What is the purpose of the Callaghan Innovation? In the wake of the mandate to reduce headcount by about 7%, this was the question that Stefan Korn had to answer. To answer it, he returned to the organisation's founding documents, looked at similar organisations overseas, and considered the unique position of Aotearoa New Zealand. In this episode, Dr Korn discusses his vision of Callaghan's future and the thought process that led him to it. Also, what do NZ's tech leaders say about the impact of...
May 01, 2024•49 min•Season 2Ep. 48
Aotearoa New Zealand's startup and VC scene has a bit of a problem with some investors taking too much equity for their money, leaving founders with little incentive to put in the effort it takes to grow their businesses. On top of that, using equity to attract talent is near-impossible when it just lands that talent with a big tax bill the day they start. Rob Vickery, founder and managing partner of Hillfarrance Venture Capital, digs into this issue and outlines what he thinks should change to ...
Apr 24, 2024•42 min•Season 2Ep. 47
Apple’s efforts to redefine the world of augmented reality with its Vision Pro have been slowly creeping across the globe. In February, the device landed in the hands of the developers at Kiwi virtual reality games studio Beyond who developed Runaways, one of the first ever games for the ‘spatial computer’. Speaking with Beyond co-founders Jessica Manins and Anton Mitchell, Peter digs into what it was like to work with the Vision Pro and where they see the technology headed next. Plus, we chat a...
Apr 17, 2024•47 min•Season 2Ep. 46
Being AI CEO David McDonald explains the huge aspirations for the newly-listed company and why listing on the New Zealand Exchange was a key step in those plans. McDonald and his assembled team have a history of AI success underpinning the promise of future glory. The company's share price rocketed since listing, sparking a lot of attention and some criticism. Is it tall poppy syndrome? Or just fair scrutiny for a listed company? We also delve into Ben's experiment playing with a range of free-t...
Apr 10, 2024•44 min•Season 2Ep. 45
What does it take to be a modern, competitive internet provider in 2024? One NZ CEO Jason Paris has been focused on exactly that question for the last few years as he has transitioned Vodafone NZ into One NZ. Now, one year since the official launch of the rebrand, Paris joins us to provide some insight into how the gears are turning inside one of Aotearoa's biggest technology companies. Plus, more AI job displacement talk, and has Elon done enough with X to keep his own personality from sinking ...
Apr 03, 2024•46 min•Season 2Ep. 44
Finally, it's a fintech episode! With the Commerce Commission releasing a draft report that outlines all the ways our banking sector is uncompetitive, now is the perfect time to talk disruption in the world of financial services. First, Dosh CEO and co-founder Shane Marsh weighs in on the state of the NZ financial services sector with a view on how we got to this point of staleness and lack of competition, with four Australian banks dominating the industry. Then, Immersive CEO and co-founder Jer...
Mar 27, 2024•47 min•Season 2Ep. 43
Kiwi futurist Ben Reid joins the ( award nominated! ) podcast for a second time to talk about his new book, Fast Forward Aotearoa, which unpacks the path to a future of technological success and positivity for NZ. Peter speaks to Ben Reid about what systemic changes need to be made to ensure the best outcomes for all Kiwis. Plus, we talk about Chorus' investment in datacentres, Uber's big Aussie settlement, and why news outlets are making deals with AI companies. Reading list See omnystudio.com/...
Mar 20, 2024•46 min•Season 2Ep. 42
What exactly is sovereign AI and why would we want it? Machine learning and artificial intelligence expert Kiarie Ndegwa has been in the trenches with the tech for a decade, including working on Te Hiku Media's bilingual te reo Māori/NZ English transcription tool. Ndegwa shares his unique perspective on what it means to truly own AI and data and dips into the technical details to debunk the claims that only Big Tech can deliver the goods to power AI. Plus, the government's promise to open up gen...
Mar 13, 2024•48 min•Season 2Ep. 41
Amazon and Microsoft have thrown around some big numbers about how their impending NZ-based datacentres will benefit the economy. But is it really that simple? Will Amazon and MIcrosoft's NZ public cloud regions be ready in 2024 as promised? Where do our local cloud companies fit in? All of these questions and more are discussed on our episode today as we're joined by Don Christie, NZ IT industry veteran and the founder and managing director of Catalyst IT and Catalyst Cloud. Plus, Ben talks abo...
Mar 06, 2024•50 min•Season 2Ep. 40
Ben and Peter talk to Spark CEO Jolie Hodson and NZIER principal economist Christina Leung about the recent research into how adopting more advanced digital tech can boost industry output by up to $26 billion, and increase GDP by 2.08% annually. The pair unpack the report to explain what will it take among Kiwi businesses to realise these gains. BusinessDesk senior journalist Cécile Meier also joins to answer some questions about her reporting on Hira, the government's embattled project to revam...
Feb 28, 2024•49 min•Season 2Ep. 39
Canadian journalist, host of the Tech Won't Save Us podcast, and former Wellington resident Paris Marx joins us to discuss the role that technology and the billionaires that control it play in mitigating the impact of climate change. Plus, the role Aotearoa New Zealand can play in ensuring that emissions mitigation tech is effective at more than just turning a profit. Plus, we talk about the cellphone bans in schools, cleaning up space junk, identifying methane leaks, and Australia's new Rocket ...
Feb 21, 2024•50 min•Season 2Ep. 38
Since 1998, there has been a global moratorium on charging tariffs for digital services but that may soon come to an end, depending on what happens at the World Trade Organisation conference later this month. Ben talks to BusinessDesk senior correspondent Dileepa Fonseka about his research into the matter, and what it might mean for Kiwi software companies looking to go global. Plus, Peter and Ben discuss the need for sovereign artificial intelligence infrastructure, the US’ plan to undermine Hu...
Feb 14, 2024•48 min•Season 2Ep. 37
After years of bringing together cloud products, adding a little engineering and business strategy magic, and then implementing and managing bespoke cloud services, Dave Howden is out to do the same thing with AI. While an AI consulting and services business may not sounds as flashy as an exciting new platform, it's the kind of company that makes up the backbone of a major technological transition. Peter speaks to Dave about why he decided to start his new company, SupaHuman, and what he's got p...
Feb 07, 2024•44 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Already in 2024 we are seeing big tech companies like SAP point at AI as a reason to slash headcount, and it's likely we will see more of that to come. This week, technologist and educator Frances Valintine joins to talk about how to stay relevant in the age of AI, and what responsibilities businesses bear to their employees when it comes to learning. Ben and Peter also share their thoughts on the topic, and look at some recent news stories and research that give a glimpse into an AI-dominated f...
Jan 31, 2024•46 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Tech reporter and commentator Rob O'Neill says he likes to "get down among the weeds" and in our first episode for the year, he does exactly that. We speak to Rob, senior writer for Reseller News, about what he's seeing in his reporting on the IT industry in NZ, and his view of the future for all of the work that's been done on the now-dead water reform and Te Pūkenga IT transformation projects. Plus, more AI talk, VR/AR, disinformation, and expecting the unexpected. Reading list See omnystudio....
Jan 24, 2024•41 min•Season 2Ep. 34
In March of last year, Judith Collins was but a senior member of parliament for the opposition. Today, she is a senior member of the government, with more ministerial positions than any other member of the National Party government. Collins spent a significant amount of her time in opposition learning about NZs tech sector, and wooing its members. It was in March when Peter Griffin spoke to her to ask her thoughts on tech in NZ and what she would focus on if she made it into cabinet, which we pl...
Jan 17, 2024•27 min
Jackson Henry is an Australian ethical or white hat hacker who we spoke to last year. We only featured him briefly in episode 29 because he was guesting on a lot of shows, but our interview with him was a little different. He spoke a little more widely about his career path and how he went from cheating at video games to being a part of the white hat team that breached the United Nations He also delved into what cybersecurity means at different sizes of business, and how enterprises can entice e...
Jan 10, 2024•22 min
Back in July of 2023, now last year, Rocket Lab finalised its plans for recovering and reusing engines for its rockets. Founder and CEO Peter Beck spared some time to chat about what that means for the company. Plus, he spoke about how he saw the space industry in Aotearoa New Zealand, and where he thought we stood on the global stage. Since then, Beck hosted the National Party’s pre-election space policy announcement, and the industry has made some significant strides. Listening back to the int...
Jan 03, 2024•18 min
Mark Clare is the founding and managing partner at Clare Capital, a boutique investment bank that releases a regular tech insights newsletter. We chose this conversation to feature because not only does Mark offer fantastic insights about listed companies and the public market, but goes wider than that. He talks about the private capital market, about the value that a strong NZX can bring to the country, the benefits of selling to offshore companies, and what he sees as the industry’s biggest we...
Dec 20, 2023•30 min
It's episode 33, the final full episode for the year. To put a bow on what has been a full on year of tech news, we quickly recap the biggest stories from 2023 from across the world, and in Aotearoa New Zealand. Then we speak to Merja Myllylahti, a senior lecturer at AUT and co-director of the universities research centre for journalism, media and democracy (JMAD). She recently published her book From Papers to Platform, which scrutinises how major digital platforms exert ever-growing influence ...
Dec 13, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 33
This week we look back at the NZ tech stock market in 2023 to get a sense of where priorities lie for those investing their capital into the industry, and which stocks to watch in 2024. We speak to three financial markets specialists, Clare Capital’s founder Mark Clare, and Joshua Dale and Stephen Ridgewell from Craigs Investment Partners to hear about the positives and negatives of higher rates and constrained capital for tech. Plus, they share what they expect to see as things start to warm up...
Dec 06, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Artificial intelligence exploded onto the scene in a major way in 2023, establishing foundations for a level of disruption that we don't yet fully understand. In this episode, we speak to Simply Privacy's Frith Tweedie and Frankly AI's Matt Ensor about what we saw in the AI market this year, and where we might see it go in 2024. We also share our thoughts about the new government's ministerial make-up, and what that might mean for NZ's tech industry. Reading list See omnystudio.com/listener for ...
Nov 29, 2023•54 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Easy Crypto CEO and co-founder Janine Grainger joins us to explain why she and her team decided to launch a locally owned wallet, and the NZDD stablecoin pegged to the NZ dollar, and backed 1:1 by funds in the bank. Plus, we discuss the biggest tech story of the year, the ousting of OpenAI founding CEO Sam Altman, and why the news should matter to Kiwis and their businesses. Note: When Ben said artificial generative intelligence, he meant artifical general intelligence. Reading list See omnystud...
Nov 22, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Toby Littin features this week’s episode to talk about the global success of Parkable, a company that started in 2015 as a way to connect drivers with people with spare carparks, and has grown into an international parking management platform with the likes of Meta as a customer. Littin speaks to the changes a company goes through when it moves from start up to scale up, and whether it’s possible to remain a NZ-based company in the current investment climate. We also discuss the latest tech news...
Nov 15, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 29
This week, Peter talks to stalwart of both the supermarket and telecommunications industries, Ernie Newman. In the early 2000s, the government intervened to ensure that the monopoly that then-Telecom had on broadband internet industry didn’t last long. What can we learn from those efforts and where should we be putting out hopes for disruption? We also chat about the latest tech news including, the governments facial recognition failures, how much big tech is spending on cloud capacity, and Open...
Nov 08, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Peter talks to Lawrence Gasman, the founder of news and research company Inside Quantum Technology, who says that quantum computing and the changes it will bring is now just around the corner. Whether you’re a total quantum newbie or an industry stalwart this interview will give you something to think about. We also dig into the latest tech news, including Supie’s downfall and the surprising ups and downs of Big Tech’s Q3 results. Reading list Subscribe on iHeart Radio or wherever you get podcas...
Nov 01, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 27
This week we look into Tātaki Auckland Unlimited's plan to grow the city's tech industry, create high-paying jobs and attract more talent and investment to the region. One year into the three year Tech Tāmaki Makaurau strategy, how are things tracking? Tātaki's head of tech and innovation Marissa Brindley joins us to explain how the Auckland Council's economic development arm is helping startups make global connections, attract and retain more international talent, and encourage Māori and Pacifi...
Oct 25, 2023•48 min•Ep. 26
On this episode we chat with Emma-Kate Greer, 2degrees' chief corporate affairs officer whose duties include overseeing the telco's emissions reduction and sustainability efforts. She shares why 2degrees has gone with science-based targets and how it plans to get there, offering a frank look at the challenges faced by the telecommunication industry. Emma-Kate also offers some insight into where NZ Inc might need to focus in order to maintain our clean, green look into the coming years. Also, we ...
Oct 18, 2023•39 min•Season 1Ep. 25
With the 2023 general election just days away we have one last episode around tech and politics, this time looking at the fear that concerted and bad-faith social media campaigns are eroding the very fabric of democracy. We're joined by Ximena Smith from the public interest think tank Brainbox Institute who digs into whether the outcome of democratic elections are really being swung by social media and all its algorithms. We also dig into some of the latest news, including the National Party's s...
Oct 11, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Whoever wins the vote at the election, it is going to be a very different government than we have had for most of the past six years. Part of that, is going to be overseeing the contuing digitalisation of business, government and pretty much every other part of our society. One big project will be enabling digital identification for the residents of Aotearoa, a move that is working its way through the grinding gears of our own parliamentary processes with the Digital Identity Trust Framework Act...
Oct 04, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 23
