The twelve weeks

What the twelve weeks actually look like.

Weeknights and async. No weekend classes, no busywork, no job-promise milestone. One real project sits at the centre of everything you build and every conversation.

A week worked if you shipped the artefact.

One 60-minute session a week, one decision made live, one task written down with a definition of done. The next session opens on last week’s artefact.

Weeks 1 to 4

Position

Get specific enough to be remembered, and readable to the local market.

  1. Week 01: Pick a niche

    A discipline plus one industry you can talk about without faking it. One sentence: what you do, who for, what proof you have today.

  2. Week 02: Make the story read local

    Rework LinkedIn and GitHub until a stranger can answer three things fast: what you do, what proof you have, and why they should believe you here. Overseas experience stays; the market just has to read it.

  3. Week 03: Build the list

    Name 20 to 30 people in that niche: owners, leads, alumni, meetup organisers. Why them, what you would say. No ask yet.

  4. Week 04: Start warm conversations

    Comments and short notes that show you actually looked. Measure replies, not volume. This is also the honest fit check.

Weeks 5 to 9

Build

One real problem in a real Australian business, built under engineering review. Delivered by SMEC AISMEC AIunder the Australian Government’s AI Adopt Program, so you arrive with a national program behind your name.

  1. Week 05: Scope a real problem

    Sit down with an owner and something that genuinely costs them time or money. They rarely arrive with a spec, so working out what is worth building is half the work.

  2. Weeks 06 to 08: Build under review

    One project, under engineering review, until it is something an owner can actually click. No second project, no detours.

  3. Week 09: Get proof in their words

    Put it in front of the owner or a real user, then ask for a reference in their words. Otherwise publish the problem, the build, and the trade-offs.

Weeks 10 to 12

Connect

The project and the panel do the introducing, so conversations start from proof instead of a cold ask.

  1. Week 10: Outreach with the project

    Reach out wide, now leading with proof instead of favours. Most will not reply, and that is fine. The ones who do become your network.

  2. Week 11: Get your name on a real room

    A panel seat, a co-host slot, or a volunteer-run meetup. Melbourne runs the rooms already and they are permanently short of speakers. A panel invite flatters even on a no.

  3. Week 12: Keep the warm path warm

    Follow up with everyone who replied. The measure is not an offer letter in week twelve. It is replies from people who already had a reason to take you seriously.

If you stall

One honest check-in. If the work is not happening, this is not the right time and you step out. We do not carry a maybe to protect a seat.

This is the shape of the twelve weeks. The fit is decided on a call.

A 30-minute call: where you are, whether the sprint fits, and what it costs, directly. Places are limited because every build goes into a real business.

Build for real Australian SMEs · Champion AI Adoption