Process
How we work
Free 30 minute call. Fixed-price quote in writing within 2 business days.
What happens next
Today
You send the brief
About five minutes: what you want automated and the tools involved.
Only if needed
A few questions
By email, or a short call if that is faster for you.
Within 2 business days
Written, fixed-price quote
Scope, timeline, price and what you will own.
When you say go
Kickoff
Weekly demos with the engineer building it. You approve each step.
01The four steps
How a project runs
01Day 0
A free 30 minute call
You talk to the engineer who would build the agent. We go through the work you want automated, how it is done today and which tools it touches, and tell you whether an agent is worth building for it.
30 minutes, free
- What happens
- You describe the job you want handled, such as answering new leads, clearing a shared inbox or writing the weekly report
- We go through how that work is done today and which tools it touches
- We say which service fits, or tell you that you do not need an agent
- What you receive
- Our view on whether an agent fits, and the simplest setup that would do the job
- A rough outline of what we would build and where it would run
- What we need from you to put a fixed price on it
- What we need from you
- Thirty minutes, ideally with the person who owns the workflow
- Rough weekly volumes, such as how many leads, emails or documents come in
- If you prefer writing, send a brief through the quote form instead
02Within 2 business days
A written, fixed-price quote
Within 2 business days of receiving your brief, we send a written quote. It lists the scope, the timeline, one fixed price and what you will own at the end.
Committed: within 2 business days
- What happens
- We turn the call or your brief into a written scope
- If something is unclear we ask first, by email or a short call
- Running costs, such as model usage and hosting, are listed separately and billed at cost
- What you receive
- What the agent will do, and what is out of scope
- The timeline, with weekly checkpoints
- One fixed price, with no day rates or hourly billing
- What you own at handover, which is every account, the code and the data
- What we need from you
- The tools and accounts the agent has to work with
- Any security, privacy or data residency rules we must follow
- A decision, or your questions about the quote. The quote itself commits you to nothing
03Build
Weekly demos on your data
We build against your own tools and show you the agent working each week. You approve each behaviour before it is allowed to act on its own.
Timeline fixed in your quote
- What happens
- We connect the agent to your tools with the least access the job needs
- Each week you see it handle cases from your own work
- We test it against good and bad examples before it acts alone
- Anything irreversible, such as sending to a client or paying, waits for a person to approve it
- What you receive
- A working agent to review each week
- Your sign-off on each behaviour before it acts alone
- A go or no-go decision before launch, based on what you saw in the demos
- What we need from you
- A named person to review the weekly demo
- Access to the tools involved, through accounts in your name
- Examples of what good and bad output look like
04Launch
Launch and handover
The agent goes live with monitoring and alerts switched on. You get the runbook and every credential in your name. After that you can keep us on a maintenance retainer or run it yourself.
Maintenance is optional, billed monthly
- What happens
- The agent goes live on the workflow it was built for
- We walk your team through how it works and how to pause it
- We watch the first live runs closely and fix any problems they show
- What you receive
- A written runbook that covers what the agent does, how it can fail and what to do when it does
- Monitoring and alerts that reach your team chat or inbox
- Every login, key and repository in your name
- An optional maintenance retainer, quoted in writing
- What we need from you
- The person who will own the agent day to day, for the handover
- A channel for alerts, such as team chat or a shared inbox
02Hosting
Where the agent runs
| Compared on | Done-for-you AI agents | Custom AI agent development |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Done-for-you AI agentsQoren, in a dedicated environment we manage for you | Custom AI agent developmentYour own cloud, or the platform you choose |
| What we build with | Done-for-you AI agentsOpenClaw, Hermes or Codex agents | Custom AI agent developmentPython or TypeScript, LangGraph, n8n or vendor tools you already pay for |
| Price | Done-for-you AI agentsFrom $2,000 per workflow, fixed before we start | Custom AI agent developmentA fixed-price quote, scoped after a call |
| Running costs | Done-for-you AI agentsQoren hosting from $39 a month, billed by Qoren, plus model usage billed at cost | Custom AI agent developmentYour own cloud bill, plus model usage billed at cost |
| Best for | Done-for-you AI agentsTeams that want an agent working soon and would rather not host it themselves. | Custom AI agent developmentCompanies whose security, data residency or integration needs rule out managed hosting. |
| What you own | Done-for-you AI agentsThe Qoren account, its agents and the data, all in your name | Custom AI agent developmentSource code, documentation and every account |
03Operating standards
What every deployment includes
Least-privilege access
Encrypted secrets
Approval for irreversible actions
Audit log
Hard spend caps
Monitoring and alerts
Runbook and credentials in your name
No lock-in
Agents
- Lead responderLive · Always onAnswers web and portal leads, qualifies them, books the call
- Inbox triageLive · Every 5 minSorts the shared inbox, drafts replies for approval
- Weekly client reportScheduled · Mon 08:00Pulls the numbers, writes the summary, sends on approval
Guardrails
- Access. Least privilege, accounts in your name
- Secrets. Encrypted, never in code or chat
- Approvals. A person signs off anything irreversible
- Audit log. Every action recorded
- Spend cap. Hard monthly limit on every model key
- Alerts. Failures post to your team chat
04Maintenance
What maintenance covers
Included in the retainer
- Monitoring, alerts and incident response
- Model, runtime and dependency updates
- A monthly review of cost, quality and what to change next
- Small changes included; bigger ones quoted before we start
- Response times agreed in writing in the contract
Quoted or billed separately
- New agents and new workflows, quoted at a fixed price like any project
- Bigger changes to a live agent, quoted in writing before work starts
- Model usage and hosting, billed at cost with no markup
Maintenance is optional. We also maintain agents we did not build, after a short review.
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Read it06FAQ
Questions
How long does it take to build an AI agent?
It depends on the workflow, the integrations and any security reviews involved. A single workflow on Qoren is usually the quickest to launch. Your written quote fixes the timeline before work starts, and the weekly demos show you progress during the build.
Do I need to prepare anything before the first call?
No. It helps to know what you want automated, which tools are involved and roughly how much of that work comes in each week. Bring examples of good and bad results if you have them. If you prefer writing, send a brief through the quote form instead of booking a call.
What is included in the fixed-price quote?
The scope (what the agent will do and what is out of scope), the timeline with weekly checkpoints, one fixed price, any running costs listed separately at cost, and what you will own at handover. You receive it within 2 business days of sending your brief, and it commits you to nothing.
What happens if the scope changes during the build?
The original price stands for the original scope. If you ask for more, we quote the change in writing before doing it, and you decide whether to go ahead. Quoted work is never billed by the hour.
Will the AI agent act without a person checking?
Only where you have approved it. During the build you approve each behaviour before it runs on its own, and anything irreversible, such as sending to a client, paying or deleting records, always waits for a person to approve it.
What do I own at the end of the project?
You own all of it. Accounts are created in your name, code and configuration are delivered to your repository or your own Qoren account, and you get the runbook and every credential at handover. You can move it in house or to another provider at any time.
Do I have to sign up for a maintenance retainer?
No, maintenance is optional. On the flat monthly retainer we watch the agent and fix it when a model, an API or one of your tools changes. Without it, the handover gives your team what it needs to run the agent itself.
Can you take over an AI agent someone else built?
Yes. We start with a short review of what is running, fix anything risky, and then maintain it on a flat monthly retainer with response times agreed in writing.
Tell us what you want automated.
Book a call to talk it through, or send a short brief for a written quote. Either way, you deal with the engineer who would build it.
Free 30 minute call. Fixed-price quote in writing within 2 business days.