Ownership, not headcount
Own the work, not the headcount.
The real question isn't cost, it's control. An agent runs your workflow inside your own perimeter — governed, audited, and yours to keep. It also happens to cost a fraction of three hires.
What you own
The agent is yours.
Cost is the easy part. The harder question is control — and here you keep all of it. You own the agent, the data, and the logic. It runs governed around the clock. Take it in-house anytime.
You own the agent, data, and logic
It runs inside your perimeter, on your keys, with your data. Trinity's core is open source (Apache 2.0). You own the agent, the workflow it runs, and everything it produces — permanently.
Governed, audited, running 24/7
Every run is scheduled, logged, and reviewable. Operable by design: audited, recoverable, and reviewed before anything ships. It works 168 hours a week without overtime or turnover.
Take it in-house anytime — no lock-in
We build it, run it, and maintain it as your service — or hand you the keys. Self-host on infrastructure you own, or have us operate it. Either way, there's no lock-in.
And it costs less than headcount
3 FTEs — year 1 total cost
$435K+
Salaries, benefits, recruiting, onboarding, and equipment — the fully-loaded cost.
An agent you own — year 1
A fraction of that
A fixed-scope starter project plus a defined monthly service. Working 24/7, no benefits, no churn.
Head to head
AI vs hiring, side by side.
Cost is only part of the story. Here's how a hired team and an agent you own compare across every dimension that matters.
Honest note: AI isn't the right call for every task. Where nuanced human judgment, relationship-building, or creative strategy is required, people win. The best outcomes have AI doing the volume work so your people focus on what only humans can do.
The numbers
Where the money actually goes.
Most hiring budgets account for salary. The fully-loaded cost runs 1.5–2× higher once you add benefits, recruiting, onboarding, and overhead.
Hiring 3 employees
Base salaries (3 × $75K avg)
Benefits & payroll taxes (~30%)
Recruiting fees (3 × $15K avg)
Onboarding & lost productivity (90 days)
Equipment, software, desk space
Management overhead (20% of 1 manager)
Year 1 total — ~$435,500
Ability.ai AI solution
Starter project (custom AI solution)
Growth retainer (ongoing expansion)
Infrastructure & token costs
Internal management overhead
Recruiting & onboarding
Benefits & payroll taxes
Year 1 total — a fraction of one hire
Salary based on US mid-market average for operations and knowledge workers. Recruiting fees use typical agency rates (15–20% of first-year salary). The AI side is a fixed-scope starter project plus a defined monthly service — a fraction of a single hire's fully-loaded cost.
Why it works
Beyond the cost savings.
The financial advantage is significant. The operational advantages are what compound over time.
Deploy in weeks, not months
Average time-to-hire for a skilled employee is 36–42 days — before a single productive day. Our AI solutions are live and delivering results 2–4 weeks from kickoff.
Scale without adding headcount
When volume doubles, human teams double too. AI solutions absorb 10× volume spikes without adding cost, management complexity, or HR burden. Output scales; overhead doesn't.
Zero turnover, zero knowledge loss
The average US employee stays 4.1 years, and every departure costs 50–200% of salary. AI systems don't resign, don't get poached, and don't walk out with institutional knowledge.
24/7 without overtime costs
Three employees work ~120 hours a week combined, in business hours, minus PTO and sick days. Your AI solution works 168 hours a week, every week, at no added cost per hour.
Consistent quality at volume
Human quality varies by day, energy, and experience. Agents follow your exact playbook every time — fully auditable, fully deterministic, reviewed before anything ships.
Results you can audit, not just claim
Every run is logged and reviewable, so you see the work in production — not a projection in a deck. You hold the system to your own standard and measure the results yourself.
Proof
What clients actually see.
These aren't projections. They're documented outcomes from production systems running today.
(from ~1 business day)
per description
work we automate
Will it replace jobs we actually need?
AI handles high-volume, repetitive, structured work so your people focus on judgment, relationships, and strategic decisions. Most clients redeploy — not reduce — their teams. Your best people stop doing the work they hate.
What if our processes change?
AI solutions update faster than employee retraining. When your playbook changes, we update the system. No retraining cycles, no change resistance — just a configuration update and re-deploy.
What about data security and compliance?
We build self-hosted, sovereign systems. Your data never leaves your infrastructure. Full audit trails, RBAC, and AES-256 / TLS 1.3 encryption. You own the logic, the data, and the IP — permanently.
What if it doesn't work for our use case?
We start with a fixed-scope, fixed-cost starter project scoped to your highest-value pain point. You see working results before committing to anything larger. If it doesn't deliver, you don't owe us a retainer.
Start here
Find out what AI could replace in your operation.
A 30-minute conversation to identify your highest-value automation target. We'll tell you honestly whether AI is the right fit — and what you'd save if it is. No pitch deck, no pressure.