About Xyphos
Xyphos is an Australian-based consultancy focused on AI governance, accessibility, quality engineering and software development for regulated delivery, where failure creates real legal, reputational, and human impact.
If you want work that holds up in practice, with regulators, auditors, customers, and frontline teams, you're in the right place.
Who we are
I'm Helen Pidoulas, Founder of Xyphos Pty Ltd. My background spans banking and finance, insurance, telecommunications, government, and large enterprise digital programs, with deep hands-on experience in quality engineering leadership, delivery assurance, accessibility, and risk-driven governance.
- Pragmatic governance: decision points, controls, evidence, accountability
- Accessibility that's real: not overlays, not excuses, not “later”
- Quality engineering that prevents incidents, not just reporting after the fact
- Clear advice under pressure: what's defensible, what's risky, what needs to change
We work best with leaders who want the truth early, before bad decisions harden into expensive problems.
Why Xyphos exists
Xyphos was created to address a gap we kept seeing across banking, government, telecommunications and highly regulated organisations: decisions about risk, AI, accessibility, and quality were being made too late, by the wrong people, or based on vendor-driven narratives rather than operational reality.
We work with organisations that want to do the right thing, but need clarity, structure, and honest advice to get there. Not compliance theatre. Not off-the-shelf frameworks dropped into complex environments.
The focus is always on what will stand up in practice: with regulators, customers, auditors, and the people who actually have to operate the systems.
Who we work with
Regulated delivery teams and leaders working in environments where failure has real consequences.
- Banks, insurers, and financial services platforms
- Government agencies and public sector delivery teams
- Telecommunications and critical infrastructure providers
- Health, aged-care and social services organisations
- Product and engineering leaders operating under regulatory pressure
- Teams dealing with AI risk, accessibility obligations, or quality failures
We're often brought in when things are already complex; ambiguity, reputational risk, internal disagreement, or a growing gap between policy and reality.
How we work
We don't sell fixed answers or guarantees. Accessibility, governance, and quality aren't one-off states. They're practices that have to be embedded, measured, and improved over time.
Engagements are pragmatic and scoped to your context. That might mean:
- Clarifying risk exposure, obligations, and decision points
- Identifying gaps between policy, controls, and actual delivery
- Helping teams prioritise what matters most right now (not what looks good)
- Supporting leaders to make defensible, well-documented decisions
If something isn't realistic, ethical, or likely to hold up under scrutiny, we will say so.
What we don't do
- No accessibility overlays or quick-fix AI solutions
- No inflated promises about compliance or risk elimination
- No selling tools where process and accountability are the real problem
Trust comes from being clear about limits as well as capability.
About the name
Xyphos is named after the short sword carried by the hoplite: not a weapon of spectacle, but one designed for close-quarters decision-making where precision and judgement mattered.
That idea carries through to our work: practical, disciplined, and focused on what actually protects people and organisations when things get hard.
Common questions
Do you do audits or implementation?
We can do either, depending on what you need: from clarity and governance design through to delivery support and assurance.
Do you work with vendors and internal teams?
Yes. We'll work with whoever is accountable, and we'll call out gaps between promises and operational reality.
What makes your approach different?
Less theatre. More evidence. Clear decision points, defensible documentation, and delivery practices that stand up under scrutiny.
Start with a conversation
If you're dealing with uncertainty around AI, accessibility, governance, or quality, or you want a second opinion before committing to a direction, we can start with a short, no-pressure discussion.