02 · Agents
Custom AI agents that work in your business
AI Systems is Unbland's fixed-price service for building custom AI agents that run real work in your business — 24/7 support, lead follow-up, data entry, and document handling — plus the automation, RAG, and LLM integration behind them. Projects start at $8,000 plus a retainer, and you own everything we build.
Updated July 2, 2026
What does an AI agent development agency actually build?
An AI agent development agency designs and ships software agents that carry out real tasks — answering customers, qualifying leads, moving data between systems, and reading documents — instead of just chatting. Unbland Studio is a senior-only team of six co-founders that builds these systems end to end: the agent logic, the automation and data pipelines around it, LLM integration, and RAG with vector search so the agent answers from your own knowledge rather than guessing.
What can a custom AI agent do for my business?
A custom AI agent takes over the repetitive, around-the-clock work your team shouldn't be doing by hand. Because it's built for your stack and your data, it plugs into the tools you already use instead of forcing a new platform on you. Common builds include:
- 24/7 customer support that answers from your own docs
- Lead capture and automated follow-up
- Admin and data-entry tasks across your systems
- Invoice and document handling
- An internal knowledge assistant for your staff
How does a 24/7 AI support agent work?
A 24/7 AI support agent handles customer questions at any hour by drawing answers from your own help docs, policies, and product data through RAG and vector search — so it responds with your facts, not generic guesses. It resolves routine questions instantly and hands off cleanly to a human when a request needs one. Unbland builds these agents as part of the AI Systems service, starting at $8,000 plus a retainer that keeps the agent monitored and improving after launch.
What's the difference between an AI agent and automation?
Automation follows fixed rules: when X happens, do Y. It's ideal for predictable, repetitive steps. An AI agent adds judgment on top — it can read messy input, decide what to do, and use tools to get there, which is why it handles open-ended work like support conversations or document triage. Most systems we build combine both: deterministic automation for the predictable path and an agent for the parts that need reasoning. Unbland scopes which layer fits each task, so you're not paying for AI where a simple rule would do.
How much does a custom AI agent cost?
Unbland's AI Systems service starts at a fixed $8,000 plus a retainer. The build fee is scoped up front — no hourly billing — and covers the agent, its automation, and the integrations it needs. The retainer keeps the system monitored, updated, and improving once it's live, because an AI agent that isn't maintained quietly drifts and breaks.
- AI agent + automation build — from $8,000 (fixed, scoped up front)
- Ongoing retainer — keeps the agent monitored and improving
- You own the source code, prompts, and documentation
How long does it take to build an AI agent?
Most Unbland projects run 6–10 weeks, and AI agent builds fall in that range depending on how many systems the agent touches and how much of your data it needs to learn. A focused single-purpose agent ships faster than a multi-tool system wired into several platforms. Every build ends with a 30-day handover call and 30 days of included support, after which the retainer takes over ongoing monitoring.
Pricing
| Package | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| AI Systems | from $8,000 |
|
| Monitoring Retainer | Scoped |
|
Process & timeline
| Stage | What happens | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Discover | We map the tasks you want handled, the systems the agent must touch, and the data it will draw on, then lock a fixed price. | Week 1 |
| 2 · Design & wire | We design the agent's logic and connect it to your tools, data pipelines, and knowledge base with RAG and vector search. | Weeks 2–4 |
| 3 · Build & test | We build the agent and its automation, then test it against real cases and edge conditions before it touches live traffic. | Weeks 4–8 |
| 4 · Launch & retain | We deploy, run a 30-day handover call, then move to a retainer that keeps the system monitored and improving. | Week 8+ |
By the numbers
Frequently asked questions
- What makes Unbland an AI agent development agency rather than a freelancer?
- Unbland is a senior-only team of six co-founders — including a dedicated AI/ML engineer and an engineering lead — so your agent is designed, built, and QA'd by people who ship production systems, not a single generalist. We work on fixed-price scopes with clients across 10+ countries, and you own the source code, prompts, and documentation at handover. Every project includes a 30-day handover call plus 30 days of support.
- Can you build a custom AI agent for my specific business?
- Yes — every agent we build is scoped to your workflows, your tools, and your data rather than a template. Common builds include 24/7 customer support, lead capture and follow-up, data entry, invoice and document handling, and internal knowledge assistants. The AI Systems service starts at $8,000 plus a retainer, with the build fee fixed and scoped before we start.
- How does a 24/7 AI support agent answer accurately?
- It uses RAG and vector search to pull answers from your own help docs, policies, and product data, so it responds with your facts instead of generic guesses. Routine questions get resolved instantly at any hour, and anything that needs a person is handed off cleanly. The retainer keeps its knowledge base current as your product changes.
- How much does an AI agent cost?
- Unbland's AI agent builds start at a fixed $8,000 plus a retainer. The build fee is scoped up front and covers the agent, its automation, and the integrations it needs, so there's no open-ended hourly billing. Most builds ship within the studio's usual 6–10 week range, and the retainer covers monitoring and improvements once the agent is live.
- What's the difference between an AI agent and plain automation?
- Automation runs fixed if-this-then-that rules and is ideal for predictable steps; an AI agent adds reasoning, so it can read messy input, decide, and use tools to handle open-ended work like support chats or document triage. Most systems we build blend the two — automation for the predictable path, an agent for the parts that need judgment. We scope which layer fits each task so you're not overpaying for AI where a rule would do.