Somebody in every small business has to be the one who makes the tools work: choosing what to automate, building it, and making sure it helps rather than annoys. That is this role. It suits patient tinkerers who like understanding how work really flows, and who can explain things without jargon. The honest hard parts: the job title varies wildly between firms, some weeks are all unglamorous fixing, and you must keep learning as the tools change. It is newly possible because the tools are finally good enough that one person can automate what used to need a development team.
You start by checking the automations that ran overnight and fixing the one that hiccupped. Mid-morning you sit with a colleague, map how a task really gets done, and build the first version of its automation together. The afternoon is for measuring hours saved and errors down. You write it up plainly for the owner.
AI is both your subject and your colleague. It builds alongside you, drafts the documentation and tracks the savings that justify your role. What stays human is the judgement about what should be automated at all, the relationships with worried colleagues, and the promises you make and keep.
There is no formal entry route. What matters is a real pilot you built and measured where you work now, with a funded bootcamp or a BCS qualification to back it up.
Tick off steps, save the job and grow your own tree. Free, nothing captured.
Operations lead · Fractional operations manager