What does your team still do by hand?
A lot of the work I automate is the repetitive stuff that happens between people and systems.
How an engagement works
What I do
Consult
Free · 30 minutes
Not sure what AI or automation could actually do for your business? That's what this call is for. Tell me where the time goes, and I'll point you at the strongest opportunity and tell you honestly whether it's worth pursuing.
Map & Build
Fixed price
A few one-hour sessions with your team to map one workflow, the real version with all its exceptions. Then I redesign it, build and test the automation in your systems, document it, and train your team. Three to six weeks for most projects, with 30 days of support after launch. You own everything.
Partner
Flat monthly fee
Month to month: your automations stay running, your team stays trained, and we work through your backlog one build at a time. Cancel anytime.
The process comes first
Before I build anything, I need to understand how your team actually does the work today. That includes the exceptions, workarounds, and little decisions that aren't written down anywhere.
Once we understand that, we can figure out what should be automated, what shouldn't, and where a person still needs to be involved. Then I build it, test it with your team, and make sure they know how to use it.
Who you're working with
It's just me.
I'm Duncan Shea. I've spent most of my career working at software companies, usually somewhere between customers, operations, and technology. I spent eight years at AppFolio, where I started out building websites and eventually led a 27-person team responsible for two product lines.
I've always been the person who likes figuring out why something takes ten steps when it should take three. These days, the tools available to fix those problems are incredibly powerful, which is why I started Solomon | Shea.
When you work with me, you're working with me. I do the discovery, build the automation, test it, and train your team. There's no handoff to a junior consultant or offshore development team.
FAQ
Common questions
Do we need to know what we want automated?
No. Most clients know where the frustration is, not what the fix should be. Finding the best starting point is part of the job; it's what the free consult is for.
Can't we just use ChatGPT?
Sure, and for plenty of individual tasks you should. A business workflow is different: it has to connect to your systems, follow your rules, handle the exceptions, and run when nobody's sitting there prompting it. Making that dependable, and getting your team to trust it, is what you're paying for.
What happens to our data?
Your data stays in systems and accounts you control. When a workflow uses an AI model, I use business-grade services configured so your data isn't used for training, with retention kept to the minimum the provider allows. And if something is sensitive enough that you don't want it touching the cloud at all, I can set up an open-source model that runs on your own hardware.
Who owns what you build?
You do. Everything gets deployed in your accounts, with the documentation and access to run it. If we ever part ways, it all keeps working and it's all yours.
Is this about replacing my staff?
The goal is to help the team you already have handle more, make fewer errors, and spend less time on repetitive admin. Automation can also help you put off the next administrative hire. What I don't do is design projects around layoffs.
What don't you do?
Websites, marketing, IT support, custom apps for resale, and AI strategy decks with nothing built. If what you need is one of those, I'll point you to someone good.
What does it cost?
Fixed-price projects start at $7,500; ongoing partnerships at $3,000 a month. The right comparison is the hire you're putting off: a loaded admin salary in Orange County runs $65k to $90k a year, and most clients spend a fraction of that to get the hours back.
