If you’re looking at an AI automation agency for your business, this guide covers what the work does day to day, how the price is set, and what you should get in writing before anything is connected. It’s written from what we build at CatalystHub, a Perth AI automation agency.

We build in-house AI automations to bring you more sales and save you time, custom to your specific use case. Our own team does the work in Perth.

The short version: AI automation is software doing a repeat job for you: replying by text to a missed call, filing and pricing a job docket from a photo, checking a supplier invoice against the quote, or finding an answer in your own documents. You stay in charge of the steps that matter, like confirming a booking or approving an invoice. With us, the plan is free and arrives within two working days. The work you agree to then gets a fixed price, written into the plan, with any ongoing software costs or charges based on use listed separately. It’s built in-house in Perth, around the tools you already use.

What to do next: Describe the job you wish ran itself on our AI automation page, and Vish will come back with a free plan. Need a website as well? Start your project or see every package on our pricing page.

What “automation” means, in plain words

Automation is a job that runs on its own once it’s set up. The text that goes out when you miss a call. The reminders that go out for tomorrow’s bookings. The job details that land in your accounting software without anyone retyping them. It’s work that runs without anyone remembering, and systems passing information to each other instead of sitting in separate tabs.

AI, short for artificial intelligence, is the part that reads and writes. It can read a photo of a job docket, find the answer in a supplier’s terms, or draft a reply from your pricing in the tone you approve. Put the two together and repetitive work comes off your desk, with a person still checking the steps that need checking.

We sort the work into four kinds. You may need one of these or a combination.

Kind of work	What it means
Automations	Work that runs without anyone remembering
Optimisations	The same job, fewer steps
Cost cuts	Spending you can stop, like a supplier overcharge or a licence nobody uses
Capability enhancements	Jobs your team can’t do yet, like a draft quote from photos or a search across your own files

What AI automation does in a working business

These are the jobs shown on our AI automation page.

Missed calls answered by text, and booked

You’re on a job and can’t pick up. The caller gets a text back, something like “Sorry we missed you. Book a time?”, and is offered a time to book. An enquiry that arrives at 9pm gets a reply too. The booking waits for you to confirm it.

A job docket photographed once, filed and priced

A finished job can get typed up, retyped and then emailed before it’s invoiced. With automation it’s photographed once. One photo of the docket files the job record, prices the job and drafts the invoice, which stays a draft until you approve it.

Photos of a job turned into a draft quote

Take photos of the job, say a dripping basin tap, a cracked wall tile and a worn vanity door, and they become a draft quote with each line priced from your own pricing. You check the quote before it sends.

Supplier invoices checked against the quote

When a supplier invoice comes in, each line is checked against what you were quoted. A line that’s over the quote is held for you. It catches the supplier overcharge nobody checked.

Answers found in your own documents

Ask a question like “What notice do we need to end an engagement?” and get the answer from your own approved documents, without searching each file yourself. The answer shows which document and page it came from, so you see the source before you rely on it.

Overlapping subscriptions found and cut

Some monthly software costs are tools nobody has opened in months, or several licences that overlap. We find the subscriptions you could switch off. Once the overlap is gone, those are licences you stop paying for.

Reminders that send themselves

Service reminders, booking confirmations, rebooking prompts and invoice follow-ups for tomorrow go out on their own. If one fails, say because a number is disconnected, it’s flagged for you to review.

How automation brings in more sales

Automation can also win you work, by making sure enquiries turn into bookings. A missed call that gets a text in seconds is someone who waits for you instead of calling the next name on Google. An enquiry that gets a polite run of follow-ups doesn’t go cold while you’re busy. And past customers can be sent a reminder or a referral ask, which is how repeat work comes back. Growth Pro runs these as a ready-made set, and we build custom versions around your own systems.

What it looks like in different industries

Industry	What it can do	Who still decides
Trades and field service	An enquiry that arrives at 9pm gets a reply	You still confirm the booking
Clinics and allied health	Intake paperwork read and filed before the appointment, with missing administrative details flagged	Clinical decisions stay with the clinician
Professional services	Answers found across your approved documents, without searching each file	You see the source before you rely on it
Hospitality and venues	Booking requests, dietary notes and event requirements arrive as one handover sheet for the shift	The floor manager still runs the night
Retail and e-commerce	A supplier price change flagged before the next reorder	You approve the order before it’s sent
Agencies and studios	A client report drafted from the week’s records, ready to edit	You sign it off

If your industry isn’t in the table, describe what your team can’t do yet on our AI automation page.

It works with the tools you already run

We start with what you already run. The common systems we connect include Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks, Shopify, Square, Stripe, Afterpay, PayPal, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Google Sheets, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Calendly, Dropbox, Zoom and Deputy.

Do you need a pile of new software? That depends on what you already have, so we check that first. Where something off the shelf does the job, we set it up properly rather than bill you to rebuild it. Whether any new tool is needed, and what it would cost, is answered in your plan.

What AI automation costs

We quote automation per job, because jobs aren’t the same size: a two-step follow-up and a system that reads handwriting are very different pieces of work.

The plan is free. Vish comes back with it within two working days, and you’re under no obligation to go ahead.
The work gets a fixed price. It covers what you agree to, and it’s written into the plan before work starts. If the scope or the terms don’t suit you, we change them with you first.
It’s priced apart from websites. Automation is quoted separately from our website builds.

The plan also includes an estimate, built from your workload, your costs and the running costs of the proposed solution. Time you get back isn’t automatically money you stop spending, so the plan separates the two and says which of your costs would actually change. Where we don’t have enough information, it says so and lists what we’d need.

What your free plan covers

In the plan	What it tells you
Problem	The job that’s costing you time or money
Recommended approach	How we’d fix it
Off the shelf or built	Whether an existing tool does it, or it’s built for you
The work you agree to	Exactly what gets built
Not included	What stays as it is
Fixed price	In writing, before work starts
Ongoing charges	Each software fee, listed
Timing	When it goes live

Growth Pro, the ready-made version

Some of this comes ready-made. Growth Pro is $297 a month including GST, with no setup fee, and you can cancel any month. It bundles a managed website of 10 to 20 pages with missed-call text-back, automatic review requests, one inbox for texts, email, Facebook, Instagram and Google messages, automated follow-up on every enquiry, repeat and referral campaigns, local SEO (search engine optimisation, so you show up when people nearby search) and your own business number. It’s the rented path: we run it for you, and you don’t own the website. For work the engine doesn’t cover, we build custom AI automations, scoped to your business.

What to ask an AI automation agency before you pay

Ask these before anything is built, and get the answers in writing.

Is the price fixed, and what do I pay after it’s live? Ours is fixed for the work you agree to. Each ongoing software fee or charge based on use is listed in your plan.
What will you have access to? Only what your workflow needs. We agree in writing which systems we need access to, what information passes through and what is stored. Nothing is connected that you haven’t agreed to.
Which steps wait for me? You choose which steps go out automatically and which wait for you. The approval points are set out in your plan.
What happens when it gets something wrong? We agree with you which steps need a person to review them and what happens when a check fails. Those controls are tested against your real paperwork before it goes live.
Can I pause it or change my mind? The pause controls and approval points are set to suit how you work, written into your plan and agreed with you before we build.
Will it sound like a robot? It writes from your pricing and your own material, in the tone you approve.

How it works with CatalystHub

Say what you wish happened. A form or a call, in plain English. No need to know what any of it is called.
Get your free plan. It sets out the work, what’s not included, any running costs and the timing.
We build and test it. It’s tested against your real jobs and your real paperwork before it touches a customer.

The scope, the approval points and the terms are yours to negotiate before anything starts. Vish reads every brief himself, with a same-day reply during Perth business hours. Prefer to talk? Book a 30-minute chat from the AI automation page.

Our Google rating is 5.0 from 16 reviews. Most of those reviews are about websites we built. Automation work comes from the same team and the same way of working.

Need a website as well?

We build those too. A custom five-page website is $500 flat including GST, live in seven business days, with free hosting on your own account. You own the code, the domain and the hosting. Other packages: Advanced Design from $700 is the same five-page build with an animated or 3D design. Specialist from $1,500 is for regulated or niche industries, with up to 15 pages. A custom Shopify theme from $700 covers up to 10 custom-designed pages for an online store. A site of about nine pages is around $900 as a custom quote. Bigger projects and corporate sites get a custom quote, and we do those too: we designed Carey Group’s new corporate website, which is in development now. Logo design is $199, and optional care plans start at $49 a month. Every package is on our pricing page, or you can start your project today.

Frequently asked questions

What does an AI automation agency do? It takes repetitive work off your desk using AI and automation. At CatalystHub we build around the systems you already run: missed calls answered by text and booked, job dockets filed and priced from a photo, draft quotes from photos, supplier invoices checked against quotes, answers found in your own documents, and overlapping subscriptions cut.

How much does AI automation cost in Australia? There’s no set price list, because each automation job is quoted on its own. The plan costs nothing, the build price is fixed before you commit, and running costs are listed separately. Growth Pro, the ready-made engine with a managed website, is $297 a month including GST.

Is AI automation for small business worth the money? It depends on the job. The free plan tells you whether it’s worth building, whether something already does it, or whether it’s not worth your money.

Do you only work with Perth businesses? No. Everything is built in-house in Perth, for businesses across Australia. Describe the job on our AI automation page or book a 30-minute chat.

How fast can an automation go live? For most jobs, it’s a matter of days. The exact timing depends on the size of the job and is agreed in your plan.

Will I need to buy new software? Not necessarily. We start with what you already run, and where an off-the-shelf tool does the job, we set that up instead of building a new one.