A new Snoqualmie Valley business is helping local companies save time by automating everyday office tasks. Celestial Forge builds artificial intelligence (AI) agents and automated workflows for small service businesses throughout the Snoqualmie Valley and Eastside, handling tasks like customer follow-ups, bookings and repetitive data entry.
Celestial Forge was founded by two former tech and finance professionals who decided to put their experience to work closer to home. Founder and CEO Ye Xu and his co-founder, LP, previously worked at companies including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Bloomberg, Microsoft and Citibank. Rather than launching their business in a larger technology hub, they chose to focus on smaller businesses and organizations in their own community.
“We wanted to work with the businesses we actually see every week: the painter, the farm stand, the property manager, the nonprofit down the road,” explained Xu. That means meeting business owners face-to-face, understanding how their offices operate and developing solutions that fit their needs.
Making AI Practical for Small Businesses
Celestial Forge primarily works with businesses where owners often handle administrative tasks themselves, including contractors, home-service providers, property managers, nonprofits and professional offices.
“If you’ve ever said ‘I have to enter this twice,’ you’re who we built this for,” said Xu.
Take a Snoqualmie Valley nonprofit that frequently received the same questions about hours, eligibility, donations and volunteer opportunities. Celestial Forge developed an automated assistant to handle routine inquiries, along with an internal information tool to help staff and volunteers find answers more easily.
For service businesses, the company can automate follow-up communications after estimates are sent, helping prevent potential customers from slipping through the cracks when owners get busy.
Although artificial intelligence can sound intimidating to some business owners, Xu says the focus is on practical solutions rather than technology for its own sake.
“We’re not selling you AI. We’re taking the repetitive office work off your plate, and AI happens to be the tool that makes that affordable now,” explained Xu.
The company starts by reviewing how a business operates and identifying tasks that could be handled more efficiently, while keeping people involved in important decisions.
A Local Approach
Being a small engineering team allows Celestial Forge to work directly with customers, without the layers of sales and technical support often associated with larger technology companies.
“When you call us, you get the people who built the thing,” commented Xu. “There’s no sales layer, no ticket queue, no ‘let me check with engineering.'”
The founders also say they aren’t interested in selling technology that a business doesn’t need. Sometimes an inexpensive, existing software tool may be a better solution than building something new.
“And we’re neighbors,” added Xu. “We run into our clients at Chamber events and at the grocery store. That changes how you build things.”
Next Steps
Xu hopes Celestial Forge will become a resource for small businesses throughout the Snoqualmie Valley and Eastside that need help managing administrative work.
The company is currently offering free AI Operations Audits to SnoValley Chamber members, providing an opportunity to identify time-consuming tasks and potential improvements without an obligation to purchase services.
Longer term, Xu hopes to make technology once available primarily to larger companies more accessible to small, locally owned businesses.
“We’d like the Valley to be known as a place where small businesses run smarter, not just harder,” said Xu.
For Celestial Forge, that means helping local businesses spend less time behind a desk and more time doing the work that sustains and grows their companies.
For more information, visit www.celestial-forge.com.
