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What happens when you stop looking for the right software and decide to build it yourself?
For Anthony Messina and Brad Young, it led to Servly.
Anthony Messina, Co-founder and CTO of Servly, knows what trade businesses need from their technology because he’s already helped build it.
Before Servly, Anthony and his co-founder Brad Young built the technology behind The Grout Guy, Australia’s largest tile and grout restoration network, with more than 150 technicians across six states.
As the business grew, they needed systems that could keep up. So they built their own Salesforce Field Service setup in-house, creating the technology and processes needed to manage a growing field service operation.
Then they realised they weren’t the only ones with the problem. Trade businesses either have to pay consultant day rates to bolt together enterprise software, or they end up using tools that limit growth.
“We’d already solved it for ourselves, that’s Servly.”
Servly takes the systems they built for The Grout Guy and productises them for other trade and field service businesses.
Building Technology for the Way Trades Actually Work
Servly brings Salesforce Field Service, Data Cloud and Agentforce together into a product designed specifically for trades.
Rather than adding a generic chatbot on top of a CRM, Servly is building AI agents around the actual work that happens day to day for tradies and dispatchers. Its current agents include Mason, Walter, Casie and Groutie.
That practical understanding of the trades has also helped Servly establish a strong position within the Salesforce ecosystem. Servly has a unique partnership with Salesforce and holds a partnership contract that fewer than five other operators in Australia and New Zealand have been able to secure.
As Salesforce Executive Vice President of Australia and New Zealand, Frank Fillman, puts it, “success depends on deep operational understanding rather than generic software features.”
That’s exactly where Servly’s experience with The Grout Guy comes in. The team has built and used this technology in a real trade business, giving them a practical understanding of what field service businesses actually need.
From Building Features to Asking Better Questions
By the time Anthony joined Spacecubed’s AI Founder Sprint, supported by Superteam Australia and Solana, Servly was approaching its first year. The Grout Guy was already running on the technology, Servly had early customers, a global partnership with Salesforce and several paid discovery projects underway.
Anthony wanted to use the Sprint to pressure-test the product, learn more about the business side of startups and sharpen their direction before pushing further into revenue, particularly around go-to-market.
The biggest value wasn’t necessarily building something new.
“Less ‘built a new feature,’ more ‘sharpened what the product actually needs to be.’”
A recurring theme for Anthony was thinking further ahead about the experience of working with AI agents.
Learning From Other Founders
Walking into a room full of other AI founders was initially a little daunting.
“There’s a room full of seriously smart people…”
But he found that people were open about where their businesses had failed and why, rather than just talking about the wins.
Instead, he found the experience was supportive rather than competitive.
“It’s not competitive. It’s a shared learning experience, and a supportive one.”
Sessions with Lee Goldsworthy, Samreid Manez and Paul Cannavan stood out, along with the opportunity to practise Servly’s elevator pitch and hear from a range of people building across the AI and startup ecosystem.
More than any one build, the Sprint helped sharpen Servly’s problem definition and product direction.
What’s Next for Servly?
Servly is moving further into go-to-market, with pipeline deals progressing and a focus on bringing Mason, Walter, Casie and Groutie, its AI agents designed for the day-to-day work of trade businesses, towards something real.
For Anthony, one of the biggest takeaways from the Sprint was thinking about how people will actually interact with Servly’s AI agents as the product develops.
“Build in the agent-experience thinking early.”
Now, he’s looking forward to seeing how that thinking translates once Servly is shipping the product and customers are actually using it.
Ultimately, Servly is taking the technology they built for The Grout Guy and turning it into something other trade and field service businesses can use. To learn more about Servly you can visit their website here or connect with Anthony via LinkedIn here.
See Anthony pitch Servly at our upcoming AI Fellowship and Founder Sprint Demo Night on September 24th. Register here!
The AI Founder Sprint is a Spacecubed program delivered in partnership with Superteam Australia and Solana.