About InnovateX

Why we exist

The ICT and AI consulting industry has a problem. Most providers are optimised for selling more. More licences. More offshore hours. More “transformation” projects. More AI buzzwords. Their incentive structure isn’t your outcome. It’s their next quarter.

We’ve spent more than a decade inside Australian ICT, watching this play out. Government departments handed slide decks instead of working systems. SMBs locked into platforms they couldn’t extract from. Non-profits paying for support that was actually a tier-one offshore tech reading from a script. AI consulting firms selling expensive “transformation” engagements with no measurable outcome.

InnovateX exists to be the provider we wished was on the other side of the table. Australian-owned. Practitioner-led. Direct about what works and what doesn’t. Embedded in your team rather than parachuted over them.

We’ve also published our own architecture framework. XAF Connected Architecture is the practical alternative to the heavyweight enterprise frameworks built for organisations that don’t exist anymore. Free for anyone to use. Hands-on if you need help applying it.

What sets us apart

How we're different

Most ICT and AI consulting firms look the same on a website. Here's specifically how we're not.

No offshore handoffs

Your work is delivered by the same Australian-based team you talk to. No tier-one filter, no timezone gap, no "let me check with the engineer in another country."

Practitioner-led

Our founder still codes, architects, and delivers production work. The principles on this page are written by the people responsible for the engagement, not a marketing team.

Capability over dependency

The goal of every embedded engagement is for your team to be more capable when we leave. We document, mentor, and transfer knowledge by working alongside your people.

Vendor-honest

We don't take vendor referral commissions or push licence upgrades for margin. If the right answer is "you don't need that," we say it.

No AI hype

AI is a tool. Sometimes it's the right tool. Sometimes a Power Automate flow, a clearer process, or a 10-line script is. We tell you which.

Government-grade security

SMB1001 Gold certified, on the Queensland Government ICTSS panel and Local Buy panels. The same security standards we apply to agencies, applied to your business.

Operating principles

How we work

Four principles that show up in every engagement.

01

You get a partner, not a vendor

We start with what you're trying to achieve, then propose the engagement that fits. Focused project, embedded resource, ongoing managed service. The shape follows the outcome, not the other way around.

02

You get straight talk and predictable invoices

Plain-English advice. Upfront pricing. No surprise invoices, no hidden fees. If we're not the right fit, we say so and refer you to someone who is.

03

Your security is built in, not bolted on

Cybersecurity is part of every solution we deliver, not a service we tack on at the end. SMB1001 Gold certified. ASD Essential Eight aligned.

04

Your team runs what we leave behind

Most ICT problems don't need bigger systems. They need clearer thinking and operating models your people can actually run. We design for handover from day one.

Who you'll work with

Our team

A small Australian team built around hands-on practitioners.

Todd Johnson

Founder & Principal Consultant

Delivers fractional CIO, CTO, and Chief AI Officer leadership to Australian SMB, government, and not-for-profit clients. Focus on enterprise architecture, technology strategy, and AI architecture for organisations whose decisions have outgrown the existing team but are not yet ready for a full-time executive hire. Founder of InnovateX Solutions and author of the XAF Connected Architecture framework.

Marcelo Santos

Senior Consultant

Octava Cloud

Cloud architect and DevSecOps engineer. Designs and delivers Azure and multi-cloud workloads for Queensland Government and SMB clients, with a focus on secure-by-default infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, and platform engineering. Works alongside Todd across architecture, engineering, and delivery.

LinkedIn Website

Edwin Ashdown

AI Consultant

AI First Partner

Helps clients deploy AI agents safely in production. Scoped credentials, audit trails, and revocation built in from day one. Founder of AgentValet (agent identity and credential governance) and AI First Partner, an Anthropic partner practice. More than a dozen production AI systems delivered across enterprise and government.

Tom Davis

Communications Consultant

Black Sheep Communications

Plain-language and content strategist, and award-winning journalist. Helps government agencies and major brands turn complex information into clear, findable communication, working across content design, SEO, and AI adoption. Founder of Black Sheep Communications, a Brisbane content and digital marketing practice. Member of Standards Australia's Plain Language Working Group, contributing to the ISO 24495-1:2023 plain language standard, and lectures in communications at the University of Queensland.

LinkedIn Website

More team profiles coming soon. We're growing. Full bios for the rest of the InnovateX team will land here shortly.

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