What does it actually look like to build an AI business from the inside out?

In Episode 17 of Zero Shot⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ , ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠James Gauci⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Llew Jury do something they have never done before on this show: they turn the lens on themselves. After 16 episodes covering the tools, the models, the governance debates, and the industry shifts, this is the honest, unscripted account of where both businesses actually came from, what went wrong, what the dayyad-ot- of running an AI consultancy looks like in 2026, and what keeps two founders going when the market does not cooperate. No client stories borrowed for credibility. Just the real version.

Key Highlights

• James went from performing arts and psychology to AI governance
• Llew built and sold two agencies before founding Advancer
• Cadent bet big on AI regulation and a ministerial change ended it
• IBM Watson cost Llew and his team nearly 50K and barely worked
• Fail fast, fail quietly, fail cheaply, fail internally is still the principle
• Process mapping from 20 years ago remains the foundation for AI consulting today
• The first question to any AI brief is what are you trying to achieve
• Proof of value, not proof of concept, is how serious AI adoption starts

Tools and Frameworks Mentioned

• Advancer - Llew Jury's AI agency specialising in workforce capability, AI training, and business transformation. They work directly with leadership teams to cut through the hype and deliver measurable AI adoption outcomes.
• Cadent - James Gauci's AI consultancy focused on governance, security, and engineering AI solutions for complex, high stakes industries. From policy design to technical implementation, they help organisations adopt AI responsibly.
• ISO 42001 - The international standard for AI management systems, which Cadent built internal tooling around and still uses as a governance framework.
• Ethy - Cadent's internal AI governance and compliance tool, built as an ISO 42001 aligned product before the Australian regulatory window closed. Not publicly available.
• Swimlane Process Mapping - A whiteboard based business analysis method for mapping actors, processes, and outputs, referenced by Llew as the foundation for every AI engagement. No single link; universally documented across business analysis and management consulting literature.

Connect with the Hosts:

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠James Gauci:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ CEO of Cadent.

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Llew Jury:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Managing Director of Advancer at the AI Agency.

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Zero Shot:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on LinkedIn for clarity in a complex landscape.

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Produced by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Yennia La Rotta⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⚡