Episode: First Focus is now an OpenAI SMB channel partner

Episode summary: First Focus has been selected as an SMB channel partner with OpenAI, joining a small group of experts trusted to help mid-market businesses get real returns from AI. In this episode, we break down what this means, why adoption matters more than licenses, and how to make sure your business isn’t falling behind.

Why This Matters For You

Most businesses are already using ChatGPT in some form. Executives are paying for personal licenses. Teams are copying and pasting company data into free tools. The problem? None of that is structured, governed, or delivering a measurable return.

OpenAI knows this. They also know they can’t reach every 20 to 200 seat business in Australia or New Zealand themselves. So, they’ve built a channel partner program, selecting a small number of trusted providers to sell, implement, and support ChatGPT Business for the mid-market.

First Focus is one of those partners.

This isn’t a badge we bought. It’s recognition of the work we’ve already done, the AI and automation projects we’ve delivered, and the investment we’ve made in getting ahead of where our clients are in this space.

Key takeaways:

• First Focus is now an official SMB channel partner with OpenAI, selected for our track record delivering AI and automation projects for mid-market businesses.
• ChatGPT Business is available on a month-to-month basis. No long lock-in required. You can turn it on and trial it with your team.
• Buying a license is just the start. The return comes from adoption, tailoring, integration, and ongoing education, which is exactly what our Core service is built for.
• Your AI platform needs governance. A managed rollout gives you data controls at the business level and reduces the risk of staff using unapproved tools.
• Adoption is the leading indicator of ROI. If people aren’t using it, dig into why. Relaunch and iterate.
• Start capturing clean data now. Even if you’re not ready to build automations today, the data you collect now is what will power them later.
• Think ecosystem, not just model. The best AI platform is the one that connects to the tools your team already uses.

What We Cover in This Episode

The Gap OpenAI is Trying to Close

At one end, OpenAI works directly with enterprise clients like Commonwealth Bank and Woolworths. At the other, millions of individuals use personal ChatGPT accounts. In between sits a huge portion of the Australian economy: small and mid-market businesses that need more than a personal license but aren’t big enough for a direct OpenAI relationship. That’s the gap this program fills, and it’s exactly where First Focus operates.

Licenses don’t equal results

Anyone can buy a license. The hard part is adoption, tailoring the tool to your workflows, integrating it with your existing systems, and making sure people actually use it. We’ve rolled ChatGPT out to all 350 of our own staff. We’ve seen first-hand that the value comes from structured rollout, education, and iteration, not from simply handing people a login.

It doesn’t have to be one AI tool or the other

Some of our clients are already using Microsoft Copilot. That’s fine. ChatGPT Business and Copilot can run side by side. This isn’t about picking one tool and locking in. It’s about finding the right fit for the problems you’re trying to solve, and being open to running more than one platform if the value is there.

AI without governance is a risk

When people use whatever AI tool they like, on whatever device they choose, with no controls in place, it only takes one person to forget to toggle off data sharing for your business information to end up in a training model. A managed rollout through ChatGPT Business gives you controls at the business level, not just at the individual level. And as part of our Core service, we can restrict access to unapproved AI tools across your environment.

Adoption is the metric that matters

If you want to know whether your AI investment is working, look at adoption rates. If people aren’t using the tool, it’s not delivering value. And if adoption is low, the answer isn’t to give up. It’s to find out why, relaunch, retrain, and iterate. The best ideas often come from staff experimenting and solving real problems, not from a small group deciding what everyone else should use.

Start thinking about your data now

Even if you’re not ready to go all in on an AI platform today, start thinking about your data. What are you storing? How are you storing it? What are the high-volume, manual workflows in your business? By the time you need historical data to train a model or spot trends, you’ll need to have been capturing it for a while. If you start today, you’re already ahead.

Choosing an ecosystem, not just a model

Every other week there’s a headline about which AI model is best. But the real decision isn’t about models. It’s about ecosystems. If your business runs on Microsoft 365, your AI platform needs to plug into that world. ChatGPT Business connects to Slack, SharePoint, and the tools your team already uses every day. It’s not an island.

About Core

Core is the future of managed services at First Focus. It’s a productivity-as-a-service offering that ensures your team has the support, education, and ongoing iteration needed to make AI and automation a real part of how your business operates. If you’re investing in ChatGPT Business or exploring AI more broadly, Core is how you make sure that investment delivers.

Want to talk about what this partnership means for your business? Get in touch with your Technical Account Manager, or reach out to our team to learn more about Core.