Hands-on
AI training
on the
Gold Coast.
PROACTIVE Co runs hands-on AI workshops, 1:1 Claude Code training and on-site team training from Burleigh Heads, and builds AI into businesses across the Gold Coast, Brisbane and South East Queensland — AI agents, automations and custom AI you own, not rent.
AI employee
Two sessions, same workshop: come Thursday evening or Friday morning, whichever suits. Walk out with a working AI employee built specifically for your business. This is not a lecture, you build it in the room, with hands-on support the entire time.
AI workshops, training
& integration services.
to AI isn't
technical.
It's courage.
Most business leaders know AI is reshaping the way we work. Most are still waiting to feel ready.
"AI ate our lunch, not because we didn't know it was coming, but because we didn't act fast enough. We rebuilt from the ground up, and discovered something important along the way."
— Chris Hogan, Founder, PROACTIVE CoBetween December 2025 and February 2026, the marketing agency I founded 20 years ago lost 80% of its clients. We rebuilt. And what we learned through that experience is that the businesses who survive disruption aren't the most technically sophisticated, they're the most courageous.
PROACTIVE Co exists to give business leaders the courage to act, the capability to build, and the confidence to lead their teams through what's coming. Not through more content to consume. Through real work, with someone who's already made the mistakes so you don't have to.
Build your
own AI
employee
What you will build
-
01A personalised AI employee Interviews you, sets itself up around how you work, your priorities, and how you think.
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02A persistent business brain Gets smarter every session. Remembers context, builds on itself over time.
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03The framework for connecting tools you own Email, calendar, docs, your assistant can take action, not just chat. You'll learn how connectors work and how to decide which Employee should touch which account. Wire them in deliberately. No SaaS lock-in.
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04Custom skills for your workflows Tailored to your specific pain points and the work quietly costing you hours.
What you will learn
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01How AI assistants actually work The real framework, demystified, practical, immediately applicable.
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02Claude Code as your personal OS Set it up, run it, and make it the layer your working day runs through.
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03Building multiple AI team members Different AI roles for different functions, each with its own connected accounts. Personal inbox, agency inbox, client inbox, separated by design.
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04Why bespoke beats SaaS The shift from subscribing to software, to building tools you actually own.
The framework
The why, the what, and the how. Context first, understand the construct before you build. No slides you'll forget. Real understanding you'll use.
Guided build
Hands-on support in the room. Your questions answered in real time. You leave with a working assistant, not a half-finished prototype.
You don't need to be technical.
You need to be willing.
Agency owners and consultants who want AI working for them, not just chatting at them.
SMB founders and operators who need to do more with less, without compromising on quality.
Marketing professionals who need to show their team, and their leadership, what's actually possible.
Corporate and enterprise leaders who are done watching from the sidelines and ready to lead the shift inside their organisation.
Six seats. One facilitator. Small enough that no one gets left behind.
Direct access.
Real experience.
Chris Hogan
25+ years of marketing leadership. Author of Building Brands On Purpose. Currently building AI-powered operations for businesses across multiple industries. Chris runs the workshop end to end and brings the strategic lens, not just how to build it, but how to use it to grow and lead.
The executive assistant framework taught in this workshop was designed by Gareth Rydon, founder of Friyay.ai. PROACTIVE Co builds on that foundation.
Come prepared.
Leave with
something real.
Mac or PC. Either works. Come charged and ready to build.
Your Claude subscription. Don't have one yet? We'll help you set it up on the day.
Short Loom video and checklist sent after booking. Installs are done before Friday so we spend the room building, not configuring. Help available if you get stuck.
What workshop attendees
think of their experience.
We don't just train.
We build.
Beyond the workshops, PROACTIVE Co builds AI into businesses: AI agents that handle real work, automations that remove the repetitive stuff, and custom AI built for your industry. It starts with a free AI Readiness Audit that scores your business across six dimensions, then follows a staged path to AI systems you own, not rent.
Start with the free AI Readiness Audit →The questions
everyone asks.
Straight answers from someone who builds this stuff every day. If yours isn't here, call 1300 636 334 or .
What does an AI agency actually do?
An AI agency plans, builds and runs AI for your business. You brief them, they deliver, and you rent the result: their time, their retainers, their systems.
PROACTIVE Co works the other way around. We teach you and your team to build AI systems you own, and we build alongside you where that makes sense. Training comes first, because a business that understands its own AI makes better decisions about everything that follows.
If you want it done for you, we do that too, through our AI integration services. Either way, you finish owning the system, not renting it.
How much does AI cost for a small business in Australia?
Less than most people expect, and you can see every price on this site. A hands-on group workshop is $450. Private 1:1 Claude Code training is $660. An on-site team workshop starts at $3,995. AI integration starts with a free AI Readiness Audit, and the paid roadmap is $2,500, fully credited to your first build stage. All prices include GST.
Ongoing costs are mostly your Claude subscription, from around $35 a month per person. There's no lock-in and no retainer required. You own what gets built.
Will AI replace my staff?
No. The businesses getting this right use AI to take the repetitive work off their people's plates, so everyone spends more time on the work they're actually good at.
That's how we run every workshop: each person builds an AI employee for their own role. The humans stay in charge and the mundane gets delegated. The barrier to AI isn't technical, and it isn't headcount. It's courage: leaders willing to act before they feel ready, and to bring their team with them.
Do you only work with Gold Coast businesses?
We're based in Burleigh Heads and most of our public workshops run here. On-site team training covers the Gold Coast to Brisbane with travel included, and further afield at cost. 1:1 Claude Code training runs over Zoom anywhere in Australia.
So no, location won't rule you out. It just decides whether we meet in person or on a call.
Anthropic just launched Claude for Small Business with a free setup. Why do I need a workshop?
Turn it on. It's genuinely good. It connects Claude to tools like QuickBooks, HubSpot, Canva and Google Workspace with ready-made skills, and setting up exactly this kind of connection is part of what we do together in the workshop.
Just remember it's the same setup for everyone who installs it, including your competitor down the road. It doesn't know your business, your voice or your clients, and it runs on Anthropic's terms rather than yours.
The workshop takes you further. You build an AI employee that knows your business, speaks in your voice, holds your client context, and lives as files on your machine. Start with the free setup by all means. Just don't stop there.
I already use Claude.ai. Isn't this the same thing?
No, and understanding the difference is half the value of the workshop.
Claude.ai and the Claude desktop app run in Anthropic's cloud. Your chats, projects, instructions and connectors live in your account on their servers. Claude Code runs on your own computer. Its memory, its skills and everything it produces are files on your machine that you can open, back up and hand to a colleague.
In the workshop you win twice. First we set up the Claude desktop app properly and connect it to the services you already use, like Gmail and Xero. Then we move to Claude Code and set up MCP connections, which can differ from the connectors in the desktop app, and show you how projects, instructions, skills and memory work across the whole Claude ecosystem.
You leave understanding how the pieces fit together and which one to reach for on any given job.
Can I run different agents for different clients or brands?
Yes, and for agency owners, consultants, and anyone running multiple businesses, this is often the single biggest reason they add Claude Code alongside the desktop app.
In Claude Code you can stand up multiple agents, each connected to its own set of Google accounts (or any other tools). One agent is hooked into your personal Gmail. Another reads your agency inbox. Another talks to a specific client's Drive and Calendar. You invoke them by name, and each one only ever sees its slice of the world.
The Claude desktop app connects to one Google identity per connector at a time. If you manage multiple businesses or hold separate inboxes for personal, agency, and client work, you're signing in and out, or you accept that one connected account sees everything.
That separation matters. It keeps each client's world properly walled off, and it turns one assistant into a team you can delegate to.
Why Cursor or VS Code? Can't I just use the Claude desktop app?
You can run Claude Code from a plain terminal, an IDE isn't strictly required. We use Cursor (or VS Code) because the workshop's whole point is that your AI is a set of files on your computer. An editor with a file tree makes that real:
- You watch memory entries get written.
- You open the agent definitions yourself.
- You edit your own slash commands.
- You commit your assistant to git like any other project.
The desktop app has its place too, and we set it up together in the workshop, connected to your everyday services. It just keeps those files out of sight. Six months from now, when Anthropic ships something new or you want to swap models, the difference between 'I have a chat history' and 'I have a directory of files I control' becomes very real.
Start with the 45-minute reset.
The workshop is a hands-on session where you build the thing. If you are not there yet, the AI Anxiety Reset webinar is the free first step. 45 minutes online, on demand, watch it right now. For business leaders who feel left behind on AI and just need a clear place to start, it is also the fastest way to decide whether the full workshop is for you.
AI Anxiety Reset Webinar · 45 minutes · Free · Watch now →Ready to stop
watching and
start building?
Six seats. Small group. Real outcomes.
When they're gone, they're gone.
PROACTIVE Co · Unit 2, 41a Tallebudgera Creek Road, Burleigh Heads QLD 4220