I'm Not a Developer, But I Directed an AI to Build a Real Internal Tool

Description and use

Without coding skills, the author leveraged an AI assistant to build an internal tool using Google Apps Script that automates data collection, validation, and document assembly, eliminating manual steps.

Problem

Collecting repetitive expense‑style reports from a group, ensuring consistent format and completeness, while minimizing manual cleanup.

Outcome

The tool reduced processing time by 50‑66%, eliminated manual assembly, and ensured complete, consistent submissions.

Workflow

• 1. Users submit data through a Google Form integrated with Apps Script.
• 2. Script validates completeness, auto‑fills known fields, and ensures each attachment is embedded.
• 3. Script converts all files to a single PDF, generates a dedicated page per attachment, and assembles the final document.
• 4. Final document is emailed to the approver instantly.
• 5. A live, auto‑generated guide is produced from the current tool state to avoid stale instructions.

Evidence

Part of my job involves collecting the same kind of repetitive information from a group of people, on a regular schedule, and turning it into a finished document that has to go somewhere else for approval.

Source

The finished version handles the things that made the old process so heavy by hand: it knows who's submitting and fills in what it can predict, it enforces that nothing gets submitted incomplete (no more chasing someone down after the fact for a missing attachment), it turns multiple file types into a single consistent finished document automatically, and it delivers that finished document the moment someone hits submit — no manual assembly step left for me to do at all.

Source

I didn't teach myself to code. I sat down with an AI assistant and described the problem … and we built it together, piece by piece, testing it against real submissions the whole way.

Source