About Hourglass AI

We run our own business on AI first, then build it for yours.

We help Australian companies find, build and run the AI their whole team uses, so every hour goes on the work that actually matters. A small team in Sydney and Melbourne.

Finlay Ekins and Michael Batko, co-founders of Hourglass AI
Finlay and Michael co-founded Hourglass AI over WhatsApp, then met in person for the launch photos. How we met

Why we called it Hourglass.

Too much time is ticking away on repetitive, boring work in millions of people's jobs around the world.

That's why we built Hourglass. We make companies AI-native, so the whole team gets its time back and spends it on the parts they love.

Finlay Ekins
Co-founder, Hourglass AI
Read Finlay’s weekly notes on AI

Change is scary. Pick people you trust.

AI transformation isn’t a software purchase. It’s a partnership. These are the people who’ll be in your corner.

Michael Batko
Michael Batko
Co-founder · CEO
  • Led Startmate for 8 years: raised $50M, backed 230 startups now worth $3.5B
  • Worked at two startups before that: one listed on the ASX
Finlay Ekins
Finlay Ekins
Co-founder · COO
  • Engineered every foundation we ship: the brain architecture, the skills stack, and Glassy
  • Lives on the bleeding edge daily: fails at things so your team doesn't have to
Anna Sekulic
Anna Sekulic
AI Specialist
  • Runs audits and team workshops: teams leave buzzing, not bracing
  • AI-native builder: shipped her own iOS app with AI tools alone
  • The bridge between your team and the build
Jeremy Sharpe
Jeremy Sharpe
AI Builder
  • Founded Speak Savvy: AI voice agents answering calls for small businesses
  • Built online e-commerce at Vario: coding since age 10
  • Builds the brains: company memory and agent infrastructure
Jeff Deutsch
Jeff Deutsch
SEO / GEO Lead
  • Took Superpower from 3k to 202k organic visits a month, in 12 months
  • Grew ContactOut to $15M+ ARR as Head of Growth over five years
  • 16 years in SEO: Startmate growth mentor since 2021
It’s not just our team.Meet the partners we build alongside

Our real numbers, every month.

We don't have investors. We have something more useful: an obligation to the people who follow our work. Every month we open up on where Hourglass AI actually stands, without the PR polish.

  • Revenue: real numbers, month on month, and what drove them
  • Products: what shipped, what stalled, what we killed and why
  • Customer stories: the wins, and the ones that didn't land
  • Praise and the ugly: the kind feedback and the brutal feedback, both
  • Next milestones: what we committed to, and whether we hit last month's

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Start with the audit. Two weeks and one flat fee.

We interview your team, map where the hours go and hand you a costed plan. Go ahead within 30 days and the fee comes off your first build.