AI agents for trade businesses

An AI agent that runs your admin. A human who signs off.

Every TradeBrain partner gets a named agent that reads their inbox, their task board and their books, does the recurring back-office work every day, and hands over a short list to approve each morning. Eight are running right now for trade and service businesses in BC.

Runs on your existing tools Nothing reaches a customer without a human Built and hosted by TradeBrain
A typical morning, 6:50am

Volt · An electrical contractor
3 overdue invoices reviewed, 2 reminder emails drafted. Receipts from yesterday filed to QuickBooks. Payroll draft ready for Thursday.

Stella · window and property services
2 quote requests turned into estimates. 4 e-transfers matched to jobs. Snow-contract pacing: 62% of target, 3 weeks early.

Biscuit · Hiring
7 new applicants scored. 2 shortlisted with reasons. Interview slots proposed.

Chad · Approves 6 items, edits 1, sends. Total: 11 minutes.

What the agent actually does

The work that used to happen at 9pm at the kitchen table.

Not a chatbot. A scheduled worker with read access to your real business data and a written playbook for how your business does things.

Inbox and customer replies

Reads every new email, sorts what needs you from what doesn't, drafts the reply in your voice, and files the rest. Quote requests become estimates the same day.

Invoices, collections and e-transfers

Invoices go out on time, overdue accounts get a reminder on a schedule, every e-transfer is matched to a job, and the owner gets one money email a week.

Hiring and onboarding

Posts the job, scores every applicant against a rubric with two sentences of reasoning, proposes interview times, sends the contract and runs the 30-, 60- and 90-day check-ins.

Books, receipts and GST

Daily bank feed, receipts matched to transactions, GST tracked as you go, a one-page close every quarter. It proposes entries; it never files a return or moves money.

Payroll prep and scheduling

Pulls hours, flags the runaway clock punch, drafts payroll for approval every two weeks, and keeps the team's schedule and time-off in one place.

Weekly plan and reporting

Every Monday: what's ahead, what's slipping, what the numbers say, and three things worth doing this week. Written for an owner with eight minutes, not a board.

The agents, by name

One agent per business. Each one knows its owner's rules.

Every agent runs from a written playbook for that business, learns from the owner's corrections, and reports what it did in plain English. Correct it once, and it stays corrected.

V

Volt

An electrical contractor

Inbox triage, receipts, payables and receivables review, billable-time audit, the biweekly payroll loop and the Friday money email to the owner.

S

Stella

A window, snow and lights crew

Quote requests to estimates, e-transfer reconciliation, customer follow-ups and the seasonal pacing report against target.

V

Vinnie

A parkade and pressure-washing company

Runs the sales pipeline out of Gmail, one label per stage, from first enquiry to estimate to booked job. Every email drafted for the owner to send.

S

Spot

A dog walking and sitting business

Operations manager for a 12-walker team: bookings, coverage, client onboarding, walker payroll, reviews. Proposes, the owner approves, it executes.

B

Biscuit

People & hiring

Offer to contract to signature to onboarding to milestone check-ins. Screens Indeed applicants against a role rubric and posts a daily shortlist with reasons.

S

Scout

A handmade dog-gear brand

Order intake to draft invoice, stock and store audits, website to-dos, and a weekly capture of everything the maker said so nothing gets asked twice.

L

Ledger

Books & GST

Daily bank feed, receipt matching, GST tracking, bank reconciliation and the quarterly close packet. Draft-and-flag only for anything touching real numbers.

C

Compass

Growth

Reads analytics, search data, revenue and the lead list every Monday morning and turns it into three or four tasks worth doing this week.

+

Yours

Your business

Named on day one of a Systems Build. Reading your inbox by week two. Running the recurring admin by day ninety, with you approving from your phone.

How it works

Three rules that make this safe to run in a real business.

Propose, approve, execute

The agent proposes. The owner or Chad approves. Then it executes. Anything reversible and internal (filing, labelling, reconciling, drafting) it can do on its own. Anything that reaches a customer or a staff member, moves money, or can't be undone waits for a human.

Written playbook per business

Each agent runs from standard operating procedures written for that business: how you quote, when you chase, what you never say to a customer. A correction typed once rewrites the procedure. It does not repeat the mistake.

Receipts for everything

Every run leaves a note: what it read, what it did, what it wants you to decide. One roll-up each morning, one summary each Monday. You can audit any action back to the source.

Your tools stay

The agent works on top of what you already run.

Gmail or Outlook. Google Drive. QuickBooks. Todoist or your task board. Slack. Jobber, ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, PetPocketbook, Square, Customer Factor or whatever runs your jobs. Indeed for hiring. Built on Claude by Anthropic, hosted and maintained by TradeBrain in Canada.

Who it is for

Owner-run trade and service businesses with 2 to 20 people who already have more admin than the owner can hold. It is not for a one-person startup with no email volume, and not a replacement for your accountant.

What it costs

The agent is part of the Systems Build and Operating Partner engagements, not a subscription on its own, because it needs the pricing, SOPs and processes those build. Scoped on a free consultation.

What it is not

It is not a chatbot on your website, it does not answer your phone, and it will never send a customer an email you have not seen. If someone sells you an AI that does all three unsupervised, be careful.

Questions owners ask

Straight answers.

What does an AI agent do for a trade business?
It does the recurring admin: triages the inbox, drafts quotes and customer replies, chases overdue invoices, matches e-transfers to jobs, files receipts, screens job applicants and prepares payroll. It reads your email, task board and accounting data every day and produces a short list of drafts and decisions for a human to approve.
Does the AI send emails to my customers on its own?
No. Every message to a customer or a staff member is drafted by the agent and sent only when a human operator says send. The agent only acts on its own for internal, reversible work such as filing, reconciling, labelling and drafting.
Do I need new software?
Usually not. The agents work on top of Gmail or Outlook, Google Drive, QuickBooks, Todoist or whatever task tool you use, Slack, and the job-management or booking software you already run. TradeBrain builds and hosts the agent; you keep your tools.
How is this different from ChatGPT?
A chatbot waits for you to type. A TradeBrain agent runs on a schedule, has read access to your real business data, follows written SOPs for your business, learns from corrections, and reports what it did. It is closer to a junior operations manager than a chat window.
How much does it cost?
The agent is included in the Systems Build and Operating Partner engagements rather than sold on its own, because it needs the SOPs, pricing and processes those create. Pricing is scoped on a free consultation.
Which trades do you build for?
Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, cleaning, window and pressure washing, landscaping, snow removal, restoration, painting, parkade and property services, and hospitality services. Anywhere in Canada, with most partners in the Sea to Sky corridor and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.
Is my data safe?
Each business's agent runs in its own environment on TradeBrain's server in Canada with its own credentials. Nothing is shared between businesses, nothing is used to train anyone's model, and access can be revoked in one step.

See what an agent would do in your business

Thirty minutes. Bring your inbox and your overdue list. We’ll show you which of the six agents above is closest to what you need and what the first ninety days would look like.

Before the call, have handy

  • Roughly how many emails a day the business gets
  • What is overdue right now, and for how long
  • Who does quoting, invoicing and payroll today, and when
  • The one job you would hand off tomorrow if you could

Prefer email? chad@tradebrain.ca. Chad replies within one business day.