Unlocking new revenue streams
faster than manually tracking
paying clients at launch
client satisfaction
PROBLEM
Planning and manually tracking budgets drained event clients — slow, stressful, and error-prone
Event clients often knew their total budget but struggled with how to allocate it across vendor categories. Combined with the burden of tracking everything manually, the process quickly became overwhelming and error-prone. Through interviews, I uncovered how this workflow felt less like a celebration and more like running a demanding project.
An inside look at a client’s budget sheet reveals the hidden workload — vendors, payments, due dates, and endless manual entries.
strategy
Turning vendor documents into AI-powered smart budgets
To solve this, I defined the strategy with the founders and designed how AI would work for clients: upload vendor documents, and our AI transforms them into a smart budget with category allocation recommendations they can quickly review and adjust.
Solution
Start by uploading vendor documents in any format
I designed the first step to make starting effortless. Clients simply uploaded vendor contracts, invoices, or receipts in any format, and AI automatically pulled the key details to begin building their budget.
Multiple files could be uploaded at once, with status updates confirming progress and where files are stored.
Asking only what’s missing
We pre-defined all the information needed to build a complete budget. AI pulled details from uploaded documents and automatically filled anything clients had already provided through other features. Clients were only asked for the gaps, keeping the process simple and efficient.
In this example, clients only needed to enter details like guest count and target budget — everything else was auto-filled by AI or carried over from their previous inputs.
Turning scattered documents into a clear, smart budget
Once documents were uploaded, AI produced a smart budget that gave clients clarity and control. They could track progress and adjust as needed.
All vendors were organized in one view with payment amounts, due dates, deposits, and outstanding balances clearly highlighted.
Clients could easily compare their target vs. actual spend and explore the details on hover.
Clients could adjust each field with a simple click.
The result
New revenue stream unlocked
20+ paying clients at launch
Became the core of a new service package
Smarter, faster budgeting
10× faster than manual tracking
Freed clients from error-prone spreadsheets, reducing stress and confusion
Clients loved the experience
Clients rated the tool 5/5 for ease of use
"I can’t believe how easy it was to create this budget. It was done in minutes — like magic."
— Kylie, Design League client
Takeaways
Designing AI that works: lessons in building fast and building trust
AI needs human expertise. AI alone isn’t enough — we trained it with the knowledge of expert event planners, making outputs not just accurate but practical and client-ready.
Validate relentlessly. I led the team through extensive testing, running hundreds of real vendor documents. Each cycle revealed gaps, refined the model, and boosted reliability.
Proud of speed to impact. In just one month, we shipped an AI tool that launched with paying clients — showing how moving fast with focus delivers real business traction.
