The Business of Tech

Other than a few big-swing failures, it’s been a bit of a holding pattern for consumer technologies this year, with many minor improvements but nothing truly revolutionary. This week, Peter and Ben are unpacking all that and more as they dive into the consumer products and services from 2024 they thought were good, bad, and just plain silly. Topics include the series of disappointments that...

We're joined by four stellar journalists who discuss what they saw over the last year and look ahead to what may be yet to come.  BusinessDesk’s senior markets reporter Rebecca Stevenson offers a deep dive into Rakon's failed takeover and unpacks Gentrack’s success – and the questions that success raises.  Rob O’Neill, senior reporter at IT industry news outlet Re...

Steve Vamos' career in tech has spanned decades, starting with IBM straight out of university in the 1980’s, followed by stints at Apple, NineMSN, Microsoft, and Xero. He says that connecting with people and being open to criticism are key skills for leaders navigating through times of major change. Vamos also shares more specific advice on navigating change, having hard conversations, and the imp...

Projectworks founder Matthew Hayter and new CEO and Silicon Valley veteran Mark Orttung dive into the details on what’s happening with the $100 million company's international push.  Plus, Ben and Peter discuss Bluesky’s sudden rise in popularity as people leave Elon Musk’s X by the millions. Ben's Bluesky Peter's Bluesky Reading list See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Peter was in California for the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket, carrying more satellites to support One NZ's satellite to mobile connectivity.  We dig into the details of that deal, including whether competitors can possibly keep up. Then, our featured guest is Alex Kendall, one of NZ's most successful tech expats in recent years. Alex Kendall is the founder of Wayve, an autonomous vehicles company t...

Last year, we prematurely dubbed 2023 the year of AI but how could we have know what 2024 would bring. Generative AI has solidified it's position in the pantheon of disruptive technologies as hype settled into pragmatism and tech talent across the world put it to work. We've assembled three AI experts from across NZ's industry to talk about the year in AI that was, and look ahead at what to expect...

\We're diving into data with Snowflake's New Zealand country manager Tony Shaw. Shaw shares how any size of organisation can benefit from data analytics and AI, emphasising the importance of having high-quality, consolidated information to drive business outcomes.  He also talks generative AI and the role that good data practice has in realising its potential and mitigating risks. Plus, tech under...

New Zealand's big bet on fibre has paid off in spades, according to a new report by Deloitte that found the $5.5 billion that government and private companies invested into the super fast internet infrastructure has delivered $31b in value due to productivity gains. Two economists from Deloitte Access Economics, Liza Van Der Merwe and Mayuresh Prasad, walk us through the findings from that report,...

It's an age of reckoning for the monopolistic tendencies of Big Tech and this week veteran journalist Paul McIntyre helps us gain an understanding of the antitrust trials facing Google. With years of experience covering the advertising industry, McIntyre sheds light on Google's online advertising dominance, how it manipulated an industry to get there, and the regulatory challenges it's now facing...

WNT Ventures has reached ten years of taking the crunchy stuff we call deep tech and helping turn it into companies and financial returns. With successes like Foundry Lab, Mint Innovation and Carbon Crop in its portfolio, WNT Ventures has made an indelible mark on the country's deep tech scene. The firm's managing partner, Carl Jones, joins the podcast to look back on an industry that has grown at...

This week's guest, venture capitalist, founder of PhaseOne and former early employee of Canva Mahesh Muralidhar, shares invaluable insights into the necessity for New Zealand's software startups to expand into the lucrative US market. He discusses the unique benefits of Kiwi founders on the global stage and some of the cultural things that might be holding them back.   Plus, the Auckland teen caug...

Can AI ever be truly trustworthy when the stakes are high? That's what machine learning and artificial intelligence researcher Jessica Zosa Forde hopes to achieve with her studies at Brown University. She joins us to discuss her work on ensuring less common languages don't get forgotten - and how efforts with te reo Māori are leading the way.  She also highlights the importance of transparency and...

In this sponsored episode, 2degrees chief technology and information officer Stephen Kurzeja talks about the intricate process of merging the systems of two large telecommunications companies: 2degrees and Vocus. Kurzeja shares the thought process behind choosing what to keep and what to retire, where to add new products, and where to reign it in. He discusses company culture, AI and maintaining a...

We sit down with Dr. Will Reedy, who leads health for Accenture NZ, to discuss the transformative potential of AI in healthcare.  Reedy explains how generative AI can enhance NZ’s health system, boosting both frontline and back-office operations and addressing workforce shortages.  He also raises the ever-looming spectre of the need to truly aggregate resident's health data, a must-have if we want...

We're kicking off a series on AI in industries with a deep dive into AI in education. Hengjie Wang, co-founder of ed-tech company Kami, joins us to explore how AI is transforming the classroom. Wang explains how Kami currently uses AI to save teachers time and make education more accessible and engaging for students. He also considers whether generative AI could be the foundation for a future of w...

We dive deep into the world of venture capital with Robbie Paul, managing director of Icehouse Ventures. Paul looks back at the last 14 years to reflect on startup successes and failures and how NZ's VC landscape has evolved. He also shares some killer lessons for entrepreneurs and investors, such as the value of people and the dangers of chasing trends. Plus, Beam's scooter scandal, what Elon Mus...

Hamish Rumbold, the recent winner of the CIO of the Year award, joins us to reflect on his five years at Kiwibank, where he oversaw the company through major challenges from hauling legacy systems into the digital age, to facing an ever-increasing cyber threat landscape. Rumbold is on the hunt for his next role, fuelled by the goal of adding $10 billion in value to the companies he works with. We...

It's been a banger of a year for Gentrack, joining the NZX50 and reaching a $1 billion market capitalisation. In this episode, we talk to Gentrack's chief technology officer Mark Rees, who joined the company early this year after a decade at Xero. Rees offers insight into how Gentrack's software is helping utility companies manage at a time of massive disruption for the energy generation market an...

Searching for information online has been more or less the same since Google dominated the industry more than two decades ago but now, new forms of artificial intelligence are poised to change everything. Search expert Ryan McMillan from SEO advisory Atlas Digital joins us to share his insights on what those changes mean for online advertising, and how businesses can be prepared for those changes....

Dr Michelle Dickinson, also known as Nanogirl, has been working on taking her passion for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to as many people as possible. During covid, Dickinson was a key part of a team getting the word out about how to keep as safe as possible and for her efforts, had her personal details published online and received threats. Undeterred, she has spent year...

"The question is, who supports the bill? Well, honestly, basically everyone." That's what Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly said about the Customer and Product Data (CPD) Bill at its first reading, and sure enough, every other party representative followed with their support. The CPD Bill is the legislative force that mandates the sharing of customer data by organisations, starti...

The tech world was knocked a little askew when the Commerce Commission blocked a huge exit for local DJ software company Serato. The ComCom said the acquisition by AlphaTheta would reduce competition in the space but many in the tech sector said the move could put fear into startup founders and venture capitalists thinking about targeting a lucrative niche. We're joined by tech entrepreneur Tim Wa...

The National Science Challenges, a decade-long experiment in funding mission-led science has ended and the research shows it was a resounding success.  Emeritus professor Sally Davenport joins us to explain what was learned over that time and how we can keep the spirit of mission-led science alive. We also discuss the report out of the Treasury showing NZ lags in artificial intelligence adoption,...

150 New Zealand executives were given Spark-funded scholarships for a four-week course all about learning how to use modern AI tools to boost business productivity. We talked to two of them, NZME's Matt Martel and the NZ Institute of Directors' Kristen 'KP' Patterson, who explained what they learned from the course and how it shaped their thinking about AI. They outline the business cases they dev...

When you've had one of the most successful careers in business in New Zealand, what do you do next? For Xero founder Rod Drury the answer is to spend days mountain biking around Queenstown, wing foiling when he gets the chance, and meeting with government and business leaders to get national improvement initiatives moving. He's pushed for the separation of energy generation and retailing, campaign...