The reporting grind that ate a full-time role
What they thought the problem was
The team wanted me to scope and build an internal reporting platform. Monthly client decks were swallowing a huge chunk of their analysts’ time, and they had convinced themselves the only fix was custom software they owned.
What I actually found
The pain was legitimate — about 30 analyst-hours a week hand-assembling client reports across five ad platforms. But when I mapped the actual requirements against what existed, roughly 90% was covered by mature, well-supported reporting tools plus a thin automation layer. A custom build would have cost six figures and a year of maintenance to reinvent something they could license this month.
The opportunities, ranked by impact × effort
- 01
Off-the-shelf reporting stack
Impact High · Effort LowLicense an established multi-channel reporting tool and connect their ad accounts. Solves the bulk of the copying instantly.
- 02
AI narrative layer
Impact Medium · Effort MediumA thin build on top that drafts the "what changed and why" commentary clients actually read — the one part the tools do not do well.
- 03
Custom platform
Impact Low · Effort HighBinned. Six figures and ongoing maintenance to rebuild what they can license today.
The recommendation
Buy the reporting stack, build only the narrative layer. The honest call was to talk them out of the custom platform they came in wanting — and put the saved budget into the 10% that was genuinely theirs.
The numbers
What happened next
Stack was licensed and live inside three weeks; the narrative layer followed a month later. Reporting dropped from about 30 hours a week to 6, and the analysts moved onto client strategy work. No custom platform was ever built.
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