Example Engineering Co. · Project Administration · 2026-10-19 to 2026-10-23
Each task is scored on how consistently the team does it, how much time it takes and how much is redone. 4 tasks are ready for an agent now; 1 needs a standard procedure first. Together the designs below would give back about 30–57 hours a week ($76K–145K a year).
6 of these designs are validated with the team: decisions, exceptions and what “done” means come from their answers. What the team told us →
| Task | Verdict | Readiness | Team h/week | Back h/week | Build with |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prepare monthly client invoices | Ready for an agent | 81 | 23 | 7–11 | Copilot Studio, Power Automate |
| Issue drawing transmittals | Ready for an agent | 94 | 20 | 6–11 | Power Automate, Copilot Studio |
| Answer project manager questions | Ready for an agent | 86 | 16 | 6–10 | Copilot Studio, Power Automate |
| Set up new projects | Ready for an agent | 84 | 15 | 5–8 | Copilot Studio, Power Automate |
| Write monthly progress reports | AI assist (a person acts) | 41 | 6 | 1–3 | Power Automate, Copilot Studio |
| Enter subconsultant invoices | Standardize first | 56 | 32 | 6–14 | Copilot Studio, Power Automate |
Prepare monthly client invoices · Ready for an agent · size M, about 3–5 weeks to build
Validated with 7 team members · 7 of 8 decisions described
Pulls each draft invoice from Deltek Vantagepoint when billing opens, checks it, and builds the Excel backup and a ready-to-paste figure sheet for the portal. The PM review and the coordinator's portal entry stay with people. The agent also tracks status and holds invoices that are waiting on subconsultants.
Issue drawing transmittals · Ready for an agent · size M, about 3–5 weeks to build
Validated with 7 team members · 5 of 6 decisions described
When the engineer of record approves a drawing set in ProjectWise, the agent drafts the transmittal purpose, delivery method and message. The coordinator reviews the draft and the set in Bluebeam and approves once. The agent then checks out the set, logs the transmittal in ProjectWise and sends the email.
Answer project manager questions · Ready for an agent · size M, about 3–5 weeks to build
Validated with 7 team members · 4 of 6 decisions described
Reads each project manager's budget, invoice or subcontractor question in Outlook, pulls the current figures from Deltek Vantagepoint through its API, and drafts a reply. A coordinator approves each reply before it is sent, because policy bars unattended messages.
Set up new projects · Ready for an agent · size M, about 3–5 weeks to build
Validated with 7 team members · 5 of 6 decisions described
When a notice to proceed or signed contract arrives in Outlook, the agent reads the contract, drafts the Vantagepoint project (client type, contract type, billing terms, phase budgets) and the ProjectWise folders, and shows them to the coordinator. After approval it creates everything through the APIs, so nothing is retyped from the PDF.
Write monthly progress reports · AI assist (a person acts) · size M, about 3–5 weeks to build
Validated with 7 team members · 4 of 7 decisions described
For each public-client project in the invoice cycle, the agent pulls budget, spent and percent-complete figures by phase from Vantagepoint, fills the Excel tracker and Word report, and drafts the standard narrative. The coordinator adds the project-specific commentary, the PM approves, and the report goes out with the invoice.
Enter subconsultant invoices · Standardize first · size M, about 3–5 weeks to build
Validated with 7 team members · 5 of 8 decisions described
Watches the shared mailbox for subconsultant invoices, reads the PDF, checks it against the subcontract, and prepares the Vantagepoint voucher for the coordinator to approve in one step. After approval it saves the voucher, sets the approval route and drafts the notice to approvers.
Readiness weighs how many cases follow the same steps, how many team hours are at stake, whether the work moves data between systems, and how often steps are redone. “Standardize first” means the team does the task too many different ways for an agent to follow; its training guide comes first and its savings here are discounted. Designs use the company's own tools and its approval rules; build times are estimates for an experienced builder, including testing and a pilot. After launch, HourBack measures the same task again to show what came back.