Find the routine
We identify where your team loses time moving information by hand.
Software that takes the donkey work off your hands
More profit for the company. Better work for your people.
Every company has work that a person only does because there is no software for it yet. We find that work and build the software for it. Together with your team.
Led by Luc Maystadt, former CIO/CTO of Dialog Semiconductor, the chipmaker acquired by Renesas for €4.9 billion in 2021. Master's in Machine Learning and AI.
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Today: one order, entered by hand into four systems
With Zeami: three stops. No more retyping.
Today → With software
To the team,
Somewhere in your week, there is work you only do because there is no software for it. We build that software.
We look at the work, not at you. Nothing happens without a yes from your team, and every step is logged.
The Zeami team
Read the full letter →Edita, now helping new customers
Luc MaystadtHead of Technology · Former CIO/CTO, Dialog Semiconductor and mid-sized businesses · MSc Machine Learning & AI
Hello, I'm Luc. I was CIO and CTO at Dialog Semiconductor and later in mid-sized businesses. Here, I lead the technology. Francesca was CFO in mid-sized businesses and multibillion-euro corporations, Mateo has turned around several mid-sized companies as their owner, and Lars has led one. We'll guide you through this page and share what we've seen in companies like yours.
People doing better work due to Zeami
130
have handed their donkey work to software, as of September 2026
Value recovered due to Zeami
€2.3 million
per year across five live projects, annualised, before our fee
Initial assessment
Free
an estimate of your potential, with no obligation
Time on your team's computers
1 week
with the team's consent, names hidden, switchable off at any time
Two people are reading this page. Both get an answer.
If you run the company
- More profit, this year.Usually several percentage points of revenue, straight to the bottom line.
- First a free look, then the detailed numbers.Our AI Margin Tool shows the potential of each individual workflow before you decide.
- Little effort for IT.The analysis runs on your team's computers for one week. We only access your systems when we build the software.
- Our fee starts only when your profit does.It only becomes due when the software pays for itself, and is then usually around 30% of the time or costs saved.
- You see what your IT infrastructure costs you.A short note every day: how many hours were lost yesterday to slow systems, old computers and outages, in euros. Fix the inexpensive things first.
If you do the work
- The donkey work goes to the donkey.Copying, retyping, chasing people, filing. The software takes care of that now.
- You decide what isn't observed.With your consent, we spend one week observing how work happens on your computer. Only the workflows. Names appear in reports as short codes. You can switch everything off at any time.
- You are not being assessed.We look at the work, not the person. There is no individual assessment, ever.
- Your hours log themselves.Your timesheet is created from your calendar, emails and tickets. You review and approve it.
- You approve what changes.Nothing happens without a yes from your team.
- What slows you down gets named.Every day, a note goes to management: where the team lost time because the ERP froze, the internet was slow, a computer was too old or the power went out. It reports the workflow, never the person.
How it works
Less routine. More room for good work.
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See the value
You see the work, the potential savings, and the cost before deciding.
Keep the final say
We build with your team. People approve actions and can stop the software.
With your team's consent. Names hidden. No assessment of individuals. Our commitments ↗
Francesca DiNotaHead of Process Optimisation · Former CFO and COO, mid-sized businesses and global multibillion-euro corporations
As CFO, I closed the books every month and knew that three people spent the first week entering numbers from one system into another. Everyone knew it. Nobody had the budget to change it. That is exactly the work we take over. The figure above shows what it costs.
Companies that have handed over their donkey work
Some companies and their experiences.
We only share names and figures with the customers' permission. All figures are annualised, before our fee.
The industry determines which examples you see and sets typical starting values for screen work and routine share. The calculation method is the same for every industry; you can change any assumption until your analysis provides real numbers.
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What we automated
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Luc MaystadtHead of Technology · Former CIO/CTO, Dialog Semiconductor and mid-sized businesses · MSc Machine Learning & AI
In one company, half the warehouse team worked in Excel and the other half in the main system. For years there were errors, and nobody knew why. We would have spotted it in a few days. In the end, warehouse performance rose from 60 to 90 percent.
What that could mean for your company.
One calculation, everything transparent. Pick your sector, then enter total headcount and working hours. The sector sets how many people work at a screen; you can change every assumption. The same calculation powers the analysis table and P&L bridge further down.
Your sector
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Our assumptions, for you to change
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Stays with you, per year
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every year, after our fee
Freed capacity, hours per year
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Enterprise value, multiplying the annual amount by {{ multipleText }}
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An estimate, not a promise. Every assumption above is yours to change. Avoided errors and reduced spending are not included; only the analysis finds those. Implementation, hosting and support are agreed per engagement and are not included here.
Let's calculate it together with your numbers
Lars NakotteHead of Partnerships · Former CEO, mid-sized business
I have run a mid-sized company myself. Every team's first question: who will be there when the software goes live? The answer is me. At your desks, in the first weeks, until the people whose work has changed can run the software themselves.
You don't have to know where the donkey work is. We find it.
It starts with a free estimate of your potential. Then our AI Margin Tool breaks it down by workflow; for that, you pay a fee based on size and scope, due on completion. For the ongoing software, you only pay once it pays for itself, usually around 30% of the value saved.
Book a call
30 minutes. Nothing to prepare. You leave with an initial estimate of your potential.
{{ askDonkey }}Go deeper
The detail behind every promise on this page.
Seven topics, in as much depth as you want. Each one opens right here.
Trust, privacy & your controlRead more →Close ↑
Three questions we always hear. Three clear answers.
“Are we being monitored?”
We observe the work for one week, with your consent. We never assess individuals.
A consultant
Conducts interviews for months. Writes a report about you.
Zeami
One week, announced in advance, approved by you. You can stop at any time.
- What is observed: screenshots, how much was typed and clicked, window titles, application and clipboard contents, and who was logged in. Only as part of workflows. No screenshots are taken of private windows, banking and payment pages or password managers.
- Email addresses, phone numbers, card numbers and passwords are removed from window titles, web addresses and copied text on your computer
- You consent in advance and can switch everything off at any time
- You can view your own data at any time
- No assessment of individuals, ever
Luc Maystadt confirms that the process complies with GDPR and applicable data protection requirements.
“You'll get all our data.”
Only what is needed for the work. Names hidden.
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- Email addresses, phone numbers, card numbers and passwords are removed from window titles, web addresses and copied text before anything leaves your computer
- Only workflows are observed; you can stop at any time
- We only access your systems when we need to for the software
- Data retention and deletion are set out in the contract
- No use for training AI models
“How safe is it?”
The software is on a leash. Your team holds it.
The donkey's rules
Always
Asks before acting. Logs every step. Stops with a switch.
Never
Moves money on its own. Has more permissions than the role it works for. Works in secret.
- Nothing happens without a yes from your team
- Every step is logged
- It can never do more than the role it works for
- One switch stops everything
How we work with your teamRead more →Close ↑
Three steps. Then you never have to think about the “how” again.
We look at the work, not the person. Click through what your company sees. The figures are examples.
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Workflow found: returns handling
From one week of observation: 1,700 returns, names hidden in the analysis.
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Donkey work: the same four fields, transferred by hand
The decision: stays with the team
This workflow, per week
98 hrs
just transferring data between two systems, across 9 people. We count by workflow, never by person.
What is observed
Screenshots, how much was typed and clicked, window titles, application and clipboard contents, and who was logged in. Only as part of workflows. No screenshots are taken of private windows, banking and payment pages or password managers. Email addresses, phone numbers, card numbers and passwords are removed from window titles, web addresses and copied text, and names are hidden in reports.
Your control: you consent in advance, you can switch everything off at any time, and you can see your own data.
The record we analyse
Return · [ID] · [Customer] · [Amount] · Reason: wrong size · 4 fields → shop system · → warehouse
Returns handling: the price, day 14
Measured, not estimated: 1,700 returns in one week, annualised. The hourly rate is an example.
What we would build
Software that reads the return, fills the four fields and forwards it. A person reads the reason and says yes or no. Steps 2 to 4 disappear; step 1 stays with the team.
What it costs
The initial assessment is free. For the detailed evaluation with the AI Margin Tool, you pay a fee based on size and scope, due on completion. For the ongoing software, you only pay once it pays for itself: usually around 30% of the value saved.
Where the 5,100 hours go
Proposed with the team, decided by the company: customer care, onboarding new customers, a learning plan for everyone. You receive a report every quarter.
Waiting for the team's yes
Paused by the team. Nothing runs until someone switches it back on. The list below is waiting.
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The donkey prepares; a person decides. The donkey can never do more than the role it works for, and never handles money on its own.
Every step, logged
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Permissions
The same shop system, the same permissions as the returns team: read and prepare only. Your IT team can revoke access with one click.
If we were one of the tools you already know, you wouldn't have an advantage. Anyone could buy the same thing.
With us, you do. We build software for your work and nobody else's. It does what off-the-shelf software cannot, and your competitors cannot order it anywhere.
Our commitments to employeesRead more →Close ↑
What happens to the time gained. Written down and signed.
To the team,
Somewhere in your week, there is work you only do because there is no software for it. We build that software. Before we begin, we make you these promises.
With your consent, we spend one week observing how work happens on your computer. We only observe your workflows. Email addresses, phone numbers, card numbers and passwords are removed from window titles, web addresses and copied text, and names are hidden in reports. You consent in advance, you can switch everything off at any time, and you can view your own data.
We look at the work, not at you. Nobody at Zeami assesses individuals, and nothing we build includes such an assessment.
The software can never do more than you. Nothing happens without a yes from your team, and every step is logged so you can review it.
When the boring part goes away, we help you move to more valuable work, with a written learning plan. Every quarter, we report to your company where the freed hours have gone. What the company does with them is its own decision. We do not claim otherwise.
If any of this is not true, write to sales@zeami.io. A named person will reply within two working days.
The Zeami team
Every team calls it “donkey work”. So the donkey takes it on, and the person keeps the coffee break and the work worth doing.
For IT & finance: the technical detailRead more →Close ↑
For IT, finance and analysts
The detailed version.
Five parts: the analysis, building the digital coworker, its limits, hosting and how the figure is calculated.
Written by Luc Maystadt. He takes your IT team's call himself and confirms that the process complies with GDPR and applicable data protection requirements.
01 · Week 1
The analysis
With each employee's consent, a small application runs on their computer for one week. It observes screenshots, how much was typed and clicked, window titles, application and clipboard contents, and the logged-in identity, limited to information about work processes. No screenshots are taken of private windows, banking and payment pages or password managers. Email addresses, phone numbers, card numbers and passwords are removed from window titles, web addresses and copied text, and reports show short codes instead of names. The employee is informed, gives approval, can access what was observed on their computer and can switch observation off completely at any time; managers' access is controlled. Retention and deletion are agreed with your company.
The AI Margin Tool then reconstructs every handover where data is moved manually and assigns it a volume, processing time and value at your fully loaded costs.
Handover foundPer monthMinuteshrs / yearValue / year
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Example. The same hourly rate and headcount as in the calculator above. Value = volume × 12 × minutes ÷ 60 × fully loaded cost.
02 · Building the digital coworker
Where the data goes
Connections to company systems are only requested when needed to build the digital coworker, and only for the workflow being built. Read access uses your existing roles. Personal and financial identifiers are removed before analysis. Write operations only happen after approval, through the same interfaces your team uses.
Week 1
Observed work on the team's computers
Approval · stop switch · names hidden
Assessment
Workflows, volumes, value
No company systems touched yet
Build
Connections requested as needed
Your roles · your approval before writes
03 · Limits of the digital coworker
What a digital coworker is allowed to do
Every digital coworker has a scope file: which systems, which actions, which limits. It inherits the permissions of the role it works for and can never exceed them. Every action is logged with its input, output and approver, and the log belongs to you.
# returns-handling.scope
acts_as: role.returns-team # inherits the role, nothing more
read: [returns-mailbox, shop.orders]
write: [shop.returns] requires: approval
never: [payments.*, hr.*, delete]
limits: Amount ≤ €500 · 40 actions / hour
log: every action → your audit storage
kill_switch: returns-team, it-admin # stops in under a second
04 · Hosting and terms
Where it runs
Hosting is agreed per engagement, along with the data processing agreement, subprocessors and exit terms. Specific regions and certifications are in the technical briefing, not here.
Your cloud
Runs in your tenant. You hold the keys and logs.
Hosted by Zeami, EU
Encrypted at rest and in transit. Region agreed with you.
On-Premise
For regulated environments. Models can run within your walls.
05 · The figure
How the figure is calculated
Freed capacity means hours, valued at your fully loaded costs. Only the share that becomes money counts: avoided hires or billable work. This determines the digital coworker's fee, typically around 30%, due once ROI is reached. The assessment fee is paid once, after the AI Margin Tool evaluation. Every row below comes from the calculator above; change an input there and it changes here too. Francesca DiNota, former CFO, signs off the figure before you see it.
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What happens when your company growsRead more →Close ↑
What happens when a bottleneck disappears
Remove a bottleneck, and the whole company needs more hands.
Work flows through a company like water through a pipe. The narrowest point sets the pace for everyone. We don't take work away from people; we open up the narrowest point. Take sales: once the sales office stops holding things up, the field sales team has time for customers again and brings in more orders. That means more work than before for delivery, production, finance and support. Either those departments become more efficient, or the company needs to hire, which most companies would rather avoid. So the next bottleneck becomes the next project. What the company does with its new capacity is its own decision.
110 orders are requested. The sales office handles 40. Everyone downstream waits for those 40.
Mateo KlemmayerHead of Product and Implementation & CEO · Former CEO and owner of mid-sized businesses
I experienced this in my own companies, long before software could help. The pattern is always the same: relieve the first team, and the next one needs more hands. The company decides where the freed capacity goes. Our job is to show where it arises and help people make the transition.
For the works councilRead more →Close ↑
For the works council
Three things the works council can hold us to.
01
It finds what slows people down.
Slow internet, frozen software, a process that makes no sense: the software sees where the team loses time and why. By workflow, never by person.
02
It takes over the work nobody wants.
Copying, retyping, chasing people, filing. The tedious part goes to the software; the decisions stay with people.
03
It tells management why things aren't better yet.
Every day, a short note goes upstairs: how many hours were lost to each problem, in euros. The team gets a voice backed by numbers, and the inexpensive fixes come first.
Daily note · Tuesday 07:30
Dear management,
Yesterday, the team lost 6.5 hours. Not because of people. Because of infrastructure:
- ERP froze twice2.1 hrs
- VPN outage, 09:10 to 12:103.0 hrs
- Returns scanner broken, entries made by hand1.4 hrs
≈ €360 at your fully loaded costs. The scanner costs €140.
— the software, every morning