Ep 34 | Aussie AI (Reality Check): From POCs to Product—What Changed?

In this episode of Digital Nexus, we sit down with Sha-mayne Chan, Co-founder of Friyay and Wakey Wakey Sales, to unpack how AI is reshaping startups, SMEs, and big business in Australia.

We cover:

🚀 How startups can now build products without a tech co-founder
📱 The story behind Wakey Wakey, an AI SMS sales assistant helping small businesses scale
🏦 Why big corporates are finally moving past endless POCs and into real AI adoption
🛠️ The rise of agentic workflows vs. AI agents — and what that means for service design
💡 How founders can “build while flying” with today’s AI tools (Bolt, Cursor, Windsurf, Midjourney, etc.)
🧠 The ethical, cultural, and human challenges of AI adoption — from junior job pathways to mental health chatbots

00:00 Intro
05:30 Backgrounds & early career
08:30 Small business growth: SMS vs email; 'product‑a‑month'
12:30 The Wakey story
16:30 Enterprises: from POCs to compliant rollouts
19:30 Where the pain is: manual checks & team ops
23:30 Service design: account UX, cancel flows, blueprints
29:00 Risk, value, and choosing bets
34:00 Automation & shipping fast (prompts, traction)
37:30 Vibe coding tools → personal app; VC outlook
42:30 Wrap‑up + what’s next

Links:
Friyay - https://www.friyay.ai/
Sha-Maybe linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamaynechan/

Podcast - https://www.digitalnexuspodcast.com/

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