[ MANUFACTURING_/_INDUSTRIAL ]

Automation-Backed Internal Assistant

2026Data Pipelines & AutomationCapability

What it is

An internal chat assistant wired to the company's existing automation platform.

Client work is shown without identifying imagery

[ THE_PROBLEM ]

Why this existed

Companies that have already built automation get told the AI layer means moving that logic into an application only developers can change.

[ WHAT_WE_BUILT ]

What we built

A chat interface and analytics dashboard backed by n8n workflows rather than direct model calls — so the business logic stays in the automation platform the operations team already owns and can change. Authentication, persisted chat storage and a debug surface, with the API routes, auth and storage layers unit-tested.

Chat interface backed by existing automation workflows rather than direct model calls
Analytics dashboard
Authentication and persisted chat storage
Debug surface for inspecting behaviour
Unit-tested API routes, auth and storage layers

[ HOW_IT_IS_USED ]

How a company uses it

A company that has already invested in automation gets a conversational front door to it, without moving the logic into an application only developers can edit.

Built with

Next.jsn8nVitestRecharts

[ COMMON_QUESTIONS ]

Questions clients ask

Why route through an automation platform instead of calling the model directly?

Because it keeps the business logic where the operations team can change it. Moving that logic into application code means every future change becomes a development ticket — which is a step backwards for a team that deliberately invested in automation they own.

Does the extra hop hurt performance?

It adds latency, and for a chat interface that is usually acceptable. The trade is speed against maintainability by non-developers, and for internal tools maintainability normally wins.

Why unit-test an internal tool?

Because internal tools have long lives and infrequent attention. Tests on auth, storage and API routes are what let someone change it confidently a year later.

[ RELATED_WORK ]