How I Run a Full Software Team for 17 Dollars a Month
- Brainz Magazine
- Aug 14
- 4 min read
Written by Jelle van der Tas, AI-Powered Sales Automation
As founder of AILEGION, Jelle van der Tas leads an all-in-one AI sales platform that scales outreach with autonomous cold calling and lead qualification, makes selling easier through automation, and improves conversions with real-time AI coaching and sales training.
If you have more ideas than time, this will help. I use a single $17 AI subscription to act like a full software team that I can brief and manage in one place. It plans, builds, tests, and documents, so I can ship working tools in hours.
What is an AI software team, in simple terms?
I talk to one smart assistant, like a project manager. It brings in focused specialists behind the scenes. One plans, one builds, one tests, and one writes documentation. Each has a specific job and its own memory, so they stay focused and make fewer mistakes. I give a clear goal, and I get a working tool back. McKinsey’s research explains why this works for output and speed at scale, with generative AI projected to add trillions in value by lifting productivity across knowledge work, including software development.
Where does this fit into my business?
A clear view of the agent architecture
Here is the high-level flow: You speak to the orchestrator, which delegates to the right specialists. Work flows back for checks, and you approve milestones.
My sub–agents and what they do
Architect and Planner turns a one-page brief into a plan, milestones, and clean interfaces so work can happen in parallel.
Backend Developer builds APIs, data models, and scripts for imports, transformations, and automations.
Frontend Developer creates dashboards, forms, and simple UIs that connect to the APIs.
DevOps sets up containers, basic CI, and simple deploy scripts, plus smoke tests and logs.
QA writes unit and integration tests, checks acceptance criteria, and flags edge cases.
Technical Writer ships a short guide, quick start, and an API reference when needed.
How a project runs end–to–end
Example for AILEGION
Goal: A mini outbound campaign dashboard that shows the reply rate by segment and exports a weekly report.
Brief highlights: Import leads, tag by source, track outreach and replies, show the reply rate by segment and week, and export a weekly summary.
What happens: The Architect shapes the data model. The Backend builds import and stats endpoints. The Frontend builds a dashboard with filters and an export button. QA adds tests with sample data. DevOps sets up containers and CI. Docs writes a one-page how-to.
Outcome: A working dashboard ready to plug into an AILEGION campaign in a single afternoon.
Example for Strategy AI
Goal: A small internal app that compares AI tools and recommends one based on budget, features, and integration.
Brief highlights: Input price cap, data privacy needs, and existing stack; show three candidates with pros and cons; include a rollout checklist; keep a decision log.
What happens: The Architect drafts a scoring model. The Backend implements a catalog and scoring endpoint. The Frontend builds a compare view and summary. QA tests scoring logic and edge cases. Docs writes the rollout playbook.
Outcome: A decision tool clients can use in a workshop to pick a tool with confidence.
Why does this work and stay stable
Clear roles and separate memory per specialist cut noise and reduce mistakes.
A single orchestrator owns planning, handoffs, and checks, so you have one place to track status and make decisions.
Persistent sessions on a small server keep work going while I am away, and I can reattach later without losing context.
Short, focused prompts with checklists create guardrails. For example, QA checks the happy path, invalid input, empty data, performance sanity, and documents reproducible failures.
Cost and ROI
Seventeen dollars a month for the AI subscription that coordinates everything. I run it on a small server I already have. The payoff is speed to value. I turn ideas into working tools in hours that would normally wait on a backlog for weeks.
When I still use human experts
Brand-level UI and motion design
Deep security reviews and threat modeling
Messy domains with ambiguous rules
Customer-facing copy and storytelling
A quick starter playbook you can copy
Write a one-page brief with the goal, must-haves, constraints, and acceptance criteria.
Ask for a plan that ships something end-to-end in one or two days.
Keep roles narrow. Architect, backend, frontend, QA, DevOps, and docs are enough to start.
Expect a working result with a short how-to and basic tests.
Improve what proves valuable. Do not aim for perfection on day one.
Call to action
If you want to apply this in your business, StrategyAI can help you choose the right tools and set up a workflow that saves hours quickly. If your focus is revenue, AILEGION can turn what you build into scalable outreach that lands more meetings and boosts conversions.
See how AILEGION makes sales outreach easier and scalable at the AILEGION website.
Get practical help selecting and deploying AI tools with StrategyAI.
Read more from Jelle van der Tas
Jelle van der Tas, AI-Powered Sales Automation
Jelle van der Tas, the visionary behind AILEGION, combines extensive sales and IT experience with a lifelong ambition to create impactful solutions. Recognizing the universal challenge of scalable outreach, he founded AILEGION in 2025 to help businesses effectively communicate their value and boost conversions. Jelle's personal dedication to continuous improvement, evident in his habits of learning, fitness, and journaling, drives his pursuit of cutting-edge AI. His work empowers companies to achieve sales growth that was once out of reach.
