You saw 30 seconds.
Here's the rest.
A real trade business, and what changed when the admin got built out of their week — the quoting, the scheduling, the compliance. Their words, not ours. Under two minutes.
Where your hours go.
Run a trade business and the work is rarely the problem. It's everything around the work.
The 7pm phone calls. The scheduling that never sits still. Compliance that has to be bang on. Quoting, chasing, following up. None of it is the job — but it quietly eats the week.
*and it's usually the stuff nobody sees.
The job isn't the problem. It's everything stacked around it.
That's where your hours go. And most of it can be built out of your week — without losing the human part of the job.
Using AI isn't the same as having it built in.
Most people talking about AI mean ChatGPT in a browser tab. Another login. Another thing to remember.
What we do is different. We build it into the scheduling, the quoting, the compliance — the everyday stuff. It works whether anyone remembers to use it or not.
*not used. built in.
We don't turn up with software.
We sit down.
No pitch, no slides. Just a proper yarn about how your week actually runs.
We find the hours.
Your people, your problems, your opportunities — where the time really goes.
We build it in.
Not another app to log into. It's wired into how the business already works.
We stick around.
We work alongside you long after it's up and running — more like a mate than someone who just sold you something.
*most of our work comes from businesses we've already helped.
Built into plumbing businesses.
Plumbcraft is a plumbing outfit. But the week looks much the same whether you're on the tools, on the wires, or on the build. Admin doesn't much care what trade you're in.
We work with trade and construction businesses that are good at what they do — and sick of everything around it.
Plumbcraft. 36 years in the trade.
Cameron, the general manager, wasn't sold at the start. His words, not ours:
"It could be a potential threat to us. Certainly if other people adopt it first."
Where he landed, once it was built in:
"We can use AI to help us get our hours down, while also doing the face-to-face with the customer, while also helping grow the staff capabilities."
What did we build? The repetitive stuff, mostly — the fields that are the same every time, the compliance that has to be filed, the scheduling that never sits still. The clever bits Cam would rather keep to himself. Fair enough — we built some pretty cool things.
Cata1yst AI is a New Zealand operation, based across Auckland and the Bay of Plenty, building AI into real businesses right through Aotearoa and Australia. We spend our time inside those businesses, wiring it into how they actually run. We spent over a year embedded with the Plumbcraft team — that's who the film's about. More are on the way, with other businesses we've helped.
See what businesses like yours are doing.
Pick your trade and drop your email. We'll send you a short, honest rundown of what other businesses in your line are actually building with AI — real examples, no pitch.
Wondering where your hours go?
No pitch. Just a conversation about your week, and what could come out of it.
Talk to us