The Business of Tech

By now, you’ve probably participated in a video conference call that’s been recorded and automatically transcribed, with a meeting summary sent to you within seconds of the meeting ending. The likes of Teams, Otter, Zoom and Fireflies are using artificial intelligence to parse our language for insights and meaning, translating long, meandering meetings into useful summaries. But Christ...

This week on The Business of Tech podcast, we unpack the sixth annual 2degrees Shaping Business Study , a barometer for the mood and ambitions of Kiwi business leaders as we hit the midpoint of 2025.  The headline? Optimism is back, at its highest level since the research began, with more New Zealand companies describing themselves as thriving rather than just surviving. Optimism on the rise...

Tracy Sheen isn’t your typical artificial intelligence guru. “I am looking forward to stirring the AI pot with you, Peter,” Sheen told me at the start of an entertaining discussion on this week’s episode of The Business of Tech.  The award-winning Australian business coach and technology strategist has always been passionate about making technology accessible. Her late...

As chief data officer for Australia and New Zealand at Publicis Groupe, Maurice Riley stands at the intersection of data, technology, and advertising strategy. On this week’s episode of The Business of Tech, Riley outlined the trends reshaping the advertising industry, highlighted the growing importance of the "middleverse" in customer journeys, especially during sluggish economic times, and...

Wellington, once a vibrant hub for New Zealand’s tech innovation, has faced stagnation in recent years.  Last week, a packed audience at a Vision for Wellington event on Wellington’s waterfront heard from the city’s tech luminaries about how the city can embrace its strengths, particularly in technology, and foster a more supportive, connected ecosystem. Sitting in the audie...

If the novelty of seeing AI-generated videos popping up in our newsfeeds has started to wear off, Google has something new for you to feast your eyes on. Last week, the AI giant released Veo 3, the latest version of its AI content generator. Its claim to fame? Veo 3 not only generates short video clips based on prompts from users, but also audio, syncing sound effects and character dialo...

Litmaps, a Wellington-based startup that’s just raised $1 million in a Series A funding round, is redefining how scientists navigate the sea of academic literature by merging citation network analysis with generative AI.  Founded in 2016 by Axton Pitt and Kyle Webster, the platform now serves over 2 million researchers globally, including institutions like Harvard, Stanford, and the Uni...

The Technology Users Association has issued a stark warning that New Zealand risks falling further behind in the global digital economy unless the government urgently reforms its approach to digital and technology skills, with a particular focus on vocational training.  In a wide-ranging interview on this week’s episode of The Business of Tech , TUANZ CEO Craig Young expressed deep frus...

Reuben Davidson, Labour’s new spokesperson for science, innovation, technology, broadcasting and the creative economy, isn’t shy about the scale of the challenges facing New Zealand’s high-value sectors, or the damage he says the current government is doing.  In this week’s episode of The Business of Tech, the former TV producer, who won the Christchurch East seat in t...

New Zealand, like many smaller nations, has become deeply reliant on American technology platforms for everything from government operations to daily business functions.  In this week’s episode of The Business of Tech, Canadian journalist and author Paris Marx warns that this dependence is not just a matter of convenience, it’s a growing vulnerability that puts the country’s...

As global trade becomes increasingly protectionist, New Zealand’s tech sector faces a welcome anomaly for now: digital exports are tariff-free.  Unlike goods, software and digital services still move relatively freely across borders, and nowhere is this opportunity greater than in India—a vast, fast-growing market hungry for innovation.  The story of Valocity Global, founded...

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative has sparked global debate about balancing disruptive reform with sustainable public sector innovation.  In a panel discussion on this week's episode of The Business of Tech, former Te Whatu Ora chair Rob Campbell, futurist Ben Reid, and crypto expert Paul Quickenden critique Musk’s approach while proposing alternati...

Microsoft is marking its 50th anniversary, celebrating five decades since Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded what would become one of the world's largest technology companies.  In this week’s episode of The Business of Tech, the managing director of Microsoft New Zealand, Vanessa Sorenson, reflects on the company's journey and its vision for the future.  Featuring the hits and misse...

On this week’s episode of The Business of Tech, Sarah Box, a digital policy specialist at the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, shares insights from her three-month Harkness Fellowship in the United States examining AI policy direction. While Trump's first term focused on innovation and capability development, Biden pivoted toward trust and safety. So what does Trump's vision f...

The Government is busy pushing its growth agenda, but what’s the best way to pursue sustainable growth that produces higher-value jobs and more export earnings? A new report by Boston Consulting Group  says it involves taking a more strategic approach to New Zealand’s economic future, identifying five key ecosystems that could drive the nation's growth and global standing by 2050....

In 2022, the Government signed an historic agreement granting Māori a share of radio spectrum suitable for 5G mobile services and a 20% share of all future commercial radio spectrum rights. As the Chief Executive Officer of Tū Ātea, Antony Royal is putting that 5G spectrum to good use, with a major project underway to build and deploy the country's first commercial private 5G network. On The...

NZ's economic woes are complicated and many-headed, but business guru Andy Hamilton has exactly 26 ideas for ways it could be improved. Some of them, like becoming part of Australia, are a bit dumb – but there are others that could have a lot of potential. Hamilton also looks back at what it was like going through the We Are Indigo and Manaaki v Callaghan Innovation stoush, and talks through...

New Zealand is not stranger to tectonic shifts, perched as it is on a volcanic belt, but the current geopolitical quakes may prove an entirely different matter. The University of Waikato's Dr Reuben Steff joins the podcast to argue that without joining the high tech-focused pillar two of the Australia, UK and US (AUKUS) agreement, NZ may find themselves at a major disadvantage in the new worl...

Bitcoin advocate Cody Ellingham joins the podcast to explain why we he is advocating for everyone, everywhere to get into the cryptocurrency. Ellingham explains his vision for how Bitcoin could put people's financial power back into their hands, rather than under the control of financial institutions and governments. Plus, we talk AI language Gibberlink and Apple's $500 billion promise to Trump. S...

Chris Moore and Lucas Coelho, two-thirds of the co-founding team of venture studio Ryft, join the podcast to talk through how the model works. They discuss the benefits and challenges of being an all-in-one startup shop, why they are focusing on artificial intelligence, and give their highly informed takes on the current state of the AI landscape. Plus, what to look for in Spark's upcoming results...

Rowan Simpson has been part of most of NZ's most well known and loved software startups: TradeMe, Xero, Vend, Timely and many more. Peter sits down with Simpson to talk about his new book, his advice for founders, and how NZ can light a fire under its startup scene. Reading list See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been a tumultuous first year for NZ's first AI-focused company to list on the New Zealand Exchange (NZX). Following on from a recent article on BusinessDesk, we unpack that journey so far and look ahead to what might be next for the contentious but ambitious company. This week, we have a double feature with an interview with entrepreneur extrodinaire Rowan Simpson to follow on Sunday, so make...

This week we speak to Max Ferguson who started Lumin in 2010 to address a growing need for a robust, cloud-based way to edit and share portable document format files, better known as PDFs. 15 years on and Lumin has over 100 million users worldwide and is successfully rolling out more document collaboration products and features, managing to find success with the often-tricky freemium model. Plus,...

Last week, Te Hiku Media chief executive and one of Time magazine's most influential people in AI, Peter-Lucas Jones, spoke to the world leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos. As our featured guest this week, Jones explains how the Kaitaia-based media company is using AI to save native languages across the globe., Plus, cutting through the noise on what DeepSeek actually is and doe...

SailGP's chief technology officer Warren Jones goes deep into all the ways he and his team have integrated digital technologies into the very foundation of the sport changing the nature of racing. Plus, the ramifications for New Zealand and the world-at-large of the technology billionaires buying their way into US President Donald Trump's good graces. The Business of Tech is sponsored by 2degrees...