Spark.
Automation as a Service

Automation on tap, for one flat monthly fee.

Queue up every manual process that is slowing your team down. We build, connect and maintain the automations — one request at a time, as many requests as you like. Pause or cancel whenever.

Not sure yet? Book a 15-minute intro call
Live
An AI agent automating work between business tools Events from Shopify, Gmail, Webflow, Stripe flow into a Spark AI agent. The agent asks a human to approve sensitive actions, then updates Xero, HubSpot, Slack, Sheets. S Shopify M Gmail W Webflow S Stripe X Xero H HubSpot # Slack ▦ Sheets You Approve SPARK AGENT

Agent activity

  1. TRIGGER Shopify order #4821 received from a returning customer
  2. AGENT Matched customer in HubSpot · lifetime value $3,240
  3. TRIGGER Gmail: PDF invoice from Acme Packaging
  4. AGENT Read invoice → supplier bill, $1,180 ex GST, due 30 days
  5. HUMAN Approval requested in #finance: “Post this bill to Xero?”
  6. ACTION Approved by Sarah → draft bill posted to Xero
  7. TRIGGER Webflow form lead: Ops Director, 120 staff
  8. AGENT Scored lead 86/100 · wrote a personal follow-up draft
  9. ACTION Deal created in HubSpot · rep alerted in Slack
  10. TRIGGER Stripe: card payment failed for 3 subscribers
  11. AGENT Drafted friendly retry emails, tone matched to brand
  12. ACTION Daily KPIs written to Google Sheets

Illustrative example of a workflow we'd build and maintain for you.

What is Automation as a Service?

Automation as a Service is a subscription where a dedicated team designs, builds and maintains your business automations for a fixed monthly fee. Instead of scoping projects or hiring an engineer, you add requests to a queue — integrations, workflows, AI agents, reports — and they are delivered one by one, usually within two to three business days.

How Automation as a Service works

  1. 01

    Subscribe

    Pick a membership and get your private request board the same day. No scoping calls required.

  2. 02

    Request

    Add as many requests as you want. Drag the most important one to the top.

    “Sync Shopify orders into Xero”“Route inbound leads into HubSpot”“An AI agent that triages support email”“Weekly KPI report to Slack”“Auto-generate proposals from a form”“Connect our CRM to Claude via MCP”
  3. 03

    Receive

    Most automations are live, tested and documented within 2–3 business days.

Workflows we build every week

Your tools, connected. An agent in the middle.

Pick a workflow to see how a request on your board becomes a running automation. AI handles the messy judgement calls, and you stay in the loop for anything that matters.

  1. W Webflow Form submitted Website enquiry lands
  2. Spark agent Agent qualifies Enriches company, scores fit, drafts a reply
  3. H HubSpot Deal created Owner assigned by territory
  4. # Slack Rep alerted With context + draft reply

Replaces: Copy-pasting form leads into the CRM and chasing reps in Slack

Add this to my board →

The Lightning team has shipped work for

BUPAIAGFORDRMITFISHBURNERSMAPYCINDEE LABSCLIMATE SALAD
Why a subscription?

Senior people, small client list, no project theatre.

Spark is run by the team behind Lightning Ventures — Dave, Florian and a handful of senior builders. We got tired of month-long scoping, padded quotes and change requests, so we turned the work into a membership. We keep the number of members deliberately small so every request gets senior attention, and we never outsource.

apps & systems shipped
80+
apps & systems shipped
delivery velocity at IAG
5x
delivery velocity at IAG
Y Combinator companies supported
10+
Y Combinator companies supported
Membership benefits

It's not a retainer. It's better.

Everything an in-house automation hire gives you, without the hiring, the overheads or the notice period.

  • One board for every request

    Drop ideas in whenever they come up. Reorder the queue whenever priorities change.

  • A price that never moves

    No quotes, no change requests, no surprise invoices. Same fee every month.

  • Days, not quarters

    Small, shippable chunks mean you see working automations within the week.

  • Built to keep running

    Error handling, logging and alerts on everything — plus fixes when an API changes.

  • Flex up, flex down

    Busy month? Stack the queue. Quiet month? Pause and keep your unused days.

  • You own all of it

    Every scenario, script and credential lives in your accounts, not ours.

Kind words

People who've worked with the team.

“Lightning Products has been really helpful in linking all of our systems up!”
M Mick Liubinskas CEO & Co-Founder, Climate Salad
“The Lightning team are real hustlers with lived startup experience. They helped us get up and running quickly across sales and growth.”
J Jian Wei Hoh CEO, VIIZR (Ford)
“Within days of launching our new website, we received more than 30 requests for our instrument and were prepared to successfully manage that pipeline in HubSpot.”
R Ryan Pawll CEO, Indee Labs
“Their thorough expertise and streamlined methods have allowed us to ship products faster and more efficiently.”
M Majella Campbell COO, Fishburners
Recent work

Results, not decks.

  • MCP analytics layer

    Shopify, HubSpot and Xero connected for AI Survey Tech — 20% revenue lift.

  • Lead-to-CRM pipeline

    30+ inbound requests captured and routed in HubSpot within days for Indee Labs.

  • Systems stitched together

    Disconnected tools linked into one flow for Climate Salad.

What you can request

If it's automation, it's in the membership.

  • Make.com
  • Zapier
  • n8n
  • AI agents
  • MCP servers
  • HubSpot
  • Salesforce
  • Xero
  • Shopify
  • Slack
  • Google Workspace
  • Airtable
  • Supabase
  • Webhooks & APIs
  • Document processing
  • Reporting dashboards
  • Lead routing
  • Invoice automation
  • Onboarding flows
  • Data clean-up
Compare

Automation as a Service vs hiring vs an agency

Comparison of Automation as a Service with an in-house hire and a traditional agency
In-house hire Traditional agency Spark membership
Monthly cost $12k+ salary & on-costs $10k–30k per project One flat fee
Time to first result 6–10 weeks to hire 2–6 weeks of scoping Within the week
Change of priorities Fine Change request Reorder your board
Maintenance Included Extra retainer Included
Commitment Permanent hire Fixed contract Pause or cancel any time
Pricing

One membership. One price. No surprises.

Limited founding spots

Automation Membership

Automation as a Service

$4,995 /month

$5,995/month · Founding-member price. Billed monthly, ex GST.

  • One active request at a time
  • Unlimited requests in your queue
  • Most requests shipped in 2–3 business days
  • Make, Zapier, n8n, APIs & AI agents
  • Monitoring & fixes for everything we build
  • Unlimited team members on your board
  • Pause or cancel any time

Pause any time

Billing runs in 31-day cycles. Pause mid-cycle and your unused days roll over to when you come back.

Try it for a week

Not loving it in your first 7 days? We'll refund 75% of your first payment.

Want all three?

Bundle automation, content and outbound into one membership. Compare plans →

FAQ

Automation as a Service questions, answered.

Still unsure? Book a quick call or email team@lightningproduct.io.

How fast will my automations be delivered?

Most requests are live within two to three business days. Larger builds — an AI agent or a multi-system integration — are broken into smaller pieces, and you get a working piece every few days.

Is there a limit to how many requests I can make?

No. Add as many requests as you like to your board. We work on one active request at a time and move to the next as soon as it ships.

Which tools do you work with?

Make, Zapier and n8n for workflow automation; Claude and OpenAI for AI agents; MCP servers to connect AI to your systems; and direct API work with HubSpot, Salesforce, Xero, Shopify, Slack, Google Workspace, Airtable, Supabase and most tools with an API.

Do I pay for the software subscriptions too?

Yes. Tools such as Make, Zapier or OpenAI are billed to your own accounts, so you own everything. We will always recommend the cheapest option that does the job — often a $49 Make plan instead of expensive AI calls.

Do you maintain automations after they ship?

Yes. While you are a member, we fix anything we built that breaks — an API change, a renamed field, a failed run — and those fixes jump the queue.

What will you not automate?

We will not build anything that scrapes sites against their terms, sends spam, or makes regulated decisions (lending, medical, legal) without a human in the loop. If AI is the wrong tool for a job, we will tell you.

How does pausing work?

Billing runs in 31-day cycles. If you pause halfway through, the unused days are saved and picked up again when you resume — so you never pay for a quiet month. Pause from your billing portal or just tell us in Slack.

Can I sign up for just one month?

Yes. There are no lock-in contracts. Plenty of members join for a single month to clear a backlog of automation requests, then pause until the next one builds up.

What is your refund policy?

If you are not happy in your first week, tell us and we will refund 75% of your first payment — no hard feelings. After the first week we do not offer refunds, but you can pause or cancel at any time.

How do I submit requests?

You get a private request board (Trello by default, ClickUp or Linear if you prefer). Add as many cards as you like — a sentence, a Loom video, a doc or a screenshot is all we need. We work through them in the order you set.

Who will I be working with?

The senior Lightning Ventures team — the same people who have shipped work for Bupa, IAG and Ford. We do not outsource or hand you to a junior account manager. You talk to the people doing the work.