New government, new AI rules?

Everyone wants an AI-powered economy. But who takes responsibility when the technology gets things wrong, and how do we make sure everyone shares the long-promised productivity gains? That’s at the heart of this week’s episode of The Business of Tech, recorded as the US absorbs its midterm electio…

Digital sovereignty, Microsoft-style

New Zealand runs on American technology. But what happens when the country behind those platforms starts looking like a less dependable partner? That question hangs over the latest episode of The Business of Tech, as Microsoft faces growing pressure to give governments and businesses more control …

Meet the government’s new tech boss

Two days into the job, Roman Reyhani was confronting a $231 million question: how does New Zealand turn clever science into businesses that deliver lasting value here? The founding chief executive of the New Zealand Institute for Advanced Technology joins this week’s episode of The Business of Tec…

Andfoods: Beans, cream and kitchen dreams

Andfoods isn’t trying to win the plant-based food battle in the supermarket aisle. It wants raving fans in Asia’s busiest kitchens. The New Zealand startup is turning black gram, also known as black mung bean, into whipping cream. Its pitch to chefs is that dairy-free shouldn’t mean settling for s…

Is the AI Race Out of Control?

The people building the world’s most powerful artificial intelligence systems promise extraordinary gains. They also warn those systems could escape our control. That is the ethical fault line running through this week’s episode of The Business of Tech. My guest, New Zealander Peter Barnett, work…

Small budgets, big ideas: Meet NZ’s Dyson Award stars

In business, and in the innovation game, experience is valuable. But sometimes, not knowing how exactly things are supposed to be done can be a superpower. This week’s episode of The Business of Tech celebrates three young New Zealand designers tackling problems that established businesses have ov…

Inside Auckland’s innovation engine

New Zealand wants more from its science system – more startups, more export revenue and more high-paying jobs. But in the rush to commercialise research, are we putting the discoveries that fuel future breakthroughs at risk? That tension sits at the heart of the latest episode of The Business of T…

AI’s next test: turning pilots into productivity

Salesforce New Zealand country manager Richard Phillimore-Smith says the next phase of artificial intelligence will hinge on whether organisations can put trusted data, established workflows and people together to solve real business problems. Speaking to The Business of Tech at Salesforce’s Dream…

Big Tech’s power problem is bigger than antitrust

The tech giants have become the infrastructure of modern life. They mediate how we shop, communicate, advertise, store data and increasingly use artificial intelligence.  Yet the tools governments use to contain their power were designed for an earlier economic age. Professor Susan Watson believe…

The drone builder making waves in defence tech

New Zealand-founded robotics company Syos Aerospace is building autonomous aircraft, drone boats, ground vehicles and underwater robots from its Mt. Maunganui base  In the latest episode of The Business of Tech, Syos founder Sam Vye tells me how a conservation-drone project in the Galápagos helped…