Questions we get asked.

Techtonic AI is an Irish process improvement and automation consultancy working with SMEs. We simplify how work gets done before automating it, because automating a broken process only makes it fail faster. Below are the questions we are asked most often, answered directly.

What does Techtonic AI actually do?

Techtonic AI is an Irish process improvement and automation consultancy. We work with SMEs, typically finance and operations teams, to find where time and money leak out of a business process, simplify that process, and then automate whatever is left that should be automated.

The order matters. Automating a process that is badly designed makes a bad process run faster. We map how the work actually moves before any technology is chosen, which is the difference between us and a consultancy that starts by selling you a platform.

Do you sell software?

We build no software of our own, and for most of what we deliver we lean on tools you already own, often Microsoft 365 licences you are paying for but not using. Where a dedicated automation platform is genuinely the right answer, we deploy UiPath, a market leader in intelligent automation, and Barry is UiPath-certified. We reach for it only after the process work is done, and only when process improvement on its own will not deliver the result. Process first, software second.

What does it cost?

We do not publish fixed prices, because the honest scope is not knowable until we understand the process. A single reporting process in a ten-person finance team and an end-to-end accounts payable rebuild are different pieces of work, and a price list would only produce a number that is wrong for both.

What we do commit to is a fixed, written scope and price before any paid work starts. You will know the cost and the deliverable before you commit, and the discovery session that gets us there is free.

How long does an engagement take?

Where the answer is process optimisation alone, a first engagement typically runs two to four weeks. Where AI-powered automation is recommended as well, four to eight weeks is more usual.

Both figures are for a defined process rather than a whole department. We would rather prove value on one process in a month than run a six-month programme before you see anything change.

What happens in the free discovery session?

Forty-five minutes with both founders. You bring the process that frustrates you most. We talk through where the time actually goes, tell you honestly whether AI, automation or process optimisation is the right answer, and give you a rough read on what fixing it might be worth.

There is no commitment attached, and you are talking to the people who would do the work, not to a salesperson.

What if the answer is that we do not need automation?

Then we tell you. It happens, and it is often the most valuable outcome of a discovery session. Plenty of processes are slow because of how they are structured, who signs off, or how many times the same data is re-entered, and fixing that costs far less than automating around it.

We would rather give you an answer you can act on for free than sell you a project that does not need to exist.

Do you need access to our systems?

Not for the process work. Mapping how work moves is done through conversations with the people doing it, along with documents, screenshots and sample files that you control.

Access becomes relevant at the automation stage, and only to the specific systems the automation touches. Scope, permissions and duration are agreed in writing beforehand, and access is on your terms, not ours.

What happens to our data?

Anything you share stays confidential and is used only for your engagement. We do not use client data to train models, and we do not reuse it for other clients.

How we handle information submitted through this website is set out in our privacy policy. For engagement data, we agree confidentiality and data-protection terms in writing before work starts.

Who actually does the work?

Both of us. Techtonic AI is Barry Lee and Paul O'Keeffe, and there are no junior analysts to hand your project to. You work directly with people who have run transformation and automation programmes at enterprise scale, across energy, telecoms, technology and BPO.

That is a deliberate limit on how much work we take on at once, and the reason we scope tightly.

We are already on Microsoft 365. Do we need anything else?

Often not. Most SMEs are paying for capability they are not using, and a meaningful share of the automation we deliver runs on licences already in place. Getting more from what you own is usually cheaper and faster than adding another subscription.

What does the EU AI Act mean for us?

The Act phases obligations in through 2026 and 2027, and its reach depends on how you use AI rather than whether you build it. Most Irish SMEs fall into lower-risk categories, but there are still obligations around transparency, record-keeping and staff AI literacy.

Our AI training covers what applies to your situation in plain terms, so the compliance question is answered before it becomes urgent.

How do we know it worked?

We agree what is being measured before the work starts, using your numbers rather than ours. Hours returned, error rates, cycle time, cost per transaction, whatever the process is actually judged on.

We do not measure success by robots deployed or licences sold. If the measure does not move, the engagement did not work, and that is a harder standard than most consultancies accept.

Still have a question?

Ask it. Email hello@techtonicai.ie, call +353 87 371 7976, or book the free discovery session and ask us in person.