Questions, answered.
Everything people ask before a discovery call, in one place. If yours is not here, book a call and ask us directly.
Getting started
What is TAO, in plain terms?
TAO is the platform where your whole business runs. It is one place your team works from, connected to the software you already use, with an assistant called Andy inside that drafts, chases, books and notices things the way you would. Our team builds it around how your business works. Your team just uses it.
Who is TAO for?
Businesses with a team, real operational load and software that has never been connected: trades and construction, events and hire, professional services, health clinics, real estate, retail and more. If questions keep landing on the owner and steps keep getting missed between systems, it fits.
Do we need to be technical?
No. There is nothing to install and nothing to configure on your side. Our team does the discovery, the build and the connections, then trains your people. The workspace runs in a browser on any device.
What happens on a discovery call?
It is a short video call where we walk through how the business runs today: the systems, the people, where the hours go and where steps get missed. You leave with a clear picture of what TAO would do first and what it would cost. No slides and no obligation.
How long until we are using it?
After discovery we build the workspace and the first modules, connect your systems and load the company brain. The timeline depends on how many systems and workflows are involved, so we set it in the proposal rather than guessing here. Most businesses are working in TAO well before they expected to be.
How it works
What does our team take care of?
All of it. Discovery, the workspace, the modules, the connections to your systems, loading the company brain with your documents, procedures and history, setting up users and permissions, training the team, and the ongoing support and changes after go-live.
What are modules?
Modules are the working surfaces inside TAO: email, calendar, tasks, contacts and opportunities, messaging and more. Base modules come with every workspace. Custom modules are built when your business needs something no tool does, like automated quoting or invoice chasing that runs across several systems.
Do we have to change the way we work?
No. TAO learns how you do things rather than asking you to adopt a new method. Your rules, your tone, your pricing logic and your approvals stay exactly as they are. The difference is that they now happen without the owner in the middle of every one.
What is the company brain?
Everything your business knows, in one place: documents and procedures, email threads, calendar, accounting, job notes, team chats and the decisions you make day to day. Andy starts from it, so answers, drafts and notices come out the way you would have done them. It keeps learning from every day since.
What does Andy do?
Andy drafts emails, quotes and invoices, books site visits and meetings, answers customers and the team, notices missed steps before they cost you, runs whole workflows from enquiry to follow-up and keeps the team on track. Anything that leaves the business waits for a person to approve it first.
Is Andy a chatbot?
No. A chatbot waits to be told and writes text. Andy starts from your company brain, works inside every module on the real record, does the doing, then waits for your approval. You can rename Andy in settings if a different name suits your business.
Your systems
Do we have to replace our software?
No. TAO connects to what you already use, two-way, through each system’s official access: Xero or MYOB, Google or Microsoft, WhatsApp, your job or rental system and the tools your industry runs on. Nothing is replaced. Each system keeps doing its job underneath, and your team works in one place on top.
Which systems can you connect?
We already connect 134 systems across 21 categories, and the list grows every month. The integrations page lists them all. If you run something that is not listed, bring it to the call. If it has an interface, we can usually connect it.
Some of our process lives in spreadsheets and on paper. Is that a problem?
It is common and it is fine. Discovery maps those parts too, and they are often the first things that move into a module, because that is where the double handling and the missed steps tend to live.
Does it work for our industry?
Yes. TAO learns the language and the systems of your trade, and we have built for construction and trades, events and hire, professional services, health clinics, real estate and retail. The industries page shows the systems we most often connect in each.
Security and data
Where is our data and who can see it?
Every client sits on its own isolated database on restricted-access secure servers. There is no shared database between clients. Inside your workspace, each person sees what their role and permissions allow, and Andy respects the same permissions.
Is our data used to train AI models?
No. Your data is used only to run your business inside your workspace. It is never used to develop or train general models for anyone else.
Can Andy send something without us?
No. Andy drafts, a person approves, then it goes out. Every message it sends and every change it makes passes through that step and is recorded in the audit trail.
Are you SOC 2 certified?
SOC 2 is in progress with an external assessor. In the meantime every account has two-factor sign-in, every client has an isolated database, servers are restricted-access and every action is logged. The security page has the detail.
What about privacy and data processing agreements?
Our privacy policy sets out what is collected and why, and a data processing agreement is available for every client. Both are public on this site.
Pricing and the engagement
How is TAO priced?
Every workspace is quoted after discovery, because the build depends on your systems, your modules and the number of people using it. Pricing is made up of an onboarding build and an ongoing subscription that covers the platform, Andy and support. You get the full figure before anything starts.
What is included after go-live?
Support from the people who built your workspace, fixes from the development team, and changes as your business changes. Modules and workflows get added or adjusted over time rather than frozen at launch.
Do you work outside Sydney?
Yes. We are based in Sydney with a team in Singapore, and we work with businesses across Australia and beyond. Discovery and training happen on a call or on site, whichever suits the business.
We already have a system that half does this. Why change?
You may not need to. Bring it to the call and we will tell you honestly whether TAO adds enough to be worth it. If your team still asks the owner for answers and steps still fall between systems, it usually does.
Support
What support do we get?
A direct line to our team. Questions are answered by the people who built your workspace and issues are fixed by the development team, not routed through a ticket queue you never hear back from.
I am an existing customer. Where do I log in?
Your workspace is at app.theartificialorganisation.com. Use the Log in link in the menu on any page of this site.
One conversation about how your business works.
Half an hour with the people who would build it. Then a proposal for exactly what TAO should take off your plate.