AI automation in Cardiff that takes the repetitive work off your team.

Automation is software doing a task the same way every time: when a form comes in, create the contact, send the reply, book the follow-up.

AI adds judgement to that chain. It can read an email and work out what the person wants, draft a reply in your tone, pull details out of a document or decide which team member should pick it up.

Most useful systems mix the two. Plain automation handles the predictable steps and AI handles the messy text in between. We use AI where it earns its place and simple rules everywhere else, because rules are cheaper to run and easier to trust.

The work usually falls into four kinds:

• Workflow automations: single jobs handled end to end, such as enquiry replies or invoice reminders. See workflow automation.
• CRM automation: every lead captured, tagged and followed up in one place, so nothing relies on memory.
• AI agents: assistants that can read, decide and act within limits you set, such as answering enquiries or triaging an inbox.
• AI platforms: a custom system that runs a whole area of the business, built around your data and processes. See AI platforms.

Some practical examples, by sector.

Trades and home services

• Every website or Google enquiry gets a prompt reply, a few qualifying questions and a booking link, even while you are on a job.
• Quote requests land in your CRM with photos and job details attached, ready to price.
• Quotes that have gone quiet get a polite follow-up without anyone having to remember.

Professional services

• Client onboarding runs in sequence: forms, document requests, engagement letters and reminders.
• Meeting notes are summarised into actions and filed against the client record.
• Inbound emails are sorted by type, with replies drafted for approval.

Property

• Listings kept in step between your website and the portals. Bayti Real Estates works this way: its website has a real-time API integration to Bayut, so listings are automated.
• Viewing requests booked straight into calendars, with reminders sent automatically.
• Tenant and buyer enquiries routed to the right person with the property details attached.

Hospitality

• Booking and event enquiries answered quickly with availability, menus and next steps.
• Review requests sent after a visit, with new reviews flagged for a reply.
• Supplier orders and rotas pulled into one place, away from scattered spreadsheets.

We publish our prices. Three packages cover most needs, and hourly scoped work covers anything outside them.

Anything outside those, such as a custom AI platform or a complex integration, is scoped at £95 + VAT an hour, with the scope and hour budget agreed before work starts.

The useful question is what the job costs you now. Count the hours someone spends on it each week, put a value on that time and compare. If the sums do not work, I will tell you.

1. Find the job worth automating. On a Zoom call we go through where your team's time goes. Usually one task stands out: frequent, rule-heavy and disliked by whoever does it.
2. Map it step by step. What triggers it, which systems it touches, where judgement comes in and what should happen when something unusual turns up.
3. Build and test with real examples. We connect the tools, write the AI's instructions and test on genuine cases from your business.
4. Keep a person in the loop. Anything the system is unsure about goes to a named person to check. You decide what it may do on its own.
5. Train your team and measure. Your team learns how it works and how to pause it. We then compare the time spent before and after.

If your team needs the skills to use AI day to day, pair a build with AI training in Cardiff or one of our AI Works workshops.

If you are looking for AI developers in Cardiff, there are three realistic routes.

Hire in-house

Right when AI sits at the centre of your product and there is enough work to keep a developer busy all year. You will also need someone who can manage them and judge the quality of their work.

Use a freelancer

A good fit for a well-defined, one-off build. Check who looks after it afterwards, because automations break when the tools they connect to change.

Work with an agency

Suits most small and mid-sized firms. You get the build, the ongoing support and someone accountable for both, without adding a salary.

Whichever route you take, ask four things:

• Can you show me a live integration you built, with the systems named?
• Where will my data be processed, and who can see it?
• What happens when a connected tool changes or the AI gets something wrong?
• Who will I actually deal with week to week?

Hire for the business problem first. A developer who asks how your quoting works will usually serve you better than one who leads with model names.

Yes, though unevenly. The ONS found that around 35% of UK businesses with ten or more employees used at least one AI technology in June 2026, against 28% of those with fewer than ten. Construction was among the lowest sectors at 13% (ONS).

In Wales, NatWest Cymru's 2026 research found that 80% of Welsh businesses already using AI report improved efficiency. The same research found 79% of UK customers say access to a real person remains important (NatWest). That is why we design every automation to hand over to a human when it should.

For Cardiff's trades firms, practices and independent hospitality businesses, that gap is the opportunity. One well-chosen automation frees a noticeable share of a small team's week. Business Wales is also developing an AI adoption support programme for Welsh SMEs, which is worth keeping an eye on.

I have spent fifteen years in websites and digital marketing, starting in sales. So I look at automation commercially: which enquiries are slipping through, where quotes stall and what admin is keeping your team from selling. The technology comes second.

Earlier in my career I worked on brands including Vodafone, Sainsbury's, Airbus and LVMH, and I founded Roddy Digital in 2021. That experience now goes into growing businesses, where every hour saved shows up in the owner's week.

• Founder-led: I lead every engagement personally
• Office at 11-13 Penhill Rd, Pontcanna, Cardiff CF11 9PQ, where you are welcome to meet by arrangement
• Calls on Zoom, recorded so you can share them with your team
• Websites, website development and automation in one place, so your site and your systems work together
• Published prices, and an honest view if a project will not pay for itself