It looked more like a one time development expense, instead of an ongoing salary.

There's a lot of other expenses with an employee (like payroll taxes, benefits, retirement plans, health plan if they're in the USA, etc), but you could find a self-employed freelancer for example.

Or just get an employee anyways because you'll still likely have a positive ROI. A good developer will take your abstract list of vague requirements and produce something useful and maintainable.

Bots don't need healthcare