Custom software you own, or a team trained on the AI you already pay for.

Most small companies pay for ChatGPT or Claude and still do repetitive work by hand. We build software and AI agents that take it over, at a fixed fee. Or we teach your team those tools in a monthly workshop.

30 minutes, no prep. You leave knowing whether to build, train or wait, and what it would cost. Even if you never hire us.

Worked example Email and PDF data entry

Typing data from emails and PDFs into systems, at a 30-person company

Time back, per year
~828 hrs
Value of that time, at $40 an hour
$33,120
One-time build fee
$18,000
Maintenance and running cost, per year
$6,480
You keep, per year $26,640

After yearly running cost. Build fee back in 9 months.

Run your own numbers
  • Fixed scope, fixed fee
  • No per-seat fees
  • You own the source code
  • Handover training with every build

Six products we built and shipped ourselves. Not client logos. Our own products, and most of the code is public. See the work

  • Karko AI
  • Nura
  • Sadaa
  • Bunyan
  • Kursfind AI
  • Swipekit

Two ways to work with us.

We build it for you at a fixed fee, or we teach your team to use the AI tools you already pay for. Both start with a free audit.

Custom software and agents

$18,000 to $40,000

Typical first system. Fixed fee, agreed before we write a line of code.

  • Custom software
  • Custom AI agents
  • Company knowledge agent
  • Maintenance (additional fee applies)
  • You own the source code from day one.
  • Handover training for your team is included.
  • Maintenance is optional and monthly. Cancel anytime, and the system stays yours.
  • No per-seat Useful Build fee.
Book a free audit

Team workshop

$5,000 a month

Two one-hour live sessions. Month to month.

Claude

  • Claude
  • Claude Cowork
  • Claude Code
  • Claude Design

ChatGPT

  • ChatGPT
  • ChatGPT Work
  • ChatGPT Codex

Your team's real work, not a prompt class.

Book a free audit

See if a build is worth it.

Pick the job that eats the most time, and your team size. Conservative numbers, sources shown.

The work we'd take over

30 people

What we'd build

Email and PDF data entry

Time back, per year
~828 hrs
Value of that time, at $40 an hour
$33,120
One-time build fee
$18,000
Maintenance and running cost, per year
$6,480
Months to recover the build fee
9 months
You keep, per year $26,640

After yearly running cost. The $18,000 build fee is paid once, not every year.

Book a free audit
Method and sources
  • Each workflow uses a preset far below survey benchmarks. Example: people doing heavy data entry average 9 hours a week on it (Parseur, 2025). We count 4 hours, for a quarter of the team, and only 60% of that as removed.
  • Time is priced at $40 an hour fully loaded, below the US average employer cost of $46.60 (BLS, 2026), for 46 weeks a year.
  • Build fee: $18,000 for one workflow, fixed scope. Typical first systems land between $18,000 and $40,000. Each additional workflow in the same scope adds about $6,000. In line with 2025-2026 market data for custom builds at this scale ($15k to $60k).
  • Maintenance and running cost: $150 a month for hosting and AI usage, $8 per person a month, plus 10% of the build fee a year for upkeep. Not per seat.
  • If the math says don't build, we'll say that too.

Live updates need JavaScript. The numbers above show our worked default: a 30-person company with the data entry workflow selected.

How a build works, start to finish.

It starts with a free audit. The same people stay with you until your team can run the system on its own.

  1. 01

    Audit

    $0 · 30 minutes

    We look at one job your team does by hand and the tools you already pay for. Then we tell you: build, train or wait.

  2. 02

    Scope

    fee agreed here

    Fixed outcome, fixed fee, delivery date. What's in and what's out is agreed before we write code.

  3. 03

    Build

    covered by the fee

    You see working software early. We test it against the real job, not a slide deck.

  4. 04

    Train

    included in the fee

    We hand it over. Your team gets documentation and working sessions until they can run it without us.

  5. 05

    Maintain

    optional · monthly

    Hosting, monitoring, fixes and small improvements, only if you want us to. You own the code either way.

A small team, close to the work.

Wasim Jalali, founder and AI specialist, leads a small team. The people you meet on the audit are the people who scope, build and hand over your system.

Wasim Jalali Founder and AI specialist

What we put in writing.

  • Honest about limits

    If we can’t build it well, we’ll say so before you spend anything.

  • Clear scope up front

    What you get, what it costs and when it lands are agreed before we start.

  • Your data stays yours

    We don’t train on it, resell it or move it anywhere you haven’t agreed to.

  • Fair terms

    Plain contracts, no lock-in and no surprise line items.

  • AI only when it helps

    Sometimes a small script is enough. We'll say so.

Common questions.

The answers we give on the audit call, written down.

What does Useful Build build?

Custom software and agents for small and medium businesses. That can be ordinary software, a custom AI agent or a company knowledge agent that answers questions from your files. The free audit picks the smallest system that solves the problem. We also run a monthly team workshop on the Claude and ChatGPT products your team already pays for.

Who is Useful Build for?

Small and medium businesses in the United States and Canada with repetitive work, software that doesn't talk to each other or expensive tools that don't fit the job.

What is the free audit?

A free 30-minute call. No prep, no obligation. We look at one job your team does by hand and the software you already pay for. You leave knowing whether to build, train or wait, and what it would cost, even if you never hire us.

What does a build cost?

Every build has a fixed fee agreed before work starts. A typical first system is $18,000 to $40,000. The calculator on this page uses $18,000 as the planning number for one job. Maintenance, if you want it, is a separate monthly amount you'll know before signing.

What does maintenance cover?

An optional monthly agreement for systems we built. It covers hosting, monitoring, fixes, security updates and small improvements, and keeps the AI models current. You can run the system without it. It's for teams that don't want anyone internal babysitting the system.

If we cancel maintenance, do we lose the system?

No. You own the source code from day one and the system runs on accounts you control. Cancel and it keeps running. You can maintain it yourself, hand it to your IT provider or come back later.

Do we need to know what kind of system we need?

No. That's what the audit is for. We look at the job and pick the smallest system that solves it. Sometimes the honest answer is a simple script, and we'll say so.

Can we book the workshop without a build?

Yes. The team workshop is $5,000 a month for two one-hour live sessions, month to month. Claude covers Claude, Claude Cowork, Claude Code and Claude Design. ChatGPT covers ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work and ChatGPT Codex. When we build for you, handover training on that system is included in the build fee.

Can this replace tools we already pay for?

Sometimes. The free audit lists the software you pay for and shows which overlapping tools you could drop, which should stay and what a custom build would cost.

What does RAG mean?

It's the technical name for answers from your company documents. The system finds the relevant files, answers from those, shows the source and says when the answer isn't there.

What is an AI agent?

Software that carries out a defined job using your tools and rules. It can do more than chat. A person still checks the steps that need judgment.

How long does it take?

It depends on the job and what it has to connect to. We agree a delivery date before code starts and show working software early.

Who owns what you build?

You do. You get the source code, documentation and training to run it without us. Hosting and related accounts stay under your control. We operate them only with your approval.

Where does our data go?

Only to systems and providers you approve for the project. We don't train on it, resell it or move it without your approval.

Tell us what's slowing your team down.

Book a free 30-minute audit. No prep. We look at one job your team does by hand and the tools you already pay for. You leave knowing whether to build, train or wait, and what it would cost. Even if you never hire us.