AI Agents and Assistants
What is an AI agent? A plain-English guide for business owners
What an AI agent is, how it works, where it helps a small business, the risks, and a 7-point check to see if you are ready for one.
Business Agents
AI Project Manager Agent for Jira
Jira issues watched for missed dates and stalls, blockers raised on the issue itself, and a team status posted on schedule.
In Jira, the issue that sinks a release is usually one that sat blocked for days while everyone assumed someone else had it. This agent watches your Jira projects for slipping due dates, stalled work and blockers. It comments on the issue, tells the person who can unblock it and posts a team status on schedule. Reassignments and date changes wait for your approver.
- Stalled and blocked Jira issues raised on the issue itself
- Team status compiled from live Jira data on your schedule
- Reassignments and date changes only with your approver's yes
$5,400
20–30 working days
Optional maintenance $270/mo
What it is
AI Project Manager Agent for Jira watches the issues in your Jira projects for slipping due dates, stalled work and blockers, raises them with the right person through Jira comments, and posts a team status update on your schedule. Changes such as reassigning an issue happen only inside the approval rules you set.
Why businesses buy it
Engineering and delivery leads lose hours each week reading boards to work out what is late, and blocked issues still slip through. That costs releases, client trust and a lot of stand-up time. This agent reads every watched Jira project daily, nudges the right people in issue comments and writes the status update for you. Leads get their afternoon back and the team sees problems while they are still small. The Scope Card sets exactly what the agent may change in Jira before you order, so nothing moves without agreement.
Problems this solves
Jira issues pass their due date without anyone being told
The agent reads issues across your Jira projects and spots slipping due dates and stalled work. It raises each one with the right person as a Jira comment, where the team already works.
Blockers sit in Jira comments that managers never read
Blockers are picked up from the issues themselves and included in a team status update posted on your schedule. Managers see them without opening every ticket.
Issues get reassigned without the right person signing off
Changes such as reassigning an issue happen only inside the approval rules you set. The agreed Jira field mapping is documented, and every action the agent takes is logged.
A good fit if
Your team plans and tracks work in Jira, but nobody has time to read every project daily to catch what is slipping.
Blocked issues sit for days because the person who could unblock them never hears about it.
Leads lose an afternoon each week compiling status from Jira for a team channel or stand-up.
You can set clear limits on what the agent may change in Jira, and your admin can join a 30-minute setup call.
Not the right fit if
You need client-facing status updates for professional services work. See AI Project Status Agent for Jira.
Incoming alerts and incidents need grouping and triage in Jira. See AI Incident Triage for Jira.
Your team mainly wants to ask Jira questions from Slack. See AI Slack Bot for Jira.
Your team plans in Linear. See AI Project Manager Agent for Linear.
How it works
- Limits come first. On a 30-minute call with your Jira admin, we agree which projects the agent watches, which issue fields it may change, and which changes need an approver.
- Issues are checked against your rules continuously: a due date passed, no status change for the days you set, no assignee, or an issue held in a blocked state.
- Blockers are raised where the work lives. The agent comments on the stalled Jira issue, mentioning the assignee or the person it depends on, and repeats the nudge in your team channel if nothing moves.
- Status updates are posted on schedule, pulled from live issue data across the watched projects: what closed, what is late, what is at risk, and who owns each item.
- Anything that changes the plan, such as reassigning an issue or moving a due date, is proposed to your named approver and applied in Jira only after a yes.
- Every comment, update and approved change is logged, so you can trace what the agent did across all six workflows.
What you provide within 72 hours
Your portal lists these the moment you order. Delivery starts the working day after everything is in and your access is checked.
- An Atlassian API token or OAuth app scoped to the projects the agent watches.
- Your Jira admin for a 30-minute setup call.
- Goals and boundaries: what counts as late or stalled, and what the agent may change on its own.
- Ten sample issues or status posts that show how your team reports progress.
- The approver for reassignments and date changes.
- Access to the team channel and the one other system, with test projects if you have them.
- One decision-maker who approves the workflow rules.
- An API key for your own AI model account (for example OpenAI or Google Gemini), created for this build with a spending limit.
The 72-hour rule. Send everything on your checklist, including access, within 72 hours of ordering so your build starts on time.
Timeline
Start
Intake verified; watched projects and approval rules agreed.
Weeks 1–2
Overdue, stall and blocker workflows built; status template set.
Week 3
Jira issues and comments connected, team channel linked.
Weeks 3–4
Fifty documented scenarios run on test projects.
Week 4
Your review and two rounds of changes.
Go-live
Live across your Jira projects, recorded handoff, support starts.
| Option | Delivery time | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 20–30 working days | $5,400 |
| Express | 15–25 working days | $6,200 |
| Rush | 10–20 working days | $7,000 |
What you receive at handover
- The AI Project Manager Agent for Jira, configured and deployed
- A two-way Jira connection with documented field mapping, plus up to one more system
- Access set up through user invites or keys you control, with no keys sent by email
- A test report run on sandbox or test records
- An admin guide and recorded handoff session
- 30 days of post-launch support
Expected benefits and how to measure them
- Can catch slipping issues while the sprint can still absorb them
- Helps leads see blockers without reading every ticket
- Makes reassignments follow an agreed approval path
- Issues resolved after their due date
- Run a Jira filter for issues resolved past due in the month before launch and the month after. Compare the counts.
- Time an issue stays blocked or flagged
- Use Jira's issue history to see how long issues stay blocked or flagged, before and after launch.
- Status reporting time
- Ask team leads how long weekly status takes before launch, and again after a month of automated updates.
Before you start: Save a Jira filter of overdue and flagged issues and record today's count. Note how long weekly status reporting takes your leads.
These are things to track, not promised results. Outcomes depend on your data, your team and your market.
Running costs
The build is paid once. Running the agent costs roughly $50 to $250 a month for AI model usage and hosting in your own accounts, on top of your current Jira plan and other tools. Jira licenses and upgrades are not part of the build.
AI usage during build and testing is also billed to your accounts.
Ask about running costsCustom requirements
A seventh workflow, a third connected system, or custom Jira objects need a written Change Quote. Add a note at checkout and we send it to you.
Request a custom versionKeep it running
Monthly maintenance covers monitoring, fixes and a monthly allowance of change hours for things such as new stall thresholds or another project added to the watch list. It bills monthly and can be cancelled any month.
$270/mo (5% of the build price a month, includes 2 change hours)
Optional. Starts after the post-launch support period. Cancel any month.
How maintenance worksHow this compares
| Do it yourself with a SaaS tool | Hire a custom agency | Upmark Labs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Jira automation add-ons charge by user tier | A project coordinator is a full salary | Ours is one fixed price, shown before you buy |
| Blockers | Rule-based alerts fire on fields, not context | Depends on who notices | Ours comments on the stalled issue and tells the person it depends on |
| Plan changes | An automation rule just executes | The coordinator decides | Ours asks your approver before reassigning or moving dates |
| Delivery | You write and maintain the rules | Hiring takes weeks | Ours has a fixed delivery time shown before you buy, with faster options |
Questions about this product
What can AI Project Manager Agent for Jira change without asking?
Only what your approval rules allow. Commenting on issues and posting team updates usually need no sign-off. Reassigning an issue, changing a due date or editing priority goes to your named approver first, unless you explicitly allow a specific low-risk case. The field mapping caps what it can ever touch.
How does the Jira project manager agent spot a blocker?
By the rules you set: an issue left in a blocked status, no movement for a set number of days, a missing assignee, or a due date passed. When one triggers, it comments on the Jira issue mentioning the person who can help, then repeats the nudge in your team channel if nothing changes.
Where does the Jira agent post the team's status update?
In the one channel on the Scope Card, usually a Slack or Teams channel your team already reads. The update is built from live Jira issues across the watched projects: what closed, what is late, what is at risk and who owns it. The schedule is yours to set.
How is the Jira project manager edition different from AI Slack Bot for Jira?
The Slack bot answers questions and runs actions when your team asks it in Slack. This edition works unprompted: it watches Jira for late, stalled and blocked issues, chases the right people in issue comments and posts scheduled status updates, all within your approval rules. Choose the bot for on-demand answers and this edition for daily oversight of delivery.
When does the build clock start for the Jira project manager edition?
The delivery clock starts once your Jira token, watched projects and approval rules are verified, which is due within 72 hours of ordering. Standard, express and rush delivery times are all shown in the delivery panel before you buy. Having a Jira admin join the short setup call early keeps intake quick and avoids access delays.
Can the Jira agent watch several projects at once?
Yes. It watches the Jira projects listed in the agreed mapping, and the status update can cover all of them or one per team, within the six workflows on the Scope Card. Adding a project later is a small mapping change that fits inside the monthly change hours of maintenance.
How is the Jira agent tested before it comments on real issues?
On test projects or sandbox records in your Jira. We run 50 documented scenarios, including late issues, stalls, missing owners and changes needing approval, and share every result. Two rounds of changes follow your review, and only then does it start watching live projects.
Guides on this topic
All guides Catch the stalled Jira issue before the deadline does.
Order AI Project Manager Agent for Jira and it watches your projects, nudges the right people on blocked or late issues, and posts team status on schedule, changing the plan only with approval.
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