AI Consulting · Queenstown, NZ
AI built for your business. Not someone else's.
I help NZ businesses cut manual admin, replace tools that don't fit, and build systems designed around how they actually work.
$88k+
identified across active projects
$40k+
average value found per audit
Queenstown-based
NZ-wide
Working with businesses across trades, hospitality, professional services, retail and more — Queenstown and beyond.
The problem
Sound familiar?
Drowning in manual admin
Hours every week lost to data entry, scheduling, and chasing paperwork. It feels inevitable — just part of running a business. But most of it can be automated, and the businesses that figure this out gain back 10 or more hours every single week.
Generic tools that don't fit
Off-the-shelf software built for an average business, not yours. You've bent your processes around the tool's limitations instead of the other way around. Meanwhile you're paying monthly for features you don't use and missing the ones you actually need.
No real visibility
You know things are falling through the cracks but can't see exactly where. Reporting is manual, delayed, or non-existent — so decisions get made on gut feel rather than facts. By the time you spot the problem, revenue's already gone.
Leads falling through the gaps
Enquiries going cold because follow-up depends on someone remembering at the right moment. After-hours leads sitting in an inbox until Monday. Revenue leaking quietly through gaps that nobody has time to properly fix.
What I do
Services
AI Audit
We spend time properly understanding your business before recommending anything. I map your actual workflows, talk to the people doing the work, and identify where AI genuinely makes sense — and where it doesn't. You get a clear written report with priorities and rough cost/benefit estimates. Whether you work with me after that is entirely up to you.
Quick Wins
Targeted automations live within days, not months. Invoice processing, review request sequences, lead capture and routing, report generation — these are the things that eat hours every week and can be fixed fast. Scoped and delivered in two to four weeks with measurable results from day one.
Custom Builds
Software built specifically for your business, scoped and priced upfront — and you own it outright. No licensing fees, no lock-in. Whether it's a custom CRM replacing an expensive generic tool, a client portal, or an end-to-end operational system, it's built from scratch around how your business actually works.
AI Partner
Ongoing support, not a one-off job. Once we've built something, I stay close — monitoring what's working, iterating on what isn't, and building new pieces as your business grows. Think of it as having an in-house AI person without the overhead of a full-time hire.
The process
How it works
Discovery Call
Free 20-minute call. We talk about your business, what's costing you time and money, and whether AI is genuinely the right tool. No pitch, no obligation — just an honest conversation to see if it's worth going further.
AI Audit
Paid, in-person or remote deep-dive into how your business actually operates. I map your workflows, identify the highest-value opportunities, and deliver a full written report with priorities and cost/benefit estimates. You own the report regardless of what happens next.
Build and Partner
Fixed price, agreed upfront — you always know the total cost before work begins. I build, test, and deploy, and you own the result outright. Optionally continue as an AI Partner: I stay embedded, iterate on what we've built, and keep building as your needs grow.
In their own words
What our clients say
Hear directly from a business owner on what working together actually looks like.
Current projects
What I'm building
Real businesses, real results. Names withheld by agreement.
Trades & Landscaping · South Island
In buildProblem
Running 30+ jobs a day on generic project management software costing $600/month that couldn't be automated. Hours of daily admin — updating job statuses, chasing invoices, copying data between systems that didn't talk to each other.
Solution
Full custom CRM to replace the off-the-shelf tool entirely. Integrated directly with their accounting software, automated job scheduling and status updates, and gave the owner real-time visibility on every job in progress.
Outcome
$40k+ annual value identified across workflow automation and tool replacement.
Hospitality · Queenstown
In progressProblem
Zero social media presence, no structured group booking pipeline, and manual kitchen processes creating daily chaos. The team had the ambition to grow but no systems capable of supporting it.
Solution
AI content engine for consistent social presence, automated group booking pipeline from first enquiry through to confirmation, and a kitchen management system to reduce prep chaos and improve communication.
Outcome
$48k+ annual value identified across 4 priority projects. All underway simultaneously.
E-commerce · Online Business
CompleteProblem
All social media managed manually — content creation, scheduling, performance tracking, and lead management done by hand across multiple platforms. Hours lost every week with inconsistent results and no way to scale.
Solution
AI social media engine built from scratch. Automated content scanning, post scheduling, lead tracking, and performance analytics — all running without manual input.
Outcome
10–15 hours per week saved in manual social media admin.
Oliver Barrass
Founder · Barrass AI · Queenstown
I'm an AI consultant and builder based in Queenstown, New Zealand. I work directly with business owners — no middlemen, no account managers — to identify where AI can genuinely make a difference and then build it.
My background is in recruitment and operations. I spent years inside businesses that were losing real money to manual admin, misaligned tools, and processes nobody had time to fix. That's what led me to AI — not as a buzzword, but as a practical answer to problems I'd seen up close.
What makes Barrass AI different is the end-to-end approach. I do the strategy, the build, and the ongoing support — locally, in person where possible. You're not outsourcing to a team in another country or paying for a generic platform. You're getting something built specifically for your business, by someone who understands it.
Common questions
FAQ
A developer builds what you specify. I start by identifying where AI actually creates value in your business — often in places you wouldn't think to look. You get strategy plus execution, not just a contractor waiting for a brief. And everything is fixed price, so you're never watching a meter run.
Not at all. You understand your business — I handle the technology. We talk in plain language about outcomes and problems, not model architectures or APIs. If you want to go deeper, I'm happy to explain, but it's never required.
The AI Audit takes around 1–2 weeks. Quick Win projects typically deliver in 2–4 weeks. Custom builds vary by scope, but we agree a timeline upfront before any work begins. You'll never be left wondering.
We spend a few hours together — over calls and a detailed questionnaire — mapping your current workflows, tools, and pain points. I then produce a written report identifying the highest-value AI opportunities in your business, with rough cost/benefit estimates and a recommended priority order.
Yes. The majority of work happens remotely, so location is rarely a constraint. I'm Queenstown-based and proud of it, but I work with businesses across New Zealand.
You do. Everything built for your business is yours — the code, the data, the workflows. There are no ongoing licence fees to me. You may use third-party AI services (like OpenAI) that have their own subscription costs, but I'll make those clear in the proposal.
Get started
Let's talk about your business
The first call is free and there's no obligation. Tell me what you're working with and I'll give you an honest view of where AI can help.