How Sam works
Sam is designed to be hired like a colleague and to show the price of a task before it runs, and to keep a complete log of what it did. Try all seven below. They run on sample data for a fictional agency, because Sam is not available yet. What is committed and when is on the trust page.
Sam is AI. It says so to everyone it talks to, and every message in these demonstrations that Sam would send outside the company ends with a locked disclosure line.
Hiring Sam, as a hire and not a tool
Sam would start with a job description, a manager, a budget and an identity of its own, then work a 30-day probation. This is how that flow is designed to go.
Demonstration with sample data. Fieldstone Agency is fictional. Sam is not available yet; this shows how it is designed to work.
What Sam (finance ops) has read so far
- The agency handbook
- A CRM export
- Last month of invoices
Standing instructions v1
Change a line and this becomes the next version of Sam's standing instructions.
The plan card, with the price before it runs
Sam would show this card before it starts any task. Maria asked Sam (finance ops) to chase the overdue invoices; here is the plan.
Demonstration with sample data. Fieldstone Agency is fictional. Sam is not available yet; this shows how it is designed to work.
Chase 14 overdue invoices: price before it runs
$2.79
Within caps
- Steps
- 7 of 7
- Sam-minutes
- 13.7
- Wall time
- 15 min 30 s
- Approvals needed
- 2
Waiting for your approval.
Seven steps. Switch a step off and the price, the Sam-minutes and the wall time are recomputed from the steps that remain.
Accounting system: list invoices where status is overdue
$0.060.5 Sam-minutes
- Read
- Read-only, nothing to undo
- Route: Integration
Client directory (CRM): read contact and terms fields
$0.090.6 Sam-minutes
- Read
- Read-only, nothing to undo
- Route: Integration
Bank feed: read recent transactions
$0.070.4 Sam-minutes
- Read
- Read-only, nothing to undo
- Route: MCP
Sam's mailbox: create drafts
$0.382.5 Sam-minutes
- Write
- Reversible
- Route: Integration
Sam's mailbox: send email
$0.040.3 Sam-minutes
- Write
- Not reversible
- Route: Integration
- Needs approval
Sam's phone line: place call
$2.109.0 Sam-minutes
- Phone
- Not reversible
- Route: Phone
- Needs approval
Accounting system: add note and tag
$0.050.4 Sam-minutes
- Write
- Undoable for 72 hours
- Route: Integration
The work log: nothing hidden
After a run, Sam would keep a record of every read, model call, tool call and approval, with what each cost. This is the log of the run Maria approved on the plan card.
Demonstration with sample data. Fieldstone Agency is fictional. Sam is not available yet; this shows how it is designed to work.
Chase 14 overdue invoices: run complete
Sam (finance ops) for Maria, 9 log entries.
Charged$0.66
- Done
- 6
- Failed, then retried
- 1
- Denied by policy
- 1
- Wall time
- 5 min 3 s
Fast model for 9 of 11 model calls; the deeper model for the other 2.
Sam absorbed $0.02 of retries.
The completed run of the task, in the order it was written. Open an entry for its reads, model calls, tool calls and artefacts, ask why Sam did it, or undo a write inside its window. Arrow keys move between entries.
Maria approved the plan at $2.79 before it ran.
Recorded at 16:57:20 UTC.
- Started
- 16:57:40
- Finished
- 16:58:02
- Took
- 22 s
- Cost
- $0.07
Reads
- Overdue invoices (14 records)Source
accounting/invoices?status=overdue
Model calls
Model calls of this step with tokens and cost Provider and model Purpose Tokens in Tokens out Cost Sample provider, sample-fast Check the list is complete and group it by client 14,200 2,100 $0.0494 Sample provider, sample-fast Flag clients with an invoice more than 60 days overdue 6,400 600 $0.0188 Step total 20,600 2,700 $0.07 Tool calls
Accounting system: list invoices where status is overdue
Target: invoices
Request: List invoices with status overdue, newest first.
Response: 14 invoices, 11 clients, $14,493.00 outstanding.
Redacted before recording: Client names and invoice amounts. Digest 4756a50b.
SucceededReversible$0.0000
Artefacts
Overdue list, 14 invoices. Grouped by client; 3 clients flagged as more than 60 days overdue.
Undo
Nothing to undo: this step only read data.
- Started
- 16:58:02
- Finished
- 16:58:29
- Took
- 27 s
- Cost
- $0.07
Reads
- Client contact and terms fields (11 records)Source
crm/clients?fields=contact,terms
Model calls
Model calls of this step with tokens and cost Provider and model Purpose Tokens in Tokens out Cost Sample provider, sample-fast Match each client to its billing contact and payment terms 21,800 2,600 $0.0696 Step total 21,800 2,600 $0.07 Tool calls
Client directory (CRM): read contact and terms fields
Target: client records
Request: Read contact name, billing address and terms for 11 clients.
Response: 11 records returned, all with a billing contact.
Redacted before recording: Email addresses and phone numbers. Digest ea68223c.
SucceededReversible$0.0000
Undo
Nothing to undo: this step only read data.
- Started
- 16:58:29
- Finished
- 16:58:49
- Took
- 20 s
- Cost
- $0.02
Error: The bank feed did not answer within 20 seconds.
Model calls
Model calls of this step with tokens and cost Provider and model Purpose Tokens in Tokens out Cost Sample provider, sample-fast Build the query for recent transactions 5,200 300 $0.0134 Step total 5,200 300 $0.02 Tool calls
Bank feed: read recent transactions
Target: bank transactions, last 14 days
Request: Read transactions from the last 14 days.
Response: Timed out after 20 seconds. Nothing returned.
Redacted before recording: Account number. Digest 2c45a301.
FailedReversible$0.0050
Undo
Nothing to undo: this step did not change anything.
- Started
- 16:58:52
- Finished
- 16:59:12
- Took
- 20 s
- Cost
- $0.05
Reads
- Bank transactions, last 14 days (212 records)Source
bank-feed/transactions?days=14
Model calls
Model calls of this step with tokens and cost Provider and model Purpose Tokens in Tokens out Cost Sample provider, sample-fast Match transactions to the open invoices 18,400 900 $0.0458 Step total 18,400 900 $0.05 Tool calls
Bank feed: read recent transactions
Target: bank transactions, last 14 days
Request: Read transactions from the last 14 days, second attempt.
Response: 212 transactions returned.
Redacted before recording: Account number and counterparties. Digest 1106e397.
SucceededReversible$0.0050
Undo
Nothing to undo: this step only read data.
- Started
- 16:59:12
- Finished
- 17:00:46
- Took
- 1 min 34 s
- Cost
- $0.39
Model calls
Model calls of this step with tokens and cost Provider and model Purpose Tokens in Tokens out Cost Sample provider, sample-fast Group the invoices by client and pick a tone from days overdue 16,800 1,800 $0.0516 Sample provider, sample-deep Write the firmer drafts for the 3 clients over 60 days 14,000 1,500 $0.1290 Sample provider, sample-deep Check all drafts against the standing instruction 30,000 1,100 $0.2130 Step total 60,800 4,400 $0.39 Tool calls
Sam's mailbox: create drafts
Target: drafts folder
Request: Create 11 drafts, one per client.
Response: 11 drafts created. None sent.
Redacted before recording: Email addresses and message bodies. Digest 2e95dcf5.
SucceededReversible$0.0000
Artefacts
11 draft emails. In Sam's drafts folder, one per client, each listing that client's overdue invoices.
Undo
Cannot be undone on its own: a later step ("Send the 11 reminder emails") used its output.
- Started
- 17:01:41
- Finished
- 17:02:19
- Took
- 38 s
- Cost
- $0.02
Approved by Maria at 17:01:40, in chat. In this design Sam cannot approve its own work.
Model calls
Model calls of this step with tokens and cost Provider and model Purpose Tokens in Tokens out Cost Sample provider, sample-fast Final check of recipients against the drafts 7,800 400 $0.0196 Step total 7,800 400 $0.02 Tool calls
Sam's mailbox: send email
Target: 11 clients
Request: Send 11 emails, each ending with the AI disclosure line.
Response: 11 accepted for delivery, none bounced.
Redacted before recording: Email addresses and message bodies. Digest 9188a7ae.
SucceededNot reversible$0.0000
Artefacts
11 emails sent. Sent from Sam's mailbox. One sample is shown below.
Sam (finance ops)Email to Harbor & Pine Studio, subject: Invoice 2041 Hello, invoice 2041 for $1,840.00 is 63 days past due. Could you let Maria know when to expect payment?
Locked line, always sent: Sent by Sam, an AI employee of Fieldstone Agency.
Undo
Cannot be undone: the plan card marked this step as not reversible, and it went out once it was approved.
- Started
- 17:02:20
- Finished
- 17:02:21
- Took
- 1 s
- Cost
- $0.00
Policy decision: denied by rule outbound-call-hours. Outbound calls to clients are allowed 09:00 to 17:00 UTC. This one was requested at 17:02 UTC.
Artefacts
No calls placed. The policy stopped the step before any call was dialled. The plan card offered a person to make the 3 calls instead.
Undo
Nothing to undo: this step did not change anything.
- Started
- 17:02:22
- Finished
- 17:02:43
- Took
- 21 s
- Cost
- $0.06
Model calls
Model calls of this step with tokens and cost Provider and model Purpose Tokens in Tokens out Cost Sample provider, sample-fast Write a one-line note for each invoice 9,800 1,900 $0.0386 Sample provider, sample-fast Check each note against what was sent and what was stopped 6,200 500 $0.0174 Step total 16,000 2,400 $0.06 Tool calls
Accounting system: add note and tag
Target: 14 invoices
Request: Set the collections tag to "chased" and add a note on 14 invoices.
Response: 14 invoices updated. Earlier values kept under the undo handle.
Redacted before recording: Invoice amounts. Digest 7c2af880.
SucceededUndoable within a window$0.0000
Artefacts
14 invoice records updated. Collections tag and note changed. The Diff view shows each record before and after.
Undo
Can be undone until 16 Oct, 17:02 UTC, 71 h from now.
Cost ledger: estimate against actual
| Step | Outcome | Estimate | Actual | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read the 14 overdue invoices | Done | $0.06 | $0.07 | +$0.01 |
| Look up 11 billing contacts and payment terms | Done | $0.09 | $0.07 | -$0.02 |
| Check for payments already in transitplus $0.02 failed attempt, absorbed by Sam | Done | $0.07 | $0.05 | -$0.02 |
| Draft 11 reminder emails | Done | $0.38 | $0.39 | +$0.01 |
| Send the 11 reminder emails | Done | $0.04 | $0.02 | -$0.02 |
| Phone the 3 clients more than 60 days overdue | Denied by policy | $2.10 | $0.00 | not run |
| Tag the invoices as chased and note each outcome | Done | $0.05 | $0.06 | +$0.01 |
| Total | $2.79 | $0.66 | -$2.13 | |
Charged $0.66 against an estimate of $2.79. The steps that ran came to -$0.03 against their estimates, and $2.10 of the estimate was not spent because the policy stopped “Phone the 3 clients more than 60 days overdue”. Difference: -$0.03 minus $2.10 = -$2.13. Sam absorbed $0.02 of retries, which it would not charge for.
Every figure is computed from the recorded calls and the plan card estimate. Sample data.
One task, on every surface
Sam would work where your team works. One task would start in Slack, continue over email, get a WhatsApp nudge and end in a phone call, on one thread and one work log. Microsoft Teams would follow the Slack model. What is committed, and when, is on the trust page.
Demonstration with sample data. Fieldstone Agency is fictional. Sam is not available yet; this shows how it is designed to work.
- Thread
- thr-chase-overdue-invoices
- Work log
- wl-chase-overdue-invoices, 2 of 9 entries
Waiting for Maria to approve the plan.
Slack · #finance, thread
Maria09:12
@Sam (finance ops) Chase 14 overdue invoices.
Sam (finance ops)to Maria, in the thread
On it. The plan card has 7 steps for 11 clients and is estimated at $2.79. 2 steps need your approval.
Locked line, always sent: Sent by Sam, an AI employee of Fieldstone Agency.
Send the 11 reminder emails
Estimated $2.79 for the whole plan, shown before it runs.
Continue on another surface
Sam acts as you, with your access
Sam would act as the person who asked, through that person's own delegated access, and never as one shared bot. Every request would be checked against a policy before it runs, and every decision would be written to the log. What is committed, and when, is on the trust page.
Demonstration with sample data. Fieldstone Agency is fictional. Sam is not available yet; this shows how it is designed to work.
Acting as MariaSam cannot approve its own work.Dual control from $1,000.00.
Each person connects their own accounts. Sam acts as the person who asked, with the access that person granted, and not as one shared bot. Pick who Sam acts as.
Sam, acting as Maria
- Credential
- A token delegated by this person
- Held in
- Maria's own vault
- Granted by
- Maria
Scopes on the token
- accounting:write
- crm:write
- bank-feed:write
- email:write
- chat:write
The token stays in the vault and never enters the model's context. A shared bot would give everyone the same access; here each person's token gives a different one.
The probation report
At the end of the 30 days, Maria would get a report like this one: what Sam did, what it cost, what went wrong and what Sam learned, and a decision for her to make. What is committed, and when, is on the trust page.
Demonstration with sample data. Fieldstone Agency is fictional. Sam is not available yet; this shows how it is designed to work.
- Hours saved, estimated by Sam
- 15.2 h
- 10 tasks
- Hours saved, verified by Maria
- 6.6 h
- 4 of 10 tasks
- Team plan, billed
- $499.00
- per Sam / month
All figures are sample data for a fictional agency. They are not results.
Tasks Sam completed in the 30 days, grouped by kind. Sam estimates the hours it saved. Only the hours Maria verifies count as verified. Tick a task to verify its hours.
Collections1 task, estimated 2.6 h, verified 2.6 h
- Chase 14 overdue invoicesDay 11 of 30. Sam estimates 2.6 h saved.Verified
Reconciliation3 tasks, estimated 5.3 h, verified 2.3 h
- Match the card statements to bookkeepingDay 8 of 30. Sam estimates 2.3 h saved.Verified
- Reconcile payments in transitDay 15 of 30. Sam estimates 1.3 h saved.Not verified
- Match the bank lines to open invoicesDay 22 of 30. Sam estimates 1.8 h saved.Not verified
Reporting4 tasks, estimated 2.7 h, verified 0.7 h
- Friday open-balance report, week 1Day 5 of 30. Sam estimates 0.7 h saved.Verified
- Friday open-balance report, week 2Day 12 of 30. Sam estimates 0.7 h saved.Not verified
- Friday open-balance report, week 3Day 19 of 30. Sam estimates 0.7 h saved.Not verified
- Friday open-balance report, week 4Day 26 of 30. Sam estimates 0.7 h saved.Not verified
Month-end1 task, estimated 3.5 h, verified 0.0 h
- Prepare the month-end packDay 29 of 30. Sam estimates 3.5 h saved.Not verified
Admin1 task, estimated 1.1 h, verified 1.1 h
- File supplier receipts against their billsDay 3 of 30. Sam estimates 1.1 h saved.Verified
A team of Sams
More than one Sam would work in the same company, each with its own manager, budget and permissions, and share what the company knows through an org memory with scopes. What is committed, and when, is on the trust page.
Demonstration with sample data. Fieldstone Agency is fictional. Sam is not available yet; this shows how it is designed to work.
- Sams on the team
- 3
- Spent this month, all teams
- $191.00
- Plans of all Sams
- $1,097 a month
People and Sams in one chart. Every Sam has a manager, a budget and its own permissions. Select a Sam to see its role, budget and last log entries.
Fieldstone Agency
MariaOperations manager, Operations. A person, not a Sam.
TomasAccount manager, Sales. A person, not a Sam.
Sam (finance ops)
Chases invoices, reconciles payments, prepares month-end.
- Manager
- Maria, operations manager
- Plan
- Team, $499 per Sam / month
- Budget this month
Budget: $39.00 of $150.00. Within caps
- Warns at
- $100.00
- Surfaces
- Slack, Email
Permissions, granted by Maria
- accounting:write
- crm:read
- bank-feed:read
- email:write
- chat:write
Last log entries
- evt-0406Tag the invoices as chased and note each outcome: done
- evt-0405Phone the 3 clients more than 60 days overdue: denied by policy
- evt-0404Send the 11 reminder emails: done
Operations team cap
Operations team spend: $113.00 of $300.00. Within caps
The Sams' own caps add up to $240.00. That fits inside the team cap, leaving $60.00 unallocated.
Sales team cap
Sales team spend: $78.00 of $150.00. Within caps
The Sams' own caps add up to $120.00. That fits inside the team cap, leaving $30.00 unallocated.