● About
Rooted in finance. Grown through marketing. Sharpened by AI.
One thread through all three: systems.
What Cobus does now
Cobus works as a business systems and AI consultant with business owners and executive teams. The work starts from some version of the same situation. The business has grown, the way work gets done hasn't kept up, and AI is on the agenda with no clear first step.
The job is to find where time gets lost, leads go cold and decisions wait, put a cost on each, and fix what's worth fixing. Sometimes that's AI. Often it's a handover, a checklist or a decision that was never written down.
Before this
- Until 2017. Studies towards CA and finishes his degree, then spends a few years in corporate as a financial manager. The habit that stuck: every spend has to show a return.
- 2017. Starts consulting, mainly technical SEO. Within two years that includes clients abroad.
- 2019. Founds RhinoBerry, a marketing agency. Google Ads, SEO and lead generation for clients ranging from trades businesses to a security group operating in seven countries.
- Around 2022. Starts mapping every recurring task in RhinoBerry with one question: does this need expertise, or just time? Most of it needed time. Over the next three years that became the systems, AI agents and automations that now run much of the business.
- Today. Consults with owners and executive teams, and keeps building Okapi, the operating system that runs RhinoBerry's own work.
How Cobus works
Every change in a business lands on two people: the client paying you, and the person doing the work. Most changes only help one of them. The ones worth doing first help both.
That one test sorts most ideas fast. Faster replies, follow-up that can't be forgotten, clients who don't have to explain their situation three times: those help both. A chatbot that won't hand over to a person helps nobody, however modern it looks.
And sometimes the plain answer is that nothing should be automated yet. That's a result too.
Where Cobus works
Based in South Africa. Works remotely with clients wherever they are, and in the room when a session is worth the trip.
How RhinoBerry fits
RhinoBerry is Cobus's agency for marketing execution: ads, SEO and lead generation. Consulting is separate. When a consulting engagement turns up a marketing problem, RhinoBerry is one option for fixing it, never a condition.
Speaking
Cobus is available to speak on AI in business: what it does, where it quietly fails, and how to pick the first thing worth changing. For business groups, associations and leadership teams. Ask about a talk →
Common questions
- Who is Cobus van Vuuren?
- A business systems and AI consultant who works with business owners and executive teams. He has a background in finance, started consulting in 2017 and founded the marketing agency RhinoBerry in 2019.
- What does a business systems and AI consultant do?
- Finds where the work in a business loses time, leads or decisions, and costs each leak. Then the owner or team decides what to fix first. Sometimes the fix is AI. Often it's a process, a role or a handover that was never written down.
- Who does Cobus work with?
- Owners of established businesses and the executive teams running them, usually where growth has outrun the way the work gets done.
- Does Cobus sell software?
- He doesn't resell third-party software or take commission on the tools he recommends. If a custom build or a managed system makes sense, it's quoted separately and you decide.
- How do I start?
- Tell Cobus what's going on through the consulting page, or take the free 5-minute AI Readiness Diagnostic if you'd rather see where you stand first.