Artificial intelligence for SMEs in Switzerland
AI for SMEs: what can really be automated in a business of 5 to 50 people?
Re-keying data between tools, recurring reports, follow-ups and monitoring: that is the work that can genuinely be taken off your hands. Anything that involves judgement or responsibility stays with you.
What remains is to find out how many hours that represents in your business. A first 30-minute video call, free of charge, is often enough to see it.
Why the question comes down to this
For a business of 5 to 50 people, artificial intelligence is not a transformation project; it is a question of hours. How many does your team spend copying information from one tool into another, rebuilding the same report every month, chasing the same files? That time can be quantified, and a good part of it can be recovered.
The useful distinction is not between simple and complex tasks, but between what is repetitive and measurable and what involves judgement. The first category can be automated. The second should not be, and it is the part an honest provider will tell you to keep.
The method, the steps and the timelines are set out on the AI automation page. This page is here to help you decide whether the topic concerns you and where to start.
How we work as an AI agency in Switzerland, from audit to follow-up, is described on a separate page.
The work that can be handed over, and the work that stays
| Work involved | What the tool takes on | What stays with you |
|---|---|---|
| Re-keying between tools | Moving information from one piece of software to another, without entering it twice. | Correcting the edge cases the tool flags. |
| Recurring reports | Collecting, formatting and distributing them at the right time. | Reading them, interpreting them and making the decision that follows. |
| Chasing open files | Tracking what is missing and drafting the messages. | Approval before anything is sent to a client. |
| Monitoring and research | Scanning sources and summarising what is relevant. | Judging what matters for your business. |
What a project costs, and the item nobody prices in
A project breaks down into three items. The diagnostic, which inventories the repetitive work and ranks what is worth automating. The implementation, which depends on the number of processes and the complexity of the integrations. And maintenance, when the automations need to be looked after over time. If you already know what to automate, you do not need the diagnostic.
We do not publish a price range, and the reason is simple: the gap between two SMEs of the same size comes down to the number of tools to connect and the state of their data, not their headcount. A published figure would be right for one and wrong for the other. The quote comes after the diagnostic, once both unknowns have been cleared up.
The entry point, the automation audit, is priced on quotation and you are told the price before we start. Details are on our pricing page.
One last thing, since you are probably wondering. Lexen is a young business and has no client references to show you. We could display a counter of businesses we have worked with, as most of this market does. You would have no way of checking it, so we will not. What we can do is limit what you risk: the first call is free, the diagnostic has a scope and a price agreed in advance, and the prioritised list that comes out of it is yours, whether or not you hire us for what follows.
The item nobody prices in: your time
- Allow one or two video sessions during the diagnostic, long enough to show us your day-to-day processes.
- Then regular review points during implementation.
- An automation built without the person who actually does the task automates an imaginary version of the process.
Artificial intelligence agency or in-house hire?
This is the real trade-off, and it comes down to two criteria: how quickly you can get started and how permanent the need is.
One point before comparing: if you only have a single process to automate and no intention of going further, neither option is the right one. A short, well-defined engagement costs less than either, and we tell you so before proposing a quote.
Recommended in most cases
Working with an agency
- You get started without hiring: no job advert, no probation period, no year-round salary cost.
- A method already applied elsewhere: the design mistakes were made on other projects, not yours.
- A cost that follows the scope and stops when the work stops.
- Check before signing: that the automations remain yours, documented, and that another provider could take them over.
When it is the right choiceYou have two or three identified processes, a wish to move forward now, and nobody in-house to own the topic.
The alternative
Hiring in-house
- A full annual salary with social charges, and a recruitment lead time of several months before the first automation.
- In return, the expertise stays in the business and does not leave with the provider.
- The AI Business Specialist federal diploma (Brevet fédéral), created in 2025, now gives this profile a recognised framework on the Swiss market.
- Assumes you have enough to keep the person busy once the first projects are delivered.
When it is the right choiceAutomation becomes an ongoing topic, with enough volume to justify a full-time position over the long term.
What we take on, and what we do not promise
We take on the inventory of repetitive work, quantified in hours; the implementation of the selected automations in your existing tools; and the measurement of the time actually saved, against indicators defined before we start.
What we do not promise:
- A smaller team. The aim is to give time back, not to justify job cuts.
- Automating your client relationships, your binding decisions, or processes that change every month.
- A result without involvement on your side: the best automations are built with the person who does the task.
Does your trade have its own constraints?
Some trades have constraints specific enough for us to treat them separately: fiduciaries, because of their accounting software and their calendar, professional practices, because of professional secrecy, and high-volume trades such as transport or property management.
- AI for fiduciariesDocument extraction, automation in Bexio, Abacus, Winbiz or Crésus, and go-live timed around the year-end closing calendar.
- AI for law firms and practicesLawyers, medical practices, consultancies: the line between what never touches a model, what may under conditions and what is unrestricted, in light of professional secrecy.
- AI for transport and logisticsFreight forwarders, 3PLs and customs brokers: document collection, chasing missing documents, status requests and client reports. Customs declarations stay approved by a human.
- AI for property managementProperty management companies: sorting and assigning tenant requests, following up contractors, reminders and owner reports. Choosing tenants stays human.
What do your repetitive tasks cost you? Put a figure on it in one minute, with your sector’s salaries.
Calculate my costFrequently asked questions
From how many employees does an artificial intelligence project pay off?
Team size is not the right criterion: what counts is the volume of repetition. A six-person business where two people spend a day a week re-keying data has more to gain than a forty-person business whose processes are already well equipped. The diagnostic quantifies that volume before any commitment.
Can we start with a single process without committing the whole business?
Yes, and that is what we recommend. A first, well-defined project lets you check the real gain before extending. The prioritised list from the diagnostic is built in that order.
Do we need to change our current tools?
Rarely. We start from your software as it is installed and check the available connections. If an integration is not possible, we say so rather than propose a migration that would cost more than the intended gain.
What happens if the provider disappears: who maintains the automations?
It is a question to ask before signing, of us as of anyone else. The automations are built in your tools, documented, and you remain their owner. If the engagement ends, they keep working and another provider can take them over.
Should the team be trained before or after choosing the tools?
After, except for general awareness. Training given before you know which processes are involved is forgotten before it is ever used. We train on the tools actually put in place, at handover.
Can artificial intelligence process Swiss client data without it leaving Switzerland?
Depending on the architecture chosen, yes. This determines the choice of tools and sometimes their hosting. The point is settled during the diagnostic, before any implementation, not after.
Should we say AI or artificial intelligence?
It is the same subject. “AI” is the usual abbreviation in technical circles, “artificial intelligence” the term most business owners use. We use both on this site, with no difference in meaning.
How many hours a week go into repetitive work at your business?
A free 30-minute video call to identify what can be automated in your business. This is not a sales call: you come away with a written summary of the conversation and a guide to finding what to automate.
- Free
- 30 minutes by video
- No offer during the call
Would you rather see the method first? Audit, prioritisation and implementation
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