Cyrius

16/09/2026

A blast from the past - 22 years ago, our MD Stefan Sojka, was commissioned to write an article for Master Builders NSW print magazine, all about marketing yourself online in the construction industry. Amazing how, even while some of the information is clearly dated, much of it is as relevant now as it was then. Interestingly also, that the software advertised is still around!

13/09/2026

YOUR BEST SOLUTION? OR THEIR BEST MARKET?
When a technology vendor says its product was “built for your industry”, it sounds compelling. But is it genuinely the best solution for your business? Or has the vendor identified your sector as a profitable market opportunity and built something it can repeatedly sell into it?

Sector knowledge is valuable. Yet familiarity with an industry’s language and workflows does not necessarily prove that the underlying technology is well designed, secure, flexible or right for every business within that sector.

For more than 30 years, Cyrius has remained platform agnostic. We begin with the individual business: what it needs, what it already has, what must be protected and where it wants to go. Then we identify, integrate or build the right combination of technology, creative and marketing solutions around it.

AI is making that tailored approach faster and increasingly practical, but judgement and experience still make all the difference. Meanwhile vendors selling solutons into your sector may also be using AI to get better and better at convincing you to buy. It makes understanding the difference between a great solution and a great opportunity for the person selling the solution even more important.

No provider owns a permanent magical solution for an entire sector. The landscape shifts, the goalposts move and businesses evolve. That is certainly not to say that a vertical-specific solution should not be considered. It just means a business needs to understand what they are being sold, what they specifically need, and to ask the right questions before making a commitment.

I explore the questions every business should ask before committing to a sector-specific platform/solution, in this deep dive article:

https://medium.com//your-best-solution-or-their-best-market-f828ac6b543f?sharedUserId=Stefan_Sojka

05/09/2026

The third and final "Electrify Bennelong" interview, with Sherry Feng from LAVO.

13/08/2026

An interview I did recently with Poojan Modi from LAVO about his innovative low pressure off-grid hydrogen storage solution, at the "Electrify Bennelong" event, brainchild of our local representative, Jerome Laxale MP, champion of the inevitable transition to clean, renewables and Australian innovation.

This particular technology - developed in Australia at Australian Universities, with Government support - is having to look overseas for viabillity, due to the all-too-slowly moving wheels of our Standards and Compliance regime. We can be super proud of maintaining such high standards here, but that can also be a significant speed bump in an era of change that is happening at the speed of light.

Japan has recognised the need to create fast-track pilots with special expemtions, to deploy, test and prove the techology so that rapid deployment and expansion can follow. We are working on doing the same thing here.

There also needs to be an understanding by encumbent industry players that this transition is inevitable, so we need to find ways to bring everyone along for the ride, even those who may see it all as a threat to their established livelihoods. The future is full of new opportunities for those who are willing to adapt and climb on board.

With the wonderful support of representatives like Jerome who passionately believe in innovation, developing home grown solutions and moving fast with a progressive outlook, Australian innovation might just get an opportunity to shine.

No AI was used to write this. Going old school :-)

09/08/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEiKP5kLEx4 A short interview by Stefan Sojka, MD of Cyrius, of Jerome Laxale MP at his "Electrify Bennelong" event - an event dedicated to promoting and advocating for sustainable pathways to renewable electrification for residents, businesses and government. This video mentions some businesses but is not a paid promotion for any businesses mentioned. It is an interview about Jerome's thoughts and ideas, plans and initiatives in the renewable energy space.

07/07/2026

https://www.ted.com/talks/van_jones_the_kind_of_ai_we_actually_need?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare We can all be working on this. At Cyrius we are.

Social entrepreneur Van Jones believes a new human civilization is being born in real time — and that our technology is racing ahead of our wisdom. In this urgent and hopeful talk, he reframes the AI debate, showing why the real danger isn't the technology itself but rather the communities it leav...

06/03/2026

https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/02/nonconsensual-slopping/ This is one of the reasons we have been spending less time on social media and posting less. There might be people behind all the posts that fill our feeds, but we are not sure there is that much original thought emerging from those people that ends up in those posts.

As a media agency with team members who like to think that we have the occasional original thought to communicate, either for ourselves or on behalf of our clients, the advent of AI in its current form is 'prompting' us to consider alternative methods of formulation and communication of those ideas. Methods that might still retain some level of credibility, authenticity and trust in those who receive them: Live events with panel discussions and real time idea exchange, interviews, research projects... anything where AI might either not be involved or may just assist in the production process, but not be the originator and driver of the conversation.
To borrow a relentlessly overused and tell-tale literary device from AI: That's not avoidance of a seemingly inevitable trend. That's the essence of human interaction 🙂
Cory Doctorow is a master. Perhaps we should all find ways to revert back to only reading content from people who are actually good at it.

No trackers, no ads. Black type, white background. Privacy policy: we don't collect or retain any data at all ever period.

25/11/2025

Recently I had the opportunity to present at the Educate Plus NSW/ACT conference at the Novotel Sydney Olympic Park, speaking to an engaged room of marketing and advancement professionals from independent educational institutions.

My session looked at AI through a practical, strategic lens, exploring how schools can harness its power to streamline workloads, spark creativity and sharpen their marketing effectiveness, while still protecting the authenticity, reputation and values at the heart of their communities. We also went down a few rabbit holes to try to grasp the magnitude of the looming AI age.

AI should make your job easier, not replace the human judgement that makes school storytelling meaningful. A strong strategic framework and a thorough audit to explore how best to use AI, are critical to crafting policy, procedure and AI-assited marketing production.

A huge thank you to Geoff Anderson and Ben Pride from Sonic Sight for sponsoring the session, and to Sona Swindley and the entire Educate Plus team for the warm hospitality. It was a genuinely enjoyable event and a privilege to contribute to such a forward-thinking community.

AI opens extraordinary opportunities for education marketing when used wisely, and it was encouraging to see so many schools leaning into that conversation with curiosity and clarity in these rapidly evolving times.

22/11/2025

If you use AI, you still own every word. That is the uncomfortable truth we all need to accept.

AI can draft, refine, provoke ideas and accelerate your workflow, but the moment you copy-paste something into the world, it becomes your voice, your reputation ...and your accountability.

If the words do not align with your thinking, your values or your intent, you are setting yourself up for brand damage, confusion or worse... a moment where you cannot defend or even explain what you “said” because it didn’t originate from within your consciousness, you don't even know what you are talking about and it doesn’t align with who you are.

AI is a powerful partner, but it cannot carry your responsibility.

Prompt it. Shape it. Own it. Otherwise you are not co-creating, you are simply outsourcing your authenticity and integrity.

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