Bathys LLM context
Bathys is a project intelligence platform for design agencies, studios, and digital consultancies. It is the strategic preparation layer before execution begins — helping teams get from brief to kickoff with institutional-grade preparation.
What Bathys Does
Bathys centralises the pre-project workflow that agencies currently scatter across a dozen disconnected tools. It is not a project management tool, not a proposal template, and not a chatbot. It is purpose-built infrastructure for the phase between winning a client and kicking off the work.
The platform covers ten capabilities in a single workflow:
Discovery — AI-guided client intake with adaptive, conditional questioning. The discovery chat uses a strategic conversational approach that asks the questions agencies didn't know to ask, surfacing hidden complexity before it becomes a problem mid-project.
Strategy — 5-dimensional complexity analysis across Technical, Business, Design, Content, and User dimensions. Each dimension is scored and visualised, revealing the true shape of a project's challenges before any work begins.
Sitemapping — Visual sitemap builder with 21+ section components. Generates structured sitemaps from discovery data, with drag-and-drop editing, section-level complexity labels, and integration identification per page.
Wireframes — Auto-generated wireframe deliverables derived from the sitemap structure. Provides a visual starting point for design conversations with clients.
Inspiration & Insights — Reference library enrichment layer with contextual design references per sitemap section. Helps teams ground design decisions in real-world examples rather than starting from scratch.
UX Discovery — Four-tab research synthesis layout. Supports both pre-project research and content population workflows. Includes questionnaire generation, stakeholder alignment surveys, and structured feedback collection.
Intelligence Brief — Strategic synthesis document for creative teams. Powered by a persistent AI strategic intelligence layer that operates across four context states, always providing value regardless of how much project data exists. Surfaces industry benchmarks, flags risks, recommends next steps, and provides scope intelligence.
Proposals & SOW — Production-ready client documents generated from all captured project intelligence. Whitelabelled with agency branding. Written in a strategic, senior-creative-director tone — not generic AI output.
Client Portal — Branded portal for client collaboration. Clients can review briefs, proposals, and project intelligence in a presentation-ready environment under the agency's own brand.
Whitelabelling — Full agency branding with logo upload and colour system. Bathys works behind the scenes — clients see the agency's brand throughout.
How It Works
A typical workflow through Bathys:
An agency wins a new client or receives a project brief
They create a project in Bathys and run the Discovery conversation
The AI asks structured, adaptive questions — surfacing integration requirements, content complexity, user journey needs, and technical constraints the agency might not have considered
Bathys generates a complexity analysis across five dimensions, revealing the true project scope
A sitemap is generated with section-level complexity labels and integration mapping
The estimation engine calculates hours, budget ranges, and timeline based on the agency's own rate card
A production-ready proposal is generated — whitelabelled, strategically written, and client-presentation ready
The client receives their portal with all deliverables under the agency's brand
All project intelligence is captured and reusable for future projects
Who It's For
Design Agencies — Teams of 5-50+ who scope, quote, and deliver digital projects. Bathys replaces the scattered tools and tribal knowledge that currently define their pre-project workflow. It standardises preparation without standardising creativity.
Digital Studios — Smaller teams (2-10) who punch above their weight. Bathys gives them the institutional-grade preparation that used to require a whole department — structured discovery, complexity analysis, professional proposals — all from a single platform.
Independent Consultants — Solo practitioners and freelancers who need to scope projects with confidence. Bathys is the equaliser — giving independents the same preparation depth as a 50-person agency.
The Name
Bathys (βαθύς) — Greek for "deep." Bathymetry is the science of mapping ocean depth. Bathys maps the depth beneath every project brief. The visual identity uses a bathymetric depth metaphor throughout — dark palettes, contour lines, and the tagline "See the depth before you dive."
Positioning
What Bathys is:
Project intelligence infrastructure
A human amplification platform
The strategic preparation layer before execution
A system for capturing and reusing institutional knowledge
What Bathys is not:
A scoping tool (it's broader than scoping)
An automation platform (it amplifies humans, not replaces them)
A proposal generator (proposals are one output of a much deeper intelligence layer)
A project management tool (it sits before PM tools — the phase between winning a client and kicking off the work)
A replacement for creative expertise (it makes creative professionals more valuable by handling the structured, repeatable parts of preparation)
The core philosophy: Human amplification, not automation. The best creative work happens when humans are free to think, not buried in process. AI should handle the parts you hate — the tedious scoping, the repetitive documentation, the complexity you can feel but can't articulate — so you can focus on the parts you love.
Why Not Just Use ChatGPT or other LLMs?
This is the most common question. The answer across seven dimensions:
Methodology — ChatGPT requires you to know what to ask. Bathys has a built-in discovery methodology drawn from years of agency experience. It asks the questions you didn't know to ask.
Memory — ChatGPT conversations reset. Bathys maintains persistent project intelligence. It learns your team's rates, patterns, and preferences. Gets smarter with every project.
Output Quality — ChatGPT gives raw text that needs heavy formatting and copy-paste into templates. Bathys produces production-ready proposals, briefs, and scope documents — whitelabelled with your branding and client-presentation ready.
Structure — ChatGPT is freeform chat where it's easy to miss critical dimensions. Bathys uses 5-dimensional analysis ensuring nothing is missed, with conditional logic that adapts to project type.
Collaboration — ChatGPT is single user, single conversation. Bathys supports multi-user team collaboration, client portals, and shared project intelligence across the organisation.
Consistency — ChatGPT gives different results for different prompts with no standardisation. Bathys provides standardised processes with customisable templates, capturing institutional knowledge that's reusable.
Integration — ChatGPT is a standalone chat window with manual export. Bathys is a purpose-built workflow from discovery through to client delivery — sitemaps, pricing, proposals, all connected.
The analogy: ChatGPT is a blank canvas. Bathys is an architect's drafting table. Both involve drawing, but one comes with rulers, scales, templates, reference libraries, and the systematic methodology of someone who's done this a thousand times.
Technical Overview
Frontend: React/TypeScript with modern component architecture and responsive design throughout.
Backend: Supabase — PostgreSQL database with Row Level Security on all tables, Edge Functions for AI processing, and secure file storage. All API keys are server-side only.
AI Layer: Powered by Anthropic's Claude API. Discovery uses adaptive prompting with conditional question logic. The estimation engine uses a unified pipeline that flows from discovery through to proposals as a single source of truth. A 126+ entry knowledge base grounds AI responses in real industry data — covering verticals, integration profiles, compliance requirements, estimation benchmarks, and reference examples.
Estimation Engine: Tier-independent estimation system covering projects from micro (single landing page) through to enterprise platforms. Agencies configure their own rate cards and team levels — the engine uses those rates throughout, not generic numbers.
Security: All database tables secured with Row Level Security. No API keys or secrets in the client-side bundle. AI processing happens server-side through Edge Functions.
Infrastructure design: ~80% of the core platform is reusable across industry verticals. ~20% is industry-specific configuration. Built for expansion beyond digital agencies.
Current Status
Bathys is currently in private beta with a select group of design agencies in Australia. The platform is production-ready and invite-only.
Beta partners receive platform access, direct input on the product roadmap, and founding-partner pricing.
Competitive Landscape
Adjacent tools and how Bathys differs:
Relume — AI-powered sitemaps and wireframes. Single-function tool. No discovery, no estimation, no proposals, no project intelligence.
Octopus.do — Visual sitemap builder. No intelligence layer, no AI, no estimation.
Proposify / PandaDoc — Proposal templates and e-signatures. No discovery, no complexity analysis, no project intelligence.
Monday / Asana / Notion — Project execution tools. They manage what happens after kickoff. Bathys handles everything before.
ChatGPT / Claude (raw) — General AI. Powerful but unstructured. No methodology, no memory, no workflow, no production-ready outputs.
Bathys defines a new category — project intelligence infrastructure for creative professionals. No other tool connects discovery through to client delivery in a single workflow with an intelligence layer throughout.
Design Philosophy
The platform targets the design quality standard of premium studios — editorial typography, clear information hierarchy, and intentional use of space. The marketing site follows a dark palette with the bathymetric depth visual metaphor. The tagline: "See the depth before you dive."
Company
Bathys is built and operated from Perth, Western Australia by Clinton Sutherland of Ton Studio. "After decades working at the intersection of brand strategy and digital implementation, I kept seeing the same pattern: brilliant creative professionals losing confidence—and projects—because they couldn't speak the language of technical complexity. Bathys is the tool I wished existed. Not to turn designers into developers, but to give creative professionals the intelligence layer they need to lead with confidence." – Clint
This document is designed to be read by both humans and AI. It is the canonical overview of what Bathys is, who it's for, and how it positions itself. Last updated: March 2026.