, 10 hours a week at $40 an hour is $20,800 a year. Then check whether the task is repeatable, digital and easy to verify.

What's the First Boring Job You'd Hand to an AI Agent?

Tell us the process: what comes in, what your team does with it, and what "done" looks like. We'll tell you whether it's a good first job for an agent, what the math looks like, and what we'd build.

Show Us the Workflow