# ORCA Opti

> ORCA Opti is the AI operating system for regulated organisations on Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
> Compliance and contracts, run as everyday operations, inside your Safe Zone.

## About

ORCA Opti is an Australian AI compliance and governance company founded in
Brisbane in 2024 by Kathryn Giudes. We give regulated organisations a
sovereign AI assistant that runs in Australia and a continuous compliance
engine that covers the standards Australian regulators and customers expect:
ISO 27001, Essential Eight, DISP, ISO 42001, PSPF, DSPF, ISO 9001 and the
NDIS Practice Standards.

## Products

- [Opti Assist](https://orcaopti.ai/opti-assist): Governed AI assistant for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Signs in with the work account you already have. Hosted in sovereign Australia. Every query becomes a governance record.
- [Opti Core](https://orcaopti.ai/opti-core): GRC and compliance system of record. Risks, controls, policies, incidents, vendors and actions, all wired into Microsoft 365.
- [ORCA Opti AI Guardian](https://orcaopti.ai/ai-guardian): Inspects every AI prompt before it reaches a model. Blocks data leakage, prompt injection and policy violations across owned and public AI.
- [Opti Cyber](https://orcaopti.ai/opti-cyber): Continuous cyber posture across Microsoft 365, Azure, AWS and Google Cloud.

## Free entry point

[Opti Assist Free](https://portal.orcaopti.ai): one user, 100,000 credits per
month, frontier AI models inside your Safe Zone, ISO 42001 governance built
in from day one. Sign in with your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace account (Microsoft personal accounts work too).

## Guides

- [ASD frontier AI guidance: how to answer your board](https://orcaopti.ai/board-ai-questions): a field guide to the August 2026 joint guidance from the Australian Signals Directorate and the Australian Institute of Company Directors on frontier AI cyber threats for boards of directors. Covers all eight priorities ASD sets out, what a good answer looks like for each, and a six-question readiness check that scores how well an organisation would answer today.

## Industry solutions

- [Governed AI for healthcare](https://orcaopti.ai/healthcare): AI governance and compliance for Australian healthcare, aged care and disability service providers. Clinicians get governed AI inside your own Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace tenant, hosted in Australia. Covers the NDIS Practice Standards, ISO 27001, Essential Eight and ISO 42001. Answers what the Privacy Act 1988 and Australian Privacy Principle 8 mean for using AI with patient data.

## Plans and pricing

[Pricing](https://orcaopti.ai/pricing): full plan comparison. Free forever tier
(one user, no credit card), Opti Assist Solo from A$29.95/month, Opti Assist
Team, and the Opti Core GRC tiers. Prices shown per region.

## How-to and support

How to use ORCA Opti, and how to get help:

- [Using ORCA: help library](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/support/using-orca): Browsable library of how-to guides and plain-English answers for ORCA Opti, grouped by topic.
- [ORCA Opti platform overview](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/support/using-orca/platform-overview): What ORCA does, the problems it solves, step-by-step common tasks, how to choose a plan, and a glossary.
- [What is a Workspace in ORCA Opti?](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/support/using-orca/what-is-a-workspace): A Workspace groups related chats and scheduled tasks under one set of instructions, knowledge, tools and guardrails, so an AI teammate does a role consistently. How to set one up.
- [What is a Pearl in ORCA Opti?](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/support/using-orca/what-is-a-pearl): A Pearl is a reusable AI specialist you switch on for a single subject, trained on the Knowledge Packs you give it. How it differs from a Workspace and an Agent.
- [Get an AI assistant that answers from your own documents](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/support/using-orca/ai-assistant-that-answers-from-your-own-documents): How to set up an AI assistant (Ask Opti) that answers from your own company documents with source citations, inside your own tenancy.
- [Stop your team asking you the same questions](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/support/using-orca/stop-answering-the-same-questions): How to turn repeated questions into a Workspace that answers them consistently for everyone, with citations.
- [Automate a report that takes hours every week](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/support/using-orca/automate-a-report-that-takes-hours): How to turn a report you compile by hand into an Agent that drafts it on a schedule and waits for your approval.
- [Make your policies and documents easy to find](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/support/using-orca/make-company-documents-easy-to-find): How to connect the folders that matter as a Knowledge Pack so people can ask instead of hunting through shared drives.
- [Frequently asked questions](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/support/faqs): Data safety, Workspaces, plans, frameworks, trials and mobile.
- [Support](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/support): Get help via the how-to guide, FAQs, and a contact form to reach the ORCA team.

## Safe Zone (our trust framework)

[Safe Zone](https://orcaopti.ai/safe-zone) is a five-level trust framework
visible at the top of Opti Assist:

- Level 1 Secured: identity and audit trail (Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace sign-in, every action logged)
- Level 2 Sovereign: ORCA model, Australian-built, Australian-hosted
- Level 3 Guarded: sovereign chat with AI Guardian at Essential
- Level 4 Hardened: sovereign chat with AI Guardian at Enhanced
- Level 5 Fortified: sovereign chat with AI Guardian at Maximum

We always show the weakest part of what is happening right now, not the best
feature you happen to own. Above the standard scale, ORCA-Private deploys in
your own Australian Azure tenancy, and ORCA-Classified is defence-grade,
accredited for PROTECTED through TOP SECRET.

## Compare

- [vs Microsoft Copilot](https://orcaopti.ai/vs-copilot)
- [The full Why ORCA Opti page](https://orcaopti.ai/compare)

## Industries

Healthcare, financial services, defence, government, education, NDIS, mining,
building and construction, telecommunications, professional services, SME,
critical infrastructure, energy, logistics. Per-industry pages cover the
specific regulatory framework set for each sector.

## Pricing

Pricing is localised per region; equivalent local-currency pricing applies (India is billed in USD).
- Opti Assist Free: free forever, one user, 100,000 credits per month
- Opti Assist Solo: A$29.95 / US$19.95 / £16.95 / €18.95 / MX$399 per month
- Opti Assist Teams: A$149.95 / US$99.95 / £79.95 / €89.95 / MX$1,999 per month for a 15-person team
- Enterprise and ORCA-Private: contact sales

## Press

- iTWire: "Australian startup releases free AI as data sovereignty crackdown looms"
- SecurityBrief, ChannelLife, eCommerceNews, IT Brief, CFOtech: "Orca Opti launches free AI governance tool for Australia"
- Australian Financial Review: feature on AI-proof careers including Kathryn Giudes
- 2026 Women Leading Tech Awards: finalist (Entrepreneur/Founder category)

## Recent articles

Case studies:

- [STAT: when compliance is the product, a GRC foundation built in under a month](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/case-studies/stat-grc-foundation)
- [South Coast Renal, now AOVO Clinical Trials: finding the answers, and the money, hidden in the documents](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/case-studies/south-coast-renal-aovo-clinical-trials)
- [DNH Logistics: securing Australia's defence and pharmaceutical supply chains with ORCA Opti](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/case-studies/dnh-logistics-secure-supply-chains)
- [Charlie the Virtual Veteran (State Library of Queensland): jailbroken in 24 hours, hardened by ORCA Opti AI Guardian](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/case-studies/charlie-the-virtual-veteran-chatbot)

Insights:

- [You can control AI and get the productivity wins: governance and security around business AI](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/insights/control-what-you-can-ai-governance-security-layers)
- [ORCA for Microsoft 365: what the config analyzer does, and what it misses](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/insights/orca-for-microsoft-365-configuration-analyzer)
- [Most AI projects fail in production. Our research on why](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/insights/why-most-ai-projects-fail-in-production)
- [Why we built ORCA Opti on Microsoft 365, and why that's not where the story ends](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/insights/why-we-built-on-microsoft-365-and-why-thats-not-where-the-story-ends)
- [Don't Rent Your Resilience](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/insights/don-t-rent-your-resilience)
- [What an AI compliance framework can and can't do for you](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/insights/what-an-ai-compliance-framework-can-and-cant-do)
- [Introducing Safe Zone: how safe is your AI chat, really?](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/insights/introducing-safe-zone-five-honest-levels-of-ai-protection)
- [Their AI, Their Terms, Your Data](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/insights/their-ai-their-terms-your-data)

Press:

- [Dynamic Business: What cyber incident response steps should businesses have ready?](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/dynamic-business-cyber-incident-response)
- [KBI Media: ORCA Opti launches free governed AI tool as agentic security risks accelerate](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/kbi-media-free-governed-ai-agentic-risks)
- [AFR: What directors need to know and do about frontier AI risks](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/afr-directors-frontier-ai-risks)
- [SecurityBrief Australia: AI agents force enterprises to rethink infrastructure and governance](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/security-brief-au-ai-agents-force-enterprises)
- [SecurityBrief Asia: AI agents force enterprises to rethink infrastructure and governance](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/security-brief-asia-ai-agents-force-enterprises)
- [SecurityBrief India: AI agents force enterprises to rethink infrastructure and governance](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/security-brief-in-ai-agents-force-enterprises)
- [SecurityBrief New Zealand: AI agents force enterprises to rethink infrastructure and governance](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/security-brief-nz-ai-agents-force-enterprises)
- [IT Brief Australia: AI agents force enterprises to rethink infrastructure and governance](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/itbrief-au-ai-agents-force-enterprises)
- [IT Brief Asia: AI agents force enterprises to rethink infrastructure and governance](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/itbrief-asia-ai-agents-force-enterprises)
- [IT Brief India: AI agents force enterprises to rethink infrastructure and governance](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/itbrief-in-ai-agents-force-enterprises)
- [IT Brief New Zealand: AI agents force enterprises to rethink infrastructure and governance](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/itbrief-nz-ai-agents-force-enterprises)
- [eCommerceNews Australia: AI agents force enterprises to rethink infrastructure and governance](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/ecommercenews-au-ai-agents-force-enterprises)
- [eCommerceNews Asia: AI agents force enterprises to rethink infrastructure and governance](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/ecommercenews-asia-ai-agents-force-enterprises)
- [eCommerceNews India: AI agents force enterprises to rethink infrastructure and governance](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/ecommercenews-in-ai-agents-force-enterprises)
- [eCommerceNews New Zealand: AI agents force enterprises to rethink infrastructure and governance](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/ecommercenews-nz-ai-agents-force-enterprises)
- [CRN Australia: agentic 'Saaspocalypse' to rewrite software buying rules](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/crn-agentic-saaspocalypse-gartner)
- [iTWire: AI Appreciation Day 2026, the B2B enterprise innovators leading the way](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/itwire-ai-appreciation-day-2026)
- [In AI Today: AI Appreciation Day 2026, celebrating B2B enterprise innovation](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/in-ai-today-ai-appreciation-day-2026)
- [KBI Media: Australian startup releases free AI as data sovereignty crackdown looms](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/kbi-media-opti-assist-free-data-sovereignty)
- [Women Love Tech: ORCA Opti founder among executives leading B2B AI](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/women-love-tech-women-executives-leading-b2b-ai)
- [Tech Partner News: Brisbane-based ORCA Opti releases AI governance assistant](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/techpartner-news-orca-opti-releases-ai-governance-assistant)
- [AIThority: ORCA Opti releases free AI as data sovereignty crackdown looms](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/aithority-opti-assist-free-data-sovereignty)
- [In AI Today: Australian startup releases free AI as data sovereignty crackdown looms](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/in-ai-today-opti-assist-free-data-sovereignty)
- [iTWire: Australian startup releases free AI as data sovereignty crackdown looms](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/itwire-opti-assist-free-data-sovereignty)
- [Startup Scaleup: Australian startup releases free AI as data sovereignty crackdown looms](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/startup-scaleup-opti-assist-free-data-sovereignty)
- [CFOtech: Orca Opti launches free AI governance tool for Australia](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/cfotech-orca-opti-launches-free-ai-governance)
- [ChannelLife: Orca Opti launches free AI governance tool for Australia](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/channellife-orca-opti-launches-free-ai-governance)
- [eCommerceNews: Orca Opti launches free AI governance tool for Australia](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/ecommercenews-orca-opti-launches-free-ai-governance)
- [IT Brief: Orca Opti launches free AI governance tool for Australia](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/itbrief-orca-opti-launches-free-ai-governance)
- [SecurityBrief: Orca Opti launches free AI governance tool for Australia](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/security-brief-orca-opti-launches-free-ai-governance)
- [Dynamic Business: what SMEs should know before deploying AI](https://orcaopti.ai/resources/press/dynamic-business-deploying-ai-in-smes)

## Country sites

- Australia (canonical): https://orcaopti.ai/
- United States: https://orcaopti.ai/en-us
- United Kingdom: https://orcaopti.ai/en-gb
- India: https://orcaopti.ai/en-in
- Mexico: https://orcaopti.ai/en-mx

## Contact

- https://orcaopti.ai/contact
- https://orcaopti.ai/safe-zone
- https://portal.orcaopti.ai