How do you hire an

How do you hire an automation or AI agents expert without getting burned? Ask to see one live system, not screenshots, and put a small paid audit in front of any big build.

Here is why I say that. A US manufacturer hired us after a migration was declared done. Their documentation said 14 automations were live on monday.com. A four-day audit found zero. Not one. The screenshots looked great, the document read well, and nothing behind them existed. We rebuilt it as 25 automations across 9 boards, live-tested on real records. The client did nothing wrong except trust paper.

The checklist I would use to hire anyone in this field, including me:

1. Verify the credential at the source, not on the resume. Make.com and Zapier both publish partner directories. If someone claims a tier or a certification, it should be findable on the platform's own site in 30 seconds. If it is not, stop.

2. Ask to open one live system on a screen share. Not a portfolio PDF. A real scenario or workflow, running, with its execution history visible. Two minutes of history tells you more than any case study.

3. Ask one question: "what happens when this fails at 2 AM?" The answer should contain error routes, retries, alerts and who gets woken up. If the answer is "it does not fail", you are hiring the person who wrote that 14-automations document.

4. Ask who owns the accounts. Everything should be built in YOUR workspace, on YOUR subscriptions, with YOUR API keys. If the work lives in the freelancer's account, you are renting your own business process.

5. Start with a paid audit, not a build. A few days, fixed fee, output is a written map: what exists, what does not, what is worth building and what it should cost. Credit it against the build. Anyone who refuses to be paid for thinking wants to be paid for volume.

6. For AI agents, ask where the human sits. Every agent that touches customers or money needs a review step or a takeover switch. An agent nobody can interrupt is a liability with good grammar.

The pattern behind all six: proof over polish. The best people in this field will happily show you running systems and error logs, because that is the part they are proud of.

What is the worst automation handover you have inherited? I collect these stories.

Prem Patel, Nex Automations. Make.com Level 5 certified, official Make partner, Zapier Certified Expert, both verifiable in the partner directories.