A strategic advisory collective
The Foundry is where Intersect gets made.
A small collective of South African firms working with us while the product is still hot. They bring the realities of their practices. We shape what comes next around them.
Three to five member firms. Applications reviewed annually.
The idea
Every finished product was once something hot and unfinished.
Before metal becomes a tool, it goes through the foundry. It is melted down, poured, worked and tested. It is the loud, hot, messy part of making things, and it is where the shape is decided. Once metal sets, changing it is slow and expensive. While it is still molten, almost anything is possible.
Software works the same way. By the time a feature reaches every Intersect user, most of the decisions that matter have been made. Which problem it solves, how it fits a firm's day, what it gets right and what it quietly gets wrong. Foundry exists so that those decisions are made with the firms who live with them, while the work is still hot, and not after it has set.
Intersect was built on one idea: that compliance does not break inside individual obligations, it breaks in the seams between them. One client record, many regulatory obligations, and the risk living where they meet. The people who see those seams most clearly are the ones working in them every day. Foundry is how we put that knowledge at the centre of what we build.
Our members see the seams before anyone else does. Foundry is where we fix them together.
The mark
Our logo, before it sets.
The Foundry mark is not a new symbol. It is the Intersect mark, caught in the moment before it is finished. The four arrows are the same ones Intersect users see every time they log in. Here they are still molten, running into each other at the crossing, white-hot at the centre and only cooling into blue and magenta at the edges.
The centre is where it is hottest because that is where the work happens. It is the point where obligations meet, where our product meets real practice, and where our members' thinking meets our roadmap. The drips are not a mistake. They are what real making looks like before it is polished.
The members
Meet the South African Foundry members.
Three leaders from three very different practices, each bringing what their firm sees every day to the table where Intersect is shaped. One seat is waiting for the next.
Glenys Dempers
Managing Director, Moderni
Glenys leads a team that delivers high-quality, compliant solutions to its clients. She brings 19 years in accounting, holds Professional Accountant and Independent Reviewer credentials, and is an active supporter of South Africa's entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Tanya Boshoff
Legal Manager, Cainmani
Tanya is an admitted Attorney and Notary working in the renewable energy sector. Her work spans litigation, contracts, compliance and company secretarial matters. She holds an LLB from the University of the Western Cape and is studying Forensic Science and Technology at UNISA.
Lynette Pretorius
Managing Director, Austral Accounting
Lynette has overseen operations at Austral Accounting for more than 27 years, helping clients build practical tax and accounting processes. She moved a paper-heavy practice to fully cloud-based operations and leads a team of 8 to 10 people serving a book of 107 clients, some for more than 20 years.
This should be you!
Open seat · Current intake
One seat at the Foundry table is open. If your firm is an active Intersect subscriber with the maturity, discipline and intent to help shape what comes next, we would like to hear from you.
3 to 5
member firms, never more
Three seats taken. Two open for the next review.
Small by design
Small enough that every voice changes something.
Membership is intentionally limited to three to five firms. A larger group would give us more opinions. A small one gives us better decisions. Every member is heard in every discussion, and every discussion ends in a concrete outcome.
We also keep the group deliberately different. Today that means two accounting practices and an in-house legal team in renewable energy. Each sees compliance from a different angle, and the platform is better for having to work for all of them.
How the Foundry works with us
Members bring the real work. We bring it back better.
Foundry is not a feedback form or a quarterly survey. It is a working relationship. Members see what we are building before anyone else, test it against their own clients and deadlines, and tell us plainly where it falls short. Then we go back to the furnace and try again.
Bring us the problem
Where a firm's day breaks down. The workaround built in a spreadsheet, the obligation that always catches a client out, the step everyone dreads in annual return season. The most valuable thing a member gives us is a real problem, described by the people who live with it.
Shape the roadmap
Members see what we are considering next while the direction is still open, and help us decide what matters most. When we have to choose between two good ideas, Foundry is the room where that choice is argued out.
Test it while it is hot
Early designs, prototypes and beta features go to Foundry first. Members use them on real work and tell us what is clear, what is confusing and what is missing, before it reaches every Intersect user.
Hold us to it
When something ships, members are the first to tell us whether it actually solved the problem we set out to solve. If it did not, we hear it from them before we hear it from anyone else.
How the Foundry shapes Intersect
The ideas built here flow straight into the platform.
Every improvement that starts in the Foundry ships to every Intersect user, so the whole profession benefits from what a handful of firms helped make.
Every idea passes through members twice: before it ships and after.
- Real problemfrom a member firm
- Early versionwe prototype
- Tested hoton real work
- Refinedfixes made
- Shippedto every user
The value for member firms
A strategic advantage, built in from the start.
Member firms help shape workflow models, automation logic and compliance architecture while the direction is still open. That gives them a head start most firms will not have for some time.
Shape it before it sets
Influence how Intersect works while decisions are still being made, not after they have been released to everyone.
See it first
New modules, designs and features reach member firms before general release, so they can prepare their teams and clients early.
Understand the why
Members know the reasoning behind every change, not just the change itself. That makes it easier to adopt, explain to clients and build on.
A direct line to the builders
No ticket queue. Members work directly with the founder and the product and engineering team, and the conversation goes both ways.
Your fingerprints on the product
When a feature your firm shaped goes live, you will know exactly which part came from you. We will tell you, and we will tell everyone else too.
Recognised as a Foundry firm
Named on this page, a digital Foundry member badge to share on your website and social channels, and credit in release notes when your input shaped a feature.
Impact on the profession
Most industry groups debate. The Foundry builds.
What starts in the Foundry does not stay with a handful of firms. It becomes part of how every company on Intersect is kept compliant. Member firms help raise the standard of modern practice, and push the profession toward a more structured, connected way of handling governance.
That is a responsibility we take seriously, and it is why we choose our members carefully.
Our commitments to member firms
What our members can hold us to.
We close the loop
Every piece of input gets an answer. Sometimes that answer is "we built it", sometimes it is "not yet, and here is why", and sometimes it is "we disagree". It is never silence.
We respect your time
Sessions start and end on time, and we only bring work that is ready to be judged. If a session would not be worth your hour, we cancel it.
We protect your clients
Testing happens under the same security and POPIA standards as the rest of Intersect. Where we ask to see real examples, we work with masked or sample data unless you choose otherwise.
We keep it honest
Foundry is not a sales channel. Nobody will use a session to sell you an upgrade.
Every firm is heard equally
The most useful insight often comes from the firm that speaks least. We run every session so that each member's view lands, not just the loudest.
Application criteria
For firms with maturity, discipline and intent.
Seats are few, so we look for firms that will make the most of one. Only firms aligned with the Foundry's purpose are invited, and applications are reviewed once a year.
- Strategic clarityYou know where your firm is going and why.
- Data-driven decisionsYou run your practice on evidence, not habit.
- An appetite to shape what comes nextYou would rather build the future of compliance than react to it.
- An active Intersect subscriberYour firm holds a current Intersect subscription and uses the platform day to day for live client work.
From application to the table
Apply
Tell us about your firm, how you use Intersect and what you would most want to shape. It takes about ten minutes.
Annual review
We review applications once a year, when a seat is open. The next review is in December.
A conversation
Shortlisted firms meet the founder to talk through how the Foundry works and what both sides expect.
Invitation
Invited firms join with a short welcome session and see what is on the bench right now.
At the table
Sessions run quarterly, with early features in your Intersect account in between.
Questions
Before you apply.
Who can apply?
Firms with an active Intersect subscription, represented by a senior person who can speak for how the firm works: an owner, partner, managing director or the head of legal or company secretarial. Accounting practices, consultancies and in-house teams are all welcome.
Why only three to five firms?
Because a small group makes better decisions. Every member is heard in every discussion, and every discussion produces an outcome. A larger group would mean more voices and less influence for each.
When are applications reviewed?
Once a year, when a seat is open. Applications received outside that window are kept and considered at the next review.
Does it cost anything?
No. Foundry membership is free.
How much time does it take?
About 8 to 10 hours a month, made up of sessions and some testing in between. We plan around busy seasons, and nobody is expected to test during their own deadline crunch.
Will features we test be ready to use with clients?
Some will be close, some will be rough. Every early feature is clearly marked so you always know what is still being made. You decide how much of it to use on live work.
Can we leave?
Yes, at any time. We would just like to know why, so we can do better for the next member firm.
Do we need to sign anything?
Yes. Member firms sign a short one-page agreement covering confidentiality of unreleased features and how their input may be used.
Help us make it while it's still hot.
The next version of Intersect is being made right now. If your firm wants a hand in shaping it, tell us why.
Applications are reviewed annually. The next review is in December. We reply to every firm that applies.
The application form is the Elementor form in the section below this one. On the live page it appears here, in this card.