AI studio · Melbourne
Your team has better things to do.
Chasing documents. Moving information between systems. Preparing the same report again.
Useful Machines is a Melbourne-based AI studio helping businesses and organisations find practical ways to work better with AI. We help you find practical uses for AI, test them with your teams, and turn the useful ones into tools you can depend on.
What’s taking more effort than it should?
Most organisations have work that everyone knows could run better. Information gets copied between systems. Requests wait for someone who knows what to do. Experienced people spend hours checking, chasing and sorting.
We get to know that work and the people doing it. Then we work out what could make it easier.
Sometimes that means AI. Sometimes a simpler process or software you already have will do the job.
Start with one problem
You don’t need an AI strategy for everything before you can improve something.
We offer three ways to move from a frustrating process to a practical solution.
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Understand what to change
Process Map · A$4,000 + GST
Get a clear picture of how work happens today and a practical plan for making it better.
We follow one process from start to finish with the people involved, clarifying responsibilities and what different stakeholders need to know, and identifying where work gets held up, repeated or loses visibility.
Discovery is part of the project: you don’t need to arrive with the problem already worked out.
You leave with:
- A documented map of one process
- Agreed priorities and a clear recommendation for what to change
- Where a tool would help: the workflows, information and views people need to do their work and oversee progress
- A plan you can take forward internally, with us or with another provider
That might mean AI, better use of existing software or a simpler way of working.
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Build a working first version
Process to Prototype · A$12,000 + GST
Turn a process you want to improve into a tool your team can use.
Discovery is included. We involve the people who do the work, manage it and depend on its outcomes, map the workflow, clarify responsibilities and agree what each stakeholder needs to see and do, from their own next actions to progress across the team.
Together, we prioritise the workflows, features and views for the first version within the project budget.
You receive:
- A usable first version
- Testing with representative users and real work, including the difficult cases
- One round of improvements based on their feedback
- Full administrator access, plus access to the underlying code and configuration
- Clear documentation explaining how to use, maintain and update it
For many teams, this first version may be enough to meet their ongoing needs. You can keep using it, develop it further with us or hand it to someone else. You can start here without first commissioning a separate Process Map.
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Extend what works
Full Build · Quoted per project
When you need more, build on a proven starting point.
We can extend your tool with additional workflows, integrations, stakeholder views and reporting, or the capabilities needed to support more people and more demanding use.
Together, we agree:
- The scope and access permissions
- Deployment, documentation and handover your organisation needs
- Clear ownership and operating costs
Ongoing support and improvements are available under a separate arrangement.
What could we build?
Practical internal tools built around how your team works: workflows, dashboards, forms, approvals, reminders and reporting. We agree the combination that will make the greatest difference within the project budget.
Not sure where to begin? Tell us what’s getting in the way.
What could this look like?
Getting client documents ready without all the chasing
Imagine a firm collecting documents before work can begin. Files arrive by email, someone checks them against a list, and missing items get chased. A senior colleague checks the pack again.
A small AI tool could help prepare that first check:
Documents arrive → AI checks against the list → A person reviews the findings → The team knows what’s needed next
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Documents arrive
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AI checks against the list
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A person reviews the findings
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The team knows what’s needed next
The tool flags missing documents and items needing attention. Your team checks the suggestions and decides what to do.
We’d test whether it catches gaps, reduces checking time and helps people prepare the pack. The results would guide what happens next.
Why Useful Machines?
Useful Machines is run by Scotty Allen, whose background spans education and product leadership in EdTech, RegTech and rostering.
That experience shapes how we work: understand the problem, involve the people who know it, and build something they can put to use.
We bring product thinking and technical delivery together, so we can help you decide what’s worth doing and then get it working.
Help shape the studio
We’re working with a small number of founding clients at reduced rates.
If you have a process you’d like to improve and a team willing to try something new, we’d like to hear about it.
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Tell us about the work you’d like to make easier.
Bring a recurring frustration, an idea you want to test, or a process that needs attention. We’ll talk through whether we can help.