How Penny Decides | AI Builds Methodology

Independence

Most of this market earns when you buy a build. Penny's verdict comes from published rules and is the same whether you build or not.

AI Builds is operated by Media Mantra, ABN 89 594 851 152.
We charge for the scope of works, and AI Builders pay a referral fee only when they win. That is the entire business model. Media Mantra also earns on jobs it wins as a labelled founding builder.
We never hold your money. You pay your builder directly.
No paid rankings, no sponsored builders, no leads sold.
Penny will tell you not to build something. She does it often.
Penny is software and is not paid on the build. Media Mantra, which runs AI Builds, quotes on some jobs as a founding builder. When it does, the quote is labelled and you are free to pick anyone else.

What it costs, in one place

The check and the verdictFree

Refining the scope with PennyFree

Scope of worksFree now, then A$149 incl. GST

Receiving quotesFree

Builder browses, reads a scope and quotesFree

Builder wins the jobA referral fee, paid by the builder

There is no payment page on this site and we never ask for card details.

The eight checks, in order

Every job goes through the same checks, in the same order. The first one that fails is the verdict. Penny never assumes a job can be fully automated, because exceptions never go to zero.

1 · SAFETY STOPCould it decide or rank a person, or touch rights, safety or livelihood?

If yes, Penny stops. That work needs a person with the right qualifications, not a scope of works.

2 · PROCESSDo the steps change every week?

If yes, no software fixes that yet. Verdict: fix the process first, and the scope of works maps the steps, what to fix by hand, and what to automate after. Not sure never ends the check: the scope starts with a process check instead.

3 · EXISTINGDoes your software already do it?

Penny knows what Xero, MYOB, HubSpot, Shopify and Microsoft 365 can do. Often the answer is a setting.

4 · TOOL CATEGORIESIs this social media or video work, done by hand today?

For these categories, buy the established tool instead of building one, unless you genuinely need your own workflow.

5 · WORTH LEAVING ALONEUnder 40 hours a year, and under A$3,000 in that time?

Then a build costs more than the problem. Verdict: leave it alone for now.

6 · GENERAL TOOLIs a person using a tool, and is the hard part reading or writing?

A paid ChatGPT or Claude subscription, with a person checking the output, is usually enough.

7 · AUTOMATIONIs it rules, steady volume, connected between your systems?

Then it is an automation, not an AI build. n8n, Make or Zapier. Cheaper and more reliable.

8 · SPECIALISTNone of the above, and it needs to run inside your systems?

Then it is worth building. Judgement or messy input in the middle, real value on the other side.

Known, assumed, unknown

Every fact in a scope of works is labelled. "Not sure" stays unknown. Penny never quietly promotes a guess to a fact, and a blank answer can never produce a verdict.

Research with provenance

Vendor documentation and primary sources first. Every claim in a scope of works carries where it came from and when. Where research is thin, it says so.

Your data

The check runs in your browser. Your answers are sent only when you give us your email: to get the verdict in writing, to save your place, or to start a scope of works.
No AI Builder sees your job until the scope of works is written and you say send it.
Builders see the job with your name and contact details removed. Your details go only to the builder you choose.
We do not train AI models on your business information, and we never sell your details.
Form submissions are delivered by FormSubmit in the United States, then kept in our inbox in Australia. Full detail on the privacy page.

Limitations, plainly

Penny's verdict is general information from published rules, not legal, financial or tax advice.
Price ranges come from published Australian rates. They are a guide. Builders set their own prices and you set your own budget.
Penny is only as good as your answers. Wrong hours in, wrong dollars out. Hit Back and fix it.
Australian Consumer Law guarantees apply to anything you buy here and cannot be excluded. See the terms.

Put my idea through the eight checks

How Penny decides, and why you can believe her