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Forward Deployed Operators
for Operations

A full-time HKR employee for your operations team. On day 1, they do data entry, QA and back-office work by hand. By day 90, AI does the routine work and they own the exceptions.

Who does the job.

We spent 10 years placing people like Claudia and Cosmin inside client operations teams to do the job by hand. These interviews are from then. Forward Deployed Operators are the same people, trained to be fluent in AI.

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From day 1 to day 90.

A Forward Deployed Operator joins your operations team, does the work, maps it, then runs the AI we build around it.

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  1. Day 1

    Give us the role.

    Your Forward Deployed Operator joins full-time, inside your SOPs, your tools and your Slack, and reports to your ops lead. They do the data, QA, research and back-office work by hand.

  2. Day 30

    The job is mapped. We build the AI.

    Every task is written down while it is being done: where the data comes from, what gets checked, which exceptions need a person. We build the AI from that list, at no cost to you. By day 60, data entry, cleanup and the first checks run on their own, and the operator reviews what the AI flags.

  3. Day 90

    AI runs the routine. They own the exceptions.

    AI does the repetitive work around the clock. The operator handles what falls out of it, tunes it and makes the decisions with high stakes. Then you pay per outcome.

What the role covers.

Six parts of an operations job. A Forward Deployed Operator takes them on from day 1.

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01.

Data entry and data management

Entry, cleanup, migration and upkeep across your systems, so your databases stay reliable and your reporting stays clean.

02.

Process documentation and workflow coordination

SOPs written and kept current, workflows coordinated across teams. What lives in one person’s head gets written down, and that becomes the map the AI is built from.

03.

Research and analysis

Information gathered, validated and organized for the decisions your team has to make, from market research to product data verification.

04.

Quality assurance and auditing

Output reviewed, errors flagged. The operator catches what the AI misses.

05.

Back-office and administrative support

Scheduling, vendor coordination, internal reporting and day-to-day logistics.

06.

Internal tools and systems management

Your internal tools maintained, your project management systems kept current, your team’s infrastructure working the way it should.

The AI your Forward Deployed Operator runs.

We automate HKR’s own work first. Our backups, contract filing and employee records run on their own, and each morning the AI checks that every routine job ran.

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The AI workflow blueprints.

Five operations chores already run at HKR. Open a card to see what the AI does and what a person decides.

Live at HKR

Filing signed contracts

#administrationExample · names and numbers invented
JamieAPP3:45 PM

🔒 Employment contract signed — Greg Hirsch

4 documents in Legal/04 Employment/Hirsch Greg

🔒 Services agreement signed — Pierce Global Media — 2 documents in Legal/01 Clients/Pierce Global Media

🔒 Signed in DocuSign — Vaulter side letter — 1 document in Legal/Inbox

Needs a human: no rule names a folder for a side letter. Clients or Vendors?

Nobody at HKR files signed contracts by hand. When a contract is signed, it goes to the right folder automatically. A person still decides where the few unclear ones go.

When the last person signs in DocuSign, the AI reads the contract’s name and the HR records, picks the folder and files every document in it: the contract, its annexes and the signing certificate. Then it posts one line in the team’s Slack channel to say what was signed and where it went.

When no rule says where a document belongs, the AI does not guess. It leaves the document for a person with one question, and the person decides where it goes.

Live at HKR

Making the nightly backup

#ai-operatorExample · names and numbers invented
JamieAPP11:02 AM

Backups this week: all 7 nights done.

  • Last backup: 8 hours ago, in about 3 minutes
  • New data each night: about 41 MB
  • Total kept: 38.4 GB, encrypted, in separate storage
  • Backups older than our limit: 7 deleted on 18 Oct
  • Last test that a backup restores: 1 Oct ✓

Nobody at HKR makes the nightly backup. Every night, an encrypted copy of our systems goes to separate storage automatically. A person still decides when to restore from it.

Every night at 3:00, the AI makes an encrypted copy of HKR’s systems and databases and sends it to separate storage. A good night stays quiet. Every Monday, the weekly report says how many nights worked, how big the copy is and when it was last checked from end to end.

The AI never restores anything on its own. A person decides when to restore, and from which night.

Live at HKR

Copying employee records

JamieExample · names and numbers invented
Sebastian9:12 AM

Is Tom's new role on record? Gerri changed it in HiBob yesterday.

JamieAPP9:12 AM

Yes. This morning's copy has it.

  • Tom Wambsgans: Account Manager → Team Lead, from 1 Nov 2026
  • Reports to: Gerri Kellman (until now: Karl Muller)
  • Contract: full-time, open-ended, no change

Gerri made the change in HiBob on 22 Oct at 16:40, and it was copied at 5:00 today. Every report from today shows the new role.

Nobody at HKR copies employee records between systems. Every morning, the changes are copied automatically, so a new role or contract is on record by the next day. A person still makes every HR decision.

Every morning at 5:00, the AI copies the changes from the HR system into the company database: new people, new roles, new contracts and who reports to whom. The old value stays next to the new one, so the record shows when each change happened.

Reports and questions in Slack read that one copy, so a change made in the HR system yesterday is in today’s answers. The AI only copies. A person still makes every HR decision, in the HR system.

Live at HKR

Rebuilding the to-do list

JamieExample · names and numbers invented
JamieAPP8:00 AM

Next: Collect the signed GoJo addendum — due Tue 20 Oct, overdue · p3x

Overdue

  • Send the Waystar RoyCo renewal to Gerri — Thu 22 Oct · k7m

Due today

  • Approve the October contractor invoices · r9d

Due in 3 workdays

  • Book the Vaulter onboarding call — Wed 28 Oct · w2f
Sebastian8:14 AM

The renewal went to Gerri last night, mark k7m done. Move p3x to Monday.

Nobody at HKR rebuilds the to-do list each morning. Every weekday at 8, the operations lead gets the next task and what is overdue, and updates the list by chatting with the AI. The lead still decides what comes first.

Every weekday at 8:00, the AI sends the operations lead a direct message: the next task, then what is overdue, what is due today and what falls due in three working days. A morning with nothing on the list sends nothing.

The lead answers in the same chat, the way they would tell a colleague: this one is done, move that one, add a new one. The AI changes the list. The lead still decides what comes first.

Live at HKR

Writing the weekly status report

#ai-operatorExample · names and numbers invented
JamieAPP11:00 AM

Weekly status, Mon 19 Oct

Needs you:

  1. Karl asked twice for the Finance tab, and the access rules turned him away. Give him access, or keep it closed?
  2. Gerri wants me to answer HR questions in #people. Open it to her team?

All else clean: 412 questions from 9 people, every routine job ran, backups fine.

(reply with a number for the full story)

Nobody at HKR writes the weekly status report. Every Monday, the AI writes short reports on what needs a decision, what broke and who asked it for what. A person still makes the decisions.

Every Monday morning, the AI reads the week’s run records and writes two short reports in the team’s Slack channel. One counts who asked the AI for what, and which asks the access rules turned away. The other opens with what needs a decision, three items at most, then one line on everything else: failed jobs, backups and cost.

The detail sits in replies under the report, for anyone who wants it. The AI lays out each decision. A person still makes it.

Success story spotlight: operations for a wellness app startup.

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