More than tech

Five months into launching Platform 5ive, Founder Deon Wilde already had 15 gyms lined up, each prepared to spend thousands on AI-powered automation. But after the first consultation, he told them no.

“They were all willing to spend US$13,100 on AI-powered automation,” Wilde tells The CEO Magazine. “I was having these consultations, telling them, ‘You don’t need this. I can’t take your money.’”

He lost an investor because of that decision. But what he kept was even better – his values.

“My investor told me to take the money, but I stood my ground and said it wasn’t right,” he reflects. “It wasn’t ethical or transparent.”

That was the moment that Platform 5ive became something more than another stock-standard tech consultancy.

Building a better model

Platform 5ive partners with fast-scaling businesses and enterprise teams to design operational systems that reduce costs, remove friction and automate complexity. But Wilde insists, this isn’t about stacking more tech.

“Platform 5ive was born out of a genuine need to provide a more ethical way of delivering AI and automation – not to chase quick profits like so many new agencies jumping on the hype,” he reveals.

Based in Australia, yet operating globally, the company builds bespoke solutions using AI, automation, virtual teams and proprietary systems. Wilde created the company with a simple aim: reduce staffing costs by up to 80 percent and give leaders back time to think, not just manage.

“We just want to make lives easier, provide genuine value to our customers and get paid to do it,” he says.

It would almost seem Wilde is anti-technology, but he insists he’s just against empty transformation.

“I’m not a massive tech fan,” he admits. “But tech is a necessary evil – one we need to use responsibly, not just because it’s the new bright and shiny toy everyone’s talking about.”

Wilde believes many leaders are overwhelmed, not because of technology itself, but because in many instances, they’re chasing the wrong kind.

“People expect that what they see trending is going to be what they need right now,” he explains. “So that contextual misunderstanding and misalignment, creating disparity, doesn’t help much.”

Rather than offering off-the-shelf, pre-packaged AI solutions, Wilde says Platform 5ive starts with an audit – a process he describes as part education, part reality check.

“The AI audit works well because it allows us to go in, have a conversation and discover what each individual client needs because everyone is completely different,” he points out.

Indeed, that simplicity-first approach wins trust, but more importantly, it reveals the hidden efficiencies leaders are blind to.

“Many of the executives we work with can’t see the complexities within their businesses,” he says.

Cutting the noise

One of Wilde’s long-term clients is a perfect example.

“He has 220 staff in Western Australia and yet he still does his invoicing manually,” he explains, noting that an AI solution could easily do this heavy lifting, saving him time and improving efficiency.

However, Wilde insists AI is not about replacing people. Instead, it’s about surfacing their potential.

“No employee will put their hand up and admit to using something like ChatGPT 75 percent of the time,” he says.

“What many don’t realize is that use of AI is actually very valuable. And they could be upskilling the rest of their team to show them how to use it in a more effective way.”

Platform 5ive’s approach is simple. It’s about protecting the humans, optimizing the workflow and removing digital double handling. From automated onboarding and document templating to AI-driven reporting dashboards, the focus is on cutting the noise leaders don’t need to be managing.

Wilde is also leaning into one of AI’s most ambitious frontiers yet: digital CEO twins.

“The CEO clone, or the digital twin, is quite attractive,” he says, going on to explain that these intelligent assistants are built using proprietary technology, not public GPT databases.

They can even manage emails, produce reports, answer staff questions or recall the CEO’s knowledge and upcoming meetings.

“Leaders can have a legal assistant or a compliance officer built into the knowledge base that they can call on rather than looking through compliance documents. These actually empower employees,” Wilde adds.

For CEOs, he says it helps get them out of the weeds so they can focus on what’s most important.

From provider to partner

Unlike traditional software firms, Platform 5ive doesn’t sell a licence and leave. Instead, Wilde sees transformation as a long-term partnership.

“We’re not education providers. We’re not hardware. And we’re not AI professionals,” he explains.

“But we do have great partners like Dell and other core software houses that know how to deliver very well. And we bring them in to help create great outcomes for our clients.”

Once a project begins, each client is assigned a developer, account manager and project manager who continuously refine automations and systems over time.

“We work with our customers, making sure their connections are seamless,” he says.

While Platform 5ive is built to be commercially strong, it was also built to enable something more. Wilde has spent years designing community events that quietly inspire healthier minds and behaviors, including large-scale obstacle course events, in partnership with Red Dust, across Western Australia.

“We built the company so we can continue to do good. Together with Red Dust, we did 17 events with roughly 30,000 people over seven years,” he says.

Wilde’s goal is to create an interconnected, on-premise AI and data network across Western Australia.

“We’re working toward creating a large, shared infrastructure where AI processing power and data storage can be efficiently utilized and shared when not in use,” he says.

But for all the innovation, his proudest accomplishment as a father of two is simple.

“My biggest win so far would be the extra family time,” Wilde reveals.

After years of travel and corporate work, launching Platform 5ive has allowed him to be home.

Now, he can linger at school drop-offs, smile at his daughter’s latest fashion verdicts and reconnect with the everyday moments that used to blur between flights and rushed mornings to the office.