NICOLAS_LEKAI Start a brief
Nicolas Lekai — AI Systems Architect

i make ai work.

The hype cycle is someone else's business model. I help companies turn AI into ordinary, reliable capability — custom systems, production pipelines and honest numbers — built by someone who ships with these tools every day.

Munich · Melbourne
Independent · Vendor-neutral
A red rotary telephone on a gray desk against a pale studio backdrop
Fig. 01 — Open channelRef. NRM-2601

many tools. one system.

Briefing 002 — the custom OS

Your company already pays for a dozen excellent products — they just don't talk to each other. I wire them into one custom-built operating system that runs the way your company runs. One interface, one login, your data stays yours.

One place to workBriefs, status, files, approvals and comms in a single control centre shaped around your actual workflow.
Agents do the boring partReports write themselves, files land where they belong, the inbox gets triaged. People do the judgement calls.
No platform prisonEvery underlying product stays swappable — when a better model or tool ships, it slots in.
Professional tools arranged in a ring, red cables running from each into a single black device at the center
Fig. 04 — Many products, one systemRef. NRM-2604
AI modelsClaude · GPT · Gemini
Image & videoComfyUI · Flora · Higgsfield
Post-productionResolve · edit · grade
Voice & audioTTS · transcription
OfficeMail · docs · sheets
CommsWhatsApp · Slack · phone
StorageDropbox · Drive · archive
BusinessCRM · invoicing · calendar
Custom build / v1.0

your operating system

One bespoke piece of software that knows your projects, your people and your data — and drives every tool on the left so your team doesn't have to.

what i do

Services / 01–05
SRV / 01

ai strategy

  • Opportunity audits — where AI actually pays off in your business
  • Roadmaps with budgets, owners and kill criteria
  • Model and platform selection, vendor-neutral
  • Governance, data policy and risk basics that don't slow you down
SRV / 02

custom systems & control centres

  • Bespoke operating systems — the software your company runs on, built for your company alone → see the system
  • Custom control centres — one place to run the operation from
  • Agentic workflows for the boring work: admin, reporting, inbox, ops
  • Internal tooling your team will actually open twice
SRV / 03

production pipelines

  • AI image and video generation pipelines, multi-platform
  • ComfyUI systems, LoRA training, brand-safe model workflows
  • Integration with real post-production: editorial, grade, CGI, sound
  • Built by a working filmmaker, not a slide-deck theorist
SRV / 04

cost management

  • AI spend audits — what you pay for, what you use, what to cut
  • Tooling consolidation across seats, APIs and subscriptions
  • Build-vs-buy calls with honest numbers
  • Measurement, so ROI is a figure and not a feeling
SRV / 05

training & enablement

  • Hands-on team training, role by role — not a webinar
  • Playbooks and prompts your staff keep using after I leave
  • Upskilling creative and production teams on AI tooling
  • Leadership briefings in plain language

how i work

Process / 3 phases
Phase 01 — 2 weeks

audit

I sit with your teams, map the real workflows, and find the places where AI removes cost or unlocks output. You get a written brief with numbers, not vibes.

Phase 02 — 4–8 weeks

build

I build the highest-value systems myself — automations, pipelines, control centres — in your stack, with your data, shipped in weekly increments you can veto.

Phase 03 — ongoing

embed

I train your people to run it, document everything, and step back. Optional retainer for new capability as the models change under everyone's feet.

A stack of white briefing documents with a red binder clip and red pencil, photographed top-down
Fig. 02 — The written briefRef. NRM-2602

why a custom setup

Position statement

Off-the-shelf AI tools make every company equally average. I build systems around the way your company actually works — software your competitors can't subscribe to.

Practitioner firstI run a working film and VFX studio on these tools every day — every recommendation is something I use myself.
Vendor-neutralI resell nothing. If the right answer is a €20 subscription instead of a platform migration, that's the recommendation.
Boringly accountableFixed scopes, weekly demos, kill criteria on every initiative. If something isn't working, I say so first.

the human

Personnel file
File / 01 — This side

Nicolas Lekai

AI Systems Architect

Builds custom operating systems, control centres and bespoke solutions — the software a company runs on, made for that company alone. A career in high-end film and post-production, now spent building AI systems and pipelines that ship real work.

File / 02 — The other side

Nicolas Lekai

Director — Film · AI · VFX

The same person, behind the camera: director for AI film, VFX and post-production — ZDF, broadcast, out-of-home and everything in between. nicolaslekai.com