Theory is cheap. Everyone can talk about what AI agents could do. Here are seven specific automations running in our business through OpenClaw right now — what they do, how they're configured, and exactly how much time and money they save. No hypotheticals. Just production systems working 24/7.
1. The Morning Briefing Agent
What it does
Every weekday at 6:30 AM, an agent pulls data from our email inbox, Amazon Seller Central, project management tool, and calendar. It compiles a structured briefing covering: new emails triaged by priority, yesterday's sales and revenue, tasks due today, and any alerts (low inventory, overdue invoices, system issues).
How it's configured
A cron job in OpenClaw triggers the agent. It has tool access to Gmail API, Amazon SP-API, our task management API, and Google Calendar. The output format is defined in the agent's system prompt — consistent structure every day so I can scan it in 30 seconds.
Time saved
45 minutes per day × 5 days = 3.75 hours per week. That's the time I used to spend opening each system, checking notifications, and mentally compiling the morning picture.
2. The Email Triage Agent
What it does
Monitors the business inbox every 10 minutes. Classifies each new email into one of five categories: Client Enquiry, Supplier Communication, Invoice, Newsletter/Promotional, or Spam. Client enquiries get an immediate acknowledgement response. Invoices get forwarded to the accounts queue with extracted details. Newsletters and spam get archived automatically.
How it's configured
Runs as a persistent agent with a 10-minute cron cycle. Tool access: Gmail API (read and send), Firestore (for logging). Guardrails: client enquiry responses are templated acknowledgements only — no substantive replies without human review. Invoices are never auto-processed, just queued.
Time saved
Inbox management dropped from 60+ minutes per day to 10 minutes of reviewing the agent's triage decisions. 4+ hours per week.
3. The Inventory Monitor
What it does
Checks inventory levels across our Amazon catalogue daily. Calculates days-of-stock-remaining using 30-day average velocity, adjusted for seasonal trends. When a product drops below the reorder threshold (calculated as supplier lead time + 20% buffer in days of velocity), it sends an alert with a full restock analysis: recommended quantity, estimated cost, projected revenue, and margin.
How it's configured
Daily cron at 8 AM. Tool access: Amazon SP-API (inventory and sales data), Firestore (historical velocity data), Telegram API (alert delivery). The restock formula is defined in the agent's instructions — not hardcoded — so we can adjust the buffer percentage or lead time assumptions by editing a markdown file.
Money saved
Before this agent, we stockout on at least one product every month. Average revenue lost per stockout event: £500-1,200. Since deployment (4 months): zero stockouts. Estimated savings: £3,000-5,000 in prevented lost revenue.
4. The Competitor Price Tracker
What it does
Monitors competitor pricing for our key Amazon products every 6 hours. Compares against our current prices and alerts if a competitor drops below our price by more than 5%, or if we have pricing headroom (all competitors are 15%+ above us). Includes a weekly summary of pricing trends across the competitive landscape.
How it's configured
6-hourly cron. Tool access: Keepa API (competitor pricing data), Amazon SP-API (our pricing), Telegram API (alerts). The monitoring thresholds (5% below, 15% above) are configurable in the agent definition.
Impact
Caught a competitor undercutting on our best-selling product within 6 hours of the change — we adjusted pricing same-day and prevented an estimated £800 in lost sales over what would have been a week before we noticed. Pays for the entire OpenClaw infrastructure for a year in one save.
5. The Client Reporting Agent
What it does
For each active client with a deployed AI agent, generates a weekly performance report: total interactions handled, breakdown by channel (WhatsApp, Slack, email), escalation rate (% routed to humans), average response time, and top 5 query categories. Formats it as a professional email and sends it to the client every Monday morning.
How it's configured
Weekly cron (Monday 8 AM). Tool access: OpenClaw runtime API (agent metrics), Gmail API (sending), Firestore (client contact details and report history). Each client has a record in Firestore with their agent ID, preferred email, and any custom metrics they want tracked.
Time saved
Previously took 30-45 minutes per client per week to compile these reports manually. With 5 active clients: 2.5-3.75 hours per week. And the reports are more thorough, more consistent, and never late.
6. The Content Distribution Agent
What it does
When a new blog post is published, the agent generates platform-specific promotional content: a LinkedIn post (professional tone, 150-200 words), a Twitter/X thread (3-5 tweets, conversational tone), and a Telegram community message (brief, with link). It schedules these for optimal posting times based on historical engagement data.
How it's configured
Triggered by a webhook when the CMS publishes a new post. Tool access: CMS API (fetch post content), LinkedIn API, Twitter API, Telegram API, Firestore (engagement history and optimal timing data). The tone and format for each platform is defined in the agent's system prompt.
Time saved
Content distribution used to take 45-60 minutes per post (writing platform-specific versions, scheduling, cross-posting). Now: zero minutes. The agent handles it end-to-end within 2 minutes of publication. 4+ hours per month.
7. The Proposal Draft Agent
What it does
When a potential client fills out our contact form or has an initial discovery call, I provide a brief summary of their needs to Zeus. The agent generates a draft proposal tailored to their specific situation: relevant service packages, estimated timeline, pricing options, case studies from similar clients, and a personalised cover letter.
How it's configured
Triggered on demand via Telegram. Tool access: Firestore (proposal templates, case study library, pricing matrix), Gmail API (delivery). The proposal structure and pricing tiers are defined in a knowledge base the agent references — update the pricing once and every future proposal reflects it.
Time saved
Writing a custom proposal used to take 2-3 hours. Now: 10-15 minutes (mostly review and personal touches). With 3-4 proposals per month: 8-10 hours per month.
The Total Picture
| Automation | Time Saved (Weekly) | Infrastructure Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Morning Briefing | 3.75 hours | ~£2/month |
| Email Triage | 4+ hours | ~£5/month |
| Inventory Monitor | 1 hour + prevented losses | ~£3/month |
| Competitor Tracker | 2 hours + revenue protection | ~£4/month |
| Client Reporting | 3 hours | ~£3/month |
| Content Distribution | 1 hour | ~£2/month |
| Proposal Drafts | 2.5 hours | ~£2/month |
| Total | 17+ hours/week | ~£21/month |
Seventeen hours per week. That's more than two full working days recovered for £21 per month in infrastructure costs. Not theoretical savings. Not projected ROI. Actual, measured, production hours saved every single week.
This is why we're so bullish on OpenClaw and agent-first operations. The savings compound. Each automation we add makes the next one easier to build and the total value more obvious. And we're just getting started — there are at least another ten automations on our roadmap for Q2 2026.
The question isn't "should we automate this?" The question is "why haven't we automated this already?"
