Built for solo founders & micro-teams
Run AI-native. Aim higher.
Automate & Augment (A&A) is a small, specialist AI automation firm: we bank the owner's judgment in a knowledge base, then hire AI agents as "staff" that run on it inside your operations. Workflow redesign that grows the business without growing headcount — handled end-to-end by founder Kazuya Hibara.
- Advisory — first month free
- Development — ¥0 upfront
- PoC — as soon as next day
Your requirements don't need to be set. Answer a few questions on LINE, and where AI changes your work starts to show.
Consult on LINEAutomate & Augment
This isn't enterprise DX. It's a system for solo founders and outsourcing-led micro-teams to add capability without adding headcount.
Please note
- — We don't sign same-day. A short intake first, to see together whether this is work AI can actually change.
- — We don't take "just add some AI" requests. We decide what stays with people and what gets handed off, then design.
- — The system runs hands-off, but the initial judgment criteria we take from the owner directly.
Proof from a practitioner
The system A&A actually runs on.
Shown here are systems A&A runs or publishes and work reconstructed anonymously from a real engagement.
In production · Self-operation architecture
Last updated 2026-07-11
OSS · Public
claude-second-brain-jp
A plugin that grows a record of decisions into a knowledge base. Free, MIT, currently v0.1.0. Public on GitHub.
View on GitHub →Last verified 2026-07-11
Real client engagement · Operated by A&A · Demo video shows real SaaS screens
Multi-store MEO operations SaaS
This SaaS grew out of a real client engagement and is operated in production by A&A; the client name is withheld for confidentiality. Built end to end by the founder for an MEO and local-search operations provider, it turns Google Business Profile posting, review responses, and monthly reporting into agent workflows, with human approval for every AI output.
Founder · Kazuya Hibara
This site's own articles and diagrams are produced with the same system.
Adding tools doesn't shrink the work.
New AI tools arrive every month. The work doesn't shrink because tools get added while the flow of the work stays as it was. Who decides what, in what order — stack tools on an unchanged process, and you add checking and rework instead. What you need isn't efficiency tweaks. It's workflow redesign.
The first step in handing work to AI is making “how we decide” transferable. As long as judgment criteria and past context live only in the owner’s head, the AI cannot act by your standards.
A&A compiles the decisions scattered across documents and past exchanges into a knowledge base, then rebuilds the workflow around it — separating the judgment people keep from the work AI takes on, and redrawing the order from input to approval.
Build the foundation, set the flow, then place the AI. That order — and only that order — genuinely shrinks the work.
When the judgment is banked and the flow is set —
that is when an AI agent first becomes staff.
What A&A does
L0 — Foundation
Design the knowledge base
We compile the owner's decisions, materials, and past exchanges into a knowledge base an AI can work from. Everything else stands on this foundation.
See Second Brain →L1 — Redesign & build
Reshape the flow, then build the agent in
Which work, in what order, gated by whose approval. We redraw the flow, then build the agents in — and hand them whole roles.
See services →L2 — Ongoing
Keep it growing, as your advisor
We don't build and leave. We keep adding judgment criteria in operation, widening what you can hand off.
See services →
Starting costs nothing — by design.
- 01Add A&A on LINE
- 02A short intake chat
- 03A&A organizes the requirements
- 04A meeting only if needed
The free first month of advisory and the ¥0 upfront development fee aren't a campaign to rush your decision. They exist so both sides can confirm — before any fee starts — that this is work AI genuinely changes. Unsure where to begin? Start with the free advisory month.
From month two, advisory is ¥50,000 per month. Commissioned development moves to a fixed monthly fee, with operations and improvement included, only after the scope you can hand off is clear. Nothing is charged while that scope is still undefined.
How we think about price →A good fit / a harder fit
A good fit
- — Judgment sits with 1–3 owners
- — There is repeating judgment or work
- — Past exchanges and materials mostly still exist
- — You want a clear line between what is handed off and what a person approves
A harder fit
- — You want to decide today and go live today
- — You want everything replaced by AI, sight unseen
- — No one can — or wants to — put the judgment criteria into words
- — There are no materials or decisions yet to accumulate
Use cases
How far AI can work in your industry.
These include reconstructions based on real engagements (anonymized) and illustrative scenarios showing what adoption could look like. Named case studies will be published as clients give permission.
Use cases
From monthly report to the next move
- InputShopify, ads, inventory, CS
- The AI doesAggregate, flag anomalies, draft fixes
- Human approvesPriorities & final call
Use cases
Turning multi-store reviews into action
- InputPer-store reviews, replies, ranks
- The AI doesClassify, flag urgency, draft replies
- Human approvesEscalation & compensation
Use cases
Return document-hunting time to case judgment
- InputGuidelines, client docs, past filings
- The AI doesDiffs, missing docs, draft filing
- Human approvesLegality, approval, submission
FAQ
How much does it cost?+
Advisory is free for the first month and is ¥50,000 per month from month two. AI Agent and Handoff development start with a ¥0 upfront development fee, then use a fixed monthly fee that includes operations and ongoing improvement. We present the monthly scope after reviewing the work, connected tools, human-approval design, and estimated timeline.
How soon can we start?+
We can show a PoC as soon as the next day. A full rollout depends on how broad the work is — but we start small, and expand from the scope you have confirmed you can hand off.
We're wary about our internal data. What about security?+
We draw the line on what the AI is given, together with you. Because a human approval step sits before any publish or irreversible action, the AI never sends anything externally on its own. It runs within your existing access controls.
Can we keep the tools we already use?+
Usually, yes. We design around what already runs in your operation — Shopify, Google Business Profile, your existing spreadsheets and chat tools. Switching is never a precondition.
What should we prepare before talking?+
Nothing special. Just have one task you're stuck on in mind. Even if your materials are scattered, we start by sorting out what's worth keeping, together.
Still unsure where to start? Tell us one piece of your current work, and we'll start by finding the parts AI can change — together. No sales follow-up.
Consult on LINE- 01Add A&A on LINE
- 02A short intake chat
- 03A&A organizes the requirements
- 04A meeting only if needed