How Sydney start-up Traffyk saved a big four consulting firm $100m a year

Sydney start-up Traffyk says its AI-powered platform has saved a big four consulting firm more than $100m a year by eradicating productivity-sapping employee communications.

The average adult receives 11,000 messages a day including smart phone pings, traditional texts, emails, advertisements, public announcements and workplace communications – a habit Traffyk is aiming to break.

Sydney start-up Traffyk says it has saved a big four consulting firm more than $100m a year by eradicating productivity-sapping employee communications.

Former Commonwealth Bank communications boss Kate Abrahams co-founded Traffyk in 2021. It has developed its own artificial intelligence-powered platform that is designed to help companies communicate better with staff by simplifying and sending the right messages.

The average adult receives 11,000 messages a day, including smartphone pings, traditional texts, emails, advertisements, public announcements and workplace communications – a bombardment that Ms Abrahams says distracts staff from more productive tasks.

Traffyk co-founder Kate Abrahams said the start-up helped save a big four consulting firm $100m a year.

She said Traffyk has already “uncovered $100m in lost productivity at a major professional services firm” – which declined to be named but is one of the big four.

“Analysis of 15,000 employees found excessive workforce communications resulted in significant unproductive time,” Ms Abrahams said.

“By reducing daily communication overload, the firm could unlock productivity gains worth 2-3 per cent of their total workforce. For a business built on billable hours, these communication inefficiencies translate directly to lost revenue.”

Low productivity and the pace of industrial reform is a top concern for bosses at Australia’s biggest companies, according to The Australian’s 2025 CEO Survey.

KPMG chief executive Andrew Yates told The Australian the firm was “all-in” with the use of AI, particularly in lifting output.

“The realisation of AI to be transformative to not only our business, but also our clients’ businesses excite us about the future. Responsible use of AI has the potential to lift productivity growth rates together with the quality of services provided,” Mr Yates said.

“We will continue to invest heavily in developing AI-related services and advice for clients, as well as skills for our people, while taking great care to ensure the integrity and quality of these services.”

KPMG chief executive Andrew Yates is ‘all in on AI’. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer

Colette Stallbaumer, general manager of Microsoft 365 and future of work, believes the tech titan’s Copilot platform can spark a workplace revolution, saying it had the potential to overcome digital overload – which has become the biggest productivity killer.

Most of this stems from the way managers and staff communicate with each other. Several companies are aiming to tackle the problem, including 8seats, which is taking on messaging platforms WhatsApp and Slack with the backing of former Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci.

“CEOs worldwide face a mounting crisis of communication that grows more costly by the day. Traffyk reveals a startling truth: around 60 per cent of information created within organisations never finds its mark,” Ms Abrahams said.

“Through our work with global enterprises, we’ve discovered that the very systems designed to connect teams are often the culprits behind mounting inefficiencies and spiralling costs.”

Ms Abrahams has recruited Daniel King, a “quantum machine learning pioneer” to become its principal AI and data scientist as it embarks on a “crucial expansion”.

“Traffyk isn’t just identifying these hidden drains on productivity; we’re solving them. And now, welcoming someone of Dan’s calibre to our team strengthens our mission. His profound expertise in AI and complex problem-solving will accelerate our ability to transform workforce communications from a source of overwhelm into an engine of business growth.”

Dr King previously worked at HSBC UK as its lead data and machine learning scientist, and has pioneered the use of quantum and traditional AI to combat financial cybercrime. His journey in artificial intelligence, however, began in an unexpected arena: as a professional gamer representing Australia in League of Legends, where strategic thinking, split-second decisions, and teamwork shaped his understanding of high-performance environments.

After earning his PhD from the Australia Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and UTS in 2016, he developed methods for predicting the formation of advanced nuclear materials. This innovative work led to collaborations with prestigious institutions including Imperial College London, Rolls-Royce, Oxford University, and the National Nuclear Lab. He served as a consultant to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, reviewing advanced alloys for their fusion reactor program.

“When I first learnt about Traffyk’s work, it was something I instantly recognised – just think how many people would benefit from the streamlining of workforce communication,” Dr King said.

“What I find fascinating is that in this circumstance, technology is both the problem and the solution. The sheer number of channels, software, and digital platforms vying for attention, each day, needs to be processed at-scale, in an intelligent manner. In other sectors, cutting-edge ML and AI solutions have been proven to create incredible value in these situations. I look forward to applying them at Traffyk.”