What's the one thing you should never hand over to AI? If you're a director, you could already be liable for data leaving your business without knowing it.
Kat Murray, director and shareholder of Perigon One and Perigon Labs, explains what every business owner needs to understand before relying on AI, from the gold mine of data most businesses are sitting on to why she'll walk away from a client rather than compromise on security. She also talks about AI slop, the forced rebrand that turned into a gift, why you have to market in the good times, and the one choice she's still too scared to make.
Her approach to business goes back to her first morning in Australia. It was 40 degrees, she'd come from minus five in Germany, and magpies were calling outside her window. Whenever she hears one now, she's back in that sun-filled room.
She'd planned to stay a year, polishing her English while she waited out a four-year queue for a university place back home. But in Germany she'd always felt that to get ahead, you had to push someone out of the way. In Australia she found room to build a career without taking anything from anyone. So she stayed.
Since then she's worked across hospitality, marketing, sales and technology. She joined one business as its fourth team member, when no one was doing marketing and no one was really doing sales, and helped grow it from $200,000 to over $2 million in under three years.
That belief in people runs through everything she does now. Even the Perigon One logo shows it: turn the smiley face on its side and it becomes binary code. It's IT about people, not technology, and this episode shows what that looks like in practice.
In this episode:
5:45 Growing up in East Germany and the hunger for choice
15:17 Walking into a business and knowing whether it's ready to grow
20:22 The one thing you should never hand over to AI
21:21 The data leak inside your own business
26:35 The gold mine of data most businesses never use
31:33 Automation that works around people, not against them
42:01 The forced rebrand that became a gift
50:06 Why the client rarely asks for what they need, and when to walk away
55:04 From $200K to $2M: what actually moved the needle
1:07:39 Why you have to market in the good times
About Kat:
Kat is a director and shareholder of Perigon One, an IT management business, and Perigon Labs, which helps businesses find efficiencies through automation and AI. She runs marketing and sales across both, helping business owners secure their systems, protect their data and use AI with confidence. With a background in advertising, PR, marketing, sales and hospitality, she's always put customer service first. Originally from East Germany, she studied marketing and management at Curtin University and has built her life and career in Perth. Outside of work, she's all about family, and she loves cooking traditional German food from scratch for the people she cares about.
Connect with Kat:
LinkedIn
Perigon One
Perigon Labs
With thanks:
This episode is proudly sponsored by Cuppa Cartel. To celebrate, our listeners and the Cuppa Familia can enjoy a special rate on all coffee beans using code TRBLC at checkout.
Discover your brand's potential with a free Brand Discovery session at designstudioperth.com.au/brand-discovery
About Tracy:
Tracy Fryer is the Director of Design Studio Perth, a branding and marketing agency dedicated to helping clients grow with confidence through brand strategy, identity, websites and marketing. As the host of The Real Biz Life Chronicles, Tracy brings raw, insightful conversations that push entrepreneurs to embrace bold growth, develop strategic branding, and lead with unapologetic confidence. Her approach is refreshingly real, blending deep expertise with a passion for authenticity, creative excellence, and business success.
Connect with Tracy Fryer:
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