r/automation has produced 6 Reddit threads that scored 7 or higher on BID's AI opportunity model, 3 of them scoring 8 or above. The highest-upvoted thread, "can’t keep up with my invoice processing. Is there an easy way to automate them?," pulled 97 upvotes from people describing the same unmet need. 1 of those threads have already been turned into full validated idea reports below, each with keyword demand and a feasibility score. r/automation skews toward people describing daily workflow friction rather than pitching startups, which is exactly the kind of unfiltered complaint BID's scanner is built to catch.
“ I have a used car dealership and am slammed with invoices coming in and need a way to automate them into quickbooks, any solutions/advice? also is there a way to process this using an email automation aka I forward this and it goes in automatically in quickbooks? Edit: Say like I heard the WRK automation platform is really good for this i hear?”
Used car dealerships need QuickBooks-integrated invoice automation that handles email PDFs and auto-extracts line items without manual entry
“Hello everyone, so I have been searching all over the web and over here as well for a minute now not really being satisfied with what I found so I decided to make my own post. I'm looking for advice, my situation is I was hired as an Accountat for a company around 3 years ago now but for the past 2 years I've mostly been doing Power Query/RPA for the Invoice Audit sector of my company. I'm the only person that knows anything about it in my team or the whole accounting sector for that matter, aside from people that are straight up just IT guys. I used to study Data Science just for a few months before I joined this company hence why they asked me to do this "more advanced" stuff cause they figured I was capable and they were right. But the thing is, I want to be more capable, but I have no where to sart. I want to go deeper into automation, I want to help other departments with it as well, I want my colleagues to have less things to do so they live happier, less stressful ”
Accountant wants practical automation skills and tools — vertical SaaS + training product for bookkeeping automation in mid-size firms
“I’m curious to hear from teams or individuals who’ve managed to automate invoice or PO processing without having to build rigid templates for every document format. Most OCR or RPA setups I’ve seen break the moment a vendor changes their layout. If you’ve implemented a system that adapts dynamically or uses AI/ML for data extraction, how’s your experience been — accuracy, maintenance, integration effort? Which industries or workflows did it work best for (finance, logistics, manufacturing, etc.)? Genuinely curious about what’s working and what isn’t.”
Teams want template-free AI invoice/PO extraction that adapts when vendors change formats instead of breaking RPA setups
“Over the past year, I've automated 73% of my administrative role with my manager's full knowledge and support. My productivity has increased dramatically, and I've been able to take on more strategic work as a result. Here's exactly what I automated and how: Email management (15 hours/week → 2 hours/week) * Created Gmail filters for automatic categorization * Implemented text expander for common responses * Built decision tree flowcharts for team to reduce questions * Set up auto-responders for predictable inquiries * Used Willow Voice for dictating complex responses The voice tool has been particularly effective for emails requiring nuance or detail - I can dictate a thoughtful response in a fraction of the time it would take to type. Reporting (8 hours/week → 1 hour/week) * Created Python scripts to pull data from various sources * Built automated dashboards in Google Data Studio * Scheduled automatic report generation and distribution * Implemented anomaly detection for except”
Remote admins need ethical automation suite for email/tasks that managers can audit, $29/mo
“Two years and \\~30 professional services projects deep — law firms, accounting practices, recruiting agencies, small consultancies, a few marketing shops. Different industries, different stacks, different headcounts. The work converges on the same five automations every single time. I started keeping a running list around project 12 and haven't added anything to it in over a year. 1. Intake. Lead fills out a form → someone manually creates a CRM record → someone schedules a call → someone sends a confirmation → someone drops the lead in a spreadsheet for partner review. At most firms there are 4 or 5 humans touching this. None of them need to be. A handful of nodes wired together replaces the whole chain. The reason it's still manual is that the process grew organically over years and nobody ever sat down to look at the full flow at once. 2. Document generation. Engagement letters, NDAs, SOWs, proposals, retainers. Most firms have an admin manually swapping names, dates, scope,”
Professional services firms (law, accounting, recruiting) repeatedly need the same 5 non-AI automations — build vertical SaaS targeting those exact workflows
“I run a small business and need to send multiple text reminders to my customers, things like deposit info, booking confirmations, and appointment reminders. Right now, I’m sending them manually, which is time-consuming and easy to mix up. I don’t mind sending the texts myself, but I’d love a way to semi-automate it so the messages can include the customer’s name and appointment details automatically. Does anyone know of a way to schedule or generate multiple SMS reminders per customer without paying for expensive software? Free or low-cost options would be great.”
Small service businesses need cheap automated multi-SMS reminder SaaS for bookings and deposits without expensive platforms — manual texting is painful workflow
You just haven't seen it yet.