One-Click AI Agent Solution for Automated Time Off Approval

Introduction

The focus of this case study is our very own HR department, which was drowning in manual admin work. Every time someone requested time off, the team had to fight their way through spreadsheets, PDFs, emails, and calendars. 

What was a simple request on the surface was actually a 4-step administrative hell that ate up hours each week. SmartCat’s HRs might as well have been clerks in a stuffy paper archive, personally signing, stamping, and filing away request after request.

To help them, we built a team of AI agents to take over the busywork. Now, leave requests are processed in minutes, giving our HR team their time back to focus on people, not paperwork.

Here is how we did it. 

Breaking Down the Problem

Every time an employee wanted a day off at SmartCat, our HR admins had to run a mini-marathon that consisted of four stages. Every single time, no exception:

• Stage 1: They would open up a Google Sheet and tick boxes one by one for each day off, as well as types of leave. They were like a weary shopkeeper tallying stock. 
• Stage 2: Then, our HR would draft a formal “Leave Approval Decision” document with issue date, employee name, position, leave period, leave duration, and return date, and export it to PDF. 
• Stage 3: Next, they would email that document to the employee, hoping it didn’t get lost in the inbox shuffle.
• Stage 4: Finally, they would log the leave on the company calendar, making sure no detail slipped through the cracks.

It was a meticulous manual process that worked just fine when there were a couple of requests per week. Weeks with 10 or more requests? It turned into an administrative flood.

It was time-consuming and inefficient, plus it was preventing our HR team from doing more meaningful work.

Building the Solution

We asked ourselves: How could we help our HR team during each of those stages? 

So we developed an innovative automation solution in the form of a four-agent AI system, where each AI agent was trained to handle one stage of the process. When put together, they worked like a pit crew: fast, precise, and perfectly coordinated.

Here’s how all pieces of the puzzle came together:

• GPT-5-mini LLMs handling intelligent decision-making and natural language processing
• OpenAI Agents SDK for smooth agent coordination and workflow management
• Google Workspace MCP Server for deep integration with existing business tools
• Clockify API integration for real-time leave request data retrieval

Innovative Technology with an Intuitive User Experience

What our HR now sees is an intuitive web application that acts as a central command center for leave management.

With a single click, the four-agent pipeline is triggered, and the app automatically fetches pending leave requests from Clockify, and all the relevant information, such as employee details, leave duration, date, and type, is shown in a single dashboard.

Why Use AI Agents?

According to Gartner, at least 15% of daily work decisions will be made by AI agents by 2028. AI agents are as close to digital teammates as it gets. Here is why:

• Authentic user behavior: Each AI agent is an actual Google Workspace user, complete with email and Drive, that integrates with existing systems.
• Complete audit trail: Every document modification is tracked with the AI agent’s name in the revision history, providing full transparency and accountability.
• Contextual intelligence: Unlike bots, our AI agents understand complex workplace nuances, accounting for weekends, holidays, employee positions, and scenarios like half-day leave requests.
• Adaptive processing: AI agents autonomously adjust to different leave types and policies, without manual input.

Strategic Impact

By replacing a tedious manual approval with intelligent automation, we eliminated administrative bottlenecks while maintaining the precision and compliance requirements of HR processes. 

Our solution doesn’t just automate and speed up tasks, but also replicates and enhances human decision-making capabilities. As a result, each leave request is processed with the same attention to detail as a human administrator would provide.

Unpacking the Results

Implementation of an AI agent solution for leave management enabled us to turn the aforementioned manual administrative marathon into a brisk 100m dash. 

And the numbers back up the dramatic efficiency gains:

• 3 minutes: That’s roughly how long it takes the four-agent system to process a leave request, from start to finish.
• Zero-error performance: Since deployment, more than 100 leave requests have been processed by the system, eliminating the possibility of human error in data entry and document processing.
• One click: The arduous multi-step process was replaced with an automated one-click action.

The value of our solution becomes especially apparent during high-demand periods such as the holiday season or summer vacation, when leave request volume surges significantly.

What previously spelled administrative bottlenecks and overtime work for our HR staff is now processed seamlessly through automated workflows, regardless of volume.

About the Client

This was an internal SmartCat project created by our Smart Labs team, who is the innovation driver behind solutions we’ve developed with and for your clients, as well as for our internal teams and departments.

Think Lockheed’s Skunk Works experimental program, but without the top-secret label attached to it.

Technologies Used

Our AI agent solution for leave request management was implemented using the following technologies:

• GPT models
• MCP servers
• OpenAI Agents SDK 
• FastAPI
• HTML & CSS

Ready to see how AI agents can eliminate tedious manual work from the equation and help your team focus on stuff that matters? Learn more about our AI agent solutions or book a strategy call with us!