Private AI engineered in Tonsley: helping South Australian businesses streamline workflow and automate operations

An artificial intelligence platform, named in honour of the Tonsley Innovation District where it was engineered, is helping South Australian businesses streamline workflows and automate data processes.

TonsleyAI is the flagship product of Tonsley-based Moots Technology, a South Australian digital transformation firm that combines local expertise with world-class German engineering to help SMEs improve their operations.

Moots Technology Managing Director Oliver Bischof – who brings 25 years in digital transformation – identified a challenge where companies were struggling to integrate AI into the core of their business without exposing sensitive data.

The solution is TonsleyAI, a private, self-hosted AI platform that automates processes, streamlines workflows and surfaces intelligent insights while keeping data fully sovereign and private. Designed for compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles, it can be deployed in a private cloud or as hardware on premises, integrated directly into a company’s infrastructure.

Built from three main components working together – a customisable private AI engine, a conversational interface that looks and feels similar to ChatGPT, and a workflow automation engine that orchestrates every tool in a single environment. This core foundation can then be expanded and tailored to each business’s specific needs.

“AI does two things well in a business; it automates repetitive work and it captures expert knowledge so it can be scaled. We fine-tune a model to each customer, so it understands their industry, policies and products,” Mr Bischof said.

“The platform can also connect directly to your systems, giving it secure access to your business environment, which you would not want to do with a public AI platform – even on an enterprise plan.

“It’s not a generic model you ask basic questions to such as ‘who won last year’s AFL Grand Final?’ It’s designed for business use and continuously fine-tuned to a specific environment, making it far more powerful and relevant than your typical AI model.”

For a manufacturer, TonsleyAI can assist with optimising operational efficiency by acting as a ‘company brain’, reviewing company documents, policies, contracts, or business processes to better support decision making.

The platform can also automate workflow processes such as administration, handling sales enquiries, classifying suppliers and purchasers, or processing email responses, freeing up staff to do more productive and high-value tasks.

Businesses based at Tonsley are seeing the benefits firsthand. Hydra Consulting, a business management consultancy, is working with Moots Technology through the TonsleyAI platform to commercialise BevSage – an AI platform that gives wine, spirits and broader beverage businesses the skillset of a specialist growth team on demand.

“BevSage combines BevGPT – a proprietary assistant built on OpenAI’s GPT models and connected to our beverage-sector frameworks, market data and consulting playbooks – with practical AI tools for marketing, research, distributor identification and growth,” Director at Hydra Consulting Dr Darren Oemcke said.

“BevGPT provides the conversational interface, while the tool library does the heavier lifting, using different AI models, deep research workflows and emerging agentic tools to pressure-test decisions at a fraction of the cost of a traditional consulting project.

“For Hydra, BevSage turns advisory expertise into a scalable digital product. For producers, it puts high-level market support on their screen whenever decisions need to be made.”

Since relocating to Tonsley in 2023, Moots Technology has expanded the capabilities and reach of its AI platform and services, which now delivers tailored AI solutions for clients across industries including government, healthcare, finance, consulting, manufacturing and law.

The company provides ongoing maintenance and optimisation through a project management service model, while partnering with the expertise of its sister and partner companies in Germany – run-e and Conciso – to help businesses achieve rapid returns on investment.

“Customers have seen a dramatic improvement in productivity, depending on the use case, with automation increasing productivity by an average of 70 per cent,” Mr Bischof said.

“We see AI as not a replacement for expertise, it’s an enhancement, so businesses can do more sales, improve product design, engineering and marketing, and focus less on repetitive tasks.”

Mr Bischof sees strong growth for TonsleyAI, not only in South Australia but interstate, with businesses already seeking their expertise.

“We see a lot of owner-run businesses that have always done things one way, but when ownership changes or it passes to a younger generation, there’s a real push for change. That creates strong opportunities for digital transformation in South Australia and interstate,” he said.

“Our focus is on educating businesses about the data-exposure risks of public AI, and the benefits that a private platform like TonsleyAI can offer.

“South Australia is home and our priority remains being the expert private AI partner for local businesses, while the growing interstate interest is proof the model works and strengthens the experience and capability we bring to companies here.”