“Never a dull moment” is how Wellington-based veteran consumer tech reviewer and commentator Pat Pilcher describes the year in tech after relentless product launches, an “utterly insane” Black Friday sales season and the “enshitification” of the internet, thanks in large part to AI.

In our final episode of The Business of Tech for 2025, Pilcher joins the show to break down the biggest trends of 2025 and what’s coming in 2026, from AI agents and smart rings to humanoid robots and the debut of solid‑state batteries.​

Apple, AI and the year of the fold

Pilcher starts with the elephant not in the room: Apple’s slow play on generative AI. 

“Every tech player and their pet poodle had an AI offering except Apple,” he said. “This is just crazy. This is a company that sets the trends that everyone slavishly follows, and they missed the bus on the biggest AI trend probably of the decade.” 

Yet he thinks there is method in the apparent madness, arguing that “stepping back… until they get a mature offering” may prove “quite sensible” in such a fast‑moving space.​

That patience, he predicts, will collide with hardware in 2026. Pilcher is convinced 2026 is going to be the year of the iPhone fold, following in the wake of foldables leader Samsung.    

AI slop, deepfakes and the S-curve of tech adoption

AI dominated 2025, working its way along the classic S‑curve of technology adoption. While an enthusiastic user of generative AI tools, Pilcher is blunt about the downsides, from “AI slop” filling Facebook, X and LinkedIn to academics “pulling their hair out” as students outsource learning to chatbot tools.​

With hyper‑realistic video models like Sora3and an election year looming, Pilcher says “the general public needs to be a lot more critical, a lot more sceptical – and they’re not”.

Pilcher chooses Cory Doctorow’s famous term “enshittification” to sum up a key, regressive trend of 2025.

“You subscribe to a service, it sounds fantastic and it’s only $5 a month. Three months later, it’s $25 a month, does less, requires more of your information and they can’t guarantee your privacy and by the way, your password’s been stolen,” he said.

Pilcher sees this as evidence that the business model underpinning AI is dubious, with companies investing “billions and billions of dollars in massive data centres” in a period of “geopolitical instabilities and macroeconomic instabilities”.

Silicon became “the new global currency” in 2025, from Nvidia’s dominance to Google’s Tensor processing units (TPUs) and China’s push to go beyond 40nm (nanometers) under US export bans. 

Smart glasses, smart rings and genuinely smart homes

If 2025 was AI’s year, Pilcher also thinks it was when home and wearable tech quietly levelled up. He rates Meta’s new Ray‑Ban smart glasses, which can describe what you’re looking at and translate signs on command. Future prototypes, he notes, combine wristbands that track “tendon movements” for hand‑gesture interfaces with augmented reality (AR) overlays that could do everything from lie detection in negotiations to live 3D navigation in unfamiliar cities.​

Smart rings are another sleeper hit, with Pilcher praising rings for being “unobtrusive” and “tiny” while monitoring health stats well enough to “tell you proactively when you’re coming down with a cold or a flu a week before you start noticing symptoms”. In his own testing, backed by a blood‑pressure cuff and digital thermometer, a smart ring delivered accurate results.

On the home front, Pilcher says the long‑promised smart home is finally here, thanks to the Matter standard, which means new gadgets “will basically work regardless if you have an Alexa, Apple, Siri or… Google Home”. 

EVs, robots and the 2026 futures

Pilcher also covers the post‑rebate slump in EV sales, the rise of value‑packed Chinese brands like BYD, and the misinformation around EV fire risks, pointing out how a petrol vehicle, not a battery, was to blame in a widely shared bus fire incident. 

Putting his futurist hat on, Pilcher talks about smart contact lenses with built‑in displays and gesture‑tracking bracelets that could make smartphones “look as quaint as a Model T Ford”, always‑on access to AR shopping lists and navigation, and the first serious wave of humanoid robots. 

With cheaper AI silicon and compact models, he “wouldn’t be surprised if in late 2026… humanoid robots become the next must‑have consumer electronics category for the well‑heeled”. 

He also expects to see the debut of solid-state batteries as an alternative to Lithium-ion batteries that power everything from laptops to EVs, expecting new breakthrough technologies to offer longer battery life and durability.

Tune in to Episode 131 of The Business of Tech, powered by 2degrees Business, for the full conversation with tech guru Pat Pilcher, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

&ldquo;Never a dull moment&rdquo; is how Wellington-based veteran consumer tech reviewer and commentator Pat Pilcher describes the year in tech after relentless product launches, an &ldquo;utterly insane&rdquo; Black Friday sales season and the &ldquo;enshitification&rdquo; of the internet, thanks in large part to AI.
In our final episode of The Business of Tech for 2025, Pilcher joins the show to break down the biggest trends of 2025 and what&rsquo;s coming in 2026, from AI agents and smart rings to humanoid robots and the debut of solid‑state batteries.​
Apple, AI and the year of the fold
Pilcher starts with the elephant not in the room: Apple&rsquo;s slow play on generative AI.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Every tech player and their pet poodle had an AI offering except Apple,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This is just crazy. This is a company that sets the trends that everyone slavishly follows, and they missed the bus on the biggest AI trend probably of the decade.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Yet he thinks there is method in the apparent madness, arguing that &ldquo;stepping back&hellip; until they get a mature offering&rdquo; may prove &ldquo;quite sensible&rdquo; in such a fast‑moving space.​
That patience, he predicts, will collide with hardware in 2026. Pilcher is convinced 2026 is going to be the year of the iPhone fold, following in the wake of foldables leader Samsung.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
AI slop, deepfakes and the S-curve of tech adoption
AI dominated 2025, working its way along the classic S‑curve of technology adoption. While an enthusiastic user of generative AI tools, Pilcher is blunt about the downsides, from &ldquo;AI slop&rdquo; filling Facebook, X and LinkedIn to academics &ldquo;pulling their hair out&rdquo; as students outsource learning to chatbot tools.​
With hyper‑realistic video models like Sora3and an election year looming, Pilcher says &ldquo;the general public needs to be a lot more critical, a lot more sceptical &ndash; and they&rsquo;re not&rdquo;.
Pilcher chooses Cory Doctorow&rsquo;s famous term &ldquo;enshittification&rdquo; to sum up a key, regressive trend of 2025.
&ldquo;You subscribe to a service, it sounds fantastic and it&rsquo;s only $5 a month. Three months later, it&rsquo;s $25 a month, does less, requires more of your information and they can&rsquo;t guarantee your privacy and by the way, your password&rsquo;s been stolen,&rdquo; he said.
Pilcher sees this as evidence that the business model underpinning AI is dubious, with companies investing &ldquo;billions and billions of dollars in massive data centres&rdquo; in a period of &ldquo;geopolitical instabilities and macroeconomic instabilities&rdquo;.
Silicon became &ldquo;the new global currency&rdquo; in 2025, from Nvidia&rsquo;s dominance to Google&rsquo;s Tensor processing units (TPUs) and China&rsquo;s push to go beyond 40nm (nanometers) under US export bans.&nbsp;
Smart glasses, smart rings and genuinely smart homes
If 2025 was AI&rsquo;s year, Pilcher also thinks it was when home and wearable tech quietly levelled up. He rates Meta&rsquo;s new Ray‑Ban smart glasses, which can describe what you&rsquo;re looking at and translate signs on command. Future prototypes, he notes, combine wristbands that track &ldquo;tendon movements&rdquo; for hand‑gesture interfaces with augmented reality (AR) overlays that could do everything from lie detection in negotiations to live 3D navigation in unfamiliar cities.​
Smart rings are another sleeper hit, with Pilcher praising rings for being &ldquo;unobtrusive&rdquo; and &ldquo;tiny&rdquo; while monitoring health stats well enough to &ldquo;tell you proactively when you&rsquo;re coming down with a cold or a flu a week before you start noticing symptoms&rdquo;. In his own testing, backed by a blood‑pressure cuff and digital thermometer, a smart ring delivered accurate results.
On the home front, Pilcher says the long‑promised smart home is finally here, thanks to the Matter standard, which means new gadgets &ldquo;will basically work regardless if you have an Alexa, Apple, Siri or&hellip; Google Home&rdquo;.&nbsp;
EVs, robots and the 2026 futures
Pilcher also covers the post‑rebate slump in EV sales, the rise of value‑packed Chinese brands like BYD, and the misinformation around EV fire risks, pointing out how a petrol vehicle, not a battery, was to blame in a widely shared bus fire incident.&nbsp;
Putting his futurist hat on, Pilcher talks about smart contact lenses with built‑in displays and gesture‑tracking bracelets that could make smartphones &ldquo;look as quaint as a Model T Ford&rdquo;, always‑on access to AR shopping lists and navigation, and the first serious wave of humanoid robots.&nbsp;
With cheaper AI silicon and compact models, he &ldquo;wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised if in late 2026&hellip; humanoid robots become the next must‑have consumer electronics category for the well‑heeled&rdquo;.&nbsp;
He also expects to see the debut of solid-state batteries as an alternative to Lithium-ion batteries that power everything from laptops to EVs, expecting new breakthrough technologies to offer longer battery life and durability.
Tune in to Episode 131 of The Business of Tech, powered by 2degrees Business, for the full conversation with tech guru Pat Pilcher, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

AI slop, smart rings and riding the S-curve: The year in tech and what’s ahead

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/d49f72ae-d84e-40ec-97fe-b3b50144e1cb/transcript

Drones have gone from hobbyist toys to decisive tools of war and essential infrastructure for industry. Few people have had a better vantage point on that shift than FenixUAS founder Dr Andrew Shelley. 

In the latest episode of The Business of Tech podcast, the economist and aviation specialist explains how a decade of incremental innovation has transformed uncrewed aircraft into platforms that can reshape modern warfare, agritech and even search and rescue.​

From DIY quadcopters to smart weapons

New Zealand’s first drone rules arrived ten years ago, when the technology was still rudimentary and often home‑built. 

“Pretty much every part of drone technology has improved,” Shelley said. 

Better batteries and lighter and stronger materials have almost doubled flight time, while mass‑manufactured airframes have brought the price of drones down. and far more capable sensors and onboard software. Other advances, such as sensor technology and onboard software, have flowed into features many consumers now take for granted, such as obstacle avoidance, rock‑solid position hold and follow‑me modes, as well as increasingly autonomous flight profiles.​

The Ukraine war, now approaching four years in duration, has been characterised by the use of drones by both Ukrainian and Russian forces. 

The changing face of warfare

Shelley recalled watching footage of a small first‑person‑view drone in Ukraine flying straight past a Russian electronic warfare vehicle “festooned with antennas” and striking the armoured vehicle ahead of it. The drone was trailing a hair-thin fibre-optic cable, allowing it to avoid radio jamming systems.

“To a certain extent, what we’re seeing in Ukraine is that the old is new again,” said Shelley, pointing out that the current generation of drones echo some of the cruise‑missile tactics from the early 1990s.​

Shelley traces a clear line from ISIS workshops that assembled drones from AliExpress parts, through Turkey’s TB2 Bayraktar successes and Russia’s use of DJI’s Aeroscope detection tools, to today’s battlefields where consumer‑grade quadcopters handle intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and precision strikes. 

The West, he argues, has been complacent: “Turkey was leading the way with its Bayraktar TB2, Iran is clearly leading the way with its Shahed series drones and we are playing catch-up,” he said, pointing out that the US is now reverse‑engineering an Iranian drone rather than setting the pace.​

Artificial intelligence is only beginning to make its mark in commercial uses in New Zealand, but Shelley says the leading edge is already visible in applications like Christchurch‑based SPS Automation’s large agricultural drones. These systems can autonomously identify wilding pines and apply “a small amount of chemical herbicide” to individual plants, an approach he argues could transform conservation economics by reaching areas that are “almost impossible on foot” or too expensive to service with crewed aircraft.​

Agritech, data and the search and rescue gap

If the military implications dominate headlines, Shelley sees at least as much untapped potential in agritech and emergency response. He cites spray drones that can drop slug bait on vulnerable crops in muddy conditions where tractors would churn up soil and helicopters are cost‑prohibitive, turning marginal blocks into productive land. 

Pasture management is another frontier. Instead of consultants walking paddocks with pasture meters or towing instruments behind quad bikes, he expects drones to fly automated grids soon to map grass cover and optimise feed wedges across entire farms, backed by “clever software” to interpret the imagery.​

Search and rescue, he argues, is “one of the things we haven’t done well with”, despite New Zealand’s vast coastline, mountains and national parks. Shelley believes agencies need to change their mindset and accept that in bad weather or hazardous terrain, “we have to move into a mindset where we’re happy to lose the technology,” risking a $100,000 drone instead of a multi‑million‑dollar helicopter and its crew to find people in distress.​

Building a drone industry – and workforce

FenixUAS sits at the centre of the fledgling drone ecosystem, training over a thousand civilian and government operators a year, including the New Zealand Defence Force, and certifying many of the country’s advanced drone operators. That gives Shelley what he calls a broader overview of what everyone’s doing with drones than perhaps anyone else in the country, from agritech to infrastructure inspection. 

While firms like Tauranga-based Syos, and SPS Automation point to a growing UAV scene, he says the real bottleneck is software talent, with drone companies crying out for mechatronics and software engineers who can turn raw imagery into usable insights.​

Listen to Episode 130 of The Business of Tech podcast featuring Dr Andrew Shelley, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

Your weekly tech reading list

The year the tech billionaires won (again) - BusinessDesk

Canaries in the code mine: what AI is doing to first jobs for Generation Z - BusinessDesk

ChatGPT’s New Internet Browser Can Run 80% of a One-Person Business - Entrepreneur

The Data on Self-Driving Cars Is Clear. We Have to Change Course - New York Times

AI-Powered Browsers Are Failing Badly - Futurism

China set to limit access to Nvidia’s H200 chips despite Trump export approval - FT

Australia's ban on social media for users aged under 16 comes into effect; platforms that do not comply risk fines of up to AU$49.5M - The Guardian

OpenAI Staffer Quits, Alleging Company’s Economic Research Is Drifting Into AI Advocacy - Wired

SpaceX to Pursue 2026 IPO Raising Far Above $30 Billion - Bloomberg

From Llamas to Avocados: Meta’s shifting AI strategy is causing internal confusion - CNBC

 

Drones have gone from hobbyist toys to decisive tools of war and essential infrastructure for industry. Few people have had a better vantage point on that shift than&nbsp;<a href="https://fenixuas.nz/?gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=1732360732&amp;gbraid=0AAAAAC-8xKmr8JDk2OBUdJ22TOhJkids2&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiArt_JBhCTARIsADQZayk9igemgEzMcLIJqf8MOTn41Wtizv76MZ9lRv3VNQvX4TTrpc4Xd8kaApIUEALw_wcB">FenixUAS</a> founder Dr Andrew Shelley.&nbsp;
In the latest episode of The Business of Tech podcast, the economist and aviation specialist explains how a decade of incremental innovation has transformed uncrewed aircraft into platforms that can reshape modern warfare, agritech and even search and rescue.​
From DIY quadcopters to smart weapons
New Zealand&rsquo;s first drone rules arrived ten years ago, when the technology was still rudimentary and often home‑built.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Pretty much every part of drone technology has improved,&rdquo; Shelley said.&nbsp;
Better batteries and lighter and stronger materials have almost doubled flight time, while mass‑manufactured airframes have brought the price of drones down. and far more capable sensors and onboard software. Other advances, such as sensor technology and onboard software, have flowed into features many consumers now take for granted, such as obstacle avoidance, rock‑solid position hold and follow‑me modes, as well as increasingly autonomous flight profiles.​
The Ukraine war, now approaching four years in duration, has been characterised by the use of drones by both Ukrainian and Russian forces.&nbsp;
The changing face of warfare
Shelley recalled watching footage of a small first‑person‑view drone in Ukraine flying straight past a Russian electronic warfare vehicle &ldquo;festooned with antennas&rdquo; and striking the armoured vehicle ahead of it. The drone was trailing a hair-thin fibre-optic cable, allowing it to avoid radio jamming systems.
&ldquo;To a certain extent, what we&rsquo;re seeing in Ukraine is that the old is new again,&rdquo; said Shelley, pointing out that the current generation of drones echo some of the cruise‑missile tactics from the early 1990s.​
Shelley traces a clear line from ISIS workshops that assembled drones from AliExpress parts, through Turkey&rsquo;s TB2 Bayraktar successes and Russia&rsquo;s use of DJI&rsquo;s Aeroscope detection tools, to today&rsquo;s battlefields where consumer‑grade quadcopters handle intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and precision strikes.&nbsp;
The West, he argues, has been complacent: &ldquo;Turkey was leading the way with its Bayraktar TB2, Iran is clearly leading the way with its Shahed series drones and we are playing catch-up,&rdquo; he said, pointing out that the US is now reverse‑engineering an Iranian drone rather than setting the pace.​
Artificial intelligence is only beginning to make its mark in commercial uses in New Zealand, but Shelley says the leading edge is already visible in applications like Christchurch‑based <a href="https://spsautomation.com/">SPS Automation</a>&rsquo;s large agricultural drones. These systems can autonomously identify wilding pines and apply &ldquo;a small amount of chemical herbicide&rdquo; to individual plants, an approach he argues could transform conservation economics by reaching areas that are &ldquo;almost impossible on foot&rdquo; or too expensive to service with crewed aircraft.​
Agritech, data and the search and rescue gap
If the military implications dominate headlines, Shelley sees at least as much untapped potential in agritech and emergency response. He cites spray drones that can drop slug bait on vulnerable crops in muddy conditions where tractors would churn up soil and helicopters are cost‑prohibitive, turning marginal blocks into productive land.&nbsp;
Pasture management is another frontier. Instead of consultants walking paddocks with pasture meters or towing instruments behind quad bikes, he expects drones to fly automated grids soon to map grass cover and optimise feed wedges across entire farms, backed by &ldquo;clever software&rdquo; to interpret the imagery.​
Search and rescue, he argues, is &ldquo;one of the things we haven&rsquo;t done well with&rdquo;, despite New Zealand&rsquo;s vast coastline, mountains and national parks. Shelley believes agencies need to change their mindset and accept that in bad weather or hazardous terrain, &ldquo;we have to move into a mindset where we&rsquo;re happy to lose the technology,&rdquo; risking a $100,000 drone instead of a multi‑million‑dollar helicopter and its crew to find people in distress.​
Building a drone industry &ndash; and workforce
FenixUAS sits at the centre of the fledgling drone ecosystem, training over a thousand civilian and government operators a year, including the New Zealand Defence Force, and certifying many of the country&rsquo;s advanced drone operators. That gives Shelley what he calls a broader overview of what everyone&rsquo;s doing with drones than perhaps anyone else in the country, from agritech to infrastructure inspection.&nbsp;
While firms like Tauranga-based <a href="https://syos-aerospace.com/">Syos</a>, and SPS Automation point to a growing UAV scene, he says the real bottleneck is software talent, with drone companies crying out for mechatronics and software engineers who can turn raw imagery into usable insights.​
Listen to Episode 130 of The Business of Tech podcast featuring Dr Andrew Shelley, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.
Your weekly tech reading list
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/opinion/the-year-the-tech-billionaires-won-again">The year the tech billionaires won (again)</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/work/canaries-in-the-code-mine-what-ai-is-doing-to-first-jobs-for-generation-z">Canaries in the code mine: what AI is doing to first jobs for Generation Z</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/chatgpts-new-internet-browser-can-run-80-of-a-one-person/500343">ChatGPT&rsquo;s New Internet Browser Can Run 80% of a One-Person Business</a> - Entrepreneur
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/opinion/self-driving-cars.html">The Data on Self-Driving Cars Is Clear. We Have to Change Course</a> - New York Times
<a href="https://futurism.com/future-society/ai-powered-browsers-failing">AI-Powered Browsers Are Failing Badly</a> - Futurism
<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/c4e81a67-cd5b-48b4-9749-92ecf116313d">China set to limit access to Nvidia&rsquo;s H200 chips despite Trump export approval</a> - FT
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/dec/09/australia-under-16-social-media-ban-begins-apps-listed">Australia's ban on social media for users aged under 16 comes into effect; platforms that do not comply risk fines of up to AU$49.5M</a> - The Guardian
<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/openai-economic-research-team-ai-jobs/">OpenAI Staffer Quits, Alleging Company&rsquo;s Economic Research Is Drifting Into AI Advocacy</a> - Wired
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-09/spacex-said-to-pursue-2026-ipo-raising-far-above-30-billion?embedded-checkout=true">SpaceX to Pursue 2026 IPO Raising Far Above $30 Billion</a> - Bloomberg
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/09/meta-avocado-ai-strategy-issues.html">From Llamas to Avocados: Meta&rsquo;s shifting AI strategy is causing internal confusion</a> - CNBC
&nbsp;

How cheap drones became the defining weapon of modern conflict

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/76eb9da4-6dff-45fb-8c0f-b3ae0156ad67/transcript

In the creaky world of financial advising, where compliance paperwork devours hours and clunky software feels like a relic from the dial-up era, a New Zealand startup is deploying AI to free advisers from the drudgery. 

Marloo, co-founded by Hardy Michel, who cut his teeth as head of operations at Wellington-based share trading platform Sharesies, isn't building robo-advisers to supplant humans.

Instead, he is using artificial intelligence to free up advisors so they can focus on the trust-building conversations that truly matter to their clients. In the latest episode of The Business of Tech podcast, Michel shares how his London-based venture is already winning paying customers across four countries, proving New Zealand fintech can scale globally from day one.

Relocating to London in 2022, Michel joined Estonian-founded investing platform Lightyear, helping it launch across 22 European countries amid regulatory mazes far more complex than New Zealand's. 

"I felt like I'd really rounded out probably the missing piece of my knowledge and learning, which was kind of how do you build the machine at scale?" Michel told me.

Freeing advisors from low-value admin

That experience, combined with angel investing via Blackbird Ventures, convinced him to co-found Marloo with fellow Sharesies alum Shakeel Lala.

Marloo’s mission? Financial advice is potentially transformational but inaccessible, the founders realised. Advisers spend 70% of their time on low-value admin, from anti-money laundering checks to 50-page suitability reports that gather dust. 

Existing tools are clunky, with Michel describing the "Windows 95-esque" systems financial advisors had to choose from before Marloo arrived on the scene. Marloo offers a hyper-specialised AI note-taker for client meetings. Unlike transcription tools, it sifts through hours of chit-chat to extract the 5% that counts – goals, risk tolerance, fees – and structures it for compliance or client follow-ups.

From there, the AI evolves into a full operating system, turning advisors into "reviewers, not doers", Michel said.

Finish a meeting, and Marloo drafts an annual review letter in two minutes, 95% ready for a quick edit. 

"You no longer have to take notes after the meeting, have a second person in the meeting taking notes for them, or rely on anything else other than our product," Michel explained. 

The result? Advisors onboard more clients without burnout, firms cut outsourcing costs, and the human element, crucial for navigating life's emotional money milestones like retirement or inheritance, stays front and centre.

Giving robo-advice a wide berth

This augmentation ethos sets Marloo apart from robo-advice hype. "If robo-advice was kind of as good as it was cracked up to be, we'd all be using it right now. And the reality is we're not," Michel told me. 

He predicts regulators will be reluctant to green-light fully AI-driven advice, given the trust factor. Instead, Marloo aims to overhaul unit economics: lower fees, drop minimum balances (now often $500,000+), and make quality guidance available to more than just the wealthy. 

"The mission is [to] transform the underlying [profit and loss]  in the unit economics of what it means to deliver advice to a customer so that we can actually reverse that," he said

Marloo recently raised NZ$4.6 million in pre-seed funding to accelerate development. 

"We're going to raise a little bit of money to answer a true false question in 12 months... that we are confident we can spend the next 10 years working on this and it's going to be a massive business," he recounts of the Blackbird pitch.

As AI bubbles inflate, Michel warns against shiny tech without substance. 

"It's never been easier to build... [but] also... to deliver a really shitty product experience," he said. 

Marloo, he added, prioritises delight – a consumer-grade user experience in a B2B world. For an industry pricing out everyday clients amid rising fees (up 6% in the UK last year), this could be the reset financial advice needs.

Tune into episode 129 of The Business of Tech, powered by 2degrees, for the full conversation, where Michel dives deeper into Estonia's entrepreneurial edge, Sharesies' early battles, and why financial advice must stay human-powered. Available now on all major podcast platforms. 

In the creaky world of financial advising, where compliance paperwork devours hours and clunky software feels like a relic from the dial-up era, a New Zealand startup is deploying AI to free advisers from the drudgery.&nbsp;
Marloo, co-founded by Hardy Michel, who cut his teeth as head of operations at Wellington-based share trading platform Sharesies, isn't building robo-advisers to supplant humans.
Instead, he is using artificial intelligence to free up advisors so they can focus on the trust-building conversations that truly matter to their clients. In the latest episode of The Business of Tech podcast, Michel shares how his London-based venture is already winning paying customers across four countries, proving New Zealand fintech can scale globally from day one.
Relocating to London in 2022, Michel joined Estonian-founded investing platform Lightyear, helping it launch across 22 European countries amid regulatory mazes far more complex than New Zealand's.&nbsp;
"I felt like I'd really rounded out probably the missing piece of my knowledge and learning, which was kind of how do you build the machine at scale?" Michel told me.
Freeing advisors from low-value admin
That experience, combined with angel investing via Blackbird Ventures, convinced him to co-found Marloo with fellow Sharesies alum Shakeel Lala.
Marloo&rsquo;s mission? Financial advice is potentially transformational but inaccessible, the founders realised. Advisers spend 70% of their time on low-value admin, from anti-money laundering checks to 50-page suitability reports that gather dust.&nbsp;
Existing tools are clunky, with Michel describing the "Windows 95-esque" systems financial advisors had to choose from before Marloo arrived on the scene. Marloo offers a hyper-specialised AI note-taker for client meetings. Unlike transcription tools, it sifts through hours of chit-chat to extract the 5% that counts &ndash; goals, risk tolerance, fees &ndash; and structures it for compliance or client follow-ups.
From there, the AI evolves into a full operating system, turning advisors into "reviewers, not doers", Michel said.
Finish a meeting, and Marloo drafts an annual review letter in two minutes, 95% ready for a quick edit.&nbsp;
"You no longer have to take notes after the meeting, have a second person in the meeting taking notes for them, or rely on anything else other than our product," Michel explained.&nbsp;
The result? Advisors onboard more clients without burnout, firms cut outsourcing costs, and the human element, crucial for navigating life's emotional money milestones like retirement or inheritance, stays front and centre.
Giving robo-advice a wide berth
This augmentation ethos sets Marloo apart from robo-advice hype. "If robo-advice was kind of as good as it was cracked up to be, we'd all be using it right now. And the reality is we're not," Michel told me.&nbsp;
He predicts regulators will be reluctant to green-light fully AI-driven advice, given the trust factor. Instead, Marloo aims to overhaul unit economics: lower fees, drop minimum balances (now often $500,000+), and make quality guidance available to more than just the wealthy.&nbsp;
"The mission is [to] transform the underlying [profit and loss]&nbsp; in the unit economics of what it means to deliver advice to a customer so that we can actually reverse that," he said
Marloo recently raised NZ$4.6 million in pre-seed funding to accelerate development.&nbsp;
"We're going to raise a little bit of money to answer a true false question in 12 months... that we are confident we can spend the next 10 years working on this and it's going to be a massive business," he recounts of the Blackbird pitch.
As AI bubbles inflate, Michel warns against shiny tech without substance.&nbsp;
"It's never been easier to build... [but] also... to deliver a really shitty product experience," he said.&nbsp;
Marloo, he added, prioritises delight &ndash; a consumer-grade user experience in a B2B world. For an industry pricing out everyday clients amid rising fees (up 6% in the UK last year), this could be the reset financial advice needs.
Tune into episode 129 of The Business of Tech, powered by 2degrees, for the full conversation, where Michel dives deeper into Estonia's entrepreneurial edge, Sharesies' early battles, and why financial advice must stay human-powered. Available now on all major podcast platforms.&nbsp;

The Kiwi fintech startup hacking the admin hell out of financial advice

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/41ddd68b-8a86-45c2-8869-b3a70091f23a/transcript

In the latest episode of The Business of Tech, Tracksuit co-founder and chief commercial officer Matt Herbert explains how the startup is using brand data to help marketers navigate an era of economic uncertainty, shifting consumer behaviour and AI-driven search. 

“The edge that we brought to it was simplifying the fundamentals and making it incredibly accessible,” he says of Tracksuit’s dashboard of brand tracking indicators, which is now used by over 1,000 customers globally to track around 10,000 brands.​

Herbert traces his obsession with brands back to childhood, recalling growing up playing football for Eastern Suburbs in Auckland, where McDonald’s Player of the Day branding made an impression on him. That early fascination with how brands connect with people ultimately led him through roles at Uber and Snapchat analytics startup Mish Guru, and on to founding Tracksuit.​

From those formative experiences, Herbert and friend and co-founder Connor Archbold drew a blueprint for global expansion that they are now applying at Tracksuit. Advertising and branding guru James Hurman came on board as a co-founder to apply his insights to the Tracksuit platform, incubating the company into his Previously Unavailable innovation studio.

The Uber blueprint

“Uber to me still has one of the best blueprints of how to scale globally fast and effectively… starting one market, win the next market, hire great people, empower and scale out and go where the demand is,” Herbert said of the ride-hailing platform.

That thinking now underpins Tracksuit’s carefully sequenced move from New Zealand into Australia, the US and the UK.​​ Herbert’s mission is to shift marketers’ focus from short-term clicks to long-term brand building. 

“Most businesses have been so focused on sales and conversions and performance marketing where you put a dollar into Meta, and you get three dollars back,” he said.

“Then it got to a point where you were putting a dollar in, and you were getting 80 cents back. Everybody had been so focused on converting at the expense of building your business and your brands over the long term.”​

To explain that imbalance, he shares a favourite thought experiment from marketing effectiveness expert and Tracksuit co-founder James Hurman. In a room of people, Herbert asks who is buying a phone in the next three months. Only a few hands go up. Then he asks who will buy a phone in the next two years. 

“Everybody's hand goes up,” he says. “That right there is the concept of what marketing's job [is] to do… you've also got to build awareness and familiarity and connection with those who aren't ready to buy from you right now, but will do down the track.” Tracksuit’s dashboard is designed to make that long-term job visible and measurable.​

Throw out the hundred-page PDF

Tracksuit’s answer was to build a software platform that pulls the essence out of expensive research reports and puts it into a live, always-on view of brand health. 

“We were basically getting told we'd love just to see the exact summary of the big research reports that we're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on in a hundred-page PDF,” he recalled of early interviews with chief marketing officers. 

“We actually just want to see the exact summary. How big is our market? How well is our brand known and considered? What do people think and feel about us and how does that compare to the competitors?”​

That customer discovery led directly to Tracksuit’s first product and revenue. 

“After 67 conversations, we had 11 businesses pay us upfront annual licenses,” Herbert said. 

“We took the first $110,000 and built the first prototype of the product. We didn't have a product, but we had the likes of Simplicity and Allpress and Good George Beer and Auckland Council, all of these really early brands that took a punt on us, and we built the first version and from there we continue to scale out.”​

Fast-forward four and a half years and Herbert says Tracksuit has assembled “one of the largest data sets on brand health on consumer brands in the world.” 

The company raised $42 million in June in a series B funding round with the proceeds to be used to expand Tracksuit’s US presence and drive growth in Europe and Asia.

The rise of agentic engine optimisation

Herbert said Tracksuit had embraced artificial intelligence, which was helping reshape the brand landscape as internet search and digital marketing were transformed by it. Tracksuit is using AI to accelerate insight delivery and supercharge internal workflows.

He pointed to a weekend hack by his vice president of strategy and operations: “Our chief of staff, Dan, was using some agentic AI workflows and built an [agentic engine optimisation] product. How well is your brand showing up in the likes of Claude and Perplexity, and ChatGPT? He did that within a weekend, six hours,” Herbert said.​​

Herbert argues brands now need to think about AEO in the same way they once grappled with search engine optimisation. 

Finally, Herbert shared his playbook for building a resilient business in choppy economic waters. 

“We founded Tracksuit at the back end of the pandemic. Since that time in 2021, I think there's probably been three different recessions or hints of recessions globally,” he said.

“There'll always be something. And that's why it's really important for us to be building a sustainable, responsible business that isn't relying on continuing to raise external capital just to keep the lights on.” 

For brand leaders facing budget pressure, his advice is to invest wisely to understand how your brand is performing now, so you can make inroads when buying appetite improves. 

“If you can keep your marketing going through times of recessions, it's proven time and time again that you come out far stronger than when people cut budgets.”​

Listen to the full interview with Tracksuit’s Matt Herbert on The Business of Tech powered by 2degrees Business, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

Your weekly tech reading list

Home Markets Rebecca Stevenson Fisher & Paykel Healthcare cracks $1b milestone, ups profit guidance - BusinessDesk

Startup Winely goes into liquidation owing $2.2m - BusinessDesk

A year of tech milestones: Exports, AI, and innovation in 2025 - BusinessDesk

Blackpearl Group joins the ASX: Which deep-pocketed Aussie investors are backing the Kiwi tech company - BusinessDesk

Ruminant Biotech raises $17m at $132m valuation for its cow pill that will slash methane emissions - NZ Herald

CrowdStrike catches insider feeding information to hackers - Bleeping Computer

Rocket Lab chief opens up about Neutron delays, New Glenn’s success, and NASA science - ArsTechnica

Warner Music drops lawsuit against AI music platform Suno in exchange for licensing agreement - Engadget

Roblox is a problem — but it’s a symptom of something worse - Platformer

Robots and AI Are Already Remaking the Chinese Economy - Wall Street Journal

In the latest episode of The Business of Tech, Tracksuit co-founder and chief commercial officer Matt Herbert explains how the startup is using brand data to help marketers navigate an era of economic uncertainty, shifting consumer behaviour and AI-driven search.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The edge that we brought to it was simplifying the fundamentals and making it incredibly accessible,&rdquo; he says of Tracksuit&rsquo;s dashboard of brand tracking indicators, which is now used by over 1,000 customers globally to track around 10,000 brands.​
Herbert traces his obsession with brands back to childhood, recalling growing up playing football for Eastern Suburbs in Auckland, where McDonald&rsquo;s Player of the Day branding made an impression on him. That early fascination with how brands connect with people ultimately led him through roles at Uber and Snapchat analytics startup Mish Guru, and on to founding Tracksuit.​
From those formative experiences, Herbert and friend and co-founder Connor Archbold drew a blueprint for global expansion that they are now applying at Tracksuit. Advertising and branding guru James Hurman came on board as a co-founder to apply his insights to the Tracksuit platform, incubating the company into his Previously Unavailable innovation studio.
The Uber blueprint
&ldquo;Uber to me still has one of the best blueprints of how to scale globally fast and effectively&hellip; starting one market, win the next market, hire great people, empower and scale out and go where the demand is,&rdquo; Herbert said of the ride-hailing platform.
That thinking now underpins Tracksuit&rsquo;s carefully sequenced move from New Zealand into Australia, the US and the UK.​​ Herbert&rsquo;s mission is to shift marketers&rsquo; focus from short-term clicks to long-term brand building.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Most businesses have been so focused on sales and conversions and performance marketing where you put a dollar into Meta, and you get three dollars back,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;Then it got to a point where you were putting a dollar in, and you were getting 80 cents back. Everybody had been so focused on converting at the expense of building your business and your brands over the long term.&rdquo;​
To explain that imbalance, he shares a favourite thought experiment from marketing effectiveness expert and Tracksuit co-founder James Hurman. In a room of people, Herbert asks who is buying a phone in the next three months. Only a few hands go up. Then he asks who will buy a phone in the next two years.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Everybody's hand goes up,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;That right there is the concept of what marketing's job [is] to do&hellip; you've also got to build awareness and familiarity and connection with those who aren't ready to buy from you right now, but will do down the track.&rdquo; Tracksuit&rsquo;s dashboard is designed to make that long-term job visible and measurable.​
Throw out the hundred-page PDF
Tracksuit&rsquo;s answer was to build a software platform that pulls the essence out of expensive research reports and puts it into a live, always-on view of brand health.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We were basically getting told we'd love just to see the exact summary of the big research reports that we're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on in a hundred-page PDF,&rdquo; he recalled of early interviews with chief marketing officers.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We actually just want to see the exact summary. How big is our market? How well is our brand known and considered? What do people think and feel about us and how does that compare to the competitors?&rdquo;​
That customer discovery led directly to Tracksuit&rsquo;s first product and revenue.&nbsp;
&ldquo;After 67 conversations, we had 11 businesses pay us upfront annual licenses,&rdquo; Herbert said.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We took the first $110,000 and built the first prototype of the product. We didn't have a product, but we had the likes of Simplicity and Allpress and Good George Beer and Auckland Council, all of these really early brands that took a punt on us, and we built the first version and from there we continue to scale out.&rdquo;​
Fast-forward four and a half years and Herbert says Tracksuit has assembled &ldquo;one of the largest data sets on brand health on consumer brands in the world.&rdquo;&nbsp;
The company raised $42 million in June in a series B funding round with the proceeds to be used to expand Tracksuit&rsquo;s US presence and drive growth in Europe and Asia.
The rise of agentic engine optimisation
Herbert said Tracksuit had embraced artificial intelligence, which was helping reshape the brand landscape as internet search and digital marketing were transformed by it. Tracksuit is using AI to accelerate insight delivery and supercharge internal workflows.
He pointed to a weekend hack by his vice president of strategy and operations: &ldquo;Our chief of staff, Dan, was using some agentic AI workflows and built an [agentic engine optimisation] product. How well is your brand showing up in the likes of Claude and Perplexity, and ChatGPT? He did that within a weekend, six hours,&rdquo; Herbert said.​​
Herbert argues brands now need to think about AEO in the same way they once grappled with search engine optimisation.&nbsp;
Finally, Herbert shared his playbook for building a resilient business in choppy economic waters.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We founded Tracksuit at the back end of the pandemic. Since that time in 2021, I think there's probably been three different recessions or hints of recessions globally,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;There'll always be something. And that's why it's really important for us to be building a sustainable, responsible business that isn't relying on continuing to raise external capital just to keep the lights on.&rdquo;&nbsp;
For brand leaders facing budget pressure, his advice is to invest wisely to understand how your brand is performing now, so you can make inroads when buying appetite improves.&nbsp;
&ldquo;If you can keep your marketing going through times of recessions, it's proven time and time again that you come out far stronger than when people cut budgets.&rdquo;​
Listen to the full interview with Tracksuit&rsquo;s Matt Herbert on The Business of Tech powered by 2degrees Business, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.
Your weekly tech reading list
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/markets/fisher-paykel-healthcare-cracks-1b-milestone-ups-profit-guidance">Home Markets Rebecca Stevenson Fisher &amp; Paykel Healthcare cracks $1b milestone, ups profit guidance</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/economy/startup-winely-goes-into-liquidation-owing-22m">Startup Winely goes into liquidation owing $2.2m</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/opinion/a-year-of-tech-milestones-exports-ai-and-innovation-in-2025">A year of tech milestones: Exports, AI, and innovation in 2025</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/markets/blackpearl-group-joins-the-asx-which-deep-pocketed-aussie-investors-are-backing-the-kiwi-tech-company">Blackpearl Group joins the ASX: Which deep-pocketed Aussie investors are backing the Kiwi tech company</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/companies/agribusiness/ruminant-biotech-raises-17m-for-its-cow-pill-that-will-slash-methane-emissions/premium/CLLNAZ5PK5F4PPBMIWDIEGM534/">Ruminant Biotech raises $17m at $132m valuation for its cow pill that will slash methane emissions</a> - NZ Herald
<a href="https://www-bleepingcomputer-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/crowdstrike-catches-insider-feeding-information-to-hackers/amp/">CrowdStrike catches insider feeding information to hackers</a> - Bleeping Computer
<a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/11/rocket-lab-chief-opens-up-about-neutron-delays-new-glenns-success-and-nasa-science/">Rocket Lab chief opens up about Neutron delays, New Glenn&rsquo;s success, and NASA science</a> - ArsTechnica
<a href="https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/warner-music-drops-lawsuit-against-ai-music-platform-suno-in-exchange-for-licensing-agreement-224619025.html">Warner Music drops lawsuit against AI music platform Suno in exchange for licensing agreement</a> - Engadget
<a href="https://www.platformer.news/roblox-ceo-interview-backlash-analysis/">Roblox is a problem &mdash; but it&rsquo;s a symptom of something worse</a> - Platformer
<a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-robots-china-manufacturing-89ae1b42?st=wTHV3o&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink">Robots and AI Are Already Remaking the Chinese Economy</a> - Wall Street Journal

How Tracksuit turned brand data into a global growth engine

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/62ca49a5-f1e7-4f5d-89ca-b3a001821b53/transcript

Reporting from the front line of the artificial intelligence revolution, Time magazine reporter Harry Booth has a unique perspective on the technology moving markets and transforming business.

The London-based University of Auckland graduate has been part of Time’s team of AI reporters for the last 16 months, his byline regularly appearing in the pages of the iconic news magazine. 

This week’s episode of The Business of Tech podcast features an in-depth conversation with Booth, who gave me a tour of how AI is reshaping the world of work, explained the technology’s breakneck pace of development, looming questions over its energy use, and the critical signals to watch as 2026 approaches.

Is AI really cleaning up?

Despite dire predictions that white-collar jobs would be decimated, Booth finds reality to be more complex and, in some ways, more sobering. In areas like translation, seasoned professionals aren’t being replaced outright. Instead, their roles have shifted. 

Translators Booth interviewed are now tasked with correcting AI-generated text – a role rebranded as “AI cleanup” – which brings downward pressure on rates without necessarily delivering true productivity gains. Surprisingly, fixing flawed machine translation can take as long as translating from scratch, eroding job satisfaction and earnings for skilled workers.​

The same story, Booth notes, is playing out in other “canary in the coal mine” sectors. A frequently cited study found that software engineers using AI coding assistants believed their workload to be 20% faster. But empirical measurement showed a 20% slowdown. This suggests productivity impacts are far from settled, with AI often under-delivering unless carefully tailored to fit the workflow.​

From assistants to agents

Much has been made in the past year of the rise of “AI agents” – systems that operate independently and can execute multi-step tasks, not just answer queries. 

“We’re seeing the emergence of agentic AI — these aren’t just chatbots, but systems that can carry out tasks, fetch data, and increasingly do things in the world on our behalf,” Booth told me.

He believes we’re still in the early innings. Some AI can now complete longer software engineering tasks. The length of time an AI system can work independently has roughly doubled every four to seven months. If that trend holds, Booth suggests we could see agents capable of a full workday by 2027. 

However, today’s agents remain far from being true digital employees. Meaningful productivity gains only appear when companies design AI tools that address specific, high-value pain points using both language models and smart software engineering.​

Energy, infrastructure, and the next bottleneck

On the infrastructure side, AI’s growing thirst for energy is emerging as a defining challenge. Far from being a personal moral issue (a single AI prompt’s carbon footprint is tiny, Booth points out), energy is a strategic concern for the giants racing to train ever-larger models. 

“AI isn’t a climate disaster at the individual level, but as companies multiply their data centres, the real bottleneck for development is shifting – from talent and chips to energy itself,” he said.

With global electricity production growing slowly and massive datacenter builds underway, companies are securing long-term energy deals – sometimes using the rhetoric of AI’s needs as justification for keeping older, dirtier power sources online.​

But Booth also highlights a surprising upside: the same AI giants are pouring fresh capital into clean-energy tech, particularly nuclear fusion. Projects previously imagined as decades away are suddenly within striking distance. Fusion investment has exploded from US$2 billion to $15 billion in just three years, with players like OpenAI, Google, and Softbank on board. New Zealand’s own OpenStar is part of this story, pursuing commercial fusion with techniques borrowed from the scrappy world of startups. 

While a fusion-powered data centre is still years away, the influx of funding is credibly accelerating commercial viability, with some experts predicting net-positive fusion within a decade.​

What Harry Booth is watching in 2026

As AI accelerates, Booth will keep his investigative lens focused on several fronts in 2026:

Will the time horizon, how long an AI agent can independently operate, keep doubling at today’s pace?

How will new training techniques, like direct observation of professionals and ever-more-complex simulation environments, impact AI capability?

Will scaling models with ever-greater compute keep delivering breakthroughs, or are diminishing returns setting in?

Most importantly, can the infrastructure, both silicon and power, keep up? Can the effort to make AI safer and more transparent move as quickly as the technology itself?​

Tune in to this week’s The Business of Tech to hear the full conversation with Harry Booth, streaming on iHeartRadio and wherever you get your podcasts. 

 

Your weekly tech reading list

AI is reshaping work – but not the way you think - BusinessDesk

The zombie apocalypse is where NZ games maker PikPok thrives - BusinessDesk

Big banks eye warnings on legacy Open Banking technology - BusinessDesk

Serko adds 70 staff in India, GetThere acquisition powers 71% booking lift - BusinessDesk

ACC's use of AI to help decide who gets help shocks advocate - RNZ

Small Bitcoin spends, big headaches: why buying coffee triggers tax admin - BusinessDesk

Big content is taking on AI – but it’s far from the David v Goliath tale they’d have you believe - The Guardian

Google wants to bring its driverless taxis to Sydney’s streets - Sydney Morning Herald

Google is launching Gemini 3, its ‘most intelligent’ AI model yet - The Verge

Meta Wins FTC Antitrust Trial Over Instagram, WhatsApp Deals - Bloomberg

Reporting from the front line of the artificial intelligence revolution,&nbsp;Time magazine reporter Harry Booth has a unique perspective on the technology moving markets and transforming business.
The London-based University of Auckland graduate has been part of Time&rsquo;s team of AI reporters for the last 16 months, his byline regularly appearing in the pages of the iconic news magazine.&nbsp;
This week&rsquo;s episode of The Business of Tech podcast features an in-depth conversation with Booth, who gave me a tour of how AI is reshaping the world of work, explained the technology&rsquo;s breakneck pace of development, looming questions over its energy use, and the critical signals to watch as 2026 approaches.
Is AI really cleaning up?
Despite dire predictions that white-collar jobs would be decimated, Booth finds reality to be more complex and, in some ways, more sobering. In areas like translation, seasoned professionals aren&rsquo;t being replaced outright. Instead, their roles have shifted.&nbsp;
Translators Booth interviewed are now tasked with correcting AI-generated text &ndash; a role rebranded as &ldquo;AI cleanup&rdquo; &ndash; which brings downward pressure on rates without necessarily delivering true productivity gains. Surprisingly, fixing flawed machine translation can take as long as translating from scratch, eroding job satisfaction and earnings for skilled workers.​
The same story, Booth notes, is playing out in other &ldquo;canary in the coal mine&rdquo; sectors. A frequently cited study found that software engineers using AI coding assistants believed their workload to be 20% faster. But empirical measurement showed a 20% slowdown. This suggests productivity impacts are far from settled, with AI often under-delivering unless carefully tailored to fit the workflow.​
From assistants to agents
Much has been made in the past year of the rise of &ldquo;AI agents&rdquo; &ndash; systems that operate independently and can execute multi-step tasks, not just answer queries.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re seeing the emergence of agentic AI &mdash; these aren&rsquo;t just chatbots, but systems that can carry out tasks, fetch data, and increasingly do things in the world on our behalf,&rdquo; Booth told me.
He believes we&rsquo;re still in the early innings. Some AI can now complete longer software engineering tasks. The length of time an AI system can work independently has roughly doubled every four to seven months. If that trend holds, Booth suggests we could see agents capable of a full workday by 2027.&nbsp;
However, today&rsquo;s agents remain far from being true digital employees. Meaningful productivity gains only appear when companies design AI tools that address specific, high-value pain points using both language models and smart software engineering.​
Energy, infrastructure, and the next bottleneck
On the infrastructure side, AI&rsquo;s growing thirst for energy is emerging as a defining challenge. Far from being a personal moral issue (a single AI prompt&rsquo;s carbon footprint is tiny, Booth points out), energy is a strategic concern for the giants racing to train ever-larger models.&nbsp;
&ldquo;AI isn&rsquo;t a climate disaster at the individual level, but as companies multiply their data centres, the real bottleneck for development is shifting &ndash; from talent and chips to energy itself,&rdquo; he said.
With global electricity production growing slowly and massive datacenter builds underway, companies are securing long-term energy deals &ndash; sometimes using the rhetoric of AI&rsquo;s needs as justification for keeping older, dirtier power sources online.​
But Booth also highlights a surprising upside: the same AI giants are pouring fresh capital into clean-energy tech, particularly nuclear fusion. Projects previously imagined as decades away are suddenly within striking distance. Fusion investment has exploded from US$2 billion to $15 billion in just three years, with players like OpenAI, Google, and Softbank on board. New Zealand&rsquo;s own OpenStar is part of this story, pursuing commercial fusion with techniques borrowed from the scrappy world of startups.&nbsp;
While a fusion-powered data centre is still years away, the influx of funding is credibly accelerating commercial viability, with some experts predicting net-positive fusion within a decade.​
What Harry Booth is watching in 2026
As AI accelerates, Booth will keep his investigative lens focused on several fronts in 2026:
Will the time horizon, how long an AI agent can independently operate, keep doubling at today&rsquo;s pace?
How will new training techniques, like direct observation of professionals and ever-more-complex simulation environments, impact AI capability?
Will scaling models with ever-greater compute keep delivering breakthroughs, or are diminishing returns setting in?
Most importantly, can the infrastructure, both silicon and power, keep up? Can the effort to make AI safer and more transparent move as quickly as the technology itself?​
Tune in to this week&rsquo;s The Business of Tech to hear the full conversation with Harry Booth, streaming on <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1049-the-business-of-tech-114330718/">iHeartRadio</a> and wherever you get your podcasts.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Your weekly tech reading list
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/opinion/ai-is-reshaping-work-but-not-the-way-you-think">AI is reshaping work &ndash; but not the way you think</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/ceo-index/the-zombie-apocalypse-is-where-nz-games-maker-pikpok-thrives">The zombie apocalypse is where NZ games maker PikPok thrives</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/finance/big-banks-eye-warnings-on-legacy-open-banking-technology">Big banks eye warnings on legacy Open Banking technology</a> - BusinessDesk
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<a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/579083/acc-s-use-of-ai-to-help-decide-who-gets-help-shocks-advocate">ACC's use of AI to help decide who gets help shocks advocate</a> - RNZ
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<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/15/big-content-ai-entertainment-media-conglomerates-tech">Big content is taking on AI &ndash; but it&rsquo;s far from the David v Goliath tale they&rsquo;d have you believe</a> - The Guardian
<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/technology/google-wants-to-bring-its-driverless-taxis-to-sydney-s-streets-20251113-p5nf5k.html">Google wants to bring its driverless taxis to Sydney&rsquo;s streets</a> - Sydney Morning Herald
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/news/822977/gemini-3-google-ai-model-launch">Google is launching Gemini 3, its &lsquo;most intelligent&rsquo; AI model yet</a> - The Verge
<a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/meta-wins-ftc-antitrust-trial-over-instagram-whatsapp-deals">Meta Wins FTC Antitrust Trial Over Instagram, WhatsApp Deals</a> - Bloomberg

Inside the AI race: Energy use, agents and the real impact on work

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/0bdf579c-7cb2-4eb8-859a-b3990182bed7/transcript

After years of anticipation and frustration over slow progress, New Zealand’s open banking era is about to become a reality. 

On December 1, official regulations come into effect, bringing sweeping change to how Kiwis access and control their financial data. Akahu co-founder Josh Daniell, whose platform already integrates with more than 85 products that draw on consumers’ bank data thanks to voluntary agreements in place, joined the Business of Tech podcast to unpack what the new regime will mean for consumers, fintechs, and the banking giants themselves.​

Daniell explained the significance of the shift underway: “Over the last 20 years, there has been a buildup of consumer demand for this type of connectivity to a point where there’s more than a million Kiwis each year in New Zealand using unregulated, open banking methods,” he told me.

The old model was a messy patchwork – screen-scraping bots, voluntary deals, and inconsistent application programming interfaces (APIs) that left customers with little transparency or control. 

“Consumers didn’t have full control of how those connections worked,” Daniell said, “and any product that wants those kind of data feeds, either has to go and get a contract with each bank, or do it in a way that isn’t sanctioned by the bank”.​

Encouraging the mavericks

Under the new regulatory system, a product provider or intermediary like Akahu can become accredited and access secure, standardised APIs from any major bank, a move Daniell believes will “put the consumer more in the driving seat” and sweep away the old system’s uncertainty. 

This reform is not just about convenience. It is intended to foster greater competition and innovation. 

“If there was a challenger in the banking sector…they can make it simple for people to connect their external accounts and then switch across to those better products,” Daniell explained. 

The Commerce Commission’s recent market study recommended open banking precisely for this reason – to unlock bottlenecks and foster a more vibrant sector.​

But New Zealand’s adoption of an official open banking regime is well behind other countries, such as Australia and the United Kingdom, where uptake of open banking services has been limited. Daniell is upbeat about the New Zealand system’s design. 

Lessons from the Aussies and Brits

“We think MBIE really learned from those regimes that have gone in front of us, and we think the regulation is well designed. It’s simple, it sets out a data sharing system, and it doesn’t try to move into things like data protection, which is left to the Privacy Act,” he said.

He argues New Zealand’s system is more streamlined than Australia’s, which “over-engineered some aspects…and as a result, some organisations haven’t actually transitioned”.​

On launch day, the Big Four banks, ANZ, ASB, BNZ, and Westpac, will be designated as official data holders, required to offer open banking APIs to any accredited party. “It turns it from a voluntary offering…to a mandatory offering,” Daniell said, “and it also means that you don’t need a contract with each bank. You become accredited centrally, and then you have access to all regulated APIs in that system”.​

Payment innovation is another headline benefit. Daniell points to future use cases, such as convenient bank-to-bank payments, app-to-app transactions, and avoiding credit card fees.

“With open banking, you can essentially put your bank account on file, like putting a card on file, so you can have exactly the same experience. You leave the Uber, and you’re paying via a bank payment rather than a card payment. And the benefit here is a cost one. It’s just cheaper to process an account-to-account payment than it is to process that same payment over the card network”.

Trust and value will rule​

Concerns about privacy and security remain, but Daniell is clear that trust and value will always be central for consumers. 

“People absolutely need to consider the party that they’re dealing with and decide whether they trust them with sensitive data. Regulated open banking doesn’t change the decision they need to make there,” he says. Accredited companies face strict requirements – insurance, fit and proper tests, and security obligations – but consumers must weigh “how much value they’re going to get from sharing their data”.​

Looking ahead, Daniell is bullish about rapid adoption as the voluntary phase ends: “I would like to think that we have hundreds of thousands of Kiwis using the regulated open banking system before the end of next year…within three years, I’ll be disappointed if we don’t have a million Kiwis having used it. I think that’s viable, given all of the unregulated use of open banking that currently exists”.​

Listen to the full conversation with Josh Daniell in the latest episode of The Business of Tech podcast, streaming on iHeartRadio and wherever you get your podcasts.

Your weekly tech reading list

Xero founder Rod Drury funds secure-messaging startup Corro - BusinessDesk

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Inside the data centres that train AI and drain the electrical grid - New Yorker 

Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show - Reuters

Anthropic Is on Track to Turn a Profit Much Faster Than OpenAI - Wall Street Journal

The next iPhone Air has reportedly been delayed - The Verge

Apple TV execs dismiss introducing an ad tier, buying Warner Bros. Discovery - Ars Technica

After years of anticipation and frustration over slow progress, New Zealand&rsquo;s open banking era is about to become a reality.&nbsp;
On December 1, official regulations <a href="https://www.mbie.govt.nz/business-and-employment/business/competition-regulation-and-policy/consumer-data-right/open-banking">come into effect</a>, bringing sweeping change to how Kiwis access and control their financial data. <a href="https://www.akahu.nz/">Akahu</a> co-founder Josh Daniell, whose platform already integrates with more than 85 products that draw on consumers&rsquo; bank data thanks to voluntary agreements in place, joined the Business of Tech podcast to unpack what the new regime will mean for consumers, fintechs, and the banking giants themselves.​
Daniell explained the significance of the shift underway: &ldquo;Over the last 20 years, there has been a buildup of consumer demand for this type of connectivity to a point where there&rsquo;s more than a million Kiwis each year in New Zealand using unregulated, open banking methods,&rdquo; he told me.
The old model was a messy patchwork &ndash; screen-scraping bots, voluntary deals, and inconsistent application programming interfaces (APIs) that left customers with little transparency or control.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Consumers didn&rsquo;t have full control of how those connections worked,&rdquo; Daniell said, &ldquo;and any product that wants those kind of data feeds, either has to go and get a contract with each bank, or do it in a way that isn&rsquo;t sanctioned by the bank&rdquo;.​
Encouraging the mavericks
Under the new regulatory system, a product provider or intermediary like Akahu can become accredited and access secure, standardised APIs from any major bank, a move Daniell believes will &ldquo;put the consumer more in the driving seat&rdquo; and sweep away the old system&rsquo;s uncertainty.&nbsp;
This reform is not just about convenience. It is intended to foster greater competition and innovation.&nbsp;
&ldquo;If there was a challenger in the banking sector&hellip;they can make it simple for people to connect their external accounts and then switch across to those better products,&rdquo; Daniell explained.&nbsp;
The Commerce Commission&rsquo;s recent market study recommended open banking precisely for this reason &ndash; to unlock bottlenecks and foster a more vibrant sector.​
But New Zealand&rsquo;s adoption of an official open banking regime is well behind other countries, such as Australia and the United Kingdom, where uptake of open banking services has been limited. Daniell is upbeat about the New Zealand system&rsquo;s design.&nbsp;
Lessons from the Aussies and Brits
&ldquo;We think MBIE really learned from those regimes that have gone in front of us, and we think the regulation is well designed. It&rsquo;s simple, it sets out a data sharing system, and it doesn&rsquo;t try to move into things like data protection, which is left to the Privacy Act,&rdquo; he said.
He argues New Zealand&rsquo;s system is more streamlined than Australia&rsquo;s, which &ldquo;over-engineered some aspects&hellip;and as a result, some organisations haven&rsquo;t actually transitioned&rdquo;.​
On launch day, the Big Four banks, ANZ, ASB, BNZ, and Westpac, will be designated as official data holders, required to offer open banking APIs to any accredited party. &ldquo;It turns it from a voluntary offering&hellip;to a mandatory offering,&rdquo; Daniell said, &ldquo;and it also means that you don&rsquo;t need a contract with each bank. You become accredited centrally, and then you have access to all regulated APIs in that system&rdquo;.​
Payment innovation is another headline benefit. Daniell points to future use cases, such as convenient bank-to-bank payments, app-to-app transactions, and avoiding credit card fees.
&ldquo;With open banking, you can essentially put your bank account on file, like putting a card on file, so you can have exactly the same experience. You leave the Uber, and you&rsquo;re paying via a bank payment rather than a card payment. And the benefit here is a cost one. It&rsquo;s just cheaper to process an account-to-account payment than it is to process that same payment over the card network&rdquo;.
Trust and value will rule​
Concerns about privacy and security remain, but Daniell is clear that trust and value will always be central for consumers.&nbsp;
&ldquo;People absolutely need to consider the party that they&rsquo;re dealing with and decide whether they trust them with sensitive data. Regulated open banking doesn&rsquo;t change the decision they need to make there,&rdquo; he says. Accredited companies face strict requirements &ndash; insurance, fit and proper tests, and security obligations &ndash; but consumers must weigh &ldquo;how much value they&rsquo;re going to get from sharing their data&rdquo;.​
Looking ahead, Daniell is bullish about rapid adoption as the voluntary phase ends: &ldquo;I would like to think that we have hundreds of thousands of Kiwis using the regulated open banking system before the end of next year&hellip;within three years, I&rsquo;ll be disappointed if we don&rsquo;t have a million Kiwis having used it. I think that&rsquo;s viable, given all of the unregulated use of open banking that currently exists&rdquo;.​
Listen to the full conversation with Josh Daniell in the latest episode of The Business of Tech podcast, streaming on iHeartRadio and wherever you get your podcasts.
Your weekly tech reading list
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/technology/xero-founder-rod-drury-funds-secure-messaging-startup-corro">Xero founder Rod Drury funds secure-messaging startup Corro</a> - BusinessDesk
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<a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-anthropic-profitability-e9f5bcd6">Anthropic Is on Track to Turn a Profit Much Faster Than OpenAI</a> - Wall Street Journal
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/news/817908/apple-iphone-air-second-generation-delayed">The next iPhone Air has reportedly been delayed</a> - The Verge
<a href="https://arstechnica.com/apple/2025/11/apple-has-no-plans-to-bring-ads-to-apple-tv/">Apple TV execs dismiss introducing an ad tier, buying Warner Bros. Discovery</a> - Ars Technica

Banking unleashed: What the new open banking regime means for consumers and fintech players

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/c630df1f-a9cf-4de4-b9a5-b39200371d89/transcript

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo is making an assertive play to shake up the $1.3 billion smartphone market in New Zealand, aiming to disrupt the long-standing duopoly of Samsung and Apple with a mix of tech innovation and brand-building efforts.

In this week’s episode of The Business of Tech podcast, Oppo New Zealand Managing Director Morgan Halim shares insights on how the challenger brand, which claims around 10% of the local market, is reimagining what Kiwi consumers can expect from their devices.​

Taking on a cosy duopoly

“We started about seven years ago, and we knew there was a gap in the market when there were only two players in New Zealand,” Halim told me. 

“Over time, we just built that brand awareness. That helped us in terms of people getting to know who we are, and slowly, they… understand and see our point of difference in the market,” he said.​

Halim is candid about the challenge of breaking entrenched brand loyalty, particularly among Apple devotees wary of switching from iOS to Android. 

“That’s the tough thing to crack, isn’t it? So building that brand loyalty and just awareness of it, it took a while for Oppo,” he noted.​

Embedding in local culture

The Shenzhen-based smartphone maker’s approach has not just been about technology but embedding the brand into Kiwi life. Halim highlighted major sports partnerships, especially via football sponsorships, as important to raising brand awareness. 

“From day one in New Zealand, [our strategy has been] how do we show the customer we are a global company, but also local? Wellington Phoenix is a good example. They have been a great partner for us to have that resonance closer to the New Zealand customer.”​

Oppo’s association with New Zealand football was extended in September when it signed a two-year agreement to become the official smartphone and smart device partner of the All Whites and the Ford Football Ferns.

Innovation at every price point

Oppo’s handset range stretches from entry-level A-series smartphones, through the Reno series, to its flagship Find X9 Pro, which was launched in Barcelona last month, and which Halim says exemplifies Oppo’s drive to push boundaries. 

“What is Find X for us? We focus on display quality, charging speed and camera innovation. And we partner up with Hasselblad, positioning the Find X as the premium photography tool,” he said.​

One of the Find X9 Pro’s standout features is its formidable battery life, made possible by cutting-edge chipset and battery tech. 

“We put a 7500 mAh (milliamp hour) battery on the Find X9 Pro, and it's probably one of the biggest batteries out there in the New Zealand market. If you’re a power user, it will last you a day – that’s guaranteed for sure. If you’re not a power user… we can see that extended more than a day or longer.”​

A thoughtful approach to AI

Oppo is betting big on AI, not as a gimmick, but as a core part of the user experience. 

“About two years ago, we knew that AI was coming. [We’ve] come up with three major domains: AI productivity, AI creativity, and AI imaging… but the idea is, how do we move from a single AI feature to a system-level approach where it’s more than AI woven into the experience,” Halim explained.​

A key new feature debuting in the Find X9 series is AI Mindspace, which with the press of the “snap” button on the side of the phone or swipe of the screen, the contents displayed on the screen will be analysed by AI, a record and summary of the contents kept for quick access. For more intensive productivity tasks, Oppo has partnered with Google Gemini for AI capabilities.

Oppo’s focus is on the mobile ecosystem and openness,” Halim says. 

“Rather than trying to have a closed ecosystem...our headphones, whether you are using Android devices from different brands or an iPhone, you can use the full functions. We’re doing the same with our wearables as well, whatever ecosystem you’re using.”​

The long game

Halim is optimistic about the future, despite lingering retail headwinds in 2025. 

“We had an amazing Q1 with double-digit growth year on year, but Q2 and Q3...those buffers slowly disappeared. 

“Consumer confidence is still pretty low at the moment, [though] there’s action happening, and you will see income a little more available. So yeah, I’m still quite hopeful for Q4, especially Black Friday and Christmas.”​

Listen to the full conversation with Morgan Halim on The Business of Tech podcast, available on BusinessDesk, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Your weekly tech reading list

Oppo Find X9 Pro first look: The moment Oppo grows up - BusinessDesk

Westpac NZ takes aim at Google and Meta’s efforts to fight financial crime - BusinessDesk

Kordia sells its managed IT services business - BusinessDesk

RBNZ stress test shows banks resilient to IT failure and global shocks - BusinessDesk

Being AI’s last stand: Company to sell final asset, vows to stay listed - BusinessDesk

Experts find flaws in hundreds of tests that check AI safety and effectiveness | Artificial intelligence - The Guardian

OpenAI Successfully Sheds Its Roots as an Ethical Non-Profit - Futurism

Spotify Beats on Users, Sales as Daniel Ek Prepares for Exit - Bloomberg

How new biometric privacy rules will change what businesses must disclose - NZ Herald

48 Hours Without AI: How wired have we really become? - New York Times

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo is making an assertive play to shake up the $1.3 billion smartphone market in New Zealand, aiming to disrupt the long-standing duopoly of Samsung and Apple with a mix of tech innovation and brand-building efforts.
In this week&rsquo;s episode of The Business of Tech podcast, Oppo New Zealand Managing Director Morgan Halim shares insights on how the challenger brand, which claims around 10% of the local market, is reimagining what Kiwi consumers can expect from their devices.​
Taking on a cosy duopoly
&ldquo;We started about seven years ago, and we knew there was a gap in the market when there were only two players in New Zealand,&rdquo; Halim told me.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Over time, we just built that brand awareness. That helped us in terms of people getting to know who we are, and slowly, they&hellip; understand and see our point of difference in the market,&rdquo; he said.​
Halim is candid about the challenge of breaking entrenched brand loyalty, particularly among Apple devotees wary of switching from iOS to Android.&nbsp;
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the tough thing to crack, isn&rsquo;t it? So building that brand loyalty and just awareness of it, it took a while for Oppo,&rdquo; he noted.​
Embedding in local culture
The Shenzhen-based smartphone maker&rsquo;s approach has not just been about technology but embedding the brand into Kiwi life. Halim highlighted major sports partnerships, especially via football sponsorships, as important to raising brand awareness.&nbsp;
&ldquo;From day one in New Zealand, [our strategy has been] how do we show the customer we are a global company, but also local? Wellington Phoenix is a good example. They have been a great partner for us to have that resonance closer to the New Zealand customer.&rdquo;​
Oppo&rsquo;s association with New Zealand football was extended in September when it signed a two-year agreement to become the official smartphone and smart device partner of the All Whites and the Ford Football Ferns.
Innovation at every price point
Oppo&rsquo;s handset range stretches from entry-level A-series smartphones, through the Reno series, to its flagship Find X9 Pro, which was launched in Barcelona last month, and which Halim says exemplifies Oppo&rsquo;s drive to push boundaries.&nbsp;
&ldquo;What is Find X for us? We focus on display quality, charging speed and camera innovation. And we partner up with Hasselblad, positioning the Find X as the premium photography tool,&rdquo; he said.​
One of the Find X9 Pro&rsquo;s standout features is its formidable battery life, made possible by cutting-edge chipset and battery tech.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We put a 7500 mAh (milliamp hour) battery on the Find X9 Pro, and it's probably one of the biggest batteries out there in the New Zealand market. If you&rsquo;re a power user, it will last you a day &ndash; that&rsquo;s guaranteed for sure. If you&rsquo;re not a power user&hellip; we can see that extended more than a day or longer.&rdquo;​
A thoughtful approach to AI
Oppo is betting big on AI, not as a gimmick, but as a core part of the user experience.&nbsp;
&ldquo;About two years ago, we knew that AI was coming. [We&rsquo;ve] come up with three major domains: AI productivity, AI creativity, and AI imaging&hellip; but the idea is, how do we move from a single AI feature to a system-level approach where it&rsquo;s more than AI woven into the experience,&rdquo; Halim explained.​
A key new feature debuting in the Find X9 series is AI Mindspace, which with the press of the &ldquo;snap&rdquo; button on the side of the phone or swipe of the screen, the contents displayed on the screen will be analysed by AI, a record and summary of the contents kept for quick access. For more intensive productivity tasks, Oppo has partnered with Google Gemini for AI capabilities.
Oppo&rsquo;s focus is on the mobile ecosystem and openness,&rdquo; Halim says.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Rather than trying to have a closed ecosystem...our headphones, whether you are using Android devices from different brands or an iPhone, you can use the full functions. We&rsquo;re doing the same with our wearables as well, whatever ecosystem you&rsquo;re using.&rdquo;​
The long game
Halim is optimistic about the future, despite lingering retail headwinds in 2025.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We had an amazing Q1 with double-digit growth year on year, but Q2 and Q3...those buffers slowly disappeared.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Consumer confidence is still pretty low at the moment, [though] there&rsquo;s action happening, and you will see income a little more available. So yeah, I&rsquo;m still quite hopeful for Q4, especially Black Friday and Christmas.&rdquo;​
Listen to the full conversation with Morgan Halim on The Business of Tech podcast, available on BusinessDesk, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Your weekly tech reading list
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/technology/oppo-find-x9-pro-first-look-the-moment-oppo-grows-up">Oppo Find X9 Pro first look: The moment Oppo grows up</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/finance/westpac-nz-takes-aim-at-google-and-metas-efforts-to-fight-financial-crime">Westpac NZ takes aim at Google and Meta&rsquo;s efforts to fight financial crime</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/finance/trade-me-parent-company-appoints-owen-wilson-as-director?1762265289523">Kordia sells its managed IT services business</a> - BusinessDesk
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<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/markets/being-ais-last-stand-company-to-sell-final-asset-vows-to-stay-listed">Being AI&rsquo;s last stand: Company to sell final asset, vows to stay listed</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/nov/04/experts-find-flaws-hundreds-tests-check-ai-safety-effectiveness">Experts find flaws in hundreds of tests that check AI safety and effectiveness | Artificial intelligence</a> - The Guardian
<a href="https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/openai-sheds-roots-ethical-non-profit">OpenAI Successfully Sheds Its Roots as an Ethical Non-Profit</a> - Futurism
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-04/spotify-users-exceed-forecast-as-ceo-transition-nears">Spotify Beats on Users, Sales as Daniel Ek Prepares for Exit</a> - Bloomberg
<a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/how-new-biometric-privacy-rules-will-change-what-businesses-must-disclose/FUCGG44VNNXNAJYYB26JZHF3B4/">How new biometric privacy rules will change what businesses must disclose</a> - NZ Herald
<a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/48-hours-without-ai-how-wired-have-we-really-become/YLF3J7K5L5FULGXFDOPMJAOKSA/">48 Hours Without AI: How wired have we really become?</a> - New York Times

Oppo’s bid to crack NZ’s smartphone duopoly

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/c02d25f9-2b0e-4840-b146-b38b00eb101d/transcript

Rocket Lab is on the brink of turning 20 – and what began as one man’s dream in an Invercargill garage is now a Nasdaq-listed global space business valued at over NZ$50 billion. 

In the latest episode of The Business of Tech, Sir Peter Beck joins me from Rocket Lab’s headquarters in Long Beach, California, to reflect on the company’s remarkable two decades of innovation and persistence – and how Rocket Lab continues to push the limits of what’s possible.

A new book The Launch of Rocket Lab, which I authored, was released this week and captures that journey – from those early days in the corner of Industrial Research Ltd. in Auckland, to a highlight reel of 75 orbital missions. 

But the creation of Rocket Lab was actually fuelled by disillusionment. A visit to NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in early 2006 convinced Beck that his dream of working for those bastions of aerospace innovation would never become a reality. It wasn’t just that the self-taught engineer from New Zealand didn’t have the credentials to land a job there. He wasn’t overly impressed at what he saw. On the flight back to New Zealand, he took a napkin and started writing up his plans for his own rocket company.

Lean, fast, and fearless

Three years later, he achieved success with Ātea-1, the small sounding rocket launched from Great Mercury Island in 2009 that proved Rocket Lab could build and fly a vehicle on a shoestring budget. 

“It was relief more than anything,” Beck admits. “We’d worked so hard to get to that moment. You can test as much as you can, but you’re never sure of the outcome. That first launch gave us credibility to come to the States and start doing real work,” he told me.

That mindset – lean, fast, and fearless – has remained a constant. “When you start from nothing, and you have no resources, you never forget that,” Beck said. “It’s hard to get lazy or rich and happy when everyone’s always on the bleeding edge, making sure we extract the most from the minimum amount of capital.”

That culture has fuelled two decades of technical firsts. Rocket Lab was the first company to put a carbon-composite rocket in orbit, the first to use electric turbopumps, and the first to reach space with a 3D‑printed engine. “Those things are now standard practice,” Beck said, “but back then, we were certainly leaning forward on the technology.”

Launch Complex 1 - still going strong

Mahia Peninsula, where Rocket Lab’s private launch site was built, remains central to that story – and close to Beck’s heart. “It’s the best launch site in the world, hands down. For so many reasons. One, it’s the most beautiful, and two, we get more inclination options than anywhere else,” he explained. 

The relationship with local landowners and communities began, appropriately for Rocket Lab, in low-key fashion. 

“We met the chiefs of the trust who owned the land at a doughnut shop,” Beck said. “It’s great to be part of that community.”

While the Electron rocket, which debuted in 2017, put Rocket Lab on the map, missions like CAPSTONE – which sent a small NASA satellite on a slingshot path to the Moon – showed how far the company’s ambition extended. “It was an engineering marvel,” Beck said. 

“We used a tiny rocket and an even smaller spacecraft, measured everything down to the gram, and pulled off something everyone thought could only be done with a big rocket.”

Neutron’s disruptive potential

Now attention is turning to Neutron, Rocket Lab’s medium-lift reusable rocket designed to compete head-on with SpaceX, which Beck is preparing for launch, potentially before the end of the year. “There’s one dominant player in medium-class launch, and having competition is important,” Beck said. “Neutron looks different from any rocket that’s ever been built. That’s because we had the luxury of a clean sheet – applying everything we learned from Electron.”

As Rocket Lab heads into its third decade, Beck is thinking not just about rockets but about New Zealand’s place in the trillion‑dollar global space economy. 

“Depending on whose report you read, it’ll be between US$1.4 and $2  trillion by 2035,” he said. 

“There’s no reason New Zealand can’t have a bigger slice. It’s my job to make sure we get the biggest piece of that pie possible.”

Listen to the full episode of The Business of Tech, powered by 2degrees Business, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Rocket Lab is on the brink of turning 20 &ndash; and what began as one man&rsquo;s dream in an Invercargill garage is now a Nasdaq-listed global space business valued at over NZ$50 billion.&nbsp;
In the latest episode of The Business of Tech, Sir Peter Beck joins me from Rocket Lab&rsquo;s headquarters in Long Beach, California, to reflect on the company&rsquo;s remarkable two decades of innovation and persistence &ndash; and how Rocket Lab continues to push the limits of what&rsquo;s possible.
A new book <a href="http://www.rocketlabbook.com">The Launch of Rocket Lab</a>, which I authored, was released this week and captures that journey &ndash; from those early days in the corner of Industrial Research Ltd. in Auckland, to a highlight reel of 75 orbital missions.&nbsp;
But the creation of Rocket Lab was actually fuelled by disillusionment. A visit to NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in early 2006 convinced Beck that his dream of working for those bastions of aerospace innovation would never become a reality. It wasn&rsquo;t just that the self-taught engineer from New Zealand didn&rsquo;t have the credentials to land a job there. He wasn&rsquo;t overly impressed at what he saw. On the flight back to New Zealand, he took a napkin and started writing up his plans for his own rocket company.
Lean, fast, and fearless
Three years later, he achieved success with Ātea-1, the small sounding rocket launched from Great Mercury Island in 2009 that proved Rocket Lab could build and fly a vehicle on a shoestring budget.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It was relief more than anything,&rdquo; Beck admits. &ldquo;We&rsquo;d worked so hard to get to that moment. You can test as much as you can, but you&rsquo;re never sure of the outcome. That first launch gave us credibility to come to the States and start doing real work,&rdquo; he told me.
That mindset &ndash; lean, fast, and fearless &ndash; has remained a constant. &ldquo;When you start from nothing, and you have no resources, you never forget that,&rdquo; Beck said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to get lazy or rich and happy when everyone&rsquo;s always on the bleeding edge, making sure we extract the most from the minimum amount of capital.&rdquo;
That culture has fuelled two decades of technical firsts. Rocket Lab was the first company to put a carbon-composite rocket in orbit, the first to use electric turbopumps, and the first to reach space with a 3D‑printed engine. &ldquo;Those things are now standard practice,&rdquo; Beck said, &ldquo;but back then, we were certainly leaning forward on the technology.&rdquo;
Launch Complex 1 - still going strong
Mahia Peninsula, where Rocket Lab&rsquo;s private launch site was built, remains central to that story &ndash; and close to Beck&rsquo;s heart. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the best launch site in the world, hands down. For so many reasons. One, it&rsquo;s the most beautiful, and two, we get more inclination options than anywhere else,&rdquo; he explained.&nbsp;
The relationship with local landowners and communities began, appropriately for Rocket Lab, in low-key fashion.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We met the chiefs of the trust who owned the land at a doughnut shop,&rdquo; Beck said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to be part of that community.&rdquo;
While the Electron rocket, which debuted in 2017, put Rocket Lab on the map, missions like CAPSTONE &ndash; which sent a small NASA satellite on a slingshot path to the Moon &ndash; showed how far the company&rsquo;s ambition extended. &ldquo;It was an engineering marvel,&rdquo; Beck said.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We used a tiny rocket and an even smaller spacecraft, measured everything down to the gram, and pulled off something everyone thought could only be done with a big rocket.&rdquo;
Neutron&rsquo;s disruptive potential
Now attention is turning to Neutron, Rocket Lab&rsquo;s medium-lift reusable rocket designed to compete head-on with SpaceX, which Beck is preparing for launch, potentially before the end of the year. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s one dominant player in medium-class launch, and having competition is important,&rdquo; Beck said. &ldquo;Neutron looks different from any rocket that&rsquo;s ever been built. That&rsquo;s because we had the luxury of a clean sheet &ndash; applying everything we learned from Electron.&rdquo;
As Rocket Lab heads into its third decade, Beck is thinking not just about rockets but about New Zealand&rsquo;s place in the trillion‑dollar global space economy.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Depending on whose report you read, it&rsquo;ll be between US$1.4 and $2  trillion by 2035,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no reason New Zealand can&rsquo;t have a bigger slice. It&rsquo;s my job to make sure we get the biggest piece of that pie possible.&rdquo;
Listen to the full episode of <a href="https://omny.fm/shows/the-business-of-tech?cloudflare-language=en-NZ">The Business of Tech</a>, powered by 2degrees Business, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.
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<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/health/health-nzs-healthx-ai-trial-cuts-after-hours-admin-by-up-to-81">Health NZ's HealthX AI trial cuts after-hours admin by up to 81%</a> - BusinessDesk
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<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/technology/dont-get-stuck-in-big-techs-ai-ecosystem-amanda-johnstone-warns">Don't get stuck in Big Tech's AI ecosystem, Amanda Johnstone warns</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/it-professionals-nz-members-vote-for-liquidation-as-more-red-ink-revealed-reboot-takes-shape/FXQECXIZFZEU3ENPIY7C62DHWM/">IT Professionals NZ members vote for liquidation as more red ink revealed, reboot takes shape</a> - NZ Herald
<a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/companies/telecommunications/chatgpt-maker-openai-releases-its-first-web-browser-atlas-with-kiwi-ben-goodger-at-spearhead-tech-insider/DVENNXZ2INGXFJMQPUOXMQXY3U/">OpenAI releases first web browser, Atlas &ndash; with Kiwi Ben Goodger at spearhead</a> - NZ Herald
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ai-is-using-your-data-to-set-personalised-prices-online-it-could-seriously-backfire-266995">AI is using your data to set personalised prices online. It could seriously backfire</a> - The Conversation
<a href="https://disconnect.blog/generative-ai-is-a-societal-disaster/">Generative AI is a societal disaster</a> - Paris Marx
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/24/amazon-reveals-cause-of-aws-outage">Amazon&rsquo;s AWS outage caused internet-enabled mattresses to malfunction - The Washington Post</a> - Washington Post
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Rocket Lab at 20: From pipe dream to $50 billion space empire

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/8da484be-9461-4df4-86b7-b384009becd5/transcript

It’s been a year since AI agents burst onto the tech scene, driven largely by the vision and product roadmap of Salesforce founder Marc Benioff, who is betting the company’s future on the “agentic enterprise”.

Saleforce’s Agentforce platform, which allows customers to build and deploy agents in days or weeks, automating aspects of sales, customer service, marketing, and even software development, has racked up 12,000 customers in its first year.

But Benioff said last week in San Francisco that there’s a gap between the innovation AI companies are progressing, and the business sector’s ability to adopt AI at scale. The halls of the Moscone Centre in San Francisco were full last week of early adopters, companies that have deployed AI agents with promising results, from PepsiCo, to Lululemon.

Among them was One NZ, the telco that has spent years modernising its tech platforms and which uses Salesforce for its customer relationship management. 

"Already across our AI investment, five times return," One NZ CEO Jason Paris told me on this week’s episode of The Business of Tech, describing how One NZ deployed an agentic tool to help prepaid customers migrate to better mobile plans. 

“We've been deploying AI and all the variations of it, so robotic process automation or machine learning, for over 10 years. We've only been deploying agentic for last year, because no one even really knew about it 12 months ago,” he said. 

“But yeah, five times ROI on our AI investment. So a lot of people are saying, is the value there? We can see the value. Absolutely. And we think this is just the beginning. We want more.”

Orchestrating multiple agents

The agent authenticates customers, presents personalised plan options, explains trade-offs, and completes the entire transaction autonomously via chatbot – all in a matter of minutes.​ Previously, a customer may have needed to make a phone call to the One NZ contact centre or visit a store to achieve the same outcome.

Paris added that the newly deployed Agentforce agent has delivered a 400% improvement in customer engagement compared to traditional digital journeys.​ "It took us five weeks to build and deploy,"Paris explained, noting that the first agent One NZ built with Salesforce took just eight hours to create, though two additional weeks were needed for data integration and cleanup.​

Sitting behind that simple chatbot designed to help prepaid mobile customers find a new plan, are actually seven AI agents working together. 

"We're in this age now where this one agent can orchestrate multiple actions,” said Hamish Miles, Salesforce New Zealand’s managing director.  

“In [One NZ’s case] it's like… a security check in for the trust layer. It's, have we got the right plan? Can I make some recommendations? We can do so much more as well."

Miles acknowledged that addressing Benioff's innovation-adoption gap requires overcoming hesitation. "I think there's probably a little bit of reluctance to make a start," he said, noting that companies often worry about data quality. His advice is to at least get going on creating AI agents.

"Make a start, because it's a low-risk entry. Is the agent going to be perfect straight away? No, it won't be. But will it learn? Yes, it will. Can we make corrections very quickly? Yes, it will. So start experimenting," he said.

Salesforce itself now runs more than 200 internal agents managing 550 different tasks.​ Mark Benioff says use of AI agents is saving the company $100 million annually, much of it in customer support costs, including reduced headcount.

Voice - the next frontier in AI agents

The next frontier for AI agents is voice. Paris described the upcoming product Agentforce Voice, which enables natural conversations with AI agents over the phone, as "a game changer" and "probably, of all the things that were discussed, personally, [what] I'm most excited about". 

With up to 80% of customer service interactions in some industries still coming via phone, voice-enabled agents could fundamentally transform customer experience.​

"If I can have a conversation where there's no latency, it's a humanised conversation that you can build rapport through transparency that you're talking to an agentic tool, it's probably an easier step for me to just talk to an AI agent in the same way I would talk to an agent in a call centre," Paris explained.​

As New Zealand's economy continues to face headwinds, the ability to simultaneously reduce costs and increase productivity through agentic AI presents a compelling opportunity, but many businesses still need to get their data and IT infrastructure in place to deploy AI agents effectively. AI expertise is also thin in our organisations. 

"Leadership needs to come from the top,” said Miles. 

“If you look at any successful transformation project over the last 10 to 20 years in technology, the one core ingredient that it got right was governance and leadership, and it came from the top."

Listen to the full episode of The Business of Tech, powered by 2degrees Business, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

Your weekly tech reading list

NZ might have gone cloud-first, but public sector IT is still stuck on the ground: report - BusinessDesk

The tech is real. The hype could ruin it - BusinessDesk

Canva cash and human capital sprinkling Kiwi startups - BusinessDesk

London Became a Global Hub for Phone Theft. Now We Know Why - Slashdot

Please stop putting Peter's phone number on your accounts - Information Age

‘I left Microsoft to get my hands dirty’: Telstra’s $1.6b bid for AI riches - Australian Financial Review

The Web Is Becoming AI’s Interface Layer - Richard MacManus 

OpenAI’s AI-powered browser, ChatGPT Atlas, is here - The Verge

Amazon Plans to Replace More Than Half a Million Jobs With Robots - New York Times

Netflix goes ‘all in’ on generative AI as entertainment industry remains divided - Tech Crunch

It&rsquo;s been a year since AI agents burst onto the tech scene, driven largely by the vision and product roadmap of Salesforce founder Marc Benioff, who is betting the company&rsquo;s future on the &ldquo;agentic enterprise&rdquo;.
Saleforce&rsquo;s Agentforce platform, which allows customers to build and deploy agents in days or weeks, automating aspects of sales, customer service, marketing, and even software development, has racked up 12,000 customers in its first year.
But Benioff said last week in San Francisco that there&rsquo;s a gap between the innovation AI companies are progressing, and the business sector&rsquo;s ability to adopt AI at scale. The halls of the Moscone Centre in San Francisco were full last week of early adopters, companies that have deployed AI agents with promising results, from PepsiCo, to Lululemon.
Among them was One NZ, the telco that has spent years modernising its tech platforms and which uses Salesforce for its customer relationship management.&nbsp;
"Already across our AI investment, five times return," One NZ CEO Jason Paris told me on this week&rsquo;s episode of The Business of Tech, describing how One NZ deployed an agentic tool to help prepaid customers migrate to better mobile plans.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We've been deploying AI and all the variations of it, so robotic process automation or machine learning, for over 10 years. We've only been deploying agentic for last year, because no one even really knew about it 12 months ago,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;
&ldquo;But yeah, five times ROI on our AI investment. So a lot of people are saying, is the value there? We can see the value. Absolutely. And we think this is just the beginning. We want more.&rdquo;
Orchestrating multiple agents
The agent authenticates customers, presents personalised plan options, explains trade-offs, and completes the entire transaction autonomously via chatbot &ndash; all in a matter of minutes.​ Previously, a customer may have needed to make a phone call to the One NZ contact centre or visit a store to achieve the same outcome.
Paris added that the newly deployed Agentforce agent has delivered a 400% improvement in customer engagement compared to traditional digital journeys.​ "It took us five weeks to build and deploy," Paris explained, noting that the first agent One NZ built with Salesforce took just eight hours to create, though two additional weeks were needed for data integration and cleanup.​
Sitting behind that simple chatbot designed to help prepaid mobile customers find a new plan, are actually seven AI agents working together.&nbsp;
"We're in this age now where this one agent can orchestrate multiple actions,&rdquo; said Hamish Miles, Salesforce New Zealand&rsquo;s managing director.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;In [One NZ&rsquo;s case] it's like&hellip; a security check in for the trust layer. It's, have we got the right plan? Can I make some recommendations? We can do so much more as well."
Miles acknowledged that addressing Benioff's innovation-adoption gap requires overcoming hesitation. "I think there's probably a little bit of reluctance to make a start," he said, noting that companies often worry about data quality. His advice is to at least get going on creating AI agents.
"Make a start, because it's a low-risk entry. Is the agent going to be perfect straight away? No, it won't be. But will it learn? Yes, it will. Can we make corrections very quickly? Yes, it will. So start experimenting," he said.
Salesforce itself now runs more than 200 internal agents managing 550 different tasks.​ Mark Benioff says use of AI agents is saving the company $100 million annually, much of it in customer support costs, including reduced headcount.
Voice - the next frontier in AI agents
The next frontier for AI agents is voice. Paris described the upcoming product Agentforce Voice, which enables natural conversations with AI agents over the phone, as "a game changer" and "probably, of all the things that were discussed, personally, [what] I'm most excited about".&nbsp;
With up to 80% of customer service interactions in some industries still coming via phone, voice-enabled agents could fundamentally transform customer experience.​
"If I can have a conversation where there's no latency, it's a humanised conversation that you can build rapport through transparency that you're talking to an agentic tool, it's probably an easier step for me to just talk to an AI agent in the same way I would talk to an agent in a call centre," Paris explained.​
As New Zealand's economy continues to face headwinds, the ability to simultaneously reduce costs and increase productivity through agentic AI presents a compelling opportunity, but many businesses still need to get their data and IT infrastructure in place to deploy AI agents effectively. AI expertise is also thin in our organisations.&nbsp;
"Leadership needs to come from the top,&rdquo; said Miles.&nbsp;
&ldquo;If you look at any successful transformation project over the last 10 to 20 years in technology, the one core ingredient that it got right was governance and leadership, and it came from the top."
Listen to the full episode of <a href="https://omny.fm/shows/the-business-of-tech?cloudflare-language=en-NZ">The Business of Tech</a>, powered by 2degrees Business, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.
Your weekly tech reading list
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/technology/nz-might-have-gone-cloud-first-but-public-sector-it-is-still-stuck-on-the-ground-report">NZ might have gone cloud-first, but public sector IT is still stuck on the ground: report</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/opinion/the-tech-is-real-the-hype-could-ruin-it">The tech is real. The hype could ruin it</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/finance/canva-cash-and-human-capital-sprinkling-kiwi-startups">Canva cash and human capital sprinkling Kiwi startups</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/10/21/1557254/london-became-a-global-hub-for-phone-theft-now-we-know-why">London Became a Global Hub for Phone Theft. Now We Know Why</a> - Slashdot
<a href="https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2025/please-stop-putting-peter-s-phone-number-on-your-accounts.html">Please stop putting Peter's phone number on your accounts</a> - Information Age
<a href="https://www.afr.com/technology/telstra-s-1-6b-ai-superhighway-takes-a-big-step-forward-20251020-p5n3vg?utm_source=afr-web&amp;utm_medium=share_article&amp;utm_campaign=technology&amp;utm_content=fairfax&amp;utm_term=product_feature">&lsquo;I left Microsoft to get my hands dirty&rsquo;: Telstra&rsquo;s $1.6b bid for AI riches</a> - Australian Financial Review
<a href="https://webtechnology.news/the-web-is-becoming-ais-interface-layer/">The Web Is Becoming AI&rsquo;s Interface Layer</a> - Richard MacManus&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/803475/openais-ai-powered-browser-chatgpt-atlas-google-chrome-competition-agent">OpenAI&rsquo;s AI-powered browser, ChatGPT Atlas, is here</a> - The Verge
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/technology/inside-amazons-plans-to-replace-workers-with-robots.html?unlocked_article_code=1.vE8.FwGC.6M9rnks4nUaO&amp;smid=url-share">Amazon Plans to Replace More Than Half a Million Jobs With Robots</a> - New York Times
<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/21/netflix-goes-all-in-on-generative-ai-as-entertainment-industry-remains-divided/">Netflix goes &lsquo;all in&rsquo; on generative AI as entertainment industry remains divided</a> - Tech Crunch

From pilot to payoff: “Five times return on our AI investment”

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/987222a9-2eab-4d93-a747-b37d0188d2df/transcript

The call for dedicated regulations governing artificial intelligence has grown louder as the technology’s power to disrupt industries and society becomes ever more apparent. 

But this week’s guest on The Business of Tech podcast, Brainbox Institute director and co-founder Tom Barraclough, warns against rushing into bespoke artificial intelligence regulation. He instead argues that the country is best served by leveraging and coordinating its existing legal framework.

“It’s not a binary exercise,” Barraclough stressed. 

“Even if you take the most strident approach to regulating artificial intelligence, and that is really the European Union approach, what you find is the top-level legislation can be quite general. It’s not like we’re just going to say, let’s regulate AI and then tomorrow AI will be regulated.”​

AI Act - no easy fix

The European Union’s AI Act takes a risk-based approach to regulating AI services, requiring scrutiny and oversight of them in proportion to their potential to do harm, with an outright ban for some AI-powered uses, such as social credit scoring systems. 

But in reality, a complex series of codes of practice, self-regulation, regulatory instruments and legislation makes up the EU’s regulatory regime. Many of those provisions exist in our own laws and could be applied to AI – if we better understood what is available. 

New Zealand shouldn’t see existing legislation as obsolete, Barraclough told me. 

“Fraud through deepfakes is already a criminal offence. The other example of this is non-consensual sexual imagery as well… covered by the Harmful Digital Communications Act and the Crimes Act,” he pointed out.​

Biometrics Code as a model

“From a kind of starting point, it’s much more grey in terms of what we already have in place and how we use that more effectively. Even if we did decide to just really kick things off and go hard, it would still be a pretty long process of trying to work out what regulatory stuff means.”

Barraclough suggests that clarification is needed more than new legislation, something Parliament could play a more proactive role in by updating existing laws. He also points to initiatives like the Biometrics Processing Privacy Code 2025 developed by the Privacy Commissioner as examples of models that can be rapidly adapted or incorporated into AI policy. 

“If you can demonstrate that you’ve got a code that works,  it’s much, much easier for an agency to just pick that up and give it some teeth if it works well,” he said.​

New Zealand’s competitive edge: Smart deployment and sovereign AI

Barraclough does see a vital need for a national vision for AI. 

“I probably would have advocated for what’s called a human rights-based approach, but that kind of framing has fallen out of favor internationally,” he pointed out.

Sovereign AI, where New Zealanders have a level of autonomy over the infrastructure supplying AI services rather than relying on offshore tech platforms plays into his thinking.​

“This isn’t about having a NZ GPT that’s trained on like all of the data in New Zealand and speaks with a Kiwi accent. [Sovereign AI] can be as simple as talking about meaningful AI literacy, or making sure that we do have resilient digital infrastructure for access and deployment of AI systems. In all likelihood, it probably means fine-tuning models that already exist,” he said.​

New Zealand’s competitive advantage lies in “being the world’s smartest deployers of AI systems” Barraclough argues. That acknowledges that while we may not, as a nation, have the resources to build our own large language models, with smart regulation and a collaborative approach, we can deploy innovative AI systems that can transform digital services and win offshore business in the process.

Listen to episode 121 of The Business of Tech, powered by 2degrees Business for my in-depth interview with Tom Barraclough, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

Your weekly tech reading list

Gigged out: meet your new digital co-workers - BusinessDesk

Dispute Buddy startup makes its case for ‘justice tech’ - BusinessDesk

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Slimmer, sharper, and (almost) ready for prime time - BusinessDesk

Latest capital raise values Sharesies at $750m - BusinessDesk

It’s Sam Altman: the man who stole the rights from copyright. If he’s the future, can we go backwards? - The Guardian

Tesla faces Australian class action suit - news.com.au

AI Data Centers Are an Even Bigger Disaster Than Previously Thought - Futurism

DOJ seizes $15 billion in bitcoin from massive ‘pig butchering’ scam based in Cambodia - CNBC

Researchers used $800 of off-the-shelf hardware to collect data sent by satellites unencrypted, like T-Mobile users' calls and texts and some US military comms - Wired

Salesforce expands its OpenAI and Anthropic partnerships to embed their LLMs into Agentforce 360, letting users access Agentforce 360 apps in ChatGPT, and more - Constellation Research

 

The call for dedicated regulations governing artificial intelligence has grown louder as the technology&rsquo;s power to disrupt industries and society becomes ever more apparent.&nbsp;
But this week&rsquo;s guest on The Business of Tech podcast, Brainbox Institute director and co-founder Tom Barraclough, warns against rushing into bespoke artificial intelligence regulation. He instead argues that the country is best served by leveraging and coordinating its existing legal framework.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a binary exercise,&rdquo; Barraclough stressed.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Even if you take the most strident approach to regulating artificial intelligence, and that is really the European Union approach, what you find is the top-level legislation can be quite general. It&rsquo;s not like we&rsquo;re just going to say, let&rsquo;s regulate AI and then tomorrow AI will be regulated.&rdquo;​
AI Act - no easy fix
The European Union&rsquo;s AI Act takes a risk-based approach to regulating AI services, requiring scrutiny and oversight of them in proportion to their potential to do harm, with an outright ban for some AI-powered uses, such as social credit scoring systems.&nbsp;
But in reality, a complex series of codes of practice, self-regulation, regulatory instruments and legislation makes up the EU&rsquo;s regulatory regime. Many of those provisions exist in our own laws and could be applied to AI &ndash; if we better understood what is available.&nbsp;
New Zealand shouldn&rsquo;t see existing legislation as obsolete, Barraclough told me.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Fraud through deepfakes is already a criminal offence. The other example of this is non-consensual sexual imagery as well&hellip; covered by the Harmful Digital Communications Act and the Crimes Act,&rdquo; he pointed out.​
Biometrics Code as a model
&ldquo;From a kind of starting point, it&rsquo;s much more grey in terms of what we already have in place and how we use that more effectively. Even if we did decide to just really kick things off and go hard, it would still be a pretty long process of trying to work out what regulatory stuff means.&rdquo;
Barraclough suggests that clarification is needed more than new legislation, something Parliament could play a more proactive role in by updating existing laws. He also points to initiatives like the <a href="https://www.privacy.org.nz/privacy-principles/codes-of-practice/biometric-processing-privacy-code/">Biometrics Processing Privacy Code 2025</a> developed by the Privacy Commissioner as examples of models that can be rapidly adapted or incorporated into AI policy.&nbsp;
&ldquo;If you can demonstrate that you&rsquo;ve got a code that works,&nbsp; it&rsquo;s much, much easier for an agency to just pick that up and give it some teeth if it works well,&rdquo; he said.​
New Zealand&rsquo;s competitive edge: Smart deployment and sovereign AI
Barraclough does see a vital need for a national vision for AI.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I probably would have advocated for what&rsquo;s called a human rights-based approach, but that kind of framing has fallen out of favor internationally,&rdquo; he pointed out.
Sovereign AI, where New Zealanders have a level of autonomy over the infrastructure supplying AI services rather than relying on offshore tech platforms plays into his thinking.​
&ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t about having a NZ GPT that&rsquo;s trained on like all of the data in New Zealand and speaks with a Kiwi accent. [Sovereign AI] can be as simple as talking about meaningful AI literacy, or making sure that we do have resilient digital infrastructure for access and deployment of AI systems. In all likelihood, it probably means fine-tuning models that already exist,&rdquo; he said.​
New Zealand&rsquo;s competitive advantage lies in &ldquo;being the world&rsquo;s smartest deployers of AI systems&rdquo; Barraclough argues. That acknowledges that while we may not, as a nation, have the resources to build our own large language models, with smart regulation and a collaborative approach, we can deploy innovative AI systems that can transform digital services and win offshore business in the process.
Listen to episode 121 of The Business of Tech, powered by 2degrees Business for my in-depth interview with Tom Barraclough, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.
Your weekly tech reading list
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/opinion/gigged-out-meet-your-new-digital-co-workers">Gigged out: meet your new digital co-workers</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/opinion/gigged-out-meet-your-new-digital-co-workers">Dispute Buddy startup makes its case for &lsquo;justice tech&rsquo;</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/technology/samsung-galaxy-z-fold7-slimmer-sharper-and-almost-ready-for-prime-time">Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Slimmer, sharper, and (almost) ready for prime time</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/markets/latest-capital-raise-values-sharesies-at-750m">Latest capital raise values Sharesies at $750m</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/10/sam-altman-copyright-ai-sora-2-video-generator?CMP=fb_gu&amp;utm_medium=Social_img&amp;utm_source=Facebook&amp;fbclid=IwdGRzaANavthjbGNrA1q-1GV4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEeTgfvQlYS8P1uI5Y9xxNLZBSJwPQBKZSh2aT7MM2yRNVbcf6m6hfZuZ4NxQQ_aem_aOIBYMWa2-6-W_T75TNQAg&amp;sfnsn=mo#Echobox=1760115376">It&rsquo;s Sam Altman: the man who stole the rights from copyright. If he&rsquo;s the future, can we go backwards?</a> - The Guardian
<a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/motoring/motoring-news/exclusive-tesla-accused-of-misleading-thousands-with-full-selfdriving/news-story/481b019c1aeece3914b74822fdb02037">Tesla faces Australian class action suit</a> - <a href="http://news.com.au">news.com.au</a>
<a href="https://futurism.com/future-society/ai-data-centers-finances">AI Data Centers Are an Even Bigger Disaster Than Previously Thought</a> - Futurism
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/14/bitcoin-doj-chen-zhi-pig-butchering-scam.html">DOJ seizes $15 billion in bitcoin from massive &lsquo;pig butchering&rsquo; scam based in Cambodia</a> - CNBC
<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/satellites-are-leaking-the-worlds-secrets-calls-texts-military-and-corporate-data/">Researchers used $800 of off-the-shelf hardware to collect data sent by satellites unencrypted, like T-Mobile users' calls and texts and some US military comms</a> - Wired
<a href="https://www.constellationr.com/blog-news/insights/salesforce-expands-openai-anthropic-partnerships-eyes-agentforce-everywhere">Salesforce expands its OpenAI and Anthropic partnerships to embed their LLMs into Agentforce 360, letting users access Agentforce 360 apps in ChatGPT, and more</a> - Constellation Research
&nbsp;

Steady hands, not knee-jerk bans: Brainbox’s approach to AI regulation

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/4f700699-b65e-4339-aca0-b3760071e018/transcript

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

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