We asked growers what their back office needs. Here's what we built.

Over the past year, our whole team has been talking with growers, farm labor contractors and the associations that support them. Our customer success team in weekly check-ins, our product team in feedback sessions, our sales team on farm visits, and my team out in the community. In almost every one of those conversations, we asked the same question: what would make your back office run better?

The answers were pretty much the same everywhere we went. Most farm offices are small. The paperwork is heaviest during harvest, when there's the least time for it. Teams want to take on more workers and more contracts, but most can't add another person to payroll just to keep up. They told us they need the routine work to get done without someone doing it by hand.

So that's what we built. Today, every Seso customer has access to a new set of AI features designed around what you told us. Here's what they are, and the feedback behind each one.

What you told us, and what we built

Rootly, your AI assistant inside Seso

What it is: Rootly lives on the new Seso homepage and in a side panel on every page. Ask it a question in plain language, like how many H-2A workers are assigned to a contract, and it answers from your records with links to the records or regulations behind the answer. It can explain H-2A, I-9 and E-Verify requirements, pull a report or export, and set up a draft workflow from a short description.

Rootly can also take action, such as updating a worker's phone number, assigning workers to housing or editing an H-2A contract. Every change shows up as an approval card, and nothing is saved until you approve it. Rootly has the same permissions as the person using it, and it never displays Social Security, passport or other ID numbers in the chat.

What we heard: Simple questions took too long to answer. Finding out which workers on a crew are missing a phone number, or which contracts still need filings, meant clicking through several screens, pulling a report or calling support. Rootly turns that into a single question.

Magic Folder

What it is: Upload a batch of worker documents at once. Seso sorts them by type, matches each one to the right worker and holds them for your review before saving.

What we heard: Onboarding season means stacks of documents for dozens or hundreds of workers, and sorting and filing them one at a time doesn't scale. Customers wanted to hand over the whole pile and just review the result.

I-9 Audit Agent

What it is: It compares each I-9 on file with the worker's profile, passport, I-94 and Social Security card, and lists anything that needs to be corrected.

What we heard: I-9 errors are easy to make and costly to find late. Checking every form against every supporting document by hand takes hours most offices don't have, especially as crews grow.

Workflows

What it is: Set up recurring steps once. When something happens in Seso, the follow-up email, task or reminder goes out automatically.

What we heard: So much of a farm office's week is chasing signatures and sending the same reminders. Customers wanted to decide how it should go once, then let it run.

What this means for growers and partners

None of this replaces the people in your office. They know your operation inside out. The goal is to take the repetitive work off their plate so they can spend more time taking care of their crews and growing the business. A small office team can work like a much bigger one, and a large operation can feel like it just added staff.

These features run on the same system you already use for H-2A visa operations, onboarding and payroll. There's nothing new to set up and no data to move.

Beth Brown, co-owner at Orchard Dale Fruit Co, said it better than I could: "I'm pretty much a one-person office. When you have 120 workers a year coming in, and you're printing, filing and getting everybody to sign everything, switching over to Seso made all the difference." That's what we want for every customer, whether you're a family farm or one of the biggest growers in the country.

For our partners and associations - this is just the start. Throughout 2027 we plan to add agents for more of the work around a farm's workforce, from H-2A filings and food safety compliance to everyday HR tasks and the business side of the operation. What we build next will come straight from what you and your members tell us, so keep it coming!

Try it

Rootly and these new AI features are available now to all Seso customers in early access, with some features in beta. If you're already a Seso customer, log in and look for Rootly on your homepage. Ask it something you'd normally call us about - and don't worry, we'll still pick up the phone!

If you're not on Seso yet, reach out and we'll show you what your back office could look like. Whether you're a customer, a partner or just curious, I would love to hear what you think - shoot me a note anytime. See you out in the field!