For startup teams
Plan how people and AI could cover your team's work
What work needs a person now, and what could wait? Choose the functions in front of your team. The Workforce Planner gives you a first pass at human ownership, AI assistance, greater automation to assess, and work to revisit later—so you can discuss the options before adding a role or changing a process.
Start with the work that needs covering
A job title can hide several kinds of work. For each function, ask:
- What must a person own?
- Where could AI assist?
- What might be suitable to explore with greater automation?
- What can wait?
These questions give a founder or small team a shared starting point, even before anyone agrees on a hiring plan.
Show the planner what matters
- Choose your functions.Select from eight areas of work, including marketing, product management, engineering, sales, and operations.
- Mark your constraints.Set each selected function's importance and workload. Mark Must be human or Already hiring when either applies. You can also enter company context, business stage, current staffing, and a monthly team budget.
- Review the first view.See the suggested category for each selected function in a chart, a short reason for each label, an illustrative monthly plan cost, and the remaining amount shown against your budget. The preview appears first; enter an email in the tool to see the detailed function-by-function view.
Four ways to frame the next decision
- Human:A person is suggested to lead the function. Marking Must be human or Already hiring puts it here.
- Hybrid:Consider a person working with AI assistance.
- Autonomous:The planner's label for work to assess for greater automation. A person still needs to evaluate the quality and risks before using that approach.
- Defer:Consider returning to this function later rather than staffing it now.
See an illustrative starting view
The planner initially selects three functions with a monthly team budget of $8,000. Under its starting settings, the preview reads:
| Selected function | Suggested category | Illustrative monthly value |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing & GTM | Autonomous | $220 |
| Product Management | Hybrid | $1,600 |
| Operations & Coordination | Autonomous | $220 |
These are fixed illustrative values in the planner, not market prices or a recommended spend. The budget changes the amount shown as remaining; it does not change the suggested categories. Change the functions or their constraints to explore a different mix.
Take the result into a staffing conversation
The planner uses preset rules, and marking a human requirement or an existing hiring commitment changes its suggestion. Business stage and current staffing provide context you can enter, but they do not choose the category. Bring the result to your team and ask which function needs an accountable owner, where AI work would need review, and what can wait. Compare the answers with your skills, capacity, quality requirements, risks, and real costs before acting.
Common questions
Is this a hiring recommendation?
No. It is a starting point for discussing how to cover selected functions. Your team decides whether to hire, change a process, explore AI assistance, or wait.
Are the monthly values actual prices?
No. They are fixed planning values in the tool, not compensation estimates, vendor quotes, or savings forecasts.
What happens if the plan cost is higher than my budget?
The planner shows a $0 remaining amount and an over-budget indicator. It does not adjust the suggested categories to fit the budget.
Does business stage or current staffing change a category?
You can enter both. In the current planner, neither changes the preset category rules.
What can I see before entering an email?
You can see the preview, including the category chart, short reasons, and illustrative cost and budget figures. The detailed view of each function follows email entry in the tool.
Ready to look at your functions?
Choose the work your team needs to cover, then use the first view to start a more concrete conversation about ownership and AI assistance.