Free guide
AI agents and
custom software.
What it means. What to build. What to skip. A practical, no-fluff guide for business leaders who want to understand where AI agents actually work, where they fail, and when custom software is the better path.
What’s inside
Two halves.
A clearer path forward.
Go beyond the hype. A practical framework for when to use AI agents, when to invest in custom software, and the key questions to ask before you pay for either.
Part one
AI Agents
- Start from the sentence you have already said. Seven situations a local business turns up with — each one routed to the pages that answer it, so you never have to read it front to back
- What the research actually says. A support study showing a gain and a developer study showing a loss, with the citations and the reason they disagree
- The three things people call an agent. Assistant, fixed workflow, actual agent — sorted by who picks the next step
- Five jobs they do well, five ways it backfires. Where the technology earns its keep, and where people spend real money and regret it
- What an agent costs to run. The four costs, only one of which ever gets quoted — with per-run figures and the reason the bill scales with steps
Part two
Custom Software
- Buy, configure, connect, or build. The honest hierarchy, cheapest first — most people are told to start at the bottom
- The four shapes custom software takes. System of record, bridge, front door, window — and how to tell which one you need
- What it costs, and who owns it. Hosting and maintenance ranges, the bill of materials to ask for, and the ownership terms to settle before you sign
- Twelve questions to ask a vendor. Six for either half, including the two that tell you the most: where should we not use this, and what would you leave out?
- A calculator, a worksheet, and what none of it fixes. Run your own numbers, write up one workflow to take into the conversation, and — true of both halves — the problems no software solves
Turn questions into clarity
A practical guide
for real decisions.
Clear, experience-based guidance on what to build, buy, or skip — from the engineering team, not a content mill.
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