Service · AI consultant NZ
I'm Skene Bennellick, an independent AI consultant based in Auckland. I help New Zealand businesses work out where AI will actually pay off, and then I build it, for a fixed price. Twelve years in AI and automation as an analyst, product manager and engineer inside some of New Zealand's largest organisations.
Most businesses that call me have already tried ChatGPT or Copilot, can see AI is useful, and are not sure what to do next. The questions are practical, and these are the ones I hear most.
An honest read on which processes are worth automating, which are not, and what each is likely to save. Sometimes the answer is a spreadsheet fix, not AI, and I will say so.
ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Gemini, what each costs per seat or per use, and which fits the tools you already run. Most businesses need one main assistant and a clear rule about the rest.
Staff using personal AI accounts for work, client data going into prompts, and what the Privacy Act expects of you. Where anything is built, it is hosted in AWS Sydney in an account you control by default.
A short, written plan: the first project, what it should cost, and what to leave until later. You keep it whether or not you hire me to build any of it.
Yes. Automation, AI assistants that answer from your own documents, document processing and custom apps, integrated with Xero, MYOB, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, HubSpot and the rest of what you run.
Training for whoever uses the system before it goes live, written documentation, and a test mode so nothing touches live data until you have seen it work.
Discovery is always free. When there is something worth doing, it takes one of two shapes.
"I reached out to 8 to 10 companies and most were underwhelming. Then I found Skene. He works fast, his knowledge is next-level, and I've already recommended him to other business owners." Jarrad, verified Google review
AI consulting is not a licensed profession in New Zealand, so anyone can use the title. Whoever you talk to, these six questions separate the people who have built things from the people who have read about them.
My answers: every figure on this site comes from a real project; builds are fixed price; you own the code and the accounts; hosting is AWS Sydney in your own account by default, and nothing trains a public model; and you deal with me from the first call to support.
Discovery is always free, and nothing is billed until you have agreed a fixed price in writing. Most first projects land between NZ$500 and $15,000. For ongoing advice, a fractional CTO retainer is scoped to how many hours a week you need. Prices exclude GST.
Both. I give the advice and I build what I recommend, so the plan is always something that can actually be delivered, and you are not paying one firm to write a strategy and another to build it.
No. If an off-the-shelf tool you already pay for will do the job, or if the fix is a process change rather than AI, I will tell you, and the discovery call is free either way.
Yes. I work with businesses across New Zealand. The build is done remotely with weekly check-ins, and I travel for kick-offs, training and reviews when the project warrants it.
Usually not a long one. Most small and medium businesses get further with one well-chosen first project and a short written plan for what comes next than with a strategy document. Larger organisations with many teams using AI benefit from written priorities and a clear policy on tools and data first.
A free 30-minute call is enough to work out whether AI is the right tool for what you are trying to do, and what a sensible first step would look like.
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