AI adoption
AI Consultant for Small Business in Sydney
Adopt AI carefully, on your terms. AI can save real time in a small business, but only if confidentiality, accuracy and staff confidence are dealt with first. We help small and medium businesses across Sydney's North Shore, the Northern Beaches and greater Sydney choose tools, set sensible rules, and run a small pilot before committing.
Start with the right question
Most businesses start by asking which tool to buy. That is the second question.
The first question is not which tool, but what may leave your systems. Client names, financial records, health information, anything under a confidentiality clause — that decision comes before any subscription.
It gets concrete quickly. A bookkeeper pastes a client's profit and loss statement into a free chatbot to get a plain summary. A practice manager drops consultation notes in to tidy the wording. A consultant asks for a first draft of a report and the confidential brief goes in with the prompt.
In each case the person is trying to save time. The real question is whether that information should have gone in at all, and whether anyone decided that in advance. Where client obligations or privacy duties are involved, you should take your own advice on what applies to your business.
Settle what may be shared, and the tool choice becomes simple and far cheaper to get right.
What a workable set-up looks like
A workable AI set-up for a small firm is four things.
A business-grade tool that does not train on your data. Consumer and free tiers are built for individuals and their terms differ from the business or enterprise tiers of the same product. The tier matters more than the brand.
A routine for de-identifying what you feed it. Names, account numbers and identifiers come out before the text goes in. As a habit it takes seconds, and removes most of the risk from everyday use.
A one-page policy the team can actually follow. Not a document written for an auditor. A single page that says what may go in, what must never go in, which tools are approved and who to ask when the answer is unclear. If it runs to fifteen pages, nobody reads it and it protects nobody.
A register showing what was decided and when. A short record of the tools in use, the decisions made and the date. It answers the question a client, insurer or your own board may eventually ask, and it means the reasoning does not live only in your head.
Four things, kept deliberately small. That is the point of the method.
What we do
We work across four areas, and you can take any one of them on its own.
Safe adoption planning. We look at the work you actually do, identify where AI would save real time, and rule out the places it should not go near.
Confidentiality and usage policy. The one-page policy, the de-identification routine and the register, written in language your team will use.
Vendor-independent tool selection. We work with ChatGPT, Claude and Microsoft Copilot regularly and compare them on your requirements, including which business-grade tier you need. If you already pay for Microsoft 365, Copilot may be the shortest path. We are not a partner or reseller for any vendor.
Staff training and supervised pilots. A walk-through with the people who will use the tool, then a small supervised pilot on real but de-identified work, so you learn what it is good at before you commit to anything.
How an engagement runs
Engagements run in short stages, each agreed in writing before it begins.
Introductory call. A conversation about the work you are hoping to speed up, and what cannot leave your systems. No charge, no obligation.
Assessment. We review your current tools, the information involved and how your team is already using AI, including anything happening informally.
Set-up and testing. The chosen tool configured on its business-grade tier and tested on de-identified samples of your own work, so the results are judged on your material rather than a demonstration.
Policy, register and walk-through. You receive the one-page policy, the de-identification routine, the decision register and a session with your team.
What you keep is a working set-up, written rules and a record of the decisions. Nothing depends on us afterwards.
What it costs
- AI Confidentiality Set-up — from $2,500. Business-grade AI set up and tested on de-identified data, with policy, register and team walk-through. Four to five weeks.
- Digital Review — from $1,200. The better starting point if you are not yet sure AI is your actual problem. A review of your tools, costs and workflow with a written, prioritised action plan.
All fees are fixed, agreed in writing before work starts and quoted ex GST. There are no retainers. Software subscriptions are paid by you directly to the vendor, so you hold the account and can cancel without going through us. Jotunfjell takes no vendor commissions and no referral fees. The Website Workhouse, which builds websites and runs SEO, has the same director, and we disclose that in writing whenever it could be relevant to your work.
Common questions
Is it safe to put client information into AI?
Not by default, and not into a free consumer tool. It can be done safely with a business-grade tier that does not train on your data, combined with a habit of removing names and identifiers first. Where client confidentiality or privacy obligations apply, you should take your own advice on what your business is required to do.
Will AI replace my staff?
That is not what we set up. In a small business these tools are useful for drafting, summarising and first passes at routine writing, with a person checking the output. They are poor at judgement and will state wrong things confidently. The practical gain is time back on routine work, not fewer people.
Which tool should we use?
It depends on your requirements, and we have no stake in the answer. ChatGPT, Claude and Microsoft Copilot are all capable on business-grade tiers. If you already pay for Microsoft 365, Copilot is often the shortest path. We compare them against your needs and you keep the subscription in your own name.
Talk it through
If you are weighing up AI and want it done carefully, start with a short introductory call. Email consulting@jotunfjell.com.au or phone 0431 972 685, and tell us what you are hoping to speed up.