Shouldered AI / Learn: virtual employees
What is a virtual employee?
A virtual employee is an AI agent that does the work of a role inside a business, like answering leads, sending invoices or booking appointments. It is software, not a person, and the people in the business stay in charge of decisions. Shouldered AI gives small businesses a whole HQ that works like virtual employees at every desk.
At Shouldered they are called Heroes: Simon runs HQ, and seven Heroes each run a desk.
"Is a virtual employee a real person?"
No. It is AI software that does a role's work. A human virtual assistant is a different thing.
"What can a virtual employee do?"
Routine work: answering leads, sending invoices, booking, reminders, job posts, tracking renewals.
"Who decides what it does?"
You set the rules. Legal, tax, medical and financial decisions stay with you and your advisers.
"Do I pay per virtual employee?"
Not with Shouldered. You pay for HQ by seats and hours, never per employee.
What is a virtual employee?, in plain words.
An AI agent that does the work of a role inside a business.
It is software. People stay in charge.
The best ones start work when it is due, without being asked.
In Shouldered, Simon at headquarters directs all seven desks.
Shouldered prices by seats and hours, never per Hero.
Your team does the work customers pay for; the admin is handled.
Simon runs HQ: all the tech and all the brain power, and the one you talk to. Each of the seven desks is run by a Hero, and Simon directs all seven and answers for them. A person approves what matters, and legal, tax, medical and financial decisions stay with you and your licensed advisers.
A customer calls at lunch and the call is answered and booked. The job is done at 3 pm and the invoice goes out at 3:05. A late payer gets a polite reminder. That is a virtual employee at work: routine work done on time, with you still deciding.
An illustration, not a promised result.
Start
See it in practice: start a Hero today at $25 a month, or join the founding list for HQ: $750 a month paid for the year, or the Founding price of $500, first 50 companies only.
Grow
Learn more in our free lessons and on the weekly Shoulder to Shoulder webinar.
Your Hero is here to improve the human. Your HQ, led by Simon, is here to improve your business.
Two prices, and 50 Founding places.
First, what the work costs you today. A full-time office manager runs most small businesses about $4,000 to $5,000 a month with taxes and benefits, and goes home at five. Every call nobody answers is a job that goes to someone else.
Business coaching often costs $5,000 to $7,500 for one session day. HQ does the work every month, with a coach running the Shouldered Way and workshops included. Already have a coach? HQ works alongside them.
Founding 50: of 50 places left. When they are gone, this price closes.
For you
An assistant for one person: mail, chat, calendar, to-dos and contacts. It learns how you work.
- A seat a month
- $25
- Founding price, first 50 only
- $20
- A seat a month. Cancel any time
- No onboarding fee
- It stops where you stop. It does not run a business
Up to five people
5 seats and 80 hours a month. Onboarding $1,000, paid once.
- Paid for the year
- $750
- Month to month
- $1,100
- Founding price, first 50 only
- $500
- Simon and all seven desks
- Starts the work itself
- About $25 a day, paid for the year
- The six-month guarantee
- Arrives in December. Join the founding list now
Six to twenty people
20 seats and 200 hours a month. Onboarding $2,000, paid once.
- Paid for the year
- $1,875
- Month to month
- $2,750
- Founding price, first 50 only
- $1,250
- Everything in Small
- Room to grow without changing plan
- The six-month guarantee
Prices are per month. Only the first 50 companies (the Founding 50) get the Founding price with a two-year commitment, paid yearly by bank transfer, and keep it for as long as they renew. Pay yearly by bank transfer and take 3% off. Onboarding is $1,000 for Small and $2,000 for Medium, paid once, and free at Shouldered events. It is one 1-hour call: technical setup with our technical team first, then your business with our team. The person who sold you HQ joins your onboarding call. Paid for the year, you get a named person who checks in every month. Month to month gets standard support. Twenty-one people and up is built around you. More seats are $25 each (Founding price $20), and more hours $12.50 each; hours count only while HQ is working, like minutes on a phone plan.
Enterprise and government. For large companies and public agencies. Custom plans start at $5,000 a month. Pilots are paid. We start SOC 2 Type 1 work in 2027. Texas agencies: we are working toward TX-RAMP.
If HQ does not complete at least 40 hours of real admin work a month for you in your first six months (100 hours on Medium), tell us by the end of month five and we refund every dollar you paid for the plan.
The onboarding fee is not refunded. The guarantee asks one thing of you: let HQ do its work. Give it the access it needs and review its work in good faith. If our records show you kept declining or blocking the work HQ set out to do, the guarantee does not apply. If we see that happening, we tell you in writing so you can fix it.
The six months start the day HQ goes live for you. The Founding 50 are included. The guarantee covers HQ only, never coach fees.
What is a virtual employee?
A virtual employee is an AI agent that does the work of a role inside a business, such as answering leads or sending invoices. It is software, not a person, and people stay in charge of decisions.
Is a virtual employee the same as a virtual assistant?
No. A virtual assistant is usually a remote person. A virtual employee is AI software doing a role's work.
Can virtual employees start work on their own?
Proactive ones can. Shouldered's HQ starts the work itself when something is due, instead of waiting to be asked.
How are virtual employees priced at Shouldered?
Shouldered prices HQ by seats and hours, never per Hero.
Will virtual employees push out my staff?
Shouldered is built so your team does the work customers pay for. Your next hire is for the trade, not the admin.
A Christian-run company, and proud of it.
Churches get free Hero seats. When a member's business joins, its church gets an HQ, free.
Simon is named for Simon of Cyrene, who stepped in and shouldered the cross for another. Shouldered takes no outside funding and is open to everyone. The technology comes from the OurWorld group: ten years of work, 60+ engineers, running in 20+ countries.
Pull up a chair.
Start with your Hero today, take a Founding 50 place for HQ, or just come and ask questions in the community.
Founding list
One of the first 50 places. Keep the Founding price as long as you renew.
Hold my place →Your Hero
$25 a seat (Founding price $20). Available now.
Start with your Hero →Telegram
The front door. Talk with us and with owners like you.
Join on Telegram →Or write to Simon: simon@shouldered.com