AI opportunity sounding
A focused look at where AI will genuinely help your organisation, ranked by value and effort, and tested with the people doing the work.
You leave with
A prioritised shortlist and a clear plan for the first build.
AI strategy & builds · Aotearoa New Zealand
Most of what makes AI work sits below the surface.
fathm helps New Zealand organisations find the work worth changing, then designs and builds AI that people actually pick up and use. Plain English, real outcomes, nothing for show.
The problem
The hard part is rarely the technology.
Most organisations aren't short of AI ideas. They're short of AI that does a real job for real people. It usually looks like one of these.
Pilots that never leave the pilot.
A promising demo and a few keen users, then nothing changes in how the work gets done.
Licences bought, habits unchanged.
The tools are switched on. The working day looks much the same as it did last year.
Expertise stuck in a few heads.
The people who know how things really work become the queue, and they're tired of being asked.
Approach
Understand first. Then build.
Every engagement follows the same order. It's slower on day one and much faster by week six.
- 1
Sound it out
We start with how the work actually happens: who does what, where the knowledge lives and what slows people down. No tool talk until that's clear.
- 2
Shape it around people
We design the smallest useful thing that removes a real queue or a real chore, sized for the people who'll use it every day.
- 3
Build it and make it stick
We build it, usually in Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Studio, put it in people's hands and stay until it's part of the job.
Services
Ways to work with us.
Three starting points. Each one ends with something you can use, not just a report.
First agent, built properly
We design and build one working AI agent around a real piece of work, alongside the team who'll use it.
You leave with
An agent in daily use, and a pattern you can repeat for the next one.
Adoption and capability
Practical coaching for leaders and teams so AI becomes part of how work gets done, and your own people can build on it.
You leave with
Teams who use it without being reminded, and know how to extend it.
Need something that doesn't fit one of these? Tell us what you're working on: si@fathm.co.nz
How we work
A few things we won't compromise on.
Plain English.
If we can't explain it simply to your leadership team, we haven't understood it well enough yet.
People before platform.
The tool is the easy part. We fit it to the work, never the work to the tool.
Working beats perfect.
Small, useful and live is worth more than big and still in planning.
Straight about the limits.
We'll tell you what AI won't do for you, and when something else is the better answer.
Leave you stronger.
Every engagement should leave your people more capable, not more dependent on us.
People
Who you'll work with.
fathm was founded by Si Kirkman, who spent the last two years at Spark building AI agents that people across sales, bids, contracting and product use every day.
Before that, Si spent years helping organisations make sense of complex technology. His strength is translating between the business and the tech, so leaders can back AI with confidence and teams actually want to use it.
We work with a small network of trusted specialists in data, security and change, and bring them in when the work calls for it. Same standards, same plain English.
Contact
Let's get to the bottom of it.
Tell us what you're trying to make easier. We'll tell you honestly whether AI is the right answer.
si@fathm.co.nz
A specialist or firm who thinks we'd work well together? We'd like to hear from you too.