Our Mission
Make AI safe for the work that matters most
Governments manage national security. Hospitals hold patient lives. Financial institutions carry the savings of millions. These organisations cannot afford to route their most sensitive work through AI systems that were never designed for regulated environments.
OBEL™ sits between the user and the model — classifying, scrubbing, governing, and logging every interaction before it ever reaches an LLM provider. The result is AI productivity without AI risk.
Our Story
Built from the problem, not the technology
2022
ninthLABS Ventures founded in Sydney, focused on AI, security, and automation for regulated industries.
2023
OBEL™ concept developed following observed PII and data leakage incidents in enterprise AI adoption.
2024
OBEL™ v0.1 deployed in closed beta with government and financial services pilot customers.
2025
ARGUS-i™ sovereign classification engine launched. PSPF / Five Eyes framework coverage completed.
2026
OBEL™ v1.0 "Sovereign Lockdown" declared stable baseline. Multi-tenant, multi-provider, production-ready.
Core Principles
What guides every decision
Security First
Every architectural decision is made through a security lens. Controls are built in — not bolted on. A platform that requires security trade-offs is not the right platform for regulated work.
Sovereign by Design
Users own their data. Conversations never leave customer-controlled infrastructure unless explicitly configured. The sovereign vault is the default, not an add-on.
Transparency Over Opacity
Every prompt is logged before it reaches an LLM. Every decision gate is auditable. We believe AI governance requires verifiable proof — not trust alone.
Fail Shut, Not Open
When a control fails, the system denies the request. Never degrades to a pass-through. This is non-negotiable for regulated environments where a silent failure is a compliance breach.
Multi-Framework Compliance
PSPF, ISM, NZISM, UK NCSC, NIST, NATO — OBEL™ speaks the language of every Five Eyes framework natively, without custom integration work from the customer.
Continuous Improvement
Threats evolve. Regulations expand. We ship classification updates, scrubber rule refinements, and new governance controls on a continuous basis — customers receive them automatically.
The Company Behind OBEL™
ninthLABS Ventures Pty Ltd
ninthLABS is a hybrid technology consulting and venture firm founded to close the gap between emerging AI capability and the governance frameworks that regulated industries require.
We operate across cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, intelligent process automation, and emerging technology — providing both direct product development and advisory services to enterprises, government agencies, and growth-stage companies.
OBEL™ is our flagship product — the culmination of hands-on experience deploying AI in environments where a single data handling error carries regulatory, financial, or national security consequences.
Global Offices
Sydney
Barangaroo, NSW 2000
Singapore
Marina Bay
New York
Manhattan, NY
San Francisco
SoMa, CA
Leadership
Built by practitioners who lived the problem.
Denis Bouton
Founder & Chief Architect — ninthLABS Ventures · OBEL™
Denis designed OBEL™ after directly observing PII and data leakage incidents during enterprise AI deployments. With a background spanning cybersecurity, intelligent automation, and AI systems architecture across government and financial services environments, he leads product, architecture, and strategic direction at ninthLABS Ventures.
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Whether you want to partner with us or join the team, we'd love to hear from you.
Technology, reseller & integration partnerships
Partner Programme
Extend your offering with OBEL™'s sovereign AI governance, earn revenue share, and co-market to regulated sectors.
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Careers
We're hiring engineers, security researchers, and sales professionals who want to work on hard problems that matter.
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