From Excel to AI: How Anita Patturajan Built a RiskTech Startup from Scratch | Ep 227 | DevReady Podcast

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, host Andrew Romeo welcomes Anita Patturajan, the dynamic Founder and CEO of Anitech, and Co-Founder of Lahebo. The conversation traces Anita’s journey from compliance engineer to tech entrepreneur, uncovering how her early love for coding and technology, especially in Java during her engineering studies, shaped her path. A pivotal moment during an audit at CSR inspired her to launch Anitech, a business built on the vision of supporting underserved small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with compliance and tech-driven solutions. Anita shares how those formative years, working hands-on with SMEs, provided insights that later fuelled her ambition to productise risk management through Lahebo.

Anita delves into the shifting landscape of risk and compliance, shaped by evolving regulations and emerging technologies. Early in her career, risk management was often a manual process, limited by expensive enterprise software, but tools like Excel and VBA enabled her to deliver value. Fast forward to today, and the rise of low-code platforms and artificial intelligence has democratised access to data-driven solutions. Through Anitech, Anita now offers a comprehensive suite of services, from advisory and audits to AI consultancy, guiding businesses to navigate risk in real time. However, she notes the growing challenges SMEs face in responsibly adopting AI, particularly in areas of data security and intellectual property, reinforcing Anitech’s role in providing both technical and educational support.

As the discussion shifts, Anita shares how AI requests from clients, such as building custom Salesforce agents, inspired a broader move into product development. This led to the creation of Lahebo, a risk management SaaS platform aimed at making compliance easier and more affordable for SMEs. Initially hesitant to build from scratch, Anita explored partnerships and off-the-shelf options, only to find they were financially inaccessible or lacked the customisation needed. Determined to fill the gap, her team spent over a year planning and prototyping before launching Lahebo. The result is a platform that combines real-world risk insights with scalable technology, built to support business resilience.

The transition from service to SaaS, however, came with hard lessons. Anita and Andrew discuss the nuances of product–market fit versus message–market fit, as Lahebo’s initial customer base didn’t align with its strongest adopters. This sparked a strategic pivot towards highly regulated industries: finance, aviation, and consulting, where CEOs, not just compliance managers, were making purchasing decisions. Anita underscores the importance of assembling a “rockstar” team with expertise across software, finance, engagement, and marketing. These elements proved critical in positioning Lahebo not just as software, but as a smart investment for long-term operational sustainability.

In the final part of the episode, Anita outlines her vision for Lahebo’s future: a real-time, data-centric platform that supports risk and compliance across borders. She hopes to integrate environmental and safety monitoring, enabling businesses to act proactively before risks escalate into costly incidents. With expansion plans beyond Australian compliance to global jurisdictions, Lahebo is set to become a trusted tool for multinational organisations. At its core, the platform reflects Anita’s enduring mission to help businesses operate with confidence, clarity, and compliance in an increasingly complex world.

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