Approach · Hermes
Hermes. The control plane
behind every Sentry engagement.
Hermes is the system Sentry built to run delivery. It assigns work to AI agents and workflows, records what was done and what it cost, holds each standard in writing, and stops at a person before anything material happens.
Why Hermes
AI is easy to switch on. Hard to keep in control.
Most businesses can start an AI tool or an automation in an afternoon. The trouble starts later: nobody can say what it did, what it cost, or who agreed to it. Hermes exists to answer those questions by default, for every piece of work.
Work is forgotten between people and tools
Every piece of work gets a reference, an owner and a status the moment it is raised. Nothing depends on someone remembering it.
AI acts without a record
Every run is logged: what was done, by which AI agent or workflow, when, and what it cost. “What changed and why?” becomes a lookup, not an investigation.
Standards live in people's heads
Each standard is written into a contract that says what must be held and what may not be done. When someone is busy or leaves, the standard stays.
The same defect keeps coming back
When a fault is fixed, the check that would have caught it is added to the owning contract. The same fault cannot quietly return.
AI spend drifts upwards
Cost is recorded against each task, and routine work is routed to the lowest-cost tool that can do it reliably. Expensive models are kept for the work that needs them.
People lose control of automation
Anything material stops for a named person to approve. AI agents do the legwork; people keep the decisions, by design and in writing.
The value
What Hermes creates, enhances and protects.
We judge every piece of work on three questions: does it create new capacity or revenue, does it make something already running better, and does it reduce risk? Hermes answers yes to all three.
Create
Capacity without adding headcount
- Work held by AI agents and workflows scales with volume, not with hiring.
- New services go live faster because they reuse tasks, skills and checks already proven in Hermes.
- A written record of every outcome becomes material for proposals, reports and case studies.
Enhance
Faster, steadier delivery
- Every session starts from what was decided last time — no re-explaining, no repeated work.
- Quality is measured per task, so improvement is steered by evidence rather than opinion.
- The engagement keeps improving after go-live instead of levelling off on handover day.
Protect
Control, audit and cost certainty
- An audit trail by default: who or what changed each thing, when, and why.
- Human approval on material decisions, and access limited to what each task needs.
- Costs reported per task and per client, with limits that stop runaway AI spend.
What you see as a client
Nothing extra to run. Everything on the record.
Hermes works on our side of the engagement. You do not log in to it or maintain it. What you get is the result of it:
- A clear record of what was done for you, and when.
- A plain answer to “what changed, and why?” at any time.
- Costs attributed to the work that caused them.
- Decisions that matter brought to you — never made silently.
Hermes is the control plane at the centre of SAOS, the Sentry Agentic Operating System — module nine of the Growth Engine, the one that stops the other eight decaying after go-live. It is also how we hold the Control stage of value engineering: the gain, once made, stays made.
We use it before we sell it. Hermes runs Sentry's own delivery — this website, our clients' systems and our internal operations.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is Hermes a product I have to buy or run?
No. Hermes is how Sentry delivers. It comes with every managed engagement and runs on our side, so there is nothing for you to install or administer.
Does Hermes replace my existing tools?
No. Your CRM, accounts, website and shop stay where they are. AI agents and workflows work inside those tools; Hermes assigns the work and keeps the record.
How does Hermes relate to SAOS?
SAOS, the Sentry Agentic Operating System, is our method for holding standards after go-live. Hermes is the control plane at its centre — the part that assigns, records, checks and costs the work.
Who makes the important decisions?
People do. Any material action — spending money, publishing, deleting or changing something live — stops for a named person to approve.
Can I see what has been done?
Yes. Because every task is recorded with its owner, outcome and cost, we can report exactly what was done for your business and what it cost.
The next step
See Hermes running before you buy anything.
A Discovery call costs nothing, carries no obligation, and ends with a written view of where the value is in your business.