The pipeline
runs itself.
Deals are cards. Columns are explicit stages. Every transition has a gate, every stuck card has a timer, and three of the stages are owned by an AI agent — not a human. Below is the exact shape we build for pipeline-heavy services firms that are drowning in manual status-checks.
The Kanban board is the interface.
The operator should never have to open a report to know the state of the business. The board is the report. Columns are the eight deal stages. Cards carry exactly the fields an operator needs to decide whether to act, without clicking in. Stages that are owned by the AI agent are visually distinct — the operator knows not to touch them.
The two failure modes this replaces are (1) the weekly pipeline-review meeting where leadership asks "what stage is X in?" and (2) an operator checking the e-signing platform every morning to see if a client signed. Both disappear once the board becomes authoritative.
The board is the single source of truth. Every workflow reads from it, writes to it, or moves cards across it. There is no "shadow state" in spreadsheets.
Eight stages, left to right.
Dark columns are AI-owned — the card moves itself once processing completes. Amber column is the pre-pipeline human phase (no card exists yet on round one).
New deals land in Awaiting Documents. AI takes over at Client Signed Documents. Won → Round X re-entry. Lost → Appeal Assessment (separate pipeline).
Eight data elements. No click-through required.
Every card on the board surfaces exactly what the operator needs to decide "do I act on this?" without opening the deal.
Name + round badge
Client name plus a colored round badge (R1 green, R2+ blue). Instantly signals whether this is a first-time engagement or a follow-on.
Segment + value
Context chips for industry segment, status, and current deal amount. Rebuilt on every field change so the card never lies.
Condition list
The core of the case, shown with statuses (New / Denied). Captured by the operator, verified by the AI against source documents.
Document progress
A visual progress bar: docs collected out of required. Green when complete, amber when partial, red when none.
Rotting timer
Days in stage vs. max allowed. Green under 50%, yellow 50–80%, red over 80%. Stages without timers (AI-owned) show their processing state instead.
Owner
Human, AI Agent, or native workflow — depending on the stage. Auto-assigned on deal creation. The card tells you who you are waiting on.
Next pending task
The single most urgent action, auto-created by the workflow or the AI. Shows who owns it so the PM knows whether to escalate or leave it alone.
Gate status
Whether the deal CAN move. Green = ready, red = blocked with reason. AI-managed stages surface processing status here instead.
Every transition has a gate.
Deals can only move when requirements are met — the board enforces this. The right column lists what fires automatically on a valid transition. AI-managed transitions happen without human intervention.
| Move | From → To | Required gate | Fires on transition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | → Awaiting Documents | None — new deals land here via log-meeting trigger | Deal created · contract email with signing links · doc-reminder cadence · 30d rotting timer |
| T2 | Awaiting Docs → Signed Docs | documents_received = Yes (both required forms signed) | Reminders stop · AI document monitor activates on this deal |
| AI | Signed Docs → Pending Submission | AI verifies source data, populates forms, notifies operator | AI auto-moves deal when processing complete · 2d rotting timer |
| T4 | Pending → Submitted | Operator reviews/revises AI forms, submits upstream, sends client email | actual_submission_date set · timeline email (24h) · exam tasks (10d) · Day 40 / 70 emails |
| AI | Submitted → Deferred | AI detects a deferred decision in an incoming notification | Deal routed to Deferred · holds until all items decided |
| AI | Submitted/Deferred → Won | AI detects all items favorably resolved | close_date set · invoice generated from award letter · congrats email drafted |
| AI | Submitted/Deferred → Lost | AI detects all items adversely resolved | close_date set · senior-operator task for appeal review · 10d rotting timer |
| T-out | Awaiting Docs → Deleted | 30-day timeout with no documents received | Final email · lead status → Marketing Lead · task to delete deal |
Morning board → review AI work → submit.
With the full framework running, the operator's job reduces to three moves. Everything else is the system.
The system owns this
Every minute saved here is a minute the operator spends with the next client.
- Document monitoringDaily check of the e-signing platform, auto-transfer of signed PDFs to the right record.
- Data verificationAI compares client-reported facts to authoritative source documents, flags mismatches inline.
- Form populationCorrect form per status (new / denied / intent) auto-filled from verified data.
- Email cadenceTimeline, Day 40, Day 70 status emails drive themselves from submission date.
- Invoice generationAward-letter amount × contract fee % calculated and pushed into the deal.
- Deal routingOutcome classifier routes to Won, Lost, or Deferred automatically.
What still needs judgment
The three moves that require professional judgment — deliberately preserved, not automated for the sake of it.
- Strategy sessionsListening to the client, forming the case strategy, capturing the condition list on the contact record.
- Review of AI-generated workA senior operator approves or revises before anything is submitted upstream.
- Appeal decisionsWhen a case is lost, a named senior operator decides whether to appeal. Not an AI decision.
Pipelines that run themselves
If your operators spend half their week checking statuses and chasing signatures, this is the framework. We scope, build, and hand off in six phases — usable from phase one.