Most mid-market companies don't need another AI strategy deck. They need someone who's built the thing, shipped it to production, and knows where the traps are. That's what I do — with your data, for your team, without the jargon.
I keep the list small on purpose. These are areas I've built real production systems in — not dabbled, not read about. If your problem fits here, we'll move fast.
Get set up the right way from day one. Governance, permissions, lineage, and a foundation your team can build on — instead of inheriting a mess in 18 months. I work primarily on Databricks and Unity Catalog, and can advise on Snowflake or Fabric too.
Generic models give generic answers. I build AI that understands your pricing logic, your product catalogue, your terminology — models your team trusts because they speak the business's language.
Agents that do work, not demos. I ship agents into production with the guardrails, evals, and monitoring they need to stay useful — using whatever stack fits you, from Databricks' Genie to custom builds.
Beyond dashboards: reasoning systems that surface the "why," not just the "what." For teams who've outgrown BI and want AI that actually helps them decide.
Short, sharp engagements to figure out what to build, what not to, and in what order.
I'm in the platform writing code, setting up governance, wiring up agents. Not just slides.
Upskill your team on modern AI tooling and data platforms so they can take the wheel.
Ongoing monthly support for teams who need senior AI leadership but aren't ready for a full-time hire.
Built a domain-expert pricing AI now in active use by the pricing team at an ASX-listed company — with executive-level recognition for the work.
I lead Data & AI Strategy at a major ASX-listed company. Before that, I was an analyst getting my hands dirty — experimenting, breaking things, shipping AI into places nobody expected it to work.
That mix matters. It means I can sit in a board conversation about AI strategy in the morning and be in a notebook fixing a broken agent pipeline in the afternoon. Few consultants can do both, and most businesses need both.
I started AskBanu because mid-market Australian and APAC businesses keep getting sold enterprise-scale AI theatre when what they actually need is someone to sit down, look at their data, and help them ship their first real AI use case — well.
— Banu Tennakoon
The first chat is free, 30 minutes, and honest. If what you need isn't something I can help with, I'll tell you — and where possible, point you to someone who can.