- Client
- Event catering company
- Domain
- Workflow automation
- Method
- AI agents
The CRM already had the answers. Finding them was the job.
Connecting email, calendars, project data, and team availability so an SMB operator could stop being the integration layer.
01
The problem
The company already had software.
That wasn't the problem.
They had a CRM for projects and invoicing. Gmail for client communication. Calendars for scheduling. Different team members working different events. Different venues. Different equipment requirements.
The information existed.
It just didn't exist in one place.
So the owner became the system connecting all the systems.
02
The human loop
Every new event created another round of operational work. To understand what was happening, the owner might have to:
open the CRMsearch old communicationsfind the latest emailreconstruct event detailscheck calendarsmessage team membersconfirm availabilitydraft follow-upcreate inviterepeat
And then do it again when something changed.
A large part of operating the company became remembering where the answer lived.
03
What we built
A custom MCP integration layer connected the company's existing CRM, Gmail, and Google Calendar directly to Claude Desktop.
Instead of replacing their tools, we gave the existing tools a common interface.
Now the owner can ask things like:
- “What's happening with the Johnson event?”
- “Who is available for this event?”
- “Schedule them and send the details.”
The system searches CRM data and email history, reconciles the relevant information, and assembles a current project brief.
The system checks the appropriate calendars and team availability.
A calendar invitation can be prepared with the relevant event information already included.
Follow-up emails that previously required reconstructing the project context can now be drafted immediately from the underlying communications and CRM history.
04
What changed
83%
less time/week
- spent digging through CRM and project information
One
conversational interface
- across CRM, Gmail, calendar, and operational data
Project briefs
on demand
- assembled automatically from fragmented communications
Minutes
instead of back-and-forth
- for scheduling and team coordination
The business didn't need another dashboard.
It needed the systems it already had to talk to each other.
05
The owner stopped being middleware.
That may be my favorite line in this case study.
Because it's exactly what was happening.
The owner still makes the decisions.
They just don't have to manually assemble the information required to make them.
Before → CRM → email → calendar → team → owner → everyone else
After → CRM + email + calendar → system → owner
06
Under the hood
- Custom MCP server
- Claude Desktop
- CRM integration
- Gmail
- Google Calendar
- Cross-system retrieval
- Project brief generation
- Scheduling automation
07
The lesson
Small businesses don't necessarily need fewer tools. They need fewer humans acting as the API between them.