Mapping Session
Free · 30 min- Finds one workflow worth a closer look
- Produces an initial written map or recommendation
- No pitch, no obligation
Services
Fixed-scope engagements that give your team time back.
Every engagement starts with a free Mapping Session. No deck. No pitch. You describe what's costing your team the most time. We tell you whether it's worth automating and what it would take. See how an engagement works →
Two ways to start
One free conversation. One paid diagnostic. Both leave you with something to keep.
Most people start with a Mapping Session. If one workflow is not the whole story, the Automation Blueprint looks across the business.
Automation Blueprint
Paid · 2 weeks- Maps and ranks multiple workflows across the business
- Puts a number on the likely value of each
- Produces a prioritized implementation roadmap
Project · 2 weeks
Automation Blueprint
We interview your team, map every workflow, and rank automation opportunities by ROI, not by what's technically interesting.
- Workflow mapping with the people who actually do it
- ROI quantification for each opportunity
- Written roadmap: what to build first, what to skip, and why
Outcome: A prioritized automation roadmap with 3–8 opportunities, each sized and estimated.
Project · 2–4 weeks
AI Foundations
We configure the AI tools your team already pays for, build custom prompt libraries by role, and train your team to get real work done with them.
- AI tool setup and workspace architecture
- Custom prompt libraries and templates by role
- Hands-on training tailored to how each team works
Outcome: Your team using AI confidently for work that matters, not abandoning it after week two.
Project · 4–10 weeks
Custom AI Agents
AI agents that handle complex, judgment-heavy work around the clock, with approval gates wherever a person should still weigh in.
- Agents that run 24/7 without your team babysitting them
- Approval gates wherever a person should still weigh in
- Built into your existing tools, not a parallel system
Outcome: Work that used to wait for a person now happens in minutes, every time.
Project · 2–8 weeks
Workflow Automation
We build the systems that take repetitive admin off your team's plate. Think lead pipelines, onboarding, document generation, billing flows.
- Lead generation, prospect research, and outreach systems
- Client onboarding, contract generation, billing flows
- Recurring communications and approval workflows
Outcome: Hours back every week. Your team focuses on the relationship, not the paperwork.
Project · 2–4 weeks
Reporting & Dashboards
Live metrics pulled from the systems you already use, the one dashboard your team will actually open on Monday.
- Live data from your existing systems
- Google Sheets, web dashboards, Slack digests, or email summaries
- Replaces three to five manual reports
Outcome: Decisions made on current data, not a Monday report that is already three days stale.
Ongoing · monthly
Care Plan
We stay on after handoff, monitoring, fixing breakage fast, and surfacing new opportunities as your business changes.
- Proactive monitoring of every automation we built
- Fast fixes when something breaks or an API changes
- Optional active management: we run the agents for you
Outcome: Systems that hold up 6 and 12 months in, and a partner who surfaces what to automate next.
Is this the right time?
Where automation pays off, and where to wait.
Automation earns its keep on steady, well-understood work. On work that is still in flux, it usually costs more than it saves. Here is how we tell the two apart, and we will say so on the first call.
A strong fit when
- The same process repeats every week.
- The work crosses spreadsheets, inboxes, or several systems.
- A named person owns the process today.
- You can estimate what the current time, errors, or delays cost.
- A person can check the output and tell whether it is right.
Wait before automating when
- The process changes every time you run it.
- Nobody agrees on how it is done today.
- There is no way to tell whether the result is right.
- No one will own it after launch.
- The goal is a demo that impresses, not a business outcome.
On the right side of this list, the honest move is to fix the process first, then automate. We will tell you when that is the case, even when it means less work for us.
Common questions
What people ask before the first call.
How much does a Headwaters Automation engagement cost?
Every engagement starts with a free Mapping Session and a written scope. Most projects fall between five and twenty-five thousand dollars depending on complexity, with the Automation Blueprint as the smallest fixed-scope entry point. We do not bill hourly and we do not require a retainer. If we cannot tell you what a system will do and how you will know it is working before we start, we will not build it.
How long does a typical automation project take?
Most engagements run between two and ten weeks of calendar time. An Automation Blueprint is two weeks. A reporting dashboard runs two to four weeks. Workflow Automation runs two to eight weeks. Custom AI Agents run four to ten weeks. Every project includes a two-week soak period where the system runs unattended before we declare it done.
Do you only work with businesses in Portland or the Pacific Northwest?
Headwaters is based in Portland, Oregon, and the primary service area is Oregon and Washington, but client engagements happen remotely across the United States. To date we have shipped projects for clients in Tampa Bay, Florida and the Pacific Northwest. The work is the same whether you are local or remote.
How is Headwaters different from a platform like Zapier or Make?
Zapier and Make are useful for simple, low-stakes glue between apps. Headwaters builds the systems those platforms cannot reach: workflows that need real judgment, AI lint passes, multi-step approval gates, durable logging, and systems that survive an API change or a credential rotation without quietly breaking. We will recommend Zapier when it is the right tool, and tell you when it is not.
What happens after the project ships? Who maintains the automation?
Every engagement includes documentation written in plain language and a handoff session so your team can maintain what we built. Most clients choose the optional Care Plan after launch, where we monitor every workflow, fix breakage fast, and surface new opportunities as the business changes. You can also take the system fully in-house at handoff.
Do you only build AI projects, or also non-AI workflow automation?
Both. AI is one tool in the automation stack, not the whole stack. Plenty of high-ROI automation work does not need AI at all. Think straightforward integrations, scheduled jobs, document generation, dashboards. We use AI where it actually adds value (judgment, classification, lint, summarization) and use simpler tools everywhere else.
Get in touch
Tell us where your team is losing the most time.
We'll tell you whether it's worth automating, what it would take, and what to do first. No pitch.