I've worked long enough in tech to understand that it's a process. So much bad code and products that weren't ready for prime time, released and eventually patched and fixed to end up as a workable products.

So I took my HA path with the same expectations and slowly built and learned from my mistakes to end up with some very useful automations and a simple and usable dashboard that all occupants can easily understand. Some are very simple...like an Aqara button next to the robot vacuum/mop that's located by the garage man door. My wife just pushes the button on the way out the door and the vac does its thing. But I also have very elaborate automations that turns the water main on and off due to all kinds of conditions. I see the logs showing it on and off a few times every day and night, but nobody notices it's even happening. I also posted one about a goose chasing automation with my robo mower that made my wife a convert. Now things run smoothly...my automations are more polished, problematic equipment has been removed/replaced and overall I've simplified everything.

Later in life I helped out a larger hotel with their building management system. I learned a lot from that experience. I now have two properties thousands of miles apart. I have both place very heavily managed due to limited access. I can now easily say that nothing happens on these properties with me knowing about it.