Deployed AI compared
Three choices buyers weigh before an agent build, side by side.
[ 00 ] In short
Deployed AI is Vikrama Studio's forward-deployed model: an engineer audits one workflow for two weeks, builds an agent on your data in a six to eight week pilot, and stays to run it. An automation agency wires apps together with triggers, an in-house hire is one person you manage, and a SaaS tool is someone else's product. This page compares all three.
Key facts
- Audit
- 2 weeks, from $5,000, credited against a pilot signed within 30 days.SRC · Vikrama Studio price list · 2026-09
- Pilot length
- 6 to 8 weeks, one workflow, software running on your data.SRC · Vikrama Studio method · 2026-09
- Approval design
- Your controller or ops lead approves before anything posts.SRC · Vikrama Studio method · 2026-09
- Billing
- Fixed scope, fixed price, no hourly billing, no platform licences.SRC · Vikrama Studio method · 2026-09
- US software developer median wage
- $135,980 a year, May 2025.SRC · US BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook · 2026-08
AI automation agency vs Deployed AI
| Question | AI automation agency | Deployed AI (Vikrama Studio) |
|---|---|---|
| What gets built | Workflows that connect apps: a trigger starts a run, actions follow. | Agents that read, decide and draft inside one workflow, run in order by an orchestrator. |
| Human approval | Depends on the build and the agency. | Designed before the agent is. Nothing posts without a named person approving it. |
| Measurement | Varies by agency. | Every agent has an eval on a held-out period before any demo. |
| Pricing | Varies: hourly, per workflow or a monthly retainer. | Fixed price after a $5,000 audit. Pilot from $20,000. No hourly billing. |
| After launch | Handover, with support terms that vary. | Run retainer from $5,000 a month: monitoring, monthly evals, exceptions, the next workflow. |
| Best fit | Rule-based handoffs between apps where no judgement is needed. | Work that needs documents read and judgement drafted, with a person signing off. |
Zapier, one of the tools automation agencies build on, defines a Zap as an automated workflow that connects apps: a trigger starts it and actions follow (Zapier Help Center, updated August 2026). That model suits rule-based handoffs, and many workflows need nothing more. Deployed AI is for the steps a rule cannot cover: matching a partial payment, drafting variance commentary, reading an RFQ. Each agent carries an approval step and an eval (Vikrama Studio method, September 2026).
In-house hire vs forward-deployed studio
| Question | In-house hire | Forward-deployed studio |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | A salary, plus benefits, recruiting and management time. | Audit from $5,000. Pilot from $20,000. Run from $5,000 a month. |
| Time to first workflow | Hiring time, then onboarding, before any build starts. | Two-week audit, then a six to eight week pilot: about ten weeks to a live workflow. |
| Who does the work | One person, with the range of skills that person has. | Sandeep Kumar, Co-founder and CTO, leads every build. |
| Knowledge of your business | Builds up over time and stays in the company. | Gathered in the audit, written into a runbook your team keeps. |
| Ownership at the end | Everything stays with you. | An exit plan in the contract: runbook, code, credentials and deletion of our copies. |
| Best fit | A long roadmap of AI work and a team ready to manage it. | One workflow to prove first, with the option to take it in-house later. |
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median annual wage for software developers at $135,980 in May 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, page updated August 2026). That is wage alone, before benefits, recruiting and the time it takes to find someone who has built agents before. A hire makes sense once the roadmap is long. A studio pilot is fixed in price and scope before you commit, and the contract hands over the runbook and code if you later hire (Vikrama Studio price list and method, September 2026).
SaaS finance tool vs agents built on your ledger
| Question | SaaS finance tool | Agents built on your ledger |
|---|---|---|
| Where your data lives | Usually synced into the vendor’s platform. | Stays in your systems. We read from them with scoped, read-only credentials first. |
| Fit to your process | You adapt your process to the product. | Built on your chart of accounts, your close checklist and your reporting template. |
| Systems covered | The integrations the vendor supports. | NetSuite, QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho Books, Tally, SAP Business One, Dynamics 365, or a clean export. |
| Pricing model | A subscription, often by seat or by volume. | A fixed pilot price from $20,000, then a run retainer. No platform licence. |
| Time to value | Fast when your process matches the product. | Six to eight weeks to one close cycle run by agents with approval on. |
| What changes next | The vendor’s roadmap. | The next workflow you queue on the run retainer. |
A SaaS finance tool is the right call when your process already matches what it does, and it is often faster to switch on. Agents built on your ledger fit when the work runs across systems or depends on how your team closes: they read your ERP and bank data where it sits, keep every entry in draft until your controller approves it, and log every action (Vikrama Studio security practice and method, September 2026).
Sources
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, “Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers: Pay”, 2026-08-27. Median annual wage for software developers, $135,980 in May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm
- Zapier Help Center, “Learn key concepts in Zaps”, 2026-08-13. Defines a Zap as an automated workflow that connects apps, started by a trigger and followed by actions. https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8496181725453-Learn-key-concepts-in-Zaps
- Vikrama Studio, “Price list, method and security practice”, 2026-09
Questions
- What is the difference between an AI automation agency and Deployed AI?
- An automation agency connects apps with triggers and actions. Deployed AI builds agents that read, decide and draft inside one workflow, with an approval step and an eval, and stays to run them.
- Is it cheaper to hire an AI engineer in-house?
- It depends on how much AI work you have. The US median software developer wage was $135,980 in May 2025, per the BLS, before benefits and recruiting. A pilot here starts at $20,000 with a fixed scope.
- Can we move the work in-house after the pilot?
- Yes. The contract carries an exit plan: the runbook, the code, the credentials and deletion of our copies, in writing.
- Why not buy a SaaS finance tool instead?
- Buy one if your process matches it. Agents on your ledger fit when the work spans several systems or follows your own close checklist and reporting format.
- Do you sell a platform licence?
- No. We build on your existing systems and our own orchestration, and price the work in fixed-scope steps.
Talk
Talk to Sandeep, or message us.
- Hours
- IST 10:00 to 19:00, Monday to Saturday. Calls in ET, GST and AEST, arranged on WhatsApp.
- Where we work
- Gurugram, with call hours in ET, GST and AEST.
- Free written teardown
- No call. Delivered in writing in 48 hours.