hum[ai]n works with leaders and business owners wherever they are on the AI journey, from working out where to start, to embedding AI into how the business actually runs. We build the clarity, confidence, and cultural permission that turn AI investment into real results.
Kate joined Ellen Fanning on 612 ABC Brisbane to talk about what AI actually is, how Australian businesses can start using it practically, and why access to AI tools isn't the same as knowing how to use them well.
More on Insights →Every engagement starts with a diagnostic. Low commitment. Evidence-based. The clearest way to see where you actually sit before deciding what to do next.
Start with the AI Pulse Check. Fifteen minutes. No commitment. You will get a snapshot of where your business sits with AI, what is working, and what needs attention.
Start here
Take the AI Pulse CheckAfter that, if you want to go deeper, we offer AI Traction: a productised program that takes you from clarity through to one embedded workflow.
Start with the Governance Diagnostic. It replaces assumptions with evidence about where your organisation actually sits with AI adoption. Free to start. About an hour to complete.
Start here
Take the Governance DiagnosticIf you want full guidance across the AI adoption journey, we offer the AI Leadership and Adoption Program: diagnostic-led advisory grounded in the hum[ai]n Compass, scaled to where your organisation actually is.
Why hum[ai]n
hum[ai]n is not a technology vendor. We give leadership teams and founders the framework, the language, and the discipline to make AI decisions that hold up over time. Tools come and go. The thinking that decides between them is what lasts.
Kate Russell is the Founder and Principal of hum[ai]n. She has spent her career at the intersection of people, culture, and organisational change, including six-plus years at lululemon and co-founding The Square Wave Group.
Kate has been thinking about the human side of AI adoption for longer than it has been a business priority. hum[ai]n was her first venture. She stepped away to co-found The Square Wave Group, and returned when the conditions were right.
hum[ai]n is backed by a small group of experienced advisors who bring deep expertise across a range of fields. They are practitioners, not consultants. People with active careers who know what good looks like from the inside.
“We engaged Kate to support us to build AI capability in our corporate sustainability team, not a theory-focused overview, but practical skills our people could apply immediately. Kate delivered exactly that. In three hours, the team moved from a mixed capability AI skillset to applying these tools strategically: how to research smarter, how to prompt with intention, and how to develop briefs for AI assistants tailored to our work.
What stood out was how well Kate understood our context. The session was built around our tools, our team diagnostic results, and our priorities: it didn’t feel generic. Our team left with practical tools, a clear personal learning commitment and a scoped brief ready to work through with our tech team.”
“I was very deliberate about the kind of AI expert I wanted in the room. My clients are senior hospitality professionals, not tech people, and I needed someone who could meet them where they were. That search led me to Kate. She delivered a genuinely engaging, practically grounded session that had a room full of commercially sharp, experienced professionals leaning in. She read the room beautifully, made complex ideas feel immediately accessible, and left people feeling excited rather than overwhelmed. If you are looking for someone to help your organisation navigate AI in a way that actually brings people with it, Kate Russell is the person I would call.”
“The team at Allara were successfully leveraging AI tools to support productivity, but as a training provider we knew the value of proactive governance and decided to invest early in training. The experts, Kate Russell and Steve Hunt (at The Square Wave) helped us formalise the momentum that was building, establishing shared standards, consistency and confidence business wide.”
If any of this sounds like where your organisation is sitting, a conversation is the right first step. There's no pitch deck. Just a straight conversation about what's happening and whether we're a good fit.