Frequently Asked Questions

Most businesses start with a Chief of Staff, a second in command that answers questions and completes work across any part of the business, and it can serve several people. A role with a large, uninterrupted workload, such as purchasing or accounts payable, gets a dedicated specialist alongside it. The specialists are added as the work shows where they are needed.

It will be wrong sometimes, early on especially. Anything that changes a record or reaches a client is held at a sign-off gate, so a wrong draft is corrected before it goes anywhere, and the correction becomes part of how the role is done from then on. It does not make the same mistake twice.

In Teams, Slack or WhatsApp, in the thread the work is in, or by email to its own address. Forward it the supplier's email or a photo of the invoice and it picks the work up from there. It reports back in the same place, and every exchange lands in the decision log.

A role can be stood down on the notice set out in the written agreement. The position description, the standards the role wrote down, the decision log and the records it kept are yours and are handed over, and what it has learned about your business stays with you. Continuity of the platform itself is set out in the written agreement before anything starts.

AI consulting rates in Australia vary widely with experience and specialisation. Our rate depends on the scope and nature of the engagement, agreed and capped in writing before any work starts, with the figure given at the first conversation, which is free. The cap gives you the same cost certainty as a fixed quote: you know the maximum you can pay before you commit. Consultations and scoping are free, and a standalone consulting fee is waived if the project goes ahead with us.

The AI assessment is a paid review of how your business actually runs: systems, workflows, where work gets stuck, where it gets done twice. You get a written summary of the highest-value opportunities in your business, what each would cost to implement, and what the payback looks like on your numbers. The assessment is scoped and capped before it starts, priced against the scope of your business. The initial consultation that scopes it is free.

A software developer builds what you specify. An AI consultant works out what should be built in the first place, whether existing tools can do it without custom development, and how it fits your operations. For most small businesses the expensive mistake is not bad code, it's automating the wrong thing. We do both the advisory and the build.

Small automations are typically live within one to three weeks. Larger builds involving multiple systems, dashboards or custom pipelines usually run four to eight weeks. The readiness assessment gives you a timeframe estimate before you commit to anything.

We work with the systems Australian businesses already use, including Xero, common CRMs, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, and an AI Employee builds the workflows and dashboards its role needs on top of them. If you're not sure whether your current software can be connected, the answer is almost always yes.

It depends on the tools used, and we address this per project. Where it matters where your data is held, we take that into account when we choose the tools. We'll tell you plainly which components process data where, so you can make an informed call.

Ask what they'd automate first in your business and why, what the payback period looks like, who owns the intellectual property in what they build, where your data will be processed, and what happens when the engagement ends. Any consultant worth hiring will answer all five plainly. Our answers are on this site.

We work with Australian businesses from small operators to large organisations, and scope each engagement to the problem rather than the headcount. You don't need in-house IT. Most of our clients have never used AI in their business before.