Is an AI agent cheaper than hiring someone to answer messages?
Hiring someone at minimum wage costs the company COP 2,715,490 a month in Colombia and covers 42 hours a week. A Vyrkon agent costs $397 a month and covers all 168. Per hour covered, the agent is 9 times cheaper — but an agent and a person don't do the same job.
Prices and spec sheets consulted on
Side by side
| Vyrkon | A person on payroll | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost to the company | $397 (COP 1,210,104 at the TRM on 2026-08-24) | COP 2,715,490 with statutory benefits and payroll contributions[1] |
| Hours covered per week | 168 — all of them | 42, the maximum legal workweek[1] |
| Cost per hour covered | COP 1,662 | COP 14,920[1] |
| Simultaneous conversations | many, with no queue | one |
| Vacation, sick leave, turnover | not applicable | 15 working days of vacation per year, plus sick leave and replacements[2] |
| Understands a case it has never seen | no: it hands off to a person | yes, and that's the reason a person is needed |
| Setup | under 15 minutes | posting the job, hiring and training |
Where we don't win
This doesn't replace the people you already have
The math above doesn't say “fire your receptionist.” It says that the 126 hours a week nobody covers today have a price, and that the price is low. Whoever answers from 8 to 6 is still needed at 9 in the morning.
A person solves what isn't written down
The agent answers with what the business loaded into it and hands off the rest. An unusual case, an angry customer, an exception someone has to approve: that's human work, and the agent is built to pass it on, not to paper over it.
Cost per hour isn't the only calculation
A person does many things besides answering: takes payments, straightens up, handles things at the counter. If your problem is that you're short-handed, hiring is still the answer. If the problem is that WhatsApp is left unattended, it isn't.
Frequently asked questions
Does an AI agent replace an employee?
No, and Vyrkon doesn't sell it that way. It covers the hours nobody covers today — nights, weekends, the midday peak — and hands off to a person everything that falls outside what it knows. Whoever works the counter is still needed.
How much does a minimum-wage employee cost a Colombian company?
COP 2,715,490 a month in 2026, counting statutory benefits, social security and payroll contributions. The worker receives COP 1,750,905 plus COP 249,095 in transportation allowance, and the maximum legal workweek is 42 hours.
How does the cost per hour compare?
A minimum-wage employee costs COP 14,920 per hour covered, counting what the company pays. The $397 plan comes to COP 1,662 per hour, because it covers all 168 hours of the week instead of 42. That's 9 times cheaper per hour.
What won't the agent do?
It doesn't decide on exceptions, it doesn't negotiate, it doesn't work the counter and it doesn't solve anything the business didn't load into it. When something falls outside what it knows, it says so and hands the conversation to a person instead of improvising an answer.
When is hiring the better choice?
When the problem is that you're short-handed and not that you're short on coverage. If you need someone who also takes payments, keeps the store in order or handles things in person, hire someone. If you're losing the messages that come in at night and on Sunday, you don't need someone on payroll for that.
Where the numbers come from
- Salario mínimo y costo laboral en Colombia, 2026Salario mínimo mensual de 1.750.905 pesos más auxilio de transporte de 249.095. El costo para el empleador, con prestaciones, seguridad social y parafiscales, es de 2.715.490 pesos al mes. Jornada máxima legal de 42 horas semanales desde el 15 de julio de 2026. https://www.mintrabajo.gov.co/
- Código Sustantivo del Trabajo, artículo 186Quince días hábiles consecutivos de vacaciones remuneradas por cada año de servicio. https://www.funcionpublica.gov.co/eva/gestornormativo/norma.php?i=33104
- Tasa de cambio peso/dólar (TRM)TRM de 2026-08-24: 3.048,12 pesos por dólar. https://suameca.banrep.gov.co/estadisticas-economicas/informacionSerie/1/tasa_cambio_peso_colombiano_trm_dolar_usd
- Oldroyd, McElheran y Elkington — «The Short Life of Online Sales Leads», Harvard Business Review 89(3), marzo de 2011Auditoría de 2.241 empresas de Estados Unidos: la respuesta promedio a un contacto en línea tardaba 42 horas y el 23% de las empresas no respondió nunca. https://hbr.org/2011/03/the-short-life-of-online-sales-leads
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Actualizado: 2026-08-24