Our Story.
Independent AI and automation specialists. We pick whichever tool fits the job, build it on infrastructure you own, and hand back a system that keeps running if we vanish tomorrow. Here is what we believe, and how we work.
For years I worked in operations and audit. Different industries, different sizes, but the same pattern kept showing up. Capable teams losing hours every week to work that a computer should be doing. Spreadsheets being copied between tools. Status updates chased by hand. The same email written 200 times a year, with three words changed.
And then AI arrived, with the bigger vendors selling magic. Most of it wasn't ready. Some of it was actively risky. The honest version, hidden under the marketing, was that AI is phenomenal at certain narrow jobs and useless at others. Most businesses didn't have anyone helping them tell the difference.
What we built
Perkins SmartOps does one thing. AI and automation. Not as a bolt-on to a wider service list. Not as the latest line item under "consulting". The only thing we do.
The hype phase is over. The era of buy-a-Copilot-licence-and-watch-productivity-transform is being replaced by an awkward question in every partner meeting: what did we actually get for that? The businesses that win the next five years will not be the ones that bought the most AI seats. They will be the ones that picked the right tool for each job, made it pay back in real hours, and kept control of the system as the vendor landscape shifted underneath them.
That is the work. Diagnose with the discipline of a process audit. Pick the model that actually fits, because we do not take vendor commission. Build on your stack, your accounts, your keys. Put checks we call Judges between the model and any action that matters. Hand over documentation in plain English. Stay around to look after it as the business changes.
Not magic. Not the future. Just well-built software that does for small and medium businesses what the big firms have already done for themselves.
If a non-technical reader can't follow the documentation, we haven't finished it.
What we believe
Six convictions shape every engagement we take on. They are non-negotiable, and we will say so up front.
Own what you run
Automation should sit on your accounts, your infrastructure, your tooling. Not held hostage by a vendor.
Judges, not just AI
An AI without checks is a liability. The judging is the point, whether the judge is code or another AI.
Plain English over jargon
If a non-technical reader can't follow the documentation, we haven't finished it.
Honest about what won't work
Some processes shouldn't be automated. We will say so, even when it costs us a project.
Data sovereignty
Your business, your data, your control. Everything runs in your accounts on your infrastructure. No black boxes, no vendor lock-in.
UK-based, UK-focused
HMRC, Companies House, Xero, Airtable. The stack we know best is the one UK businesses actually use.
How we work
Every engagement starts with a conversation. We will tell you honestly whether automation is the right next step, or whether something simpler will get you there faster. If we build, you see it run before it goes live. If we hand over, you get the source files, the documentation, and the keys.
And if AI isn't the right tool for the job, we will say so. The honest answer is more useful than the impressive one.
The reason "automation without judges" gets a bad name is that some people ship AI-only workflows and call them done. The automations that last are the ones where a check sits between the AI and the send button. Whether that judge is code or another AI doesn't matter. The judging is the point.
Who we are
David Perkins, Founder
Fifteen years auditing business processes across professional services, government, and tech. Now building the AI and automation that runs them. Vendor-agnostic by design. Independent because that is the only honest way to advise on which AI to use and which to leave alone.
Based in Northamptonshire. Member of the Northants Chamber of Commerce. Work draws on a small network of trusted collaborators on design, brand, and delivery. We stay deliberately small.
What this all adds up to
- We build automations that work on a Tuesday in November when nobody is watching.
- AI gets used where it earns its place, with Judges between the model and the action.
- Documentation is plain English. Infrastructure is yours. The keys are yours.
- We will tell you when automation is the wrong answer, even when it costs us the project.
If any of that resonates, drop me a line. The first conversation is the one where we both work out whether we are a fit. No commitment, no sales pitch.
Want to talk?
No commitment, no sales pitch. A real conversation about what your business needs.