Processes/hr — hiring, payroll, and people opshr

Hire first employee — hr processHire first employee

complexpartially automatable🔁 once⏳ has async waits

Complete the full hiring process including offer letter, onboarding, payroll setup, and benefits enrollment.

Gusto's Embedded Payroll API supports onboarding, pay schedules, and payroll; Carta's API drafts option grants for board approval. Offer letter drafting automatable. Background checks and benefits selection require human interaction.

Current agent ceiling

An agent can run 6 of 10 steps — 6 of them behind a human approval gate ⏸

⚡ Closable with today’s market (4 — via Workflow Automation, Browser Automation for Agents): Candidate accepts (1-3 days) (a workflow with webhooks/polling watches this so no human has to); Employee completes I-9 and W-4 (a workflow with webhooks/polling watches this so no human has to); Set up benefits enrollment (computer-use candidate — a browser agent can drive this deterministic web flow); Create company email (computer-use candidate — a browser agent can drive this deterministic web flow)

How it runs

Route-coded block flow: emerald = agent, amber = manual form/portal, red = needs a human. ⏸ approval gate · ⏳ async wait.

01Draft offer letter

agent

⏸ approval gatemedium risk

02Send offer for signature

agent

Docusign37 ↗⏸ approval gatehigh risk

or:Clerky37·Ironclad37

1 API call

POST /v2.1/accounts/{id}/envelopes

03Candidate accepts (1-3 days)

human

⏳ async

⚡ agentic workaround: a workflow with webhooks/polling watches this so no human has to — n8n, top of Workflow Automation →

runs in parallel · 2

04Add employee to Gusto

agent

Gusto59 ↗⏸ approval gatemedium risk

or:Deel57·Rippling12

1 API call

POST /v1/companies/{id}/employees

05Grant stock options

agent

Carta36 ↗⏸ approval gatehigh risk

or:Cake Equity22·Ledgy12

1 API call

carta.draftOptionGrants.create()

runs in parallel · 4

06Set up payroll schedule

agent

Gusto59 ↗⏸ approval gatemedium risk

or:Deel57·Rippling12

1 API call

PUT /v1/companies/{company_id}/pay_schedules/{pay_schedule_id}

07Employee completes I-9 and W-4

human

Gusto59 ↗⏳ asyncmedium risk

or:Deel57·Rippling12

⚡ agentic workaround: a workflow with webhooks/polling watches this so no human has to — n8n, top of Workflow Automation →

08Set up benefits enrollment

manual form

Gusto59 ↗⏸ approval gatemedium risk

or:Deel57·Rippling12

⚡ agentic workaround: computer-use candidate — a browser agent can drive this deterministic web flow — Steel, top of Browser Automation for Agents → · assisted, not autonomous — a human supervises; verify the portal’s terms allow automation

09Create company email

manual form

Gmail⏸ approval gatedo it yourself: Google Admin console ↗

1 API call

directory.users.insert

10Add to Slack

agent

Slack65 ↗⏸ approval gate

or:Discord59·Zulip34

1 API call

admin.users.invite

Context the agent needs first: employee name (from the founder) · employee role (from the founder) · employee salary (from the founder) · employee start date (from the founder) · equity grant shares (from the founder)