Ember Labs — Adelaide, Australia
I help you discover what's slowing your business down. Then I build the AI agent or software that puts it into overdrive.
Diagnosis first, fixed price after. AI automation, websites, and bespoke web apps — built around how your business actually runs, not a template.
Get in touch — I'll find out what's actually going on before anything gets built.
What I do
Four services. One process: diagnose first.
Ember Labs is an AI strategy and software engineering studio based in Adelaide, Australia. I work with small and mid-sized businesses that have outgrown manual workarounds or generic AI advice.
AI Strategy & Consulting
A free, no-obligation diagnosis of what's actually costing your business time — the entry point before any build starts.
AI Automation
Custom AI agents with real skills, not a chatbot demo. I built a signage company an assistant that turns a brief and a site photo into a design proof on their own template, same day. Starts at $4,750.
Website Development
A site built around how you actually work with clients, not a template you have to fit into. Real builds: ineedtocreate.com, thefriendshipreset.com. Starts at $3,750.
Web App Development
Bespoke web apps built around how your business actually runs. I built a dance competition organiser a complete event-day system — digital check-in, live results, one dashboard instead of six paper lists. Starts at $4,750.
How the work with us path goes
One diagnosis. Then it goes wherever the business actually needs it.
Start with the truth about the business, not a quote.
A real conversation
I talk through what's actually going on — the numbers, the bottlenecks, what it's costing. No pitch, no cost to find out. If it turns into a build, everything we've already worked out together carries straight into it — nothing wasted.
Strategy engagement
If the fix is in how the business runs — pricing, offer, operations — I work it through with you from there. Priced off what we find, not off a rate card.
App build — fixed price from your scope
If the fix is a piece of software, I build it. Yours — not a licensed template, not "the same thing I sold the last client." Built off the diagnosis, so it's solving the actual problem, not a guess at one.
If I don't deliver what we scoped together, the final milestone isn't invoiced.
Run — $49–99/mo
Once it's live, I keep it running — hosting, fixes, small improvements. The platform keeps earning long after the build's paid for itself.
A build like this typically pays for itself inside the first year. After that, everything it earns is the business's, every year, without a second invoice from anyone.
The usual route to custom software is a six-month agency build starting around $30,000, with every change after kickoff billed separately. The conversation upfront settles the right scale of build before either of you commits to that number.
Case files
What a proper diagnosis turns into.
A signage company's custom AI assistant. A dance competition's full event-day system. Real diagnoses, real builds, no invented numbers or borrowed logos — more go up here as further builds complete and clients confirm they're happy to be named.
What clients say
5 stars on Google, every time.
Verbatim reviews from our Google Business Profile. Reviewer names withheld by request; wording unedited.
“Was very clear and gave great advice over the phone to solve my cybersecurity issues.”
IT & cybersecurity advice client — Google Review
“We could not speak more highly of Dave. He created a web based app for our company and went above and beyond. Dave's…”
A dance competition organiser — Google Review
“Dave set up my website to accept edits and updates via Claude AI. This required setup through GitHub and Vercel. Dave set it all up in about an hour. He did an amazing job.”
A creativity coach & author — Google Review
How I work
Diagnose. Build. Run.
The same three steps, every time.
Diagnose
A real conversation. I find out what's actually going on before either of us commits to anything bigger.
Build
A strategy engagement, a bespoke app, or both — whichever the diagnosis actually points to. Never decided in advance.
Run
I keep it alive for $49–99/mo. The point was never a one-off build — it's something that keeps earning.
Who's behind this
Hi, I'm Dave Bock.
Founder, Ember Labs — Adelaide, Australia
I run Ember Labs directly, backed by a coordinated system of specialist AI agents I built and direct myself — they handle the research, drafting, and delivery work behind every engagement, so a one-person studio can build like one twice its size.
Found me through a LinkedIn post? Read my short note here.
Questions worth asking
Before you get in touch
I have a real conversation with you about what's actually going on — no sales pitch, no obligation. It routes one of three ways: a strategy engagement, an app build, or both. If it's neither, you've still got a clear, honest read on your situation.
Yes. It's built for your business, not licensed to it.
Hosting, fixes, and keeping it running. It's not a subscription to keep using something you already own — it's what it costs to keep the lights on.
You're not paying for six months of an agency finding its feet on your business — the conversation upfront already did that, which is often what makes the total cheaper, not just the sticker price.