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08AI & automation

We automate repetitive work end to end, across the systems your team already uses — workflows that follow steps and rules defined in advance, systems connected so work moves between them, and documents and reports handled without doing it all by hand.

  • 10Services
  • 4Disciplines
  • 1Method
  • 5Languages
Start the auditSee how it works
  • Workflow automation
  • System integration
  • Document processing
  • Reporting
  • Defined steps and rules
  • Existing systems
  • End-to-end flows
  • Refinement

[ DEFINITION ]

What automation means here.

Automation is work that runs on its own by following steps and rules defined in advance. For us, it means end-to-end automation of repetitive work across the systems your team already uses — through workflow automation, system integration, document processing and reporting.

  • Automation or an AI agent?

    Automation follows steps defined in advance, so it is predictable when the path is always the same. An AI agent takes action across tools and chooses its next step within set limits, which helps when the path varies. AI Agent Development is its own ELIXIR service, and many processes use both.

  • Automation or AI Development?

    Automation runs defined workflows across the systems you already use. AI Development integrates AI into products and workflows — language models, retrieval, data pipelines and evaluation. They are separate services that can work together in one project.

[ IN SHORT ]

  • Defined in advance — an automation follows the steps and rules set for it, the same way every time.
  • Across existing systems — it works with the systems your team already uses.
  • Four capabilities — workflow automation, system integration, document processing and reporting.
  • End to end — repetitive work carried from its first step to its last.
  • Separate, connected services — AI agents, AI Development and custom software stay their own services, linked when a project needs them.

[ WHERE REPETITIVE WORK GETS STUCK ]

Repetitive work costs the most where it passes through people's hands for no reason.

Where it gets stuck

  • Re-entered by hand — the same information typed into more than one system.
  • Manual hand-offs — work that waits for someone to move it to the next step.
  • Documents handled by hand — documents passed along and dealt with one at a time.
  • Reports built by hand — the same report put together again every time it's needed.
  • Unwritten rules — the steps live in people's heads rather than in a defined process.
  • The wrong tool — fixed rules applied to work whose path keeps changing.

How we approach it

  • Connected systems — the systems involved linked, so work and information move between them.
  • Workflow automation — the steps of a workflow set to run on their own, in order.
  • Document processing — documents handled as part of the workflow, by rules defined in advance.
  • Reporting — repetitive reporting taken off people's hands.
  • Rules set out first — the steps and rules defined before anything is automated.
  • The right approach — when the path varies, we recommend AI Agent Development instead.

[ SCOPE ]

Repetitive work, automated across the systems you already use.

Automation at ELIXIR covers four capabilities: workflow automation, system integration, document processing and reporting — end-to-end automation of repetitive work across the systems your team already uses.

  • 01

    Workflow automation

    Multi-step workflows set to run on their own, following steps and rules defined in advance.

  • 02

    System integration

    The systems your team already uses, connected so work and information move between them.

  • 03

    Document processing

    Documents handled as part of the workflow, instead of one at a time by hand.

  • 04

    Reporting

    Reporting that repeats, produced as part of the automation rather than assembled by hand.

  • 05

    Defined steps and rules

    What the automation does at each step, set out before it is built.

  • 06

    End-to-end flows

    Work carried from its first step to its last, not automated in isolated pieces.

[ WHAT IT CAN BE ]

Kinds of repetitive work we automate — examples, not client work.

  • 01

    Double entry

    The same information kept in step across more than one system.

  • 02

    Routine requests

    Requests that go through the same steps every time.

  • 03

    Document hand-offs

    Documents that are received, passed along and filed the same way each time.

  • 04

    Recurring reports

    Reports rebuilt by hand at the end of every period.

  • 05

    Status updates

    Updates copied from one tool to another as work moves forward.

  • 06

    Scheduled tasks

    Work that has to happen at the same time, in the same way, again and again.

[ FOUR CAPABILITIES ]

Four capabilities behind every automation.

Workflow automation gives repetitive work its steps. System integration connects the systems it runs through. Document processing and reporting cover the documents and reports that work produces along the way.

01Workflow automation

Repeated steps, running on their own.

  • Steps and rules defined in advance
  • Each run follows the same path
  • Work carried from start to finish

[ IN EVERY AUTOMATION ]

What every automation includes.

  • Workflow review

    How the work runs today, looked at before anything is automated.

  • Steps and rules

    The steps the automation follows and the rules it runs on, defined in advance.

  • Flow design

    How work moves from one step and one system to the next, designed before it is built.

  • Connected systems

    The automation built across the systems your team already uses.

  • End-to-end build

    The automation built to carry the work from its first step to its last.

  • Refinement

    Adjustments as the work changes, as part of the ELIXIR Method.

[ RANGE ]

What an automation looks like from the outside.

A workflow run, a map of connected systems, a document moving through a flow and a report each show a different side of an automation. These layouts illustrate the kinds of views an automation can involve — they are archetypes, not client work.

  • 01Workflow run

  • 02Integration map

  • 03Document intake

  • 04Report

Case studies are published here only with our clients' permission.

[ STACK ]

The tools that fit the systems.

Each automation is built with the tools that fit the systems it connects — workflow platforms where they fit, custom code where they don't. These are the ones we use most often.

  • n8n
  • Make
  • Zapier
  • REST APIs
  • Webhooks
  • Node.js
  • Python

[ WHY ELIXIR ]

Automation from a studio with clear lines between its services.

Automation is one of ten ELIXIR services. Next to it sit AI Agent Development, AI Development and Custom Software Development — separate services, each with its own scope — so an automation can be combined with them when a project calls for it, without blurring what each one does.

  • Defined, then built

    Every automation's steps and rules are set out before anything is automated.

  • Clear boundaries

    Automation, agents, AI features and software are each scoped as their own service.

  • One method

    The ELIXIR Method guides every automation, from the first look at the work to refinement.

  • Multilingual by design

    Our own site runs in five languages, right-to-left included.

[ THE METHOD ]

The ELIXIR Method, applied to automation.

Every automation moves through the same five phases — the method behind all of our work.

Explore the ELIXIR Method
  1. 01

    DISCERN

    We look at how the work runs today — its steps, the systems involved and where time goes into repeating them.

  2. 02

    DEFINE

    We define what should be automated: the steps, the rules the automation will follow and what a finished run looks like.

  3. 03

    DESIGN

    We design the flow: how work moves between steps and systems, and where documents and reports fit in.

  4. 04

    DEVELOP

    We build the automation end to end, across the systems your team already uses.

  5. 05

    DISTILL

    We refine what doesn't serve, keep the rules clear and adjust the automation as the work changes.

[ WHERE WE WORK ]

US roots. Working internationally.

ELIXIR Creative is a digital innovation and technology studio operating internationally. Our work began with clients in the USA and Canada; today we are expanding into Morocco, the UAE, Germany and other international markets — and this site is itself built in five languages, right-to-left included.

  • casablancamorexpansion
  • new yorkusapresence
  • torontocanpresence

Languages

[ ENGAGEMENT ]

Scoped to the workflow, not to a package.

Every project starts with the audit: we look at the repetitive work you want automated and come back with a scoped plan.

  • 01

    The audit

    A first look at the work you want automated and the systems it runs through.

  • 02

    A scoped plan

    What to automate, in what order, and which ELIXIR services each part needs.

  • 03

    The ELIXIR Method

    The automation defined, designed, built and refined through the same five phases as all our work.

Automation at ELIXIR

ELIXIR Creative is a digital innovation and technology studio. Our Automation service covers end-to-end automation of repetitive work across the systems your team already uses, through four capabilities: workflow automation, system integration, document processing and reporting.

Automation starts from the work, not from a tool: which steps repeat, which systems they touch and which rules they follow. When those steps and rules can be defined in advance, the work can run on its own.

Where Automation meets ELIXIR's other services

Automation follows steps defined in advance. When the path varies and the work calls for an agent that takes action across tools, that is AI Agent Development; when a product or workflow needs language models, retrieval, data pipelines or evaluation built in, that is AI Development.

When an automation needs new software — an application, an internal tool or an API that doesn't exist yet — it is built as Custom Software Development; when automation is one part of rethinking how the business runs, the wider roadmap belongs to Digital Transformation.

[ FAQ ]

What people ask before automating their work.

01

What is automation?

Work that runs on its own by following steps and rules defined in advance. At ELIXIR, Automation covers end-to-end automation of repetitive work across the systems your team already uses: workflow automation, system integration, document processing and reporting.

02

What is workflow automation?

A multi-step workflow set up to run on its own. Each step, and the rules that move work from one step to the next, are defined in advance, so every run follows the same path.

03

Can automation work with the systems we already use?

Yes — the service is built around them. Connecting the systems your team already uses, so work and information move between them, is one of its four capabilities. Which systems are involved, and how they connect, is decided per project.

04

What does document processing mean here?

Handling the documents that move through a workflow as part of the automation, following rules defined in advance, instead of one at a time by hand. Which documents are involved, and what happens to them, is defined per project.

05

What does reporting cover?

Reporting work that repeats — reports that would otherwise be put together by hand — produced as part of the automation from the systems already in use. What each report contains is defined per project.

06

How is automation different from an AI agent?

Automation follows steps defined in advance and suits work that always runs the same way. An AI agent takes action across tools and chooses its next step within set limits, which suits work that varies. AI Agent Development is its own ELIXIR service, and many processes use both.

07

How is Automation different from AI Development?

AI Development integrates AI into products and workflows — language models, retrieval, data pipelines and evaluation. Automation runs defined workflows across the systems you already use. They are separate services that can be combined in one project.

08

Do we need new software or a transformation project first?

Not necessarily. Automation works across the systems already in place. When a new application or tool is needed, that is Custom Software Development; when the question is what should change across the business, that is Digital Transformation. Each stays its own service.

09

How much does automation cost, and how long does it take?

It depends on scope: the workflow, the systems involved and the rules it follows. We don't sell fixed packages — the audit comes first, and it leads to a scoped plan with cost and timeline.

[ RELATED SERVICES ]

Often paired with automation.

[ START A CONVERSATION ]

Have work your team repeats again and again?

Tell us the repetitive work and the systems it runs through. We'll map where automation fits.

Start the audithello@elixircreative.pro