# Expert Directory The Expert Directory connects businesses that want help building their AI workforce with vetted consultants and agencies who already do that work. Browse profiles, see each expert's region and budget range, and contact them directly. There is no commission taken on either side; you agree the scope and price with the expert yourself. The Expert Directory is a public page listing independent consultants and agencies who set businesses up on Sistava. Each listing shows the expert's name, company, region, typical project budget, a short headline, and a full profile with expertise highlights and a description of how they help. Visitors browse the directory without an account and reach out to any expert directly by email from the expert's profile page. Sistava does not sit in the middle of that conversation, does not take a cut of what the expert charges, and does not manage the engagement once contact is made. On the other side, anyone who already delivers AI automation or implementation work for clients can apply to be listed. Applications go through a short waitlist form on the same page, applying costs nothing, and the Sistava team reviews each one by hand before adding a profile to the directory. There is no automatic approval and no listing fee. Nothing about a listing is a black box. A profile tells you who the expert is, whether they work as an individual or a company, where they are based, the size of project they usually take on, the areas they focus on, and the steps they walk a client through. You read all of that before writing to anyone, so the first email is already a real conversation about your business rather than a request for basic facts. It is worth being clear about what the directory is not. It is not a bidding site, there is no escrow, no fee taken from either side, and no rating you have to earn before anyone will talk to you. It is a curated page and an introduction by email, which is exactly why the relationship you end up with is a normal one between your business and an independent consultant. ## For businesses that want it built If you want an AI workforce running without managing the setup yourself, the directory is the place to start. Every listed expert has a profile showing their region, typical budget range, and the kind of implementation work they focus on, so you can find a fit before reaching out. Contact happens directly, expert to buyer. The expert scopes your automation needs, tells you what it takes and what it costs, and then configures the work on your own Sistava workspace, using your account and your data rather than a black box you hand things over to. ## For consultants and agencies who deliver the work Anyone already running an automation or AI implementation practice for clients can apply through the waitlist form on the directory page. A dedicated profile gets your business in front of teams that are actively looking for implementation help, without Sistava taking a commission on what you charge. Accepted experts get a profile page with expertise highlights, a description of how they help, a contact link, and a website link, plus access to priority product support for complex client work and the ability to be discovered by anyone browsing the directory. ## What to check before you contact someone Start with region and budget, because those two rule people in or out fastest. Region tells you the working hours you would share and whether they take clients anywhere in the world, and the budget line tells you the size of project they normally take on, so you can see early whether a small first piece of work is a realistic starting point. Then read the expertise list and the steps describing how they help. Those tell you the shape of an engagement: which workflows get scoped first, which parts they configure, and whether they hand over something your own team can run afterwards. If your goal is to run it yourself once the setup is done, say so in the first email. ## How It Works **A directory, not a marketplace transaction** Expert profiles are curated data, not user-submitted listings that publish automatically. An applicant fills out the waitlist form (email required, name, website, and message optional), the team reviews the application by hand, and an accepted expert is added to the profile list that powers both the directory grid and each individual profile page. A buyer picks an expert from the directory, opens their profile, and contacts them directly using the email link on the page. From there, scoping, pricing, and delivery happen entirely between the buyer and the expert on the buyer's own Sistava workspace. Sistava does not process payment for this work and does not review or moderate what happens after the introduction, beyond the initial listing review. Payment, contracts, and delivery stay between the two of you. There is no commission on either side, no invoicing on the expert's behalf, and no funds held in the middle, so what you end up with is an ordinary client relationship with an independent consultant. Everything the expert configures lives in your own workspace under your own account, which means you keep it whether or not you carry on working together. ## Use Cases ### A founder who wants a workforce live without building it themselves Browse the directory, pick an expert whose region and budget fit, and contact them directly to scope the AI employees you need configured on your own workspace. ### An automation freelancer looking for qualified leads Apply to the expert waitlist, get reviewed, and once accepted, receive a public profile that surfaces you to businesses searching the directory for implementation help. ### An agency that wants ongoing visibility instead of one-off referrals A listed profile stays discoverable in the directory continuously, rather than depending on a single introduction, and can lead to retainer work as a client's AI workforce grows. ### A business deciding whether to build in-house or hire out Compare listed experts' focus areas and budget ranges before deciding whether to configure employees internally or bring in outside implementation help. ## Comparison | Before | After | |---|---| | Scrolling freelancer sites hoping somebody has built an AI workforce before | A reviewed list of consultants who do this specific work, with region and budget shown | | A marketplace fee stacked on top of the consultant's rate | You agree scope and price directly, with no commission taken on either side | | Handing your business to an outside tool you cannot see inside | The expert configures your own workspace, on your account and your data | | Chasing implementation clients one referral at a time | A public profile that stays discoverable to businesses looking for setup help | ## FAQ ### Does Sistava take a cut of what I pay an expert, or what an expert charges? No. Contact happens directly between the buyer and the expert, and the price and scope are agreed between the two of you. Sistava does not process payment for this work and does not take a commission on either side. ### How do I get listed as an expert? Apply through the waitlist form on the Expert Directory page with your email, and optionally your name, website, and a message about your work. Every application is reviewed by hand before a profile is added to the public directory. ### What does an expert actually do once I hire them? They scope your automation needs, tell you what the work takes and what it costs, and then configure your AI employees on your own Sistava workspace, using your account and your data. Some clients keep an expert on retainer afterward; others take it from there themselves. ### How is this different from the Partner Program or the Affiliate Program? The Affiliate Program is for promoting Sistava for a recurring commission, and the Partner Program is for agencies delivering full implementations under a partner relationship. The Expert Directory is a public listing where independent consultants get discovered directly by businesses that need setup help, with no commission structure attached. ### Do I need a Sistava account to browse the Expert Directory? No. The Expert Directory is a public page, so anyone can open it, read every profile, and email an expert without signing up or logging in. You only need an account when you are ready to have the work configured in your own workspace. ### Do I have to pay anything to be listed as an expert? No. Applying to the Expert Directory is free, there is no listing fee or membership charge, and no commission is taken on the client work you win. The form asks for your email, plus your name, website, and a note about your work if you want to include them. ### Do I need to know how to code to work with a Sistava expert? No. Sistava is built to be set up without code, so most of what an expert does is configuration rather than software written for you. That matters after the project ends too: you can keep adjusting employees, tools, and approvals yourself instead of calling someone back for every change. ## Where Expert Directory fits Expert Directory is part of Things you hire or set up. Browse a marketplace of pre-built AI agent roles and full teams, or build your own from scratch. Organize them into teams with leaders, set up your org chart, and onboard new hires in minutes. Every employee arrives configured and ready to deliver from day one. - [Things you hire or set up](/en/features/hire): A full workforce. Hired in seconds. ## Read the guide - [Guide: Expert Directory](/en/guide/setup/hire) ## More in Fast Onboarding - [Hire an AI Employee](/en/features/hire/hire_individual_employee): Browse the Marketplace and hire an AI employee for a specific role: a department specialist, a personal assistant, or a custom role you define from scratch. Hiring is free and instant. You land straight in the new employee's chat, and every skill, duty, and tool it starts with can be changed afterward from its dashboard. - [Interview Before Hiring](/en/features/hire/interview_employee): Chat with any employee template before you hire it, on the public marketplace pages or inside the app, to see how it thinks and communicates about your actual work. When you're convinced, say so in the conversation or click Hire; nothing is added to your team until you decide. - [Employee Builder](/en/features/hire/custom_employee): Employee Builder is the "Build Your Own" card in the Marketplace: instead of hiring a pre-built role, you start from a blank template and set the name, role, and persona yourself. The new hire starts with one skill, Research & Brief, and nothing else pre-assigned, so you add skills, duties, and tools from the Skills, Duties, and Tools tabs to match the exact job you need done. It is a Custom-plan feature; every other plan hires from the marketplace's pre-built roles instead. - [Personal Assistants](/en/features/hire/personal_assistants): Every account starts with a Personal Assistant already hired, ready to talk before you decide who else to bring on. No marketplace trip, no setup, no decision to make first. - [Get Started Through Conversation](/en/features/hire/employee_driven_onboarding): When you hire an AI employee, they land in your chat with a short greeting that names their role and what they handle, then ask what you need first. There is no setup wizard, no progress bar, and no settings panel to fill in before they can work. You customize name, persona, skills, and tools later from their dashboard, but none of that is required before the first message. - [Model Selection](/en/features/hire/model_selection): Every employee runs on a model you choose, not one fixed default. Switch models per employee from the AI Models page whenever a job calls for more reasoning power or a cheaper, faster response. - [Manage Employee Status](/en/features/hire/employee_state_lifecycle): Pause, resume, or let go of an AI employee without losing anything. Suspend an employee when you don't need them right now and bring them back exactly as you left them, or terminate one and keep their full chat history and work record in your Alumni list. Terminated employees stop counting against your plan's employee limit, and you can re-hire the same role later. - [Hire a Full Team](/en/features/hire/hire_full_team): Hire a complete pre-built team from the Marketplace in one click: every member configured, a leader assigned, and sprint planning ready to start. Or build a custom team from your existing hires, pick a leader, and set it up yourself. Either way, you talk to one leader and they coordinate the rest. - [Keep Former Team Members](/en/features/hire/alumni_team): When you let an employee go, they don't disappear. Sistava moves them into your Alumni list, where their chat history and work stay intact and readable. If you need them back, one click restores them to active with everything they knew still in place. - [Marketplace](/en/features/hire/marketplace): The Marketplace is where you browse and hire AI employees: two personal assistants, a specialist for every department (Marketing, Sales, Support, HR, Operations), and a Custom AI Talent card if none of the pre-built roles fit. Click a card's photo to preview its skills, duties, tools, and persona before you commit, then click Hire to add it to your workforce and land straight in its chat. Hiring is free; you only spend credits when an employee does work. - [Employee Avatar Upload](/en/features/hire/employee_avatar_upload): Upload a custom profile photo for any AI employee straight from their Profile tab, replacing the default generated avatar. JPEG, PNG, GIF, and WebP files up to 5 MB are accepted, and the change takes effect immediately. The photo appears everywhere that employee shows up: chat, the org chart, the virtual office, notifications, and task cards. Any member of your workspace can change it, not only the person who hired that employee. - [Multiple Workspaces](/en/features/hire/multi_tenancy): Create additional workspaces under the same login, each with its own AI employees, conversations, training data, billing, and collaborators. Nothing crosses a workspace boundary by default, so a separate client, business, or department stays fully isolated. Your plan sets how many workspaces you can create, and you switch between them without signing out. ## Explore - [Every feature](/en/features) - [Hire an AI employee](/en/market) - [Pricing](/en/pricing)