10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Automation Agency

Every week, another Tashkent business owner signs a contract with an “automation agency,” pays an advance, and waits. Sometimes what arrives is a working Telegram bot connected to amoCRM and Payme. Sometimes it’s a half-built demo, a vendor who’s gone quiet, and a hole in the budget.

The difference almost never comes down to luck. It comes down to the questions before hiring automation agency that founders ask — or don’t ask — before signing anything. Below is the list we’d want a client to run through on us, and on anyone else pitching to build your bots, CRM integrations, or AI agents.

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1. What exactly will be delivered, and by when?

Vague scopes are the single biggest source of automation project pain. “We’ll build you a smart bot” is not a deliverable. Ask for a written scope: which Telegram flows, which CRM fields sync, which payment provider (Payme, Click, Uzum Bank), and a delivery date. If an agency won’t commit this to paper before you pay anything, treat that as a warning sign.

What a real scope looks like

A serious proposal names specific screens, bot commands, integrations, and a testing period — not just “AI-powered automation.” For a deeper look at proposal red flags, see what to avoid in an AI automation proposal.

2. Who actually writes the code — and can we see past work?

Many “agencies” in this space are one person subcontracting to freelancers found the week the contract was signed. That’s not automatically bad, but you should know it. Ask to see two or three live products, not just screenshots — a bot you can message on Telegram right now, a dashboard you can click through. If everything is under NDA and nothing can be shown, ask why. Reputable studios can usually demo something, even anonymized. You can browse examples of finished, working products in our portfolio of live work.

3. How is pricing structured — fixed price or time and materials?

This single question prevents more disputes than any other. A simple Telegram bot typically runs 500 000–1 500 000 so’m; an ordering and payment bot with Payme/Click integration is usually 1 500 000–5 000 000 so’m; a CRM-connected or AI-agent bot starts from roughly 5 000 000 so’m upward, and a custom AI agent built around your workflows starts near 5 000 000 so’m too, scaling with complexity. Ongoing support commonly runs from about $50/month.

Model	Best for	Risk
Fixed price	Clear, well-defined scope	Change requests get expensive fast
Time & materials	Evolving projects, MVPs	Costs can drift without weekly check-ins
Milestone-based (mix)	Most automation projects	Requires a well-written scope up front

We break this down further in fixed price vs. time and materials for automation projects — read it before you sign a payment schedule.

4. What happens to the code, data, and accounts after the project ends?

Ask directly: do you own the Telegram bot token, the source code, the server, and the CRM configuration once the invoice is paid? Some vendors quietly retain admin access “for support purposes” — which becomes leverage if the relationship sours. Get ownership and handover terms in writing before the kickoff, not after a dispute.

5. How will the AI agent or bot actually make money or save time?

A good vendor should be able to explain the mechanism, not just the buzzwords. In practice: Telegram bots often drive 40%+ of monthly turnover for Tashkent food-delivery and e-commerce shops that adopt them well; CRM adoption typically lifts sales by around 30% through better follow-up; AI-assisted sales reps often work roughly 40% more efficiently; and voice AI agents can cut call-centre costs by up to around 5x in the right use case. These are market patterns, not guarantees — but an agency that can’t connect their proposal to one of these mechanisms hasn’t thought it through.

• Scope and deliverables are written down, not verbal
• Pricing model (fixed vs. milestone vs. T&M) is explicit
• You’ve seen at least one live product, not just a pitch deck
• Code, bot tokens, and CRM ownership are contractually yours
• Support and update terms after launch are defined
• The vendor can explain in plain language how this pays for itself
• There’s a named point of contact who answers in Uzbek or Russian

6. Do they understand the local stack — Telegram, Payme/Click, amoCRM?

Telegram reaches roughly 95% of Uzbekistan’s internet users, so almost every serious automation here runs through it. If a vendor keeps pitching WhatsApp-first flows or is unfamiliar with PayTechUZ-style payment integration, amoCRM, Bitrix24, or 1C/MoySklad for inventory, that’s a mismatch worth noticing early. Government backing — the AI Strategy 2030, IT Park tax perks, $50M+ in AI infrastructure funding — means more vendors are entering the market, but not all of them have hands-on local integration experience.

7. What does “AI agent” actually mean in their proposal?

The term gets used loosely. Ask them to define it in your case: is it a rules-based chatbot with a language model layered on top for replies, or a genuine agent that can look up orders, check inventory, and take actions in your CRM? For the full picture of what these systems can and can’t do for a Central Asian business, see our complete guide to AI agents for business in Uzbekistan.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should a good automation project take? A focused MVP — a working Telegram bot with one or two core flows and a payment or CRM connection — is usually a matter of weeks, not months. Multi-month timelines for a single bot are often a sign the scope isn’t well defined.

Should I pay the full amount upfront? Most reputable vendors work on a deposit plus milestone structure — commonly 30–50% upfront, the remainder tied to delivery and testing. Full payment upfront with no milestones is a risk worth avoiding.

Is it normal for prices to vary this much between agencies? Yes — see what business automation actually costs in Uzbekistan for real price bands. Complexity, integrations, and ongoing support all move the number.

How do I compare agencies in Tashkent specifically? Start with our guide on how to choose an AI automation company in Tashkent — it walks through the same due-diligence process with a local lens.

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If you’re weighing vendors right now, it’s worth a short conversation before you commit to anyone. Look at our services or reach out to discuss your project — we’re happy to answer the ten questions above, honestly, even if you end up building with someone else.