This week's episode of The Business of Tech marks a historic moment: the 60th anniversary of Datacom, New Zealand’s largest homegrown IT company. 

I was joined by Datacom’s Group CEO Greg Davidson, who has overseen nearly two decades of remarkable change, steering the Christchurch-founded company through tidal waves of technological innovation. 

“It is older than me, I'm going to hang on to that for as long as I can,” Davidson quipped at the start of a wide-ranging conversation about the company that employs over 5,000 staff across New Zealand and Australia and generated $1.48 billion in revenue last year.

Datacom started in 1965, the era of the computing bureau when it was too expensive for all but the largest companies to own a computer outright, so businesses shared access to a machine. The Computer Bureau Ltd., which became Datacom, was in demand for processing payroll transactions, a line of business it is a major player in to this day.

“We pay about half a million Kiwis every fortnight using those platforms,” said Davidson. 

Listen to episode 110 of The Business of Tech to find out how Datacom is embracing the latest technological sea change, artificial intelligence, and how it stays competitive in the face of stiff competition from multinationals.

This week's episode of The Business of Tech marks a historic moment: the 60th anniversary of Datacom, New Zealand&rsquo;s largest homegrown IT company.&nbsp;
I was joined by Datacom&rsquo;s Group CEO Greg Davidson, who has overseen nearly two decades of remarkable change, steering the Christchurch-founded company through tidal waves of technological innovation.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It is older than me, I'm going to hang on to that for as long as I can,&rdquo; Davidson quipped at the start of a wide-ranging conversation about the company that employs over 5,000 staff across New Zealand and Australia and generated $1.48 billion in revenue last year.
Datacom started in 1965, the era of the computing bureau when it was too expensive for all but the largest companies to own a computer outright, so businesses shared access to a machine. The Computer Bureau Ltd., which became Datacom, was in demand for processing payroll transactions, a line of business it is a major player in to this day.
&ldquo;We pay about half a million Kiwis every fortnight using those platforms,&rdquo; said Davidson.&nbsp;
Listen to episode 110 of The Business of Tech to find out how Datacom is embracing the latest technological sea change, artificial intelligence, and how it stays competitive in the face of stiff competition from multinationals.

The Business of Tech, hosted by leading tech journalist Peter Griffin. Every week they take a deep dive into emerging technology and news from the sector to help guide the important decisions all Business leaders make.

Issues such as cybersecurity, retaining trust after a cyberattack, business IT needs, purchasing SaaS tools and more.

New Episodes out every Thursday. Follow or subscribe to get it delivered straight to your favourite podcatcher.

@petergnz

@businessdesk_nz

Proudly sponsored by 2degrees Business!

 

The Business of Tech, hosted by leading tech journalist Peter Griffin. Every week they take a deep dive into emerging technology and news from the sector to help guide the important decisions all Business leaders make.
Issues such as cybersecurity, retaining trust after a cyberattack, business IT needs, purchasing SaaS tools and more.
New Episodes out every Thursday. Follow or subscribe to get it delivered straight to your favourite podcatcher.
@petergnz
@businessdesk_nz
Proudly sponsored by 2degrees Business!
&nbsp;

The Business of Tech

Datacom at 60: Leading NZ’s tech giant into the AI era

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/7e15f6d3-1ea4-47e5-ad4c-b330003c9f87/transcript

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