Building Automation Boutique: Weekly Reflections - 2025 Week 44
Every morning everyone in our team shares a Goal of the Day. The one thing that, if done, makes the whole day count.
Some days we hit it, some we don’t.
This week, I added a new ritual: a reflection of the week. What went well and what could have gone better.
I’m Philip, founder of Automation Boutique. 5 years ago I left my job to build tailored automation for finance and treasury. After years of solving one client problem at a time, we launched our first SaaS app, NineAnts. It automates the things we were rebuilding over and over. It pulls data via APIs and SFTP, cleans it, enriches it, sends notifications, and delivers it wherever it’s needed: Excel, Power BI, a TMS…
Now, about last week:
1. A near-miss with ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
Monday started with a horror scenario. It looked like our ABN Amro connection would go down, with serious client impact. Why? A global standards change made a required certificate type suddenly impossible to get. Jan-Willem jumped in and, with help from people at the bank who love our product, escalated it to the top and found a solution. If you received an email from ABN Amro about new certificate requirements… that’s partly due to us. Huge thanks to those at the bank who believe in what we’re building.
2. Product and security.
Mathew, our new developer, released his first feature to production: 2FA and other security improvements. Musa focused on preparing for our pentest next week (we pay a hacker to try to hack us).
3. Client momentum.
We lost a NineAnts proposal we thought was a done deal, but learned from it. Sales isn’t our strong suit yet, but momentum keeps morale high.
Demand for our AI and advanced Excel training is rising. Another session is booked for after my upcoming paternity leave.
Our first test for HSBC’s China and Macao payments succeeded on the first try, and the client may now expand the scope to ACH.
4. Team highlights.
Emilia is getting back in her groove after maternity leave, releasing an improved version of our “forecast and autofunding” report for FIS Integrity users. It now gives better feedback if it’s a currency bank holiday.
5. Logo and brand.
Our logo survey is live, and one design is clearly ahead. A few loyal fans still prefer the old one, which is oddly comforting.
6. Looking ahead.
We’re in talks with a compliance guru on using NineAnts for regulatory reporting. It’s promising, and soon we might share more (maybe even the name of our guru).
We started exploring Goose, an open-source AI agent that could unlock bold new ideas.
7. Life outside work.
My defense against the dark northern mornings seems to hold: early walks, light therapy glasses, vitamin D, and a new infrared lamp. Not quite Bali, but with a baby on the way, it’ll do.
This week was exciting. Huge thanks to everyone who supports and believes in us.
💡 If you have a tip, a question, or just want to talk automation, drop me a message. I’d love to hear from you.
🧭 Building Automation Boutique: Weekly Reflections - 2025 Week 44 was originally published in automationboutique on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.