Why did I build Automatia?

I never thought I would struggle to find work. Until I did.

I always had a project, secure work and a steady income for the foreseeable future. After my last project, I decided to take some time off to be with my family more. In the life of a PLC programmer, travelling is literally a must. But what happens when family comes along? When a child is born? Your priorities change and you start asking yourself why. Why should I be away from my family? That is my story, and I am sure it touches many of us automation engineers deployed on projects.

After a short break, I started looking for a project — something nearby so I could commute. I always thought there was plenty of work; after all, I always had some. I was badly mistaken. When I started looking for a portal where I could find work as an automation freelancer, I found nothing. Every site offered projects only in the IT world or only permanent jobs. And yet I know that companies are open to bringing a freelancer onto a project. I called every contact I had. I wrote to Tier 1 suppliers and offered my services. I wrote to every automation company near where I live, sent them my project portfolio — and nothing. I asked myself why there is no portal for us, for automation freelancers. That is when I decided to build one.

But how? I am a PLC programmer, not an IT developer. That sentence makes me smile, because every one of us has probably used it at some point, when a request came in that belonged to someone from IT rather than to us on the line 🙂

Since I was at home with plenty of time, I had the idea to try something I had never done before — build the portal myself, with the help of modern AI tools. It sounds simple; reality was different. It was not one prompt or one evening. It was months of testing, debugging and learning on the go, exactly the kind of grind we know from every proper project. AI was a tool for me, not someone who did it for me. And the result? A portal that actually works.

Finally we have a portal that belongs only to us, the automation people. And it is not just for PLC programmers and robotics engineers — it is also for project managers, coordinators, mechanical designers, electrical designers, electricians, mechanics, machine vision technicians, 3D metrologists, service technicians… in short, everyone working in automation. Automatia is the world of automation experts!

So, all you experts, come and join us. And every company looking for an expert for its project is welcome — this is where you’ll find one. If you know someone else from our trade, feel free to share this or tag them.

Until now, the world of automation experts had one big problem: it did not exist. Now it does.