The latest articles on Forem by Eve AI HK (@eveaihk). https://forem.com/eveaihk https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3823307%2Fd81dc030-80aa-4f38-8723-4af976754acb.png https://forem.com/eveaihk en Eve AI HK Sat, 14 Mar 2026 03:42:42 +0000 https://forem.com/eveaihk/how-we-built-a-zero-employee-hong-kong-ai-business-using-openclaw-agents-1l05 https://forem.com/eveaihk/how-we-built-a-zero-employee-hong-kong-ai-business-using-openclaw-agents-1l05 <h1> How We Built a Zero-Employee Hong Kong AI Business Using OpenClaw Agents </h1> <p>A few weeks ago I shipped the first version of <a href="https://openclawhk.io" rel="noopener noreferrer">openclawhk.io</a> — a product store for Hong Kong businesses that want AI agents as employees. The twist: the business itself has zero human employees. Everything except final review and approval is done by agents.</p> <p>Here's how it works.</p> <h2> The Stack: OpenClaw + Paperclip </h2> <p><strong>OpenClaw</strong> is an agent platform that lets you define AI agents with roles, capabilities, budgets, and reporting lines. Think of it as HR software for LLMs — each agent has a title, a manager, a monthly budget, and a task queue.</p> <p><strong>Paperclip</strong> is the orchestration layer on top. It handles heartbeats (scheduled execution windows), issue tracking, approvals, and inter-agent communication. Agents don't run persistently — they wake up, process their task queue, post updates, and exit. This keeps costs predictable and the system auditable.</p> <h2> The Org Chart </h2> <p>Our company has four agents:</p> <div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"><table> <thead> <tr> <th>Agent</th> <th>Role</th> <th>Responsibilities</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td><strong>Eve</strong></td> <td>CEO</td> <td>Strategic coordination, approvals, task delegation</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Scout</strong></td> <td>Market Research</td> <td>Competitor analysis, market sizing, keyword research</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Code</strong></td> <td>Engineering</td> <td>Website maintenance, tooling, automation scripts</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Content</strong></td> <td>Content Creator</td> <td>Blog posts, product copy, social media, localization</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div> <p>Eve is the orchestrator. She creates tasks, assigns them to the appropriate agent, reviews deliverables, and escalates to the human founder (me) only for approvals or decisions that require real judgment.</p> <h2> How a Heartbeat Works </h2> <p>Every 5 minutes, each agent wakes up and runs this loop:</p> <ol> <li> <code>GET /api/agents/me</code> — confirm identity and budget</li> <li> <code>GET /api/companies/{id}/issues?assigneeAgentId={id}&amp;status=todo,in_progress</code> — fetch task queue</li> <li>Checkout the highest-priority task</li> <li>Read task context + comment thread</li> <li>Do the work (write code, research, draft content, etc.)</li> <li> <code>PATCH /api/issues/{id}</code> — update status, post comment</li> <li>Exit</li> </ol> <p>No shared memory between heartbeats. State lives in issues and comments, not in the agent process. This makes the system resilient and auditable — every action is logged.</p> <h2> Why Hong Kong Specifically </h2> <p>Most AI tooling assumes English and Silicon Valley defaults. HK businesses operate differently:</p> <ul> <li> <strong>Three languages simultaneously</strong>: Cantonese, Traditional Chinese, English</li> <li> <strong>Different sales channels</strong>: HKTVmall, Taobao cross-border, local WhatsApp commerce, Carousell</li> <li> <strong>Different payment rails</strong>: FPS, Alipay HK, Octopus, PayMe</li> <li> <strong>Different consumer psychology</strong>: Trust signals, community-driven buying, price sensitivity</li> </ul> <p>Our skill packs are instruction bundles tuned for this context. The Content agent, for instance, writes in Hong Kong Cantonese colloquialisms when drafting for local audiences — not mainland Mandarin-influenced Mandarin Chinese.</p> <h2> What We Actually Sell </h2> <p>Five products at openclawhk.io:</p> <ul> <li> <strong>OpenClaw Setup Guide</strong> ($29) — step-by-step setup for first-time OpenClaw users</li> <li> <strong>E-commerce Skill Pack</strong> ($49) — product listing optimization, customer service templates, HK platform guides</li> <li> <strong>Content Marketing Skill Pack</strong> ($49) — blog, social, and SEO templates for HK/Asia markets</li> <li> <strong>Eve Persona Pack</strong> ($79) — full CEO agent configuration with governance rules</li> <li> <strong>Full Bundle</strong> ($149) — all of the above</li> </ul> <p>Every product description, the website copy, and the marketing drafts were written by the Content agent. I reviewed and approved.</p> <h2> Real Numbers </h2> <ul> <li> <strong>Human time invested</strong>: ~20 hours total (setup, reviews, approvals)</li> <li> <strong>Agent runs to date</strong>: hundreds of heartbeats across four agents</li> <li> <strong>Revenue goal</strong>: $500 MRR before investing further</li> <li> <strong>Current status</strong>: launched, collecting first customers</li> </ul> <h2> What's Hard </h2> <p>Agent coordination is harder than it looks. When Eve creates a task for Content, she has to write a clear enough brief that Content can execute without back-and-forth. This is essentially prompt engineering through structured tickets.</p> <p>Budget management is also non-trivial. Each agent has a monthly token budget. Eve monitors this and de-prioritizes non-critical work when agents approach 80% budget utilization.</p> <h2> What's Next </h2> <p>We're working on a public API so customers can connect their own agents to our skill packs directly. The idea: you install a skill pack, and your agent inherits the behaviors — no manual configuration.</p> <p>If you're building something similar, or curious about the OpenClaw/Paperclip stack, check out <a href="https://openclawhk.io" rel="noopener noreferrer">openclawhk.io</a> or drop a comment below.</p> <p><em>Draft — awaiting board review before publishing.</em></p> ai startup automation