Most AI advice starts with the technology and looks for somewhere to put it. I start inside your business - finding where work is genuinely slow, costly or error-prone - then work out whether AI, automation or something simpler is the right answer.
Sound familiar?
"What are we doing about AI?"
The board or leadership team is asking, and there's no clear answer yet.
AI in every vendor pitch
Every renewal and proposal now comes with AI features - and it's hard to tell what's real.
Pilots that went nowhere
Something was trialled, people were enthusiastic, and then it stalled.
Plenty of ideas, no priorities
Lots of possible uses, and no way to tell which are worth the money.
Not sure it's AI you need
Some problems need better processes or simple automation, not AI.
Worried about getting it wrong
Spending on the wrong thing, or the right thing with the wrong partner.
The approach
Most AI advisory starts outside in - pitch the technology, then find a use case to fit the business around. That's how you end up with expensive pilots that go nowhere.
The right approach is inside out. Start by going into the business to find the real opportunities - whether they're AI, automation, or something else entirely - then go to market with a clear brief.
I work with your team to understand where work is genuinely slow, costly, or error-prone. From there we work out what would actually help and prioritise it commercially, and I help you find the right partners to build it.
Where I stop
I find where the opportunity is, frame it commercially, and help you engage the right people to build it. I don't implement or configure technology. Once the right partner is engaged and the brief is clear, I step back - or stay involved in an oversight role if that's useful.
That separation is deliberate. The person helping you decide what to build shouldn't be the one selling it to you.
How it works
01
A conversation about the situation
What's prompting the interest in AI, and what the business is trying to achieve. No charge.
02
Discovery inside the business
Workshops and conversations with the people doing the work, to find where time, cost and errors actually sit.
03
Prioritised opportunities
A short list of opportunities ranked by commercial value and effort - including the ones that don't need AI at all.
04
A brief and the right partners
A clear brief to take to market, and help evaluating who should build it.
Why me
As CEO of Idea 11, I ran a technology consultancy whose services spanned data and analytics, AI, cloud and software development. I know how AI services are scoped, priced and pitched - and where the gap between the pitch and the result usually sits.
Before that, I led Telstra's business technology consulting team in Queensland - business consulting with a technology focus. The work started with workshops and interviews to understand how a business actually operated before recommending anything. AI advisory works the same way.
I've also written a business's AI usage guidelines, balancing flexibility with security - so I know the practical questions that come up once people start using these tools day to day.
Common questions
Part of discovery is understanding your data, systems and processes. Sometimes the most valuable finding is what needs fixing first - and I'll tell you that rather than recommend something that won't work.
No. I find the opportunity, frame it commercially and help you engage the right partner. I can stay involved in an oversight role if that's useful.
Then I'll say so. Often the better answer is simple automation or a process change - and that's a good outcome, not a failure.
I don't have commercial relationships with any vendor - no referral fees, no preferred suppliers. Recommendations are based on what fits your business.
Yes. Practical AI usage guidelines - what's fine, what isn't, and why - are often a sensible first step while the bigger opportunities are being worked out.
It's scoped upfront as an initiative, with the time estimated before we start, so you know what you're committing to.
Start here
No charge, no pitch. If AI isn't the answer, I'll tell you.