Mac Sweeny
Quick answer
An AI business coach is a standing 1:1 sounding board for the AI decisions a business owner has to make: which problem to tackle first, which tool to use, whether to build or buy, and what to ignore entirely. It differs from a course, which teaches a fixed syllabus, and from an agency, which builds. Sessions are usually fortnightly and run on your real decisions rather than a curriculum. AI Consulting is A$1,195 per month + GST, with a call each fortnight, clarity on what to build in Claude or ChatGPT and practical guidance on how to do it. No lock-in.
How I would work through the decision
The starting point is your work, rather than a particular tool.
- 01
Show the workflow
Bring a real example, the tools involved and where you get stuck.
- 02
Choose an approach
Compare a simpler process, an existing tool and a separately scoped build.
- 03
Review what happened
Try the agreed next step and use the result to guide the next decision.
A useful next step has an owner, a clear purpose and a way to check whether it helped.
Coach, consultant, course or agency
These four get sold with similar language and do completely different jobs. Some people call the coaching version an AI mentor instead; in practice it is the same arrangement. The distinction that matters is what you are buying: a syllabus, a deliverable, recurring judgment, or hands on keyboards.
| Option | What you get | Cost shape | When it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI course | A recorded syllabus, identical for every student | Low, paid once | You want the fundamentals and you have time to work through them yourself |
| AI business coach or mentor | Recurring 1:1 time on your actual decisions, with no set curriculum | A recurring four-weekly or monthly fee | Decisions keep arriving and you want a second opinion on each one |
| AI consultant, project based | A defined piece of work: an assessment, a strategy, a written plan | A fee per engagement | You have one substantial question and you want it answered properly |
| AI agency or build team | People who design, build and run the system | Project fees and ongoing retainers | You already know what to build and why |
A coach who also sells builds is not a coach. The value of the arrangement is that the person advising you has nothing to gain from the answer, so ask about that before anything else. If you want the same arrangement described in executive language, fractional chief AI officer is the version with a title on it.
What a session actually looks like
No slides and no curriculum. You bring what is genuinely in front of you: a quote you cannot evaluate, a process that eats your Tuesdays, a tool your team keeps asking for, a decision about whether to hire. We go straight at it. I ask sharp questions about the business and the goal, we map what is worth doing, put it in order, and name the traps.
We work through the decision and agree what to do next. The work and estimated hours are agreed before the session.
Who it suits
Founders, CEOs and operators who make the call themselves and do not have anyone internal to argue it through with. Businesses somewhere between a few people and a few dozen, where AI matters but the path is foggy and the cost of picking wrong is a quarter you do not get back.
Non-technical is fine and is the common case. You do not need to know how any of it works under the bonnet. You need to know what to do and why, and that is what the session translates. Where it does not suit: if what you want is someone to build the thing, this is the wrong product, and if you want a certificate at the end, take a course.
What we usually end up covering
Over a few months with an owner, the same subjects come round.
- Which of your processes is worth touching first, and which to leave alone for another year.
- Whether the tool the team is excited about is the right one, or a subscription you will forget to cancel.
- What to put in writing before staff start pasting company and client information into chatbots.
- How to brief an agency or a freelancer so that the quotes you get back are comparable.
- Build, buy, or wait. Waiting is the right answer more often than anyone selling AI will tell you.
- What to say to your team so adoption is not a fight, and who should own the first project.
- Whether last month’s change actually saved time, measured rather than assumed.
What it costs
AI Consulting is A$1,195 per month + GST, with a call each fortnight, clarity on what to build in Claude or ChatGPT and practical guidance on how to do it. No lock-in.
Custom development is A$150/hour + GST, with a separate project scope, estimated hours and terms before work starts.
We agree the work, estimated hours and engagement terms before starting.
Getting value out of it
Three things separate the owners who get a lot out of this from the ones who get a little. Bring the real problem rather than the tidied-up version, because the tidied version gets you a tidy answer that does not fit. Send the context ahead: the quote, the numbers, the process as it actually runs. And do something between calls, even a small thing, because the second conversation is far better when there is a result to look at.
If part of what you need is getting the rest of the team using this stuff, AI training for employees covers the format that changes behaviour rather than the one that fills a day.
Official resources
Explore the tools and check current details with the people who make them.
