Homebase’s new AI assistant fills shifts for small business owners

Homebase, which makes scheduling and payroll software for hourly teams, has launched Homebase Assistant. The AI tool finds and contacts staff to cover missed shifts, builds schedules, screens job candidates and flags timecard errors before payroll. It is available to a limited number of businesses, and pricing has not been disclosed.

Homebase, which makes scheduling and payroll software for businesses with hourly staff, has launched an AI assistant that can fill a shift when an employee calls in sick. The company announced it on Tuesday.

Homebase Assistant finds available workers, contacts them and arranges cover based on the owner’s preferences and past history, the company said. Owners set the rules it works within and keep the final say.

“ Most AI tools would just tell you the shift is uncovered. Homebase Assistant finds someone who can cover it and gets the owner back to work, ” said John Waldmann, Homebase’s founder and chief executive.

The tool also builds schedules, writes job ads and screens candidates. It flags missing clock-ins and other timecard errors before payroll runs, and tracks overtime and gaps between planned and worked hours.

It is available to a limited number of businesses for now. Homebase did not share pricing, a date for wider release or which AI models it uses.

The launch builds on smaller AI tools Homebase added last year for hiring, scheduling and payroll. The company says its AI products have handled more than 4.7 million admin tasks since 2025. More than 150,000 businesses use its software, mostly cafés, shops and other small firms.

Homebase is betting that owners want AI that fixes problems itself, rather than flagging them. That is the same shift larger firms are making, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT Work built to finish tasks across a user’s apps. But small firms have been slower to adopt AI, with the median US company spending about $11 per employee a month on it.

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