1 hour of training
AU$450
Work through one question or try one task together.
Enquire about 1 hourdsq.studio
In person AI training in Canberra.
I’m Aqeel Akber. Scientist, founder, and a very curious person.
I work with AI agents every day. These sessions bring that experience to Canberra government teams and businesses: practical training around your work, questions and tools.
AI consulting since 2018 The Synthrole Manifesto · 2024 Human/AI Team Building · 2025 Opening keynote, AI in Government 2025
Work together
Bring your curiosity.
I’ll bring mine.
Bring a task, a decision, or a question you have not yet been able to pin down. We’ll make time for the questions underneath it, then test what might help.
We meet in person in Canberra for one or two hours, once or regularly. We agree the learning objectives before we meet, then work through them together.
Your work, in the room
We start with a task you already need to do, using your team’s knowledge and the tools available to you.
Work directly with me
I ask questions, explain my thinking, and try things alongside you. I work with you directly, from the first conversation to the session.
Capability that stays
We make the reasoning and checks explicit, so you can repeat what works and recognise when it doesn’t.
2 hours of training
AU$900
Explore a task with your team, test an approach, and agree what to check next.
Enquire about 2 hoursBoth prices include: A short, personalised capability development report covering what we tried and learned against the agreed objectives, priorities for improvement and practical next steps for your team. Delivered about one week after the session.
Indicative prices in Australian dollars, excluding GST.
We agree the purpose and price before you book.
Start with a free scoping conversation to see whether I can help.
Information for procurementSupplier details, rates and a description you can copy into your system.
dsq.studio · Supplier information
Supplier details
- Legal entity
- DSQ STUDIO PTY LTD
- ABN
- 72 674 954 119
- ACN
- 674 954 119
- GST
- Registered from 1 October 2024
- Trainer
- Aqeel Akber
- [email protected]
- Office
- Suite 2.02, Level 2, 131 City Walk, Canberra 2601
- Website
- https://dsq.studio
Legal entity, ABN, ACN and GST registration checked against the Australian Business Register on 22 October 2026.
Service description
In-person practical AI training and capability development for Canberra government teams and businesses, delivered by Aqeel Akber. One- or two-hour sessions use agreed tasks and permitted tools to build staff capability. Learning objectives, participants, scope and price are agreed in a written quote.
A short, personalised capability development report covering what we tried and learned against the agreed objectives, priorities for improvement and practical next steps for your team. Delivered about one week after the session and included in the session price.
Learning objectives
Selected and agreed for your session:
- Identify where AI may help with a task or process, and where it may not.
- Practise an approach using tools and information your organisation permits.
- Check the result and identify what your team can repeat or improve.
Indicative rates
- Free scoping conversation
- No charge
- 1 hour of training
- AU$450
- 2 hours of training
- AU$900
All rates are indicative, in Australian dollars and excluding GST. Regular sessions by arrangement.
How to engage
- Start with a free scoping conversation.
- I send a written quote for your internal approval, with the agreed learning objectives, participants, scope, price, session timing and report delivery.
- Confirm the booking.
Please include any purchase order requirements or vendor onboarding forms with your enquiry.
For payment details, insurance documentation or organisation-specific supplier forms, please contact [email protected].
Approach
I will always be a scientist.
At dsq.studio we bridge the technical, business, and human aspects of digital technology. We are serious about creating the future where the most promising emerging technology is integrated ethically and seamlessly into our daily lives.
Our approach is practical and pragmatic: (1) intelligently apply future technology so that it may be used today, (2) iterate and amplify the value it brings in context.
Curiosity is how I work. I listen, ask questions, and help people uncover what they know — and what they have yet to ask. Then we make something we can try, observe and learn from.
I’ve been consulting on AI since 2018. As a founder and director of Thaum in Canberra, I worked with people across government, industry and research to understand their problems and build technology that could help. That work spanned computer vision, machine learning, data science and commercialisation.
Thaum continues today; I now work independently through dsq.studio. Explore Thaum’s work
Selected organisations, through Thaum
My work at Thaum included projects with the Royal Australian Air Force, Evolution Mining, NOPSEMA, the Australian Antarctic Program, ACIAR, CSIRO and Data61, the Australian National University, The Creative Element, and DISR and AusIndustry.
After leaving Thaum, I made space through dsq.studio to study and experiment with generative AI. I wanted to understand what these new systems could actually do, where they failed, and how they could change the way we work.
AI agents are now part of my daily practice: research, software, operations and building companies. I work with them, build systems around them, and keep testing where human judgement belongs.
Working with agents
That hands-on practice matters when we sit down together. We can inspect a result, work through a failure, and decide what to delegate and what needs a person. We can also decide that an agent adds more complexity than the task warrants.
More room to be human
I’m proudly non-binary. Equity matters to me, and AI makes the question of who gets to shape our future more urgent. I want this technology to give more people the freedom to think, create and act.
That starts with the people in the room. I make space for different experiences and ways of thinking. Together, we use them to question assumptions, notice what an answer misses, and explore possibilities we might not see alone.
WhalePOD
At Thaum, I led WhalePOD through CSIRO’s ON Accelerate 7 in 2023. I was awarded the Stanford Australia Foundation–CSIRO Scholarship, which took me to Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Watch my CSIRO showcase presentationResearch
A studio for ideas
that become real.
Independent research sits alongside the client work. Qualia began here as an exploration of human and artificial intelligence, and grew into Meos Labs.
Explore MeosOpening keynote · AI in Government
Beyond Wisdom
My opening keynote at AI in Government in Canberra, July 2025, on intelligence, judgement and what we choose to do with technology.
Writing
Human/AI Team Building
Thinking about people, tools and the roles they form together.