About | AIpex

How we started

It started in a classroom.

AIpex is an Auckland-based AI training and workflow automation company founded by Patrick Dodd and Brendan Choi. It provides structured AI capability programmes, governance frameworks, and workflow integration services designed specifically for New Zealand professional services firms in accounting, architecture, legal, and engineering.

AIpex is the training and integration arm of AIvolve, a NZ AI company that started with a different product: an AI-powered call reception service built specifically for trades businesses. The pivot to training wasn't accidental. It came from a pattern Patrick kept seeing in his teaching.

Patrick co-developed and co-delivered AI Business Essentials through the University of Auckland's Executive Professional Development programme — short, practical courses for business professionals who want to build real AI capability. The pattern across every cohort was the same. Most people in the room were already using AI tools. Very few were using them in ways that changed how they worked.

That observation, repeated across cohort after cohort, made the case clearly. NZ professional services firms didn't need more content about AI. They needed structured, practical capability building designed around how those firms actually operate. AIpex is that answer.

The team

The people behind AIpex.

Patrick Dodd

Co-founder · Strategy and Training

Professional Teaching Fellow · University of Auckland Business School ↗

Patrick teaches digital marketing and strategy at the University of Auckland Business School, where he is one of the faculty's leading voices on integrating AI into teaching and learning. He developed the AI Business Essentials course through UoA's Executive Professional Development programme and has taught it to hundreds of business professionals over several years.

His approach at AIpex is the same as it is in the classroom: applied over theoretical, specific over vague, and always focused on what a firm can actually do differently after the session ends.

Brendan Choi

Co-founder · Technical Lead

Honours in Computer Science · University of Auckland ↗

Brendan studied computer science at the University of Auckland, where he was part of the team that developed a funded AI tutoring system. Patrick watched him work on that project and, when Brendan finished his honours degree, the conversation was short: between Patrick's background in training and business strategy and Brendan's depth in software and AI systems, there was a business worth building.

At AIpex, Brendan leads all technical delivery. He scopes, builds, and documents the workflow automations and system integrations that take a firm's identified opportunities and turn them into working tools.

Our approach

Applied. Not theoretical.

Three principles that shape every engagement, every session, and every build.

Practical outcomes from day one

Every session and every build has the same measure of success: what can your team do differently next week? There is some theory — context helps — but the purpose is always application. We don't deliver frameworks that sit in a SharePoint folder.

Vendor-independent

We don't resell software licences and we don't receive referral fees from technology vendors. The tools we recommend are the tools that make sense for your firm's systems, budget, and workflows. Nothing more.

Built for NZ professional services

Our content is designed around the way NZ accounting, architecture, legal, and engineering firms actually operate. Not global content repackaged for a local audience. Aligned with the NZ Privacy Act 2020 and the obligations NZ firms face.

Common questions

What people ask us.

Questions about who we are, how we work, and whether AIpex is the right fit.

What is AIpex?

AIpex is a New Zealand AI training and workflow automation company that helps professional services firms build practical AI capability and automate high-value operational workflows. It is the training and integration arm of AIvolve, founded by Patrick Dodd and Brendan Choi in Auckland. AIpex is vendor-independent, does not resell software licences, and is aligned with the NZ Privacy Act 2020.

Who founded AIpex and what are their qualifications?

AIpex was co-founded by Patrick Dodd and Brendan Choi. Patrick is a Professional Teaching Fellow at the University of Auckland Business School, where he specialises in digital marketing and AI integration in business, and previously co-developed and co-delivered the AI Business Essentials programme through UoA's Executive Professional Development programme. Brendan holds a Bachelor of Computer Science with Honours from the University of Auckland and led technical development of a funded AI tutoring system during his studies.

Who is AIpex for?

AIpex works with small and mid-size professional services firms in New Zealand, particularly in accounting, architecture, legal, and engineering. Typical clients have between 10 and 100 employees and are at the point where AI adoption is happening informally and they need structure, governance, and practical capability to make it work properly.

How is AIpex different from a Microsoft Copilot reseller?

AIpex is vendor-independent. It does not resell software licences and does not receive referral fees from technology vendors. Its training and integration services are designed around each firm's existing systems and workflows, not around promoting a single platform.

Where is AIpex based?

AIpex is based in Auckland, New Zealand. All services are designed for New Zealand businesses and aligned with the NZ Privacy Act 2020. Engagements are delivered on-site or virtually across New Zealand.

What does an AIpex engagement look like?

Most firms start with a 90-minute Executive AI Briefing for partners and senior management (NZ$1,250 + GST), then move to a half-day or full-day AI Capability Workshop for the team (from NZ$2,750 + GST). Firms ready to automate specific workflows proceed to a fixed-scope Workflow Integration Sprint delivered over four to eight weeks (from NZ$6,500 + GST). All engagements are fixed-fee with defined deliverables.

What is AIvolve and how does it relate to AIpex?

AIvolve is a New Zealand AI company founded by Patrick Dodd and Brendan Choi. AIpex is the training and integration arm of AIvolve, focused on helping professional services firms build AI capability and automate workflows.

We built AIpex because most firms are using AI. Very few are using it well.