AI Automation architect - build a small workforce for a business

AI Automation Architect – Build an AI Workforce for Small Business Project Type: Fixed-Price – Phase 1 Potential: Additional phases for the right person About the Project I am looking for an experienced AI automation specialist to help me begin building an AI workforce, not simply a collection of disconnected automations. The first implementation will be for an event venue business, but the larger goal is to create a scalable AI ecosystem that can eventually support multiple businesses and my personal brand. I already have a customer-facing website chatbot being implemented separately. This project is primarily focused on the backend AI workforce and automation infrastructure. The Vision I ultimately want specialized AI employees that can work together and handle functions such as: * Sales & Lead Management: capture leads, update the CRM, qualify prospects, conduct follow-up, answer questions, nurture leads, schedule tours, and move prospects toward booking. * Email & Administrative Support: monitor incoming emails, identify priorities, summarize messages, draft or handle routine responses where appropriate, and escalate items requiring human attention. * Content & Marketing: brainstorm ideas, research relevant topics and trends, maintain content calendars, turn stored business knowledge and uploaded assets into content ideas/drafts, and support multiple brands. * Business/Strategy Support: research opportunities, brainstorm initiatives, organize information, identify patterns, and provide actionable recommendations. * Operations: eventually assist with recurring business processes, reminders, customer communication, documentation, and other repetitive administrative work. I do not expect all of this to be built during Phase 1. I am sharing the larger vision because I want the initial architecture built with expansion in mind. Phase 1 – Backend Sales AI Employee The first priority is creating an AI-powered sales and lead-management system for the event venue. It should ideally: 1. Capture inquiries from the website chatbot and other lead sources. 2. Store and organize leads in the CRM. 3. Trigger intelligent follow-up through appropriate channels. 4. Continue nurturing leads rather than relying on me to manually follow up. 5. Recognize where a prospect is in the sales process. 6. Support tour scheduling and booking progression. 7. Answer routine questions using the business knowledge base where appropriate. 8. Escalate conversations to a human when necessary. 9. Maintain context/history so the system knows what has already happened with each lead. 10. Be designed so additional AI employees and workflows can later connect to the same ecosystem. Architecture Matters I am intentionally trying to minimize unnecessary monthly subscriptions. I understand that some tools, APIs, hosting, CRM, messaging, or AI usage will have ongoing costs. I am not expecting a zero-cost system. However, I do not want an architecture that requires purchasing a separate SaaS platform for every AI employee or business function. I am interested in solutions using tools such as APIs, automation/orchestration platforms, databases, AI models, and reusable workflows where appropriate. The system should ideally be: Modular • Scalable • Transferable • Well documented • Cost-conscious • Not unnecessarily dependent on one vendor If you recommend a paid platform, please explain why it is necessary, what it replaces, and its expected monthly cost. What I Need From You In your proposal, please briefly explain: 1. How you would architect Phase 1. 2. What technology stack you would recommend. 3. What recurring subscriptions/costs would be required. 4. What you would build versus what would rely on third-party SaaS. 5. How the architecture could later support multiple specialized AI employees. 6. What data/memory layer you would use so agents can share relevant business knowledge and customer history. 7. How you would prevent the system from becoming a collection of disconnected automations. 8. Your fixed-price quote for Phase 1. 9. Your estimated completion timeline. Please do not simply send a generic list of AI tools. I am particularly interested in understanding how you think about the overall architecture. Ideal Candidate You may be a strong fit if you have experience with AI agents, APIs/webhooks, CRM integrations, workflow automation, LLMs, databases/knowledge bases, email automation, lead nurturing, and multi-agent or agentic system design. Experience building revenue-generating sales automation is especially valuable. Long-Term Opportunity Phase 1 is intentionally focused. If the architecture and implementation are successful, I would like to continue building additional AI employees and business workflows in future phases. The goal is not to create another dashboard I have to manage. The goal is to create a digital workforce that takes repetitive work off my plate, operates behind the scenes, knows when human judgment is required, and ultimately gives me more time to focus on relationships, strategy, revenue, and growth.