Meet the Minds Behind Alesko.ai: A Founder's Journey

G'day! We're thrilled to welcome you to this personal introduction to the founders of Alesko.ai. Before we dive into the innovative AI solutions we're building for Australia's financial sector, we thought you might like to know a bit more about the people behind the technology.

Our Story

At Alesko.ai, we're building enterprise-grade AI agent frameworks specifically designed for Australian financial institutions. Founded by Jared and Denis, our company was born from conversations between gym sessions and a shared vision of transforming how the financial sector leverages artificial intelligence. With complementary backgrounds in AI development and banking, we identified a critical gap between available AI automation solutions and what's currently being utilised within Australia's finance industry.

Getting to Know Us: Founder Q&A

The Inspiration

**What inspired you to start Alesko.ai?**

During our many sessions at our local gym, we would spend time between sets and after gym talking about our careers. I (Jared) come from a background in business ownership and software development focused on AI, and Denis coming from a banking and finance background. When talking about what we do, we found that there is a gap between what is currently available in the AI automation space and what is currently being used inside of the finance industries within Australia. This led to us starting this business together.

**What problem did you personally experience that led you to create this solution?**

We found over speaking to our peers and friend groups that most of the day is spent doing the mundane rather than the fields we are experts in. For Denis in banking, it was the lack of automated support for customers that just have quick queries and the inability to have the mundane documents within banking pre-filled and ready for use.

**What's the story behind the name "Alesko"?**

It was actually pretty simple, we wanted the name to be short, easy to say and remember and also have the .ai domain name. After a couple of days on Godaddy looking at domain names, we chose Alesko.

The Journey

**What were you doing before founding Alesko.ai?**

I was building AI software for an international company and Denis was working with NAB in banking and finance.

**What's been your biggest challenge so far as founders?**

The biggest challenge we have is just keeping on top of the ever-growing list of things to build, people to meet, projects to finish and to build our brand and name within Australia.

**What has surprised you most about building a startup in the Australian fintech space?**

It was two things actually. First was the lack of government funding, seeing start-ups around the world having a backing to really make something happen, we don't see that happening with Australia. The second is honestly, how much AI has given us in terms of speed and efficiency of building. We are an AI-first company and we use our own products daily.

The Vision

**Where do you see Alesko.ai five years from now?**

We see Alesko being the biggest name in business and enterprise Agentic Software. We see our company having formed relationships with the biggest and best companies at the forefront of agents and AI. We see how time spent working with our customers building the future and lastly, we hope we can still spend most of our time working from a coffee shop near the ocean in great weather.

**How do you think AI will transform the Australian financial sector in the coming decade?**

I see the move from a 40-hour work week consisting of 40% doing the work we love and 60% doing the mundane everyday tasks that are just "Part of the grind" becoming 90% doing the work that we love and 10% managing the Agents to pre-build/verify and implement the more medial tasks. I see every company having AI as standard practice and the world opening up to 24x7, Multi-Language support and workflows.

**What unique insight do you have about the market that others might overlook?**

We find that business in Australia is actually very AI forward. We have conversations daily with stakeholders and business owners who are, well, very excited and eager to see it working. I think people around the world under-estimate just how quickly and how big AI will be within Australia. For anyone reading this that is thinking they may as well move to the US to create their startup, trust us, there is plenty here and people are very exciting to build the future here.

The Personal Side

**What's one book that has significantly influenced your approach to business?**

**Jared:** For me, I am more of a podcast listener than book reader, but one of the first books I read that really changed the way I challenge myself in life was Atomic Habits. Now I know it's a starter book for a lot of people but for me, it was a refinement of something I was slowly learning anyway. The quote that "You don't rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems" is something I still talk about daily to people I interact with. For podcasts, I recommend everyone listen to Lex Fridman, Unsupervised Learning and Machine Learning Street Talk. You can learn more about tech, life, business and future. I always recommend going for a walk while listening and learning.

**Denis:** Mine is a little cliche, but it's a story I read as a child. Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Reading it as a child, to randomly finding it in a box in our garage as a teenager while moving houses, I've always found something relatable to it. Today it's a reminder that, if you pursue perfection in something that others disagree with, you might lose those people, but you'll become closer to the people who are the same as you.

**How do you balance the demands of a startup with personal life?**

**Jared:** To be honest, I'm still learning. I have two young girls at the time of writing this and working with a full-time startup, in a 24x7 industry while maintaining family life and my love for the gym is a constant challenge. The trick I find is to just make sure to be absolutely present with my girls, the phone/email/work can wait. An hour of focused time with them is better than a day of being half there half at work. Also, short hyper-focused work stints I think is the best way to work, 3 hours of absolute focus is better than 8 hours of regular work.

**Denis:** I agree, I'm still finding the sweet point of it. Coming from salary type roles in the past, it's a challenge. There is no set 9 to 5, it's work or don't work. Not only that, but I can choose the kind of work I want to focus on. It sounds fun, and it was the first couple of weeks, but optimising it is a challenge. My personal life is a little easier than Jared's, I don't have kids, but spending time with family is important. I have a big family and we're very close so Sunday's are a write off for me. Overall it's a good challenge and every week is getting easier.

**What's something most people wouldn't know about you?**

**Jared:** I'm an open book mainly, so that's a hard question to answer. I would say most people don't know that I am at heart, a music lover. I played in a bunch of bands in high school and always thought I would be in a band touring the world one day. That turned out not to be the case.

**Denis:** I'm a massive motorsport fanatic. You'll find me Iracing under Denis Gataric2, ashamed to admit but I forgot a password to the first email with no retrieval, horrible, I know. I like the large events like Bathurst 1000, Bathurst 12 hour, Logitech Invitational Pro series. I currently race with Synergy Sim Racing who are an awesome bunch of people. I mainly race GT3 and Supercars. If anyone sees me there, don't be afraid to say hi.

The Partnership

**How did you two meet and decide to go into business together?**

**Jared:** We met while both working for Telstra Business a long long time ago. We decided to go into business once I had built out in my head what came to be Alesko and needed a business partner that would understand just how much work it would be and also be able to take this business to the next level. Denis' background and work ethic were something I noticed early on and was glad to offer him a major role in the startup.

**Denis:** That feels like a lifetime ago. For me it was a combination of things, Jared and I kept in touch after Telstra where we went into different career paths. We'd always catch up at the gym, he'd tell me about his study, and every time I learned something I'd try applying it to the job I was doing and I felt the opportunity was insane. Then after he started working it obviously grew even further. I know his work ethic and it was a no brainer for me to jump on.

**How would you describe your working relationship and how you complement each other?**

**Jared:** Our working relationship is great! We both understand just how much involvement this takes and understand that the world just isn't that serious. Knowing there is always time for coffee and gym and knowing when to put in the hard yards is key to our success.

**Denis:** I think we complement each other well. We've got different experiences and different thought processes. The main thing I find is that we can communicate that with each other well and so far it's served us well.

**What's your conflict resolution strategy as co-founders?**

**Jared:** So far, it's been pretty good. I think we both understand what each other's strengths and weaknesses is, so we approach issues based on what we can offer to the solution and it's worked out so far. I think as long as we keep in mind, it's US vs the PROBLEM not US vs EACH OTHER we will continue to find success.

**Denis:** That, I agree. We don't want to be right for the sake of being right. We only want to find the most efficient way to a solution. We've had that kind of relationship 8 years ago in Telstra and we haven't changed.

The Australian Context

**Why did you choose to build Alesko.ai in Australia rather than other tech hubs?**

**Jared:** That one is easy, it's amazing here, beautiful, great weather, great people. I was born in New Zealand and lived there as a kid, but Australia is home. The more I travel the more I realise, I really like where I live. I can't wait to show the world how much of an impact Australia can have in the FinTech, AI tech industries.

**How does being an Australian company influence your approach to AI and financial technology?**

**Jared:** We have tight regulations here, so we have to keep a focus on validation and regulation layers when we build solutions. It's always at the forefront of what we build and how we think. This overall is a positive as our software is better, faster and more robust because of Australia's focus on security and regulation.

**Denis:** I'll add onto that from a financial point of view. Like Jared said, we have tight regulations, in which financial companies spend millions individually to remain compliant. Saving time and money is a great thing on one hand, but it's pointless if you're paying for penalties and fixes on the other. Therefore for us, we're not just focusing on cost and time savings, but security as well.

**What advice would you give to other Australian entrepreneurs looking to enter the AI space?**

**Jared:** A quote I always think of is "People think they need perfect conditions to start, when in reality, starting is the perfect condition." To anyone looking to start in the AI world, or to start as entrepreneurs, just start building, iterate along the way and let your success and failures guide you towards the goal.

Looking Forward

We're at an exciting inflection point in our journey at Alesko.ai. As we continue to develop our enterprise-grade AI agent frameworks for Australia's financial institutions, we're passionate about creating technology that truly understands the unique challenges of this sector.

We'd love to hear from you! Whether you're a potential customer, investor, or just curious about what we're building, don't hesitate to reach out and continue the conversation.

Stay tuned for more updates on our journey to become Australia's premium agentic AI software company for the financial sector.

*This blog post was published on 18 March 2025. To learn more about our technology and solutions, visit our main blog.*

Jared & Denis

Co-Founders

Jared and Denis bring complementary expertise in AI development and banking to solve the unique challenges facing Australia's financial sector.