Frequently asked questions

I’ve done the work at every level. I’ve been an operations manager, a project manager and a group executive, so I can sit with your team and map the process step by step, then step back and talk strategy with your board. Big firms often send a partner to sell the work and a junior team to do it. With me, you get the person who does both.

Business process re-engineering: finding where money, time and customers leak out, then redesigning how the work runs. AI and automation come in where they genuinely help, not because they’re fashionable. Sometimes the fix is a clearer owner and a simpler process.

Most AI consultants start with the tool. I start with the process. Every process needs a clear owner and a clean way of working before any technology goes near it. When the fix does need building, Softborne (which I co-founded) can deliver it, or you can take the plan to anyone.

I work with growing businesses and not-for-profits of 15 to 50 people. If the way the business runs hasn’t kept up with the growth, you’re the size I built this for. You don’t have to be ready for technology and AI, or even particularly interested in it. We start with the process that’s costing you most, in a free 45-minute What’s Possible conversation, and if there isn’t a problem worth solving, I’ll tell you straight.

No. You need to know how the work gets done, not how the software works. We start with a free 45-minute What’s Possible conversation about the process that’s costing you most.

I’m based on the Sunshine Coast. The What’s Possible conversation can be in person if you’re local to the Sunshine Coast or Brisbane, or remotely for clients across Australia and overseas.

They’re parallel options, and we work out which fits in the free 45-minute What’s Possible conversation. The FIND Diagnostic is four weeks, fixed fee, when you’re not sure where the leak is. Fractional COO is for when you already know you need a senior operator: we start with three months, usually one to three days a week, then you can renew, step down to fewer days or hand over to a permanent hire. I set the role up and hand over cleanly when your permanent hire starts, and if a FIND Diagnostic would answer the question faster, I’ll tell you.

The FIND Diagnostic is a fixed fee of A$12,500 + GST, over four weeks. You leave with a business case in your own numbers: the root cause, proposed fix, costs and 12-month payback. I’m opening three founding places. As a founding client, you also get a half-day team workshop, a custom prompt pack, a one-page AI use policy and a 90-day check-in, at no extra cost. Any build after that is quoted separately.

You don’t need more tools or more people first. You need to know which bucket is leaking fastest, and fix that one first. Buying software or hiring someone before you’ve mapped the work often adds cost without fixing the leak. The FIND Diagnostic is how we put a number on that, so you can decide whether a tool, a hire or a process change is the answer.

Then that’s what I’ll tell you. Sometimes a tidier process is the whole fix, so we fix the process first and only consider automation where there’s still a worthwhile problem to solve. Test small before spending big: sometimes that test shows you don’t need AI at all.

I need a named contact, access by the dates we agree and time with the people who do the process. We settle that in the free 45-minute What’s Possible conversation, before any paid work starts.

You leave knowing what’s worth fixing first, whether or not we work together. If there isn’t a problem worth solving, I’ll tell you straight. If there is, we decide together which option fits, and I’ll send a proposal for that work.

That’s your call. Your people keep the work that needs judgement. Automation takes the repetitive part. Most owners use the time saved for billable work, or to avoid a hire they were about to make.

Unusual cases go to a named person on your side. Your people make the decisions that matter. We agree each step before I start it, and you stay in charge of those decisions.

Any build of custom AI agents, automation or software is quoted separately and built by Softborne, a Singapore-headquartered company with engineers in Chennai, or on Boombirds, which Softborne built and owns. You contract with me, and I manage delivery. If you go ahead with a build, the people working on it may need some business information, and I’ll tell you what and why first. The process map and the business case stay yours, and you can take them to any developer, or your own team.

Those help one person at a time. They don’t fix the gaps between people, process and technology on their own. You still need to know which bucket is leaking fastest, and fix that one first.