AI-native operations for Filipino SMBs
We find the real bottleneck in your business before we build anything.
Alterra isn’t a chatbot vendor. Every engagement starts with a paid Operations Audit — I map how your business actually runs, find where operational friction is costing you time, money, or customers, and tell you what’s worth fixing. Sometimes that’s an AI system. Sometimes it’s a simpler process change, or nothing at all. You get clarity either way — and it’s credited toward the build if you go further.
How we work
Understanding comes first. Building is just phase four.
Operations, not talent, is usually the real constraint on growth. The Alterra Method is five phases — we don’t skip to “build me a chatbot” because that request is rarely the actual problem.
Understand how your business actually runs.
- How you make money, who your customers are, what drives & limits growth
- What happens every day — which tasks eat the most time and create the most stress
- Who decides, who’s overloaded, where communication breaks down
- What tools and data you already have — what’s working, what isn’t
Find the bottleneck under the request.
- “We need a chatbot” is a request, not a diagnosis — we find what’s underneath it
- Every friction point scored, not guessed at
- You get an honest AI-readiness read, not a sales pitch
Walk the ladder from simple to sophisticated.
- Process fix → traditional automation → AI assistance → AI agents, in that order
- We recommend the cheapest solution that actually works — not the most impressive one
- Every recommendation comes with a projected ROI, not just a description
Build, test, and make sure your team actually uses it.
- Production systems, documentation, training — not a demo
- Human review by default on anything customer-facing, until you’ve earned enough trust in it to remove that step
- Success is measured by adoption, not by whether it shipped
Keep improving after launch.
- Monthly performance review against the numbers from your original Audit
- Re-diagnose as your business grows — the bottleneck moves
What we might build
What comes out of your Audit depends on what we find.
Not every process should be automated, and the best fix isn’t always the most technologically advanced one. These are the categories a Design phase typically lands on — your roadmap will name the specific one(s) that fit your bottleneck.
For slow response & lost inquiries
- AI receptionists, FAQ & inquiry assistants
- Appointment scheduling, lead qualification
- English + Taglish, human review by default until trust is earned
For manual processes & spreadsheet chaos
- Workflow automation, inventory tracking
- Document processing, reporting systems
- Payment follow-ups, order logging
For knowledge trapped in one person’s head
- Internal company knowledge base
- Employee copilots, training assistants
For slow, gut-feel decision-making
- Analytics dashboards, daily summaries
- Predictive reporting for owners who need the numbers, not the noise
For problems that don’t fit a category
- Internal software, integrations, specialized apps
- And sometimes the honest recommendation is: don’t automate this yet
Investment
One priced entry point. Everything after is quoted on value, not features.
I don’t price “chatbot — ₱X.” Every proposal after the Audit is framed against the specific time, revenue, or errors it’s projected to save you — because that’s the number that actually matters to you.
The Operations Audit
- Business & workflow map across all 5 dimensions of how you operate
- Bottleneck analysis, scored — not guessed at
- AI-readiness read + a prioritized roadmap with projected ROI per recommendation
- Full amount credited toward a Transformation or Partnership engagement, if you proceed
Build what the Audit recommends.
- Priced against the ROI the roadmap projects, not hours coded or SKUs configured
- Typical split: 40% upfront / 40% at implementation / 20% at deployment
Ongoing optimization once something’s live.
- Monthly performance review against your original Audit numbers
- Re-diagnosed as your business grows — the bottleneck moves
Timeline
From booked call to a roadmap in your hands in 7 days.
This is the Audit timeline. If we move to Transformation afterward, build timelines are scoped per system — most Customer Experience systems are live within 1–2 weeks of signing.
Discovery call
60 minutes. I ask about how you make money, what eats your day, who’s overloaded, what tools you already use. You send the deposit in.
Workflow mapping + bottleneck analysis
I map how your business actually operates and score where the real friction is — not just what you asked for on the call.
Opportunity scoring + roadmap draft
Every viable fix scored against projected time saved, revenue gained, or errors reduced. Roadmap drafted — sometimes the honest answer is that nothing needs building yet.
Delivery + walkthrough
You get the Business Operations Map, Bottleneck Analysis, AI-readiness score, and prioritized roadmap — walked through live, not emailed cold.
Honest answers
The four questions I get on every call.
Why do I have to pay for an audit instead of you just building me a chatbot?
Because “we need a chatbot” is usually a request, not the actual problem. I’ve seen businesses ask for a bot when the real fix was a simpler process change — and businesses that needed something far more custom than a generic bot could ever be. The Audit is how I find out which one you are before either of us commits to a build. You walk away with a real roadmap either way, and the fee is credited toward the build if you continue.
What if the Audit says I don’t actually need AI?
Then I’ll tell you that. Not every process should be automated, and the best solution isn’t always the most technologically advanced one. If the honest recommendation is a process change, a cheaper tool, or nothing at all, that’s what goes in your roadmap. I’d rather lose the upsell than sell you a system you don’t need — that’s the trade I’m offering.
Another freelancer said they can build me a chatbot in 3 days, no audit needed. Why should I pay for this first?
They probably can — a generic no-code flow with a weak, one-size-fits-all AI bolted on, trained on nothing about your actual prices, policies, or customers. That might be fine for some businesses. It’s just not what I sell. If discovery is skipped, what gets built usually solves the request you stated instead of the constraint that’s actually limiting you — and you don’t find that out until it’s live and not quite working.
What if I don’t like the result? Pwede ba magpa-refund?
You can cancel within 24 hours of booking, before the discovery call happens, for a full refund. Once the call happens, the fee covers the time already spent understanding your business, so it’s non-refundable — but you still get the full roadmap on Day 7 regardless of whether you continue past the Audit. If we move into a build together afterward, that engagement gets its own acceptance window and terms, laid out in the proposal before you sign anything.
About me
Hi — I’m Justine. Alterra is an AI operations consulting company, not a chatbot shop.
I’m a Computer Science student, and I’m fascinated by how businesses actually work — what makes one shop’s operations hum and another’s buckle under growth. Right now my goal is to work closely with businesses, understand their real challenges, and help them adapt to the age of AI. Not sell them a bot.
Being early in my career means I ask questions without ego instead of performing expertise I don’t have — and I move fast, without years of process debt to unlearn. I won’t claim a team I don’t have or years of experience I haven’t lived. I’d rather walk away from a deal than over-promise and burn the relationship.
That’s the trade I’m offering: real curiosity about your business, an honest answer even when it’s “you don’t need this,” and — if we build something together — a system your team actually wants to keep using.