That’s the contradiction at the heart of new Gartner research, which predicts AI inference costs per agentic workflow will increase more than fivefold by 2028 as organisations move from simple chatbots to more sophisticated AI agents capable of reasoning, planning and executing multistep tasks. The analyst company calls it the ‘inference paradox’ with improving model economics being overwhelmed by increasingly complex AI workloads.

While model prices might be falling, that’s luring users to build ever more complex workflows – and the greater token consumption of those workflows can outweigh savings from reducing model prices and escalating inference costs.

“The harsh economics of the Inference Paradox are exemplified by the differences between a simple chatbot and an AI agent,” Gartner senior director analyst Will Sommer says. “Where a simple chatbot must read and interpret a query and quickly respond with a probabilistically reasonable answer, an AI agent must constantly reason, negotiate and question itself.”

All of that processing comes at a cost.

Gartner says routing a task to an agentic reasoning model increases inference costs by at least five times compared with a basic chatbot interaction, and often much more as complexity grows. At the same time, organisations are discovering that increasingly capable AI systems consume vastly more tokens than traditional conversational AI.

Gartner argues many organisations are making matters worse by allowing inefficient agent behaviour to creep into systems as they scale.

“There is an enormous pool of waste in any agentic system,” Gartner says in a research note. “Most of the bill in agentic systems is redundancy.”

Among the issues identified in 50% of Token Costs Can Be Cut for AI Agents With Zero Quality Loss are repeated queries, redundant processing, oversized context windows and agent loops that repeatedly consume tokens without adding value. Gartner estimates roughly 31 percent of production queries repeat work organisations have already paid for. Agents consume around 100 input tokens for every output token generated, while 40 percent to 60 percent of agent tool output tokens can often be removed without any loss of quality.

This is where Gartner believes the next AI battleground is emerging as companies move beyond the first phase of experimentation and the second of governance, trust and responsible deployment and into AI engineering efficiency, or building systems that deliver the same outcomes using fewer resources.

That starts with model selection.

“Most tasks do not require frontier intelligence,” the report notes, warning that defaulting every workload to the largest and most capable models is ‘immensely wasteful’. Instead, Gartner recommends routing requests to the cheapest model capable of completing a particular task and escalating only when more sophisticated reasoning is genuinely required.

The report report estimates organisations can reduce costs by up to 60 percent through routing and workload optimisation alone.

Gartner argues that visibility becomes increasingly important as organisations scale AI into production. It recommends tracking metrics including cost per completed task, token consumption by model, spend by customer segment and the relationship between AI expenditure and customer outcomes. Without detailed measurement, organisations often fail to identify expensive models performing basic work or AI features generating little business value.

At the centre of Gartner’s recommendations is a concept that will sound familiar to cloud veterans: AI FinOps.

The company recommends introducing AI gateways, workload routing, caching, attribution and budget controls to actively manage AI consumption rather than simply paying whatever bill arrives at the end of the month. It describes routing, caching and orchestration as critical to preventing costs from spiralling as agent complexity increases.

“Hold agents to high-value tasks and delegate the rest down a tier,” the report says.

“Product leaders cannot rely on more efficient token economics to rationalise AI costs,” Sommer says. “Each successive generation of AI capability will necessitate more, and often more expensive, tokens.” He says there is ‘no reliable, economical one-size-fits-all model on the horizon’ and that organisations will increasingly need to manage complex multimodel environments.

The move by some AI providers to usage-based billing – as previously reported by iStart – has exacerbated issues.

Gartner’s report also identifies opportunities inside the architecture of agentic systems themselves.

Rather than feeding large volumes of information into models, the report recommends retrieval-based approaches that selectively surface only relevant content. Using retrieval-augmented generation (Rag), for example, can reduce token consumption by up to 75 percent while maintaining accuracy. Context compression approaches can reduce token volumes by 60 percent to 95 percent, while redesigning agent loops can remove 40 percent to 60 percent of redundant processing.

The broader message is that AI economics are changing.

For the past two years, the primary question has been whether AI could perform useful work. Gartner suggests the more important question now may be whether organisations can afford to run increasingly sophisticated AI systems at scale – and how to control what that intelligence costs.

The post AI’s new paradox: Cheaper models, bigger bills appeared first on iStart leading the way to smarter technology investment..

AppWrap August 2026

27.08 Xero investors have voted against adopting the board’s decision to give CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy a 22 percent pay rise – lifting her target remuneration to US$18 million, the majority through long-term equity awards split between performance and service, Forbes Australia reports.  The move comes amid ongoing struggles for Xero’s stock prices, which have been halved in the past year. Under NZ law the board does not require shareholder approval, but put it forward to an advisory vote as ‘a matter of good governance’.

27.08 Meta has agreed to a landmark US$18 billion settlement in a US federal case accusing it of endangering children, with a slew of new safety features now required to its platforms including Instagram and Facebook. Al Jazeera reports those changes range from night curfews to two-hour usage limits for US users under the age of 18. Other countries are also taking regulatory action against Meta and other social media platforms.

21.08 New MBIE figures show open banking is gaining traction with the number of monthly payments made using regulated open banking technologies increasing from 294,000 transactions worth $92 million in May to more than 408,000 transactions worth $130m in July, the agency says. MBIE is taking over responsibility from Payments NZ for maintaining and developing regulated open banking standards.

20.08 The National Cyber Security Centre says 92 cyber security incidents in the quarter to June 2026 were triaged for specialist technical support because of their potential national significance – up from 77 the previous quarter. The agency responded to 1,129 incident reports in the quarter, up from 1,164 in the first quarter of the year. NCSC says while overall reporting volumes remained steady, the number of incidents with potential to cause wider harm has increased. Reported direct financial losses were down 52 percent to $2.7m, with scams and fraud returning to the top as the most commonly reported incident.

20.08 Spark’s IT services revenue dropped 10.3 percent to $104m on lower project activity in the subdued economic environment and the ongoing migration of legacy services in FY26. Cloud revenue remained flat at $233m, with a 20 percent growth in public cloud offset by the transition away from higher margin private cloud. Broadband was also down with business connectivity down 9.9 percent. In July the company announced a strategic review into its Digital Services division which it says has been identified as ‘outside core operations’. Mobile revenue as up and the company reported a six percent increase in overall revenue to $3.9 billion.

18.08 Datagrid has begun ‘horizontal works’ on its Makarewa site which will be home to the country’s largest data centre. HEB Construction is handling the works, which include creating a six-metre-high bund to reduce the campus’ visual and noise footprint. The foundation platform for the data centre, cable landing station and power substation are expected to be completed by the end of the year, Datagrid says.

18.08 The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has launched public consultation on ‘issues’ it has identified in the payments system, which it says is outdated and does not meet international best practice for modern, faster, retail payment systems. “Given the scale of payments systems, even small improvements in their efficiency can lift national productivity, enhance the global competitiveness of local businesses and strengthen economic resilience’ the RBNZ says. It has been charged with leading the delivery of a strategy for payments modernisation. Consultation is open until 27 October 2026.

13.08 The NZSIS is warning that geopolitical uncertainty has intensified national security challenges for New Zealand, with both the public and private sector being targeted by foreign states and their proxies to gain access to critical assets including IP and innovative technology. The annual New Zealand Security Threat Environment report says rapid advances in technology are constantly changing the nature of security threats, with hostile states and violent extremist actors using GenAI capabilities to create and spread content advancing their ideological interests, and AI amplifying polarising narratives and hiding the source of content.

12.08 Halter has logged a significant jump in revenue in the nine months to 31 December 2025 to hit $98.1 million – up from $71.0 million for the year ended 31 March 2025. The company, which is transitioning to a December financial year end in keeping with its US parent, reported an after-tax profit of $2.6 million for the nine-month period according to Companies Office records. Earlier this year it reached a US$2b valuation following a $220m Series E funding round. The records show subscription and instalment income accounted for around half of total revenue with the remainder coming from services to the US parent.

10.08 Contact Energy and CDC Data Centres are ‘exploring’ a potential 250MW data centre at Stratford in Taranaki, near the site of Contact’s gas power plant which was retired earlier this year, the companies say. Electricity would be supplied under long-term contract, supported by new generation from Contact’s 11 TWh pipeline of options. A joint venture between Contact and Lightsource bp is also progressing an option for a 150MW solar farm near the site.

AppWrap July 2026

29 Hawke’s Bay manufacturer Hawke Technology has seen a surge in global demand for its robotics for the apple industry. Fifty apple packers have already been installed in Washington, with another 250 on order, RNZ reports.

28.07 TikTok apparently generated $1.2 billion in GDP and supported over 9,700 jobs in New Zealand last year, making it the latest foreign tech company to discover it is personally responsible for a surprisingly large chunk of the economy. The figures come from a TikTok sponsored report by Infometrics.

27.07 Spark is restructuring its business, splitting into two divisions – Connectivity (core) which will focus on consumer mobile, broadband, business connectivity, including managed services, and Digital Services covering IT services and cloud. Spark says the new structure enhances end-to-end accountability and is designed to sharpen execution and accelerate progress towards Spark’s FY30 ambitions. Analysts have speculated that the restructure and a strategic review of its digital services division now underway could signal plans for a sale of the IT services business.

23.07 Hospitals across the Waikato were knocked offline for 11 hours this week after a connection problem with the data centre, resulting in some appointments and theatre cases being deferred. RNZ reports health experts blame years of underinvestment in health IT and say the problem will not be a quick fix.

16.07 Australian neocloud SharonAI has inked a US$1.32 billion deal  to deploy its first AI factory in New Zealand, for an unnamed ‘global AI lab’. The five year deal will see SharonAI deploying cloud computing capacity across data centre infrastructure in New Zealand, with revenue from the contract expected to commence in the first half of 2027 the company says.

14.07 New Zealand’s National Cyber Security Centre and other five eyes agencies have issued a joint warning that Russian state-sponsored actors continue to exploit poorly configured and vulnerable routers, targeting sectors including communications, energy, financial services, government and healthcare. Organisations are being urged to tighten router security, upgrade to SNMPv3 and disable insecure legacy configurations to reduce risk of compromise.

13.07 Kiwi AI spatial intelligence platform company Hyades has raised $1.5m in seed capital from investors including Allbirds co-founder Tim Brown, Stephen Tindall and Icehouse Ventures. The $1.5m includes a $400,000 MBIE R&D grant. Hyades’ platform converts geospatial data from disparate sources into a single machine learning ready format, with use cases including insurance risk modelling, B2Bnews reports.

11.07 Meta has abruptly pulled a controversial AI tool which enabled people to create fake images from user content on Instagram. The feature, part of the Muse Image rollout, quickly sparked blowback due to privacy concerns as anyone with a public account could have their likeness used without their permission or knowledge, the BBC reports.

09.07 The government has withdrawn plans to ban cryptocurrency ATMs and will instead establish regulation making powers enabling the government to cap or restrict cash transactions for virtual assets, 1news reports.

08.07 Datacom Group has recorded revenue of $1.58 billion for the year ending 31 March 2026, up from $1.48b a year earlier. Company records show net profit dropped from $37 million to $20 million.

08.07 CDC Data Centres NZ saw significant increases in revenue and gross profit in the year to 31 March 2026, but logged a $87.7 million loss on the back of higher financing costs and property write-downs. The company’s financial records show revenue jumped 52 percent to $134.5 million.

07.07 ACC has completed a migration of its core claims, payments and provider functions to a cloud-based platform. ACC says the program took two years but was completed on schedule.

07.07 A hacker is selling what they claim is live Teletrac Navman telemetry data from almost 3,000 Australian and New Zealand organisations. CyberDaily reports the hacker claims to have exfiltrated continuous real-time GPS tracking data for 2,988 customer companies across A/NZ, over a 48 hour period, with the data including emails and mobile phone details for drivers, driver’s licenses and vehicle registration details.

07.07 The Tech Users Association of New Zealand (Tuanz) is advocating for a shift to ‘active agency’ in data use, pushing organisations to move away from passive consent models such as long – unread – privacy policies. The initiative is part of Tuanz’ 2026 policy program. It’s calling for the government and industry to adopt a standard for explainable AI, adopt standardised ‘data nutrition labels’ allowing consumers to compare data practices at a glance and enable true individual control though expansion of the Consumer Data Right, while also upholding Māori data sovereignty.

03.07 Immigration NZ’s $336m Our Future Services visa processing rebuild, which began last year, has failed to meet its first stage goals, RNZ reports.

02.07 A review of the digital revamp of government services says investment is fragmented with duplication and limited coordination, and the key Digital Delivery Agency has ‘limited influence’ over key decision on funding design and procurement, RNZ reports. A reset has been signalled.

02.07 Google Maps has gained a Kiwi voice – complete with Kiwi accent and the ability to accurately pronounce Māori place names. Google says it partnered with the Māori Language Commission to ensure the voice, which starts rolling out today, uses correct pronunciation.

AppWrap June 2026

29.06 Rocket Lab is buying satellite operator Iridium in a US$8b deal in a move designed to create a fully integrated space powerhouse and take on SpaceX with its Starlink service. The move takes Rocket Lab towards becoming a satellite comms and services company as well as a launch provider and manufacturer. Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck says marrying Iridium’s infrastructure and highly sought-after spectrum with Rocket Lab’s launch and manufacturing capabilities provides capability to unlock ‘entirely new markets’.

23.06 The National Cyber Security Centre has joined other Five Eyes partners in warning government and corporate leaders that swift action is required to remain ahead of the increased risk from AI. The agencies are warning leaders to understand and assess risk, readiness and accountability, prioritise foundational cyber security practices and controls, empower cyber leaders with authority and resources and stay actively engaged. Their warning includes practical actions which while not new are now deemed ‘urgent’ by the agencies including reducing attack surfaces, accelerating patching and limiting who can access critical systems.

23.06 The Tech Users Association of NZ is calling for urgent, coordinated investment in home-grown digital capability, including mandating tech upskilling in the core curriculum – alongside reading and mathematics – incentivising home grown capability and digital apprenticeships and encouraging diverse pathways. The industry body’s Education to Employment policy statement also calls for government-backed financial incentives to lower the barrier to entry for SMEs to improve their digital skills and cyber security defences.

22.06 Kiwi customer service chatbot maker Ambit AI has been placed in liquidation, with Grant Thornton appointed as liquidators. The company defaulted on a Callaghan Innovation load. ChatGPT has been blamed.

19.06 Business agents are big tech’s next battleground, with companies pouring billions of dollars into agents – with Meta among those placing big bets. But University of Auckland teaching fellow Guy Bate warns in The Conversation that convenience for businesses will come with a tradeoff: The more useful an agent becomes, the more influence it gains over the interaction itself.

18.06 AI world-model developer Odyssey, cofounded by Kiwi Jeff Hawke, has secured US$310 million in Series B funding at a US$1.45 billion valuation. The round was led by Natural Capital, with investors including Amazon, AMD Ventures and Google Ventures, Crunchbase reports. The startup, which is building models that understand the physical world, has now raised US$337m in funding.

17.06 NZ Police’s high-tech crime grew is now using Whisper AI in investigations after an earlier genAI trial was abandoned after significant misuse, only to be restarted again when officers used unapproved AI models, RNZ reports.

18.06 The Immigration Minister has slammed her ministry accusing officials of deliberately withholding information about the failed Biometric Capability Upgrade upgrade and using ‘creative accounting’ to avoid scrutiny. The Public Service Commissioner is to investigate ‘integrity concerns’ highlighted in a damning review of the project which has been written off at a cost of more than $30m, RNZ reports.

17.06 Dawn Aerospace has closed a US$25m (NZ$42.8m) series B capital raise to accelerate the global expansion of its reusable Aurora UAV spaceplane. The company says the funding will directly finance its global rollout, scaling commercial and operational teams in the US and Europe. The raise, backed by investors including Mana Ventures, Icehouse Ventures, and individual investors including Tim Ferriss, gives the company a $195m post-money valuation.

17.06 A new Microsoft Teams feature enabling Teams to detect activity on a user’s device even when they are not actively using Teams has raised privacy concerns. Auckland University lecturer Alex Baird warns companies that the Privacy Act is clear on being thoughtful about why data is collected and using it only for that purpose. If used for checking teammates know where you are, that’s great he told RNZ. Collecting data for performance tracking however would be ‘a very different thing’.

16.06 Anthropic has disabled its new Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models after a US Export Control order. Forbes reports the US Commerce Department mandated the suspension of access for all foreign nationals citing security and export control powers. The move followed reports of a jailbreak bypassing safety guardrails.

12.06 SpaceX has made the biggest stock market debut in history, making Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire. Early trading saw share prices jump from the opening $150 a share by a double digit percentage, sending the company’s valuation above US$2tn, the Guardian reports.

10.07 The NZ government is contributing up to $51m to an Early Adoption Accelerator to roll out emission reduction farm technologies. The government will match dollar-for-dollar every commercial dollar invested through AgriZeroNZ to help scale up practical on-farm innovation. AgriZeroNZ will administer the funds and says it is seeking expressions of interest from farming businesses.

09.07 Scott Technology has secured $12 million in contracts across Europe and North America for its automation offerings. The company says the deals come as the automation of global food production accelerates.

08.07 Kiwi ‘localscaler’ data storage company Exaba has secured almost $12m in seed funding to develop sovereign hosted cloud storage, the NZHerald reports [paywalled].

02.06 Auckland startup DataMasque, which builds data de-identification and masking tools, has raised $7m in a Series A round. The company’s premise is simple: Large enterprises want to leverage sensitive data, but feeding it into AI systems risks catastrophic breaches and regulatory exposure. The platform enables organisations to use their sensitive data for AI innovation without it leaving their own infrastructure, DataMasque says.

02.06 NZTA is pausing use of billboard cameras to detect WoF fraud, despite a trial proving successful. RNZ reports while the use of other organisations’ camera and automated number plate recognition technology resulted in ‘usable and valuable evidence for investigations’ the agency is not rolling out more of the surveillance because it can’t afford to.Use of the vGrid surveillance platform ended in mid-2025.

02.06 Inland Revenue’s myIR website has been overwhelmed by a surge in people trying to check their tax review online. Delays with two-step verification – with some codes arriving too late to be used – left users frustrated, the NZHerald reports.

02.06 Wellington’s deputy mayor Ben McNulty has slammed a $600,000 spend on a website for the capital’s new library, labelling it an ‘atrocious amount of money’. RNZ reports the cost of designing and building the site was $595,801, with a $72,000/year bill for hosting and maintenance.

02.06 Florida has become the first US state to sue OpenAI, over the design and safety of its ChatGPT chatbot. The state is suing both OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging they know ChatGPT is not safe, especially for minors, CNN reports.

AppWrap May 2026

28.05 Today’s budget includes more than $450m for digital health. The funding includes $153.6m over four years for Health NZ to expand national cybersecurity for health systems, and $300m to deliver the first three years of the Health Digital Investment Plan, upgrading core IT platforms, replacing aging devices and modernising radiology systems, eHealthNews reports.

28.05 NZQA has received $31m for technology upgrades, including work on machine learning for marking, in today’s Budget. RNZ reports funding has also be reprioritised for the Te Rito IT project – a cloud-based national system to connect and share student data.

28.05 Kiwibank has rolled out open banking for both individual and business customers across all digital channels. The bank says it is the first to do so, with customers now able to access open-banking enabled payments and data sharing directly through internet banking and the Kiwibank app.

27.05 The government has released new guidance to regulators on how to utilise AI to raise productivity, saying the technology can enable regulators to do more, faster. Regulation Minister David Seymour says the guidance shows regulators how to utilise AI in lower risk areas. It comes a week after the government announced plans to slash around 8,700 public service jobs and use AI to help fill the gaps.

18.05 Gentrack has acquired Wellington energy tech startup Factor for $24m. The deal, which includes a potential $10m earn-out, will see the AI-powered pricing intelligence embedded into the g2 platform to create an end-to-end retail operations platform, Gentrack says.

17.05 EY has withdrawn a study on cyber threats and fraud in loyalty rewards programs after the report was found to be ‘stuffed’ with fake citations and inaccurate claims. GPTzero researchers found the 44-page document was a ‘collage of vibe citations, misattributions, fake statistics and AI-written text’.

15.05 Dawn Aerospace, the University of Canterbury and the University of Auckland have been awarded a total of $1.48 million in the first round of the Kiwi Space Activator pilot program, which aims to move ‘more novel’ space tech from the lab to the skies. Dawn’s project will see it building and flying a small satellite, space minister Chris Penk says.

14.05 A group of academics has slammed the government’s leadership on AI, calling it lacklustre and ignoring anything that doesn’t include the words productivity or efficiency. The trio, writing on RNZ, say the latest missed opportunity was the decision not to send an observer to this year’s Responsible AI in the Military Domain summit.

13.05 The parent company of the Canvas educational tool involved in a major global hack last week has struck a deal with the hackers to secure stolen student and school data, Reuters reports. All data was returned to the company, it says, and digital confirmation of data destruction along with a promise no Instructure customers will be extorted were received Instructure says.

12.05 The upcoming Medical Products Bill will provide a modern regulatory framework for software used in healthcare, targeting therapeutic applications such as diagnosis, treatment guidance or disease monitoring, rather than administrative tools, eHealthNews reports.

12.05 Anti-money laundering reform bills have passed their final readings in Parliament with the government promising faster, less duplicative AML requirements once the bills receive Royal Assent in the next couple of days, InsideGovernment reports.

12.05 Xero CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy has apologised to customers after the accounting platform was hit with five days of outages. The outages were caused by Xero’s own systems and integrations with third-party platforms, SmartCompany reports.

10.05 The government has asked for 10 ‘no-cost, low-effort’ options to protect undersea internet and power cables amid concerns, with eight of the initiatives already completed or underway, RNZ reports. Among the 10 were an exercise simulating a cable break, a biannual threat assessment, and setting up a national surveillance warning capability. The moves follow sabotage and accidental damage of cables in Europe and Asia.

07.05 Rocket Lab has won a US$30 million contract with US defence tech company Anduril Industries. The deal will see three hypersonic test flights using Rocket Lab’s Haste launch vehicle to advance the US Department of War’s scaled hypersonics that deliver Mach 5 and beyond capabilities for future defence missions, Rocket Lab says.

06.05 Kiwi universities are among those caught in a worldwide cyber security attack after they Canvas learning management system, developed by US company Instructure, was subjected to a hack. The NZHerald reports Victoria University of Wellington, Auckland University of Technology and University of Auckland are among those using Canvas in New Zealand. Instructure says it doesn’t believe birthdates, passwords, government identifiers or financial information have been impacted. Names, locations of study, email addresses and messages between users are however believed to have been compromised.

04.05 Kiwi utility software developer Gentrack is acquiring Dubai Technology Partners in a US$10m deal. The company says DTP will add a portfolio of highly complementary AI-enable products which will integrate into Veovo’s Intelligent Airport Platform.

01.05 Trade compliance platform GingerControl has raised US$2.1m in seed funding. Backed VC says more than 90 companies are already using GingerControl to simplify workflows. The company was founded by Chen Cui and Sean Yu, who both grew up in West Auckland.

01.05 A ‘bug’ in a technology partner’s software saw widespread outages across One NZ and 2degree’s networks. Internet and calls were unavailable for many customers. RNZ reports that One NZ took responsibility for the issue.

AppWrap April 2026

28.04 Halter has launched a direct-to-satellite technology enabling cattle farmers to manage stock without the long range radio towers previously required. The company estimates the capability will expand access to Kiwi beef farms by as much as 20 percent, while also enabling expansion into more remote markets globally, including South America and parts of Africa.

23.04 A Public Service Commission performance improvement review of NZ police says New Zealand’s 111 platform ‘presents a fundamental risk to emergency response’ with police lacking end-to-end control over the emergency call process, limiting their ability to modernise, integrate and manage the system. RNZ reports the PIR notes a modern, integrated platform is needed, along with better tools to counter violent crime and ensure officer safety, with the report recommending continuation of an initiative to adopt body-worn cameras.

23.04 The NZ Government has launched a national Survey of Business Operations, which will provide a ‘comprehensive, up-to-date picture of how New Zealand businesses use AI and respond to economic and tech changes’. Insights from the survey, which builds on existing business data gathered by Stats NZ, will shape government policy. Around 20,000 businesses with six or more employees will be surveyed through May and June in what the government says will be one of the largest and most detailed business surveys undertaken in NZ. Invitations will be sent to ‘selected’ businesses in early May.

23.04 An Otago University expert says New Zealand needs a Reserve Bank-backed central bank digital currency (CBDC) in order to ensure it retains monetary sovereignty. Dr Murat Ungor says for the first time in history private companies and foreign governments can offer digital currencies that compete directly with the national currency, and without monetary sovereignty the country could be more vulnerable to economic shocks, reports RNZ.

23.04 Rocket Lab has successfully deployed its 87th launch, to deploy eight satellites for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration program providing opportunities for Japanese universities, researchers and companies to carry out tech demos in space. The company says the launch is its eighth for 2026.

21.04 Microsoft CEO and chairman Satya Nadella’s flying visit to NZ has been accompanied by an announcement that the compny will double its existing AI and digital skilling commitment to NZ, ‘opening access for a further 200,000 people to skilling’ by the end of 2028.

20.04 Kiwi shoe company Allbirds has announced its selling its footwear business to American Exchange Group for $39 million, and rebranding as NewBird AI, leasing GPUs. The company is now describing itself as a ‘fully integrated GPU-as-a-service and AI-native cloud solutions provider in what Forbes says is ‘the clearest picture you will get of where the actual AI bubble lives’. The company surged 600% in a single session on the back of the news.

20.04 Inland Revenue is warning 355,000 crypto-asset users in New Zealand that if they’re making money from those assets they need to think about their tax obligations. It says those crypto users have undertaken around 57 million transactions with a value of $36 billion.

16.04 Kiwi founded edtech company Storypark has acquired Australian childcare software provider Xap for an undisclosed sum. Storypark says the deal nearly doubles the size of the combined business and is a meaningful milestone in its international growth. Storypark was acquired by Potentia Capital in 2024.

15.04 Scott Technology’s half year results show EBITDA of $13.0 million up seven percent on the prior period, on revenue of $128m. The company says it expects further uplift in H2. New contract wins included a meat processor in Australia and automated guided vehicle contracts with a US aerospace manufacturer and a global leader in wine and spirits.

15.04 Travel giant Booking.com has notified an unknown number of customers about a data breach which has seen hackers steal customer data. BBC reports some customers have contacted it saying they have already started receiving suspicious messages. Booking.com has declined to say how many people are affected or in what regions.

14.04 Eight primary health organisations have joined forces in a joint procurement process for a shared, AI-capable tech platform for primary health organisations. The procurement covers claims and payments, provider portal, case management and referrals, eHealthNews reports.

13.04 Health NZ says it has saved $21.4m in one off savings from not having to upgrade platforms and ongoing savings from lower hosting and support costs, reduced duplication and improved productivity as it moves to cut hundreds of old websites. RNZ reports the agency inherited 344 websites about specific conditions or places such as the sites of the 20 DHBs. Many were no longer fit for purpose or did not meet government standards and posed technical and security risks.

13.04 New Plymouth District Court has issued a RFP for an enterprise-grade digital redaction solution capable of accurate and permanent redaction of sensitive information across a range of documents. The GETs document says implementation will begin as a service targeting high-volume or high-risk use cases.

09.04 The government says it has no existing plans to use Palantir’s emerging technologies, despite meeting with the company in February. RNZ reports Defence Minister Judith Collins met with Palantir’s international president for an information discussion.

07.04 MYOB has signed a five-year ‘strategic partnership’ with Microsoft to jointly fund, build and scale AI across its business management solutions to accelerate SME’s use of AI in day-to-day workflows. MYOB says the collaboration is focused on delivering practical, AI-powered tools, with Microsoft providing dedicated engineering support to work alongside MYOB’s teams to co-design and build the solutions. First up will be ‘AI teammates’ to reduce admin load.

03.04 Artemis II astronauts experienced Microsoft Outlook failures shortly after launch, with Mission Control called in to remotely troubleshoot the issue. Commander Reid Wiseman reported that two instances of Outlook were running simultaneously on his Surface Pro, leaving both unresponsive, Mashable reports.

02.04 Inland Revenue says 300 myIR accounts which did not have two-step verification have been accessed following a significant increase in malicious log-on attempts. IR says two-factor authentication prevented access to another 900 accounts which are now being monitored by IR, with the 300 compromised accounts closed and IR contacting affected customers.

02.04 The government is reallocating $122m of science, innovation and tech spend to focus more investment on emerging and advanced technologies, such as robotics, quantum technology and genomics. RNZ reports the funding – about 15 percent of the total $839m available – will be allocated to support four ‘pillars’ of primary industry and bioeconomy, technology for prosperity, environmental sustainability, and healthy people and a thriving society.

01.04 Datacom has acquired T4’s Auckland data centre in a move that gives Datacom five sovereign data centres in New Zealand and a second Auckland facility. The company did not disclose how much it paid in the deal, but says the acquisition– and planned investment in the site – means it has committed more than $200m to building out local data centre capability.

01.04 SpaceX has filed confidentially for an IPO according to reports, which say the company is committed to debuting in June, with Elon Musk aiming to raise US$50b-$75b. The NYTimes reports SpaceX values itself at more than $1 trillion and would be one of the most valuable companies to reach the stock market.

01.04 NZ Police aren’t receiving promised government funding for technology needed to carry out new powers. RNZ says police need two new or improved tech systems – one to handle photos of people and other data generated by enhanced intelligence gathering and one to issue new infringements under a new Bill currently before parliament.

AppWrap March 2026

30.03 New Zealand’s Dexibit has been acquired by UK-listed Accesso Technology Group for $21m. Dexibit is a AI and analytics platform for the visitor attractions market. Accesso says the acquisition launches Accesso Intelligence, a new AI-powered cross-platform capability.

26.03 Health NZ has reminded staff not to use tools like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini in their work after staff were caught using the free versions to write clinical notes. RNZ reports staff have been told using the tools could result in formal disciplinary action.

26.03 Meta and Google have lost a landmark US case, with a Los Angeles jury finding the two companies negligent for designing social media platforms that are harmful to young people. Reuters reports the jury found Meta liable for damages of US$4.2 million, with Google liable for $1.8m in the case of a US woman who sued Meta and YouTube over her childhood addiction to social media.

23.03 NZ Tech has launched a cybertech community, CyberTech New Zealand. The industry body says the group will bring together New Zealand’s cyber tech companies, leaders and advocates to strengthen the sector, promote its capabilities and achievements and help advance national policy and investment in cyber. It has launched with 22 founding member companies, including KPMG, Deloitte, Microsoft, Service Now, University of Auckland, CyberCX and CyberCure.

23.03 One NZ has completed its 2G and 3G network switch off, with both networks now fully retired. The company says by switching off the old tech and reusing radio spectrum on 4G and 5G, it can boost speeds and increase capacity.

20.03 Govt.nz app users will be able to see their digital wallet in the app by the end of the month, with the Government Credential Issuance Platform also going live this month allowing people to store and present accredited digital credentials in the app. Hospitality NZ is working to be the first accredited digital credential in the wallet, pending changes to the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act, Digitising Government and Public Service Minister Judith Collins says.

19.03 Xero co-founder Rod Drury has been named 2026 New Zealander of the Year, with Halter’s Craig Piggot named Innovator of the Year at the Kiwibank New Zealanders of the Year Awards.

19.03 The X Money payments service, Elon Musk’s attempt to build a ‘everything app’ will enter early public access in April. Musk’s ambitions for the embedding payments into X are broader than most Western tech companies, notes PaymentsIndustryIntelligence, with Musk talking about a system that could eventually encompass savings, payments, securities and other financial activity, reducing reliance on traditional banking channels. At launch X Money is expected to offer core wallet and payment functions, including the ability to move funds within the platform.

19.03 Rocket Lab has won a US$190m contract with the United States’ Department of War for a series of 20 hypersonic test flights over four years. RNZ reports the deal is the single largest contract for the Kiwi-founded company and lifts its total order backlog to more than US$2 billion.

16.03 The Financial Markets Authority has ruled that Easy Crypto’s NZDD stablecoin, which is linked to the NZ dollar, isn’t a financial product and can be treated like cash, rather than an investment. Newsroom reports the finding means the coin can be operated without the strict disclosure standards overseen by the FMA.

13.03 A Health NZ report says the loss of digital services jobs within the organisation will increase risks to patient care and will hit rural hospitals hardest, eHealthNews reports. More than 600 roles were vacant and not being filled when the organisation announced last year that it was reducing digital and data roles from around 2000 to 1460. It is now actively recruiting for 200 vacancies and has contracted Datacom to support its help desk through to May.

11.03 Professional body CA ANZ says it will investigate the failure of an external exam delivery platform after more than 1,300 students were locked out of one exam and another 60 experienced delays of up to 40 minutes on a second exam. CA ANZ blamed a failure in an external exam platform operated by a third-party provider.

11.03 Datagrid has been granted resource consent for a planned 280MW, 78,000m2 data centre in Makarewa in Southland. The company says the landing of the Tasman Ring Network subsea cable at Oreti Beach has also been approved. Datagrid, founded by Hawaikii Cable founder Remi Galasso and Callplus founder Malcolm Dick, could be live by 2028 with the University of Otago as an anchor tenant, DatacentreDynamics reports.

11.03 US medtech giant Stryker has been hit by a major cyberattack, with an Iran-linked hacking group claiming responsibility, saying it is in retaliation for the killing of more than 170 people – mainly schoolgirls – in a strike on a school, and warning it marks the beginning of a new chapter in cyber warfare, Al Jazeera reports. The group says it has seized 50TB of Stryker data in the attack which it says has erased data from 200,000 devices.

10.03 Anthropic is opening a Sydney office as it expands its presence in Australia and New Zealand. The company says New Zealand ranks 8th globally in Claude.ai usage, relative to population, with strong demand from local business. Anthropic says it is also exploring opportunities to expand compute capacity in Australia ‘given our longstanding belief that democracies should lead in AI development’. The company is currently suing the US government over its claims that Anthropic is a ‘supply chain risk’. The row erupted after Anthropic refused to all US military to have unfettered use to its AI tools.

07.03 Bunnings will begin using facial recognition technology in two Hamilton stores from mid-April, with a nationwide rollout to follow. The remainder of the North Island will be covered in phase two, with the South Island rollout coming in phase three, with timings yet to be confirmed, Bunnings says. The company says the system will help protect staff and customers from increasing threatening incidents.

05.03 The GCSB has warned government that cyber security around some of New Zealand’s critical infrastructure is ‘barely meeting that foundational level we would expect’. RNZ reports that GCSB director-general Andrew Clark told a select committee that supply chains, including digital ones from private companies into public agencies, were increasingly a weak point and they had to make sure private ones are hardened up like public ones.

04.03 Recruitment company Younity is reporting an 80 percent jump in open IT roles year-on-year in January, continuing a trend seen in December. It says demand is being driven largely by business transformation roles such as business analysis, project management and delivery focused positions, however, demand is healthy across critical IT disciplines including software development, data engineering and analytics, cloud computing and cybersecurity.

02.03 Andrew Bridgman has been appointed establishment chief executive of the New Zealand Institute for Advanced Technology. MBIE says he will oversee the critical foundation phase, putting in place governance, operational capability and systems required to deliver on NZIAT’s mission of ensuring advanced tech delivers meaningful, measurable benefits for New Zealanders.

02.03 Syos Aerospace has won a contract to supply drones to the New Zealand Defence force. Air, land and sea drones will be delivered as part of the deal, Syos says.

01.03 Kiwi managed services company Securecom has been acquired by the New Zeaand subsidiary of Japan’s Sharp. Shap says there will be no structural or operational changes, for the Auckland-headquartered operations and 24/7  integrated operations centre, which will continue under the leadership of Greg Mikkelsen. The deal provides Sharp with an IT services business as it moves from being a traditional print and copier business to ‘a more unified tech partner’, Sharp says.

AppWrap February 2026

27.02 The government has released New Zealand’s Cyber Security Strategy 2026-2030 and an accompanying action plan, providing a national framework for responding to cyber threats and strengthening cyber security practices. The strategy is focused around four objectives of understand, prevent and prepare, respond and partner, while the action plan translates the objectives into specific initiatives including strengthening critical infrastructure cyber resilience and quantum readiness.

26.02 Tauranga robotics company Syos Aerospace’s uncrewed autonomous helicopter has completed a series of fully autonomous mission trials clearing the uncrewed aerial vehicle for serial production, the company says.

26.02 Nvidia has posted blockbuster quarterly results of US$68.1 billion – up 73 percent year on year and well above analysts’ forecasts. Revenue from the data centre division, which sells the chips used to train and run AI models was up 75 percent yoy to $62.3 billion, the company says.

25.02 MediMap is seeking an urgent injunction to stop any sharing of stolen data after sensitive patient data was distributed to media outlets. The injunction being sought would prohibit anyone from accessing, using, copying, sharing or publishing any MediMap data that may have been unlawfully obtained and would seek to limit further spread of the information online, Stuff reports.

24.02 Pharmacists have implemented manual systems after medication management platform MediMap was hacked on Sunday. Records for some patients have been altered, including labelling some live patients as deceased, and changing names. Patient data for over 120,000 users was put at risk by the hack, the NZ Herald reports.

23.02 New Zealand’s Privacy Commissioner has joined other countries in signing a joint statement voicing concerns about use of AI-generated imagery, and reiterating expectations for organisations developing and using AI content generation to ensure systems are developed and used in accordance with legal frameworks, including data protection and privacy rules.

20.02 Fintech Dosh’s bid to become a bank has been turned down by the Reserve Bank, which says it does not meet the legal definition of a bank. Dosh told a Parliamentary banking inquiry follow-up that the Reserve Bank says it must make loans as well as offering other banking services to be deemed a bank – something Dosh says is a restrictive and narrow interpretation of the legislation, GoodReturns reports.

18.02 Xero is restructuring with 250 jobs on the line – including in New Zealand. The company is creating around 280 roles in Canada as part of the restructure, BusinessDesk reports [paywalled].

18.02 YouTube suffered an outage from around 1.50pm NZT, with a spokesperson for Google saying an issue with the recommendations system prevented videos appearing.

18.02 Spark has reported an 83 percent rise in net profit after tax, to $64m, for the first half of FY26. Revenue was down 1.2 percent to $1.8 billion in the interim results for the six months to December. It says use of agentic AI is reducing set up time by around 60 percent on some business products with AI now identifying customers with more complex needs so they can be escalated to the care team for faster resolution.

17.02 Mastercard has completed its first Agent Pay – agentic – transactions in New Zealand, with Mastercard’s country manager using a bot to purchase cinema tickets, then booking Queenstown accommodation. Stuff reports Mastercard plans to launch the offering fully in New Zealand within six to nine months. It has currently launched in the US and is in pilot in Australia, the UAE and Latin America.

16.02 Labour says it supports the principle of long-term investment in digital health, but wants more detail before committing to supporting the Government’s 10-year Health Digital Investment Plan. Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says she wants more detail about how the plan will invest in cybersecurity, eHealthNews reports.

16.02 An American computer scientist is heading to New Zealand’s Court of Appeal next week to test whether AI really can be an inventor. In the global test case, Stephen Thaler is challenging the Patent Office’s declining of an application for a patent for a new type of food container he says was named by an AI system, RNZ reports. The Patent Office and High Court say an inventor has to be human.

16.02 The Department of Corrections has warned staff about use of AI tools outside approved use, after some staff were found using it to draft formal reports. RNZ reports Corrections’ policy for Microsoft Copilot – the only AI used by the agency – is that Chat must not be used under any circumstances for reports or assessments containing personal information, but in a ‘small number of incidents’ inappropriate use has occurred.

13.02 Kiwi Chris Liddell has been appointed to the Anthropic board of directors. CNBC reports the appointment, which comes as Anthropic announces it closed a US$30 billion funding round at a US$380 billion post-money valuation, could help the company foster some goodwill with the Trump administration which has accused Anthropic of supporting ‘woke AI’. Liddell was deputy White House chief of staff during Trump’s first term.

11.02 Christchurch start-up Contented AI, which turns meeting notes into documents, has raised $4.1m in a seed funding round. The company says it will use the funding to scale into Australia and the UK, triple its team, invest in core technology and build out new integrations and templates. The funding round was led by Altered Capital, with backing from K1W1, Icehouse Ventures, Aspire NZ Seed Fund and others.

11.02 Wellington medtech Wellumio has raised $7.28 million in a pre-Series A funding round. The company is developing a portal AI-enhanced brain scan technology designed to rapidly detect acute stroke and unlock treatment within the ‘golden hour’, Voice of Healthcare reports. The funding will be used to build the team and accelerate clinical development.

09.02 New Zealand is adopting 57 digital technology international standards as part of a trans-Tasman standards agreement. The agreement aims to align standards and adopt trusted international rules across areas including AI, data management and cybersecurity. Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson says the agreement will also strengthen digital trade, and reduce fees and red tape. The national standards bodies on both sides of the Tasman will also support 33 additional joint A/NZ standards projects to progress in fields including telecommunications, while 24 standards across areas including building and construction and consumer protection will be ‘re-aligned’.

09.02 Computer simulations, based on climate models, are being used to predict future ocean temperatures and currents – and future marine heatwaves and ocean-driven weather patterns – in an $8.9m project examining how offshore ocean changes are driving extreme weather in New Zealand and impacting coastal waters. The five-year project will see self-driven ocean gliders mapping the ‘heatscape’ along New Zealand’s coastline University of Auckland says.

09.02 Early-stage investment in start-up businesses attracted 8.6 percent more capital, with nearly twice as many new businesses receiving investment in last year, according to Angel Association. RNZ reports deal activity rebounded with a 34 percent increase in the number of deals completed, to 167, but the capital increase was a more conservative 2.7 percent, to $13.9m.

04.02 The Warehouse Group is cutting 270 head office roles and upping its ‘co-sourcing’ with Tata Consultancy Services as part of a push for a ‘leaner operating structure’. TCS will support delivery of corporate and admin functions, including parts of technology, accounting, call centres and payroll, TWG says. Last year the company announced it was using TCS to simplify its tech stack and lower costs, saying the partnership would reduce licensing and managed services costs by up to $40m over five years and free tech teams to focus on delivering more value for customers, communities and shareholders.

03.02 Kiwi software quality consultancy Assurity Consulting has been acquired by global technology services firm Aspire Systems. Assurity says the deal will provide global scale and deep technical capability, unlocking a pipeline of AI tools for New Zealand and Australian clients.

03.02 A new ‘digital medical assistant’, aka chatbot, to provide pre-and post-surgical advice is being rolled out to some New Zealand and US clinics. The AI agent, developed by Fios Health and operating via SMS, is customised to each surgeon’s protocols and proactively sends information and answers patient questions. Early trials showed some patients felt more comfortable directing certain questions to an AI assistant rather than their surgeon, Fios says.

03.02 Xero says more than two million subscribers are using its full AI features, with more than 300,000 using its newer GenAI features. In a market update today the company claimed customers are saving around 22 hours a month using bank feeds and automated actions, with more than 12 percent using AI Insights.

03.02 Kiwi AI startup Teacher’s Buddy has raised $2.3m in trans-Tasman seed funding. The offering aims to reduce teacher workloads, helping with marking and student report writing and producing customised, differentiated curriculum-aligned teaching and assessment materials  The company says the funding was led by Auckland’s Soul Capital and Australia’s Giant Leap.

03.02 2degrees has completed the shutdown of its 3G services with finals shutdown completed last night. The telco says the shutdown enables it to focus on strengthening and expanding its 4G and 5G networks which already carry the vast majority of mobile traffic, while also looking to satellite.

AppWrap January 2026

31.01 Spectral Defence has been crowned the national winner of the ActInSpace New Zealand 2026 hackathon and will represent New Zealand at the international ActInSpace finals in France in April. The event sees teams tackle space-related challenges, applying satellite data, earth observation and space-enabled technologies to problems spanning sustainability, infrastructure, resilience and ‘everyday life applications’, SpaceBase, who delivered the NZ event, says.

30.01 The NZ government has launched its Public Service AI Work Program designed to accelerate the safe and responsible adoption of AI across government agencies. The two-year ‘action plan’ is designed to connect agencies’ efforts with the resources, guidance and support needed to accelerate AI adoption, while modelling best practice, Digital.govt.nz says. The program includes an AI marketplace, an AI hub with registries and tools, a dedicated AI Innovation and Accelerator Lab and a public service AI Sandbox.

30.01 Thirty-eight percent of Kiwis received unwanted digital communication in the last 12 months, with 14 percent reporting the experience negatively impacted their life, Netsafe reports. Ten percent admitted having sent or shared at least one form of unwanted communication themselves in the past year.

29.01 A system error with the Ministry of Social Development’s IT system resulted in around 200 pensioners who get overseas pensions receiving incorrect NZ Super payments. RNZ reports the ministry is working ‘urgently’ to fix the fault in the IT system which updates overseas pension rates.

29.01 Hospital administration systems across the top half of the North Island shut down for 12 hours in a major IT failure affecting clinical and operational systems. All emergency department, laboratory and inpatient systems were affected with clinicians resorting to paper-based systems, whiteboards and phones, Stuff reports.

27.01 Nema is warning people about AI images circulating on TikTok claiming to capture the fallout of the Mt Maunganui slip. The scenes depict exaggerated scenes of destruction including a raging waterfall and emergency workers digging through wreckage. A Victoria University senior lecturer says he believes it is the first time AI images of a New Zealand disaster have circulated online, RNZ reports.

26.01 Client data has been breached in a cyberattack on Napier law firm Langley Twigg Law. The company says security monitoring software alerted to unauthorised activity on the network on 11 January, after the network was targeted by ‘a sophisticated malicious attack using a new strain of virus’ not recognised by antivirus programs at the time. Client data has been copied from the file server, the company says.

27.01 Airwallex boss Jack Zhang says the fintech is at least two years away from a public listing, despite regular references to an IPO in 2026. Zhang’s comments, reported in StartupDaily, follow news last week that Austrac has ordered an audit of the company over AML/CTF concerns.

26.01 A digital twin simulating New Zealand’s entire population, has been used to study resilience to measles. eHealthnews reports the digital twin creates ‘virtual kiwis’ built from aggregated census and government data, enabling researchers to model public health scenarios to inform public policy decision and emergency planning, without tracking real people.

23.01 Manage My Health has warned that secondary actors may be impersonating the company and sending spam or phishing emails in the wake of the high profile hack of the online patient portal. The company says it has been granted an interim injunction from the High Court to prevent access, dissemination or publication of the impacted data by any third parties and says it is monitoring data leak websites and ready to issue takedown notices.

23.01 TikTok has finalised agreements with backers including Oracle, Silver Lake and Emirati company MGX to establish a US joint venture. Each of the three backers will hold a 15 percent stake in the company. ByteDance keeps a 19.9 percent share. The BBC reports the content recommendation algorithm has been licensed to Oracle – headed by Trump ally Larry Ellison – which already oversees US user data under a previous arrangement set up over security concerns. The deal will enable TikTok to continue operating in the US, but is likely to continue to be scrutinised, with some Democrats voicing concerns about the ties between Trump and TikTok’s new investor group could limit what gets shared on the platform.

22.01 Australia’s financial intelligence unit, Austrac has ordered an external auditor be appointed to assess whether fintech – and unicorn – Airwallex is complying with anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing. Austrac says it has ‘concerns’ about potential non-compliance including that Airwallex’s transaction monitoring program has not been ‘attuned to the full range of risks it faces’ and the company hasn’t demonstrated an acceptable understanding of who its customers are and what reporting may be required. The auditor must report findings within 180 days of appointment.

22.01 Hamilton’s Cloudland has acquired professional services tech provider CommArc for an undisclosed sum, in its fourth acquisition in as many years.

20.01 Kiwi legal tech startup Ivo has raised US$55m in a Series B funding round led by existing investor Blackbird. The company’s platform helps in-house legal teams review contracts. Ivo says customers include Uber, Shopify, Canva, Atlassian, Reddit and Pinterest, and the capital will support product development and scaling the company.

15.01 Kiwi email signature provider Crossware has bought Germany’s largest email signature provider, CI Solutions, in a multimillion-dollar deal. Crossware says the deal significantly scales its presence in the European union and establishes it as one of the leading email signature providers globally, processing more than five million emails every day.

13.01 Advertising is hitting the AI chatbots with ads starting to show up in Google’s ‘AI Mode’ in what the Washington Post says is likely to be just the beginning of more trial-and-error attempts this year. Google has been pushing a new type of ad in AI Mode to advertisers, OpenAI has also been looking at introducing advertising in ChatGPT and Perplexity attempted ads but pulled back last year – but has left the doors open to try again.

11.01 Around 70 percent of those impacted by the ManageMyHealth breach are based in Northland. Ransomware group Kazu has demanded US$60,000 after stealing hundreds of thousands of medical files. RNZ reports around 120,000 patients have had data stolen, with 80,000 of those based in Northland.

01.01 ManageMyHealth has been hacked, with ‘six to seven per cent’ of its approximately 1.8 million registered users potentially affected. The company says it has begun to identify users affected and will start notifying them within the next 48 hours.

The post AppWrap: Open banking up, Xero shareholders revolt over CEO pay increase and Meta’s US$18b settlement appeared first on iStart leading the way to smarter technology investment..

Every document uploaded, process automated and workflow handed to AI is helping build systems that could eventually outperform the very businesses feeding them. Productivity gains are real, he told iStart, but so are the unintended consequences, particularly for companies deploying AI without fully understanding where their data, knowledge and intellectual property end up.

“Everyone disregards the unintended consequences until it bites.”

A recent report found 40 percent of Australian office professionals have entered customer data or information into public AI tools, with 28 percent admitting inputting financial information or disclosing confidential company documents or strategies. Shadow AI Survey also noted that 70 percent of those surveyed have used AI tools or services at work despite not being allowed under company policies – and over half (53 percent) have faced formal consequences, such as a warning or disciplinary action, due to unauthorised AI use.

But Robb argues the issue isn’t simply whether staff are using AI. It’s how organisations are using it, what information is being shared with AI systems and whether anyone has thought through the consequences.

“Everyone disregards the unintended consequences until it bites,” he says.

Robb believes most employees are acting with good intentions. They’re looking for faster ways to complete tasks, improve reports and eliminate repetitive work. In many cases, they’re right: AI can dramatically improve productivity.

The problem is that productivity gains can obscure risk.

One of Robb’s biggest concerns is the amount of organisational knowledge being fed into public AI platforms. As staff upload documents, workflows and business information to improve outputs, organisations may be unintentionally giving away IP and expertise.

“[The foundation model providers] own the IP and you are training them to be better than you are,” he says.

Last month, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella warned about the unintended consequences of AI, including the ‘reverse information paradox’ where enterprises unknowingly give away their proprietary institutional knowledge and competitive advantage simply by utilising third-party AI systems to boost productivity.

That’s just one unintended consequence Robb says companies need to consider as AI adoption accelerates. Another is the ease with which well-intentioned employees can create data exposure risks while trying to be more productive.

That, however, isn’t a new phenomenon. He recalls regularly dealing with incidents at a major bank where staff moved documents outside secure environments in order to work faster – sending a PDF to their home PC to convert it and send back to the work PC, for example. The intention was never malicious. Employees were simply trying to get the job done. But once sensitive information left the bank’s systems, a security breach had occurred and it was a summarily dismissible offence.

Robb sees similar behaviour emerging around AI tools today.

“Now, if I’ve loaded company data in to get that, that company’s got a genuine exposure,” he says.

For tech leaders, that means the challenge is no longer just identifying unauthorised AI use. It is understanding what information employees are putting into AI systems and whether appropriate guardrails exist around that behaviour.

Robb says regulated organisations, particularly financial institutions, have already invested heavily in governance and controls. “Banks have already stopped their people sending data to their iPads. It’s really hard to get data out of a bank or an insurance company.

“But when you’re a smaller business, the data’s everywhere.”

At the same time, companies are moving beyond AI experimentation.

Many of the early AI projects focused on incremental improvements – better reports, improved customer service or small efficiency gains. Robb says the next phase is different as businesses start to redesign entire processes around AI.

“It’s moved from incrementalism to step changes in processes.”

That shift creates new opportunities but also new risks. He cites the example of a plumbing business that has automated significant amounts of administrative work using AI. Compliance documentation and other repetitive tasks that once required multiple staff are now largely automated. The business gains efficiency, reduces effort and lowers its cost to serve customers.

The broader question, however, is what happens when competitors follow.

“If you have a lower cost to serve, you will kill your competition. Ai is a lower cost to serve.”

For business leaders, that’s a reminder that AI governance isn’t just about risk management. It is also becoming a competitive issue. Organisations that fail to adopt AI may find themselves at a disadvantage. Organisations that adopt it recklessly may create security, compliance or intellectual-property problems they don’t yet understand.

So what should companies be doing now?

Robb’s answer, unsurprisingly given he runs an AI governance consultancy, is governance. Not governance as a brake on innovation, but governance as a way of avoiding the ‘we’ll deal with that later’ approach that has accompanied many AI deployments. The question, he says, isn’t whether organisations should use AI. It’s whether they’ve thought through what happens when productivity gains collide with compliance obligations, security risks or unexpected business outcomes.

He says every organisation deploying AI into production should have a governance plan appropriate to its size and risk profile. For larger organisations, that means asking practical questions:

Does the AI initiative have board approval and a defined business outcome?

Is a human accountable for customer-impacting decisions?

If you lost control of your AI model, could you regenerate using using paper and pen, the data and the answers to get to the same position within 24 hours?

Does the business understand what data is being shared with AI tools?

An AI governance pack Robb’s company developed for banks and listed companies warns that AI governance is no longer optional and ‘we have a policy’ is no longer an answer – and ‘we are not doing anything yet’ is not a defence.

The pack outlines six guardrails:

• Strategic alignment – is AI use tied to risk appetite and corporate strategy),
• Accountability – who owns each AI system end-to-end?
• Explainability – can you explain a decision to a regulator or customer?
• Human oversight
• Monitoring and adaption – are models monitored for drift, bias and performance, and
• Organisational ethics

“If your board cannot score itself against these six, you do not yet have AI governance,” the pack says.

Smaller businesses? They’re exempt to some degree, he says. “If you’re say a five person plumbing business and you’re using AI to do training or something, honestly, congratulations, you’re curious, you’re using the tools. You don’t need a governance plan because you’re aware of the boundaries of what you’re doing.”

Putting in the wrong parts won’t be the end of the world – and it’s probably something you sometimes did pre-AI anyway.

Robb isn’t advocating caution at the expense of innovation. In fact, he believes many organisations across Australia and New Zealand have been too slow to realise AI’s potential.

Instead, his message is to stay curious, move quickly and prepare for the downsides, rather than ignoring them.

“AI is more valuable than it is detrimental,” he says. But organisations also need a plan for what happens when something goes wrong.

The post Unintended consequences: Are you training AI to eat your lunch? appeared first on iStart leading the way to smarter technology investment..

The initiative marks the global financial messaging network’s first production use of a blockchain-based ledger and is being positioned as a way to enable funds to move overnight and on weekends while remaining within the regulated banking system – and compete with the emerging stablecoin market.

“We see strong potential to help customers move funds in real-time and manage liquidity more flexibly.”

Banks from six continents are taking part, including ANZ, Citi, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, UBS, Wells Fargo and Standard Chartered. Swift (the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) says participating banks will use the shared ledger as an orchestration layer for bank-issued tokenised deposits on their own infrastructure, allowing institutions to move value before final settlement is completed through existing banking systems.

For ANZ, the trial expands a digital assets strategy the bank has been pursuing for several years, including work with tokenised assets and blockchain-based settlement technologies.

Lisa Vasic, ANZ managing director transaction banking, says the bank is working with Swift and global partners to ‘securely scale next-generation payments infrastructure’ and deliver ‘more efficient, always-on payment capabilities’.

“By combining Swift’s trusted network with this new infrastructure, we see strong potential to help customers move funds in real-time and manage liquidity more flexibly,” Vasic says.

Beyond crypto and speculation

Blockchain has struggled to find a use case within business. For much of the past decade, the technology, initially hyped as the foundational technology for Bitcoin and decentralised digital currency, has been associated more with cryptocurrencies, speculative trading and fraud than practical enterprise applications. Despite billions of dollars invested globally, and plenty of attempts, relatively few large-scale business deployments have emerged outside digital asset markets.

The distributed ledgers have been trialled for everything from smart contracts that automatically execute when predetermined conditions are met, to supply chain tracking systems designed to create tamper-resistant records of product governance and movement. But while some have delivered niche benefits, few have achieved widespread adoption at scale – and there have been several high profile failures. Maersk and IBM shuttered the TradeLens blockchain-enabled global trade platform in 2022 after five years work, blaming an apparent lack of interest and trust from the industry. The ASX’s blockchain-powered Chess settlement and clearing system project meanwhile went down in a ball of flames – labelled a ‘profound failure’ by the chair of a parliamentary joint committee on corporations and financial services, and leading to an AU$250 million writedown.

The payments difference

The Swift initiative sees some of the world’s largest banks using the technology to tackle an issue that has frustrated businesses for decades: The limitations of cross-border payments.

International transfers remain constrained by time zones, banking hours and fragmented settlement processes. While businesses have become increasingly digital and globally connected, moving money internationally often remains slower than moving information.

Swift believes tokenised deposits operating over a blockchain-based ledger could help bridge that gap. The organisations says the new capability would allow banks to support 24/7 cross-border payments while maintaining the compliance, risk management and control frameworks already embedded into the global financial system.

“It allows tokenised value to move across borders with the velocity and flexibility modern commerce expects, while maintaining the same high levels of resiliency, security and compliance global finance requires,” says Thierry Chilosi, Swift chief business officer.

The approach differs significantly from public cryptocurrency networks.

Rather than creating an alternative financial system, Swift’s ledger is designed to sit alongside existing banking infrastructure. Participating banks continue issuing and managing deposits, while the ledger provides a common mechanism for coordinating transactions between institutions. Final settlement still occurs through established banking channels.

That distinction may prove critical.

Many organisations have shown little appetite for holding cryptocurrencies or exposing core treasury processes to public blockchain networks. The involvement of the 17 banks suggests growing interest from major financial institutions in tokenised deposits as a way to improve payment availability and liquidity while remaining within established regulatory and banking frameworks.

Swift says banks will be able to move tokenised funds around the clock, including outside normal business hours, helping businesses access capital more quickly and manage liquidity more efficiently.

Testing blockchain’s real value

The launch also appears to reflect a broader shift taking place within the banking sector, with many major financial institutions increasingly focused on determining where exactly blockchain can deliver measurable value. Cross-border payments have emerged as one of the strongest candidates because they involve multiple organisations, multiple jurisdictions and significant coordination requirements – all characteristics that align naturally with distributed ledger designs.

In effect, the trial represents blockchain being used for what it was arguably always designed to do: Maintain a trusted and shared record between parties that do not directly control the same systems.

Swift says the shared ledger, first announced last year, was designed and built with feedback from international financial institutions.

“The strong support from banks shows the practical value of this approach,” Chilosi says, adding that it will help scale benefits globally while creating a foundation for future innovation in areas like programmable money and agentic commerce, where automated systems execute transactions and payments on behalf of users.

The scale of the network involved also gives the initiative significance. Belgium-based Swift underpins the vast majority of international bank messaging and says its infrastructure connects more than 200 markets worldwide.

While enterprise blockchain initiatives have often generated considerable hype before falling short of expectations, Swift’s initiative targets a clearly defined operational problem and is backed by institutions already responsible for moving trillions of dollars through the global financial system.

For ANZ and its banking peers, that may ultimately prove blockchain’s most natural home: Not replacing banks, but helping them move money faster.

The post ANZ joins Swift blockchain payments push appeared first on iStart leading the way to smarter technology investment..

The prediction reflects one of the less discussed consequences of the generative AI boom. While early conversations focused on productivity gains, code generation speeds and developer efficiency, software engineering leaders (and indeed, all IT leaders) are now facing a new challenge: Controlling the cost of AI itself.

“Token discipline will not emerge through developer choice alone.”

At the same time, vendors are increasingly moving away from traditional seat-based licensing models towards consumption-based pricing, where organisations pay for the tokens consumed by AI models. As AI deployments scale, token consumption is emerging as a growing cost consideration across the industry. The combination of higher usage and metered billing is creating a cost trajectory that Gartner believes many organisations are underestimating.

On the coding front, Gartner says 40 percent of software engineering leaders are reporting that more than half of their teams are using AI tools to augment software development processes. As adoption grows, token consumption – the units increasingly used to measure and bill AI model usage – is rising rapidly.

Early signs of the cost impact are already emerging with Gartner Peer Insights data showing 23 percent of software engineering leaders are reporting costs of US$200 to US$500 per developer per month in token costs for AI coding agents such as Claude Code, Cursor and OpenAI Codex. For five percent of organisations, that figure has already soared to more than US$2,000 per developer per month.

“Organisations are rapidly moving from experimentation to scaled deployment of AI coding agents, but many are underestimating the financial impact of rising token consumption,” Nitish Tyagi, Gartner senior principal advisor, says.

““AI coding costs will continue to rise as infrastructure investment and profitability challenges push model pricing higher,” Tyagi says. “At the same time, as more developers adopt AI tools, light users are expected to rapidly become mainstream users as familiarity and reliance increase, driving further growth in token consumption and overall spend.”

The concern isn’t simply the price of large language models. Gartner argues that three common behaviours are driving much of the overspending: Giving AI agents too much autonomy, providing excessive amounts of context, and failing to establish feedback mechanisms to identify and prevent wasteful usage patterns.

“Token discipline will not emerge through developer choice alone,” Tyagi says, noting that developers will naturally optimise for speed and convenience, rather than token efficiency. Instead, organisations should treat token consumption as a governed part of their engineering operating model, the analyst company says in its How to Optimise Token Consumption for AI Coding Agents report.

That recommendation may be particularly relevant as organisations race to adopt increasingly capable AI coding agents. Unlike traditional coding assistants that suggest code snippets or provide developer support, agentic platforms can take on broader development tasks autonomously. Gartner points to increases of 100x over coding assistants experienced by software engineering leaders.  

Gartner says organisations need to establish clear rules around when AI agents should be used and how much autonomy they should be granted.

The report recommends categorising software development activities into three tiers: Developer-only work for sensitive, operationally risky work or work not worth the token cost; AI-assisted development where humans remain in control, and fully autonomous agent-led development. AI-assisted development should be the default zone for most day-to-day engineering because it improves throughput while maintaining human oversight and avoiding some of the introducing costly agentic loops which can occur when autonomous systems repeatedly call models and tools without adequate controls, Gartner says. Those with lower software engineering maturity and limited governance frameworks are also advised to prioritise assistive AI over autonomous development.

Governance is another area Gartner says requires urgent attention.

Less than one in three engineering organisations currently has formal AI governance policies in place. Gartner says engineering leaders should assess both the maturity of their software development practices and existing AI controls before expanding the use of autonomous coding agents.

“Organisations should introduce mechanisms such as token thresholds, escalation policies and automated monitoring to manage growth. Embedding these controls into engineering workflows ensures consistency and prevents uncontrolled costs.”

The report also highlights what Gartner calls context engineering as a critical discipline for controlling costs.

Every file, document, code repository extract or tool output included in an AI prompt increases token consumption. Gartner advises development teams to treat context as both a quality input and a cost driver, requiring developers to evaluate what information is essential, what can be summarised and what can be removed altogether.

“A mature context engineering practice should teach developers how to structure context so that it is not merely comprehensive, but optimised.”

Another recommendation is to avoid defaulting to premium AI models for every task. Instead, Gartner advocates model-routing approaches where smaller, lower-cost models handle routine work, with tasks escalated to more powerful and expensive models only when complexity or risk justifies the additional spending.

“AI coding agents are most cost‑effective when work is broken into smaller tasks that can be handled by smaller models, with escalation only when complexity demands it. Model choice should be driven by task complexity, context size, application criticality, and developer maturity.”

Also recommended is better visibility into how AI coding tools are being consumed, with regular reviews of high-token-consuming workflows as part of sprint retrospectives to identify inefficiencies, refine practices and promote knowledge sharing across engineering teams.

“Most organisations still lack the maturity and frameworks to effectively measure cost versus business impact,” says Tyagi.

The report stresses that higher costs aren’t necessarily bad if they bring measurable business benefits, such as profit, reduced risk, improved growth or support strategic goals.

“The goal is to use AI coding agents efficiently but not to restrict the use of them.”

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One Gartner client began with more than 600 potential AI use cases competing for investment. Unsurprisingly, Gartner’s Luke Ellery recommends companies don’t pursue everything. Instead, he recommends creating a ‘AI funding funnel’ that ranks initiatives based on business value and technical feasibility before significant budgets are committed.

“It’s a great way of helping CFOs understand AI investments.”

For CIOs facing pressure to ‘do more with AI’ the message at Gartner’s recent Data and Analytics conference in Sydney, the message was surprisingly simple: Stop launching pilots and start managing AI investments like a portfolio.

Ellery, Sydney-based Gartner VP analyst, says while organisations have been spending billions on AI, ‘you could say there is no R in ROI, only investment’. A Gartner survey showed 80-95 percent of Gartner clients saw limited financial returns from their AI investments and only 11 percent of CFOs were able to concretely measure financial returns from big AI investments.

Ellery’s assessment? Based on other Gartner surveys, he says the number one thing is picking the wrong use cases. Deploying Microsoft Copilot might help employees save time and feel happier and more productive, but that’s not financial value.

Value vs feasibility

Gartner’s funding funnel requires ideas to be vetted and prioritised across two dimensions – business value and feasibility.

Business value focuses on the outcomes executives care about – higher revenue, lower costs, reduced risk or improved service delivery. It’s an area that will vary for each organisation, Ellery notes. Time horizon is also an important factor here, he says. While last year CFOs were very focused on getting AI returns within the year, that stance has softened somewhat with the realisation achieving AI goals, and returns, will be harder than anticipated and returns will come on a longer time frame.

Feasibility, meanwhile, looks at the practical realities of implementation, including data readiness, technology requirements, skills availability, security controls and governance obligations.

The sweet spot, of course, is funding initiatives that score highly on both measures and will provide easy wins.

But Ellery notes: “Often organisations won’t have many.” All, however, is not lost. Ellery says leaders need to think about how projects work together, evaluating AI initiatives as a portfolio, rather than in isolation.

“In some scenarios it is very hard to get any of the individual projects off the ground by themselves, but if we collect a number of projects together, we can combine the cost and value and risks.

“It’s a great way of helping CFOs understand investments so we can actually create those larger returns.”

Why boring projects matter

He used customer personalisation as an example of an initiative with potentially high business value. The ability to tailor products, offers and interactions to individual customers has long been viewed as an AI holy grail, with obvious implications for revenue growth and customer retention.

The challenge, however, is that many organisations lack the foundations required to make personalisation work. Customer data may be fragmented across multiple systems. Governance controls may be immature. Data quality may be poor. Technology platforms may not be integrated.

As a result, what appears to be a high-value opportunity often scores poorly on feasibility.

By contrast, a much less glamorous project – such as automated client call summarisation – may deliver only modest business value on its own. It is unlikely to transform an organisation’s growth prospects or dramatically improve profitability, yet it may be significantly easier to implement.

More importantly, the project may capture and structure customer information essential for more advanced personalisation initiatives later.

Seen that way, the lower-value project becomes a stepping stone to something much bigger.

“We need to look at all these initiatives as a group in a broader view,” Ellery says. “The problem is that a lack of consistency prohibits us from actually achieving differentiation,” he says, arguing that organisations often need to fix underlying operational and data problems before they can use AI to create competitive advantage.

Building foundations before differentiation

Many AI projects fail not because the models are inadequate, but because organisations do not have accessible, well-governed data available for those models to use.

Technical debt presents a similar challenge. Legacy systems often store valuable information in formats that are difficult to access, integrate or analyse. Organisations may also need to invest in security, governance and compliance frameworks before deploying AI more broadly.

These investments can be difficult to sell with boards and executive teams naturally attracted to customer-facing use cases and ambitious transformation projects. Few get excited about data architecture, governance frameworks or system modernisation. Yet those investments can determine whether more ambitious AI initiatives succeed or stall.

Ellery pointed to the banking sector to illustrate that, noting years of core banking modernisation efforts as an example of organisations improving consistency across technology environments.

“That’s probably why some of the banks are more ahead in the AI race than others, in terms of realising the value of AI.”

In some cases capability-building projects lacking immediate business impact may be the highest-value investments an organisation can make.

Making the financial case

After vetting and prioritising – providing the litmus test for funding – Gartner’s funding funnel focuses on the crux of the issue – the funding. He noted there are different types of value for organisations. ‘Green money’ provides direct, measurable financial outcomes that appear in profit and loss statements, such as increased revenue or reduced budgeted costs. These are the benefits CFOs tend to care most about because the cause-and-effect relationship is clear.

‘Blue money’ by contrast, includes measures such as customer satisfaction, employee experience and Net Promoter Score. While these metrics may contribute to future financial performance, they don’t guarantee a return and can be difficult to directly link to revenue or profit with less direct correlation.

Ellery also warned against relying heavily on ‘cost avoidance’ arguments, such as delaying a system upgrade, noting that financial leaders often place less weight on savings that have never formally appeared in a budget.

“What we’re doing is putting all this information together on a slide so we can make a determination with the CFO.”

When cumulative costs are higher than the benefit – as with the earlier customer personalisation example – there’s a chance to flip the conversation and argue it as a cost leader to enable you to do other projects – or to bring it into a wider program.

Ellery noted the success of a multinational DIY and home improvement goods company. “They used a system dynamics model and did scenario simulations over three and five years to actually figure out how to order, how to do promotions with feedback loops.”

Targeting 10 percent revenue growth, they nearly got it, coming in at nine percent.

“But they also stabilised their supply chain, which unleashed about $120 million in working capital, and they also deferred the expansion of their processing facilities, which saved them about $25 million in capital costs.”

A courier company increased on-time deliveries by 25 percent, cut idle time by 20 percent and reduced fleet expansion to three percent through use of ‘a very interesting agent-based model, where they had agents represented for vehicles, drivers, customers as autonomous agents’ and micro-hubs.

And a hospital, aiming to reduce emergency department wait times by 15 percent in three, months used AI in its demand forecasting and rostering. Their wait times dropped 77 percent and – as a side benefit – they also saved $100,000 in overtime through data-driven staffing.

“If we can target the value that we’re trying to optimise, it makes it so much easier for us to build these AI systems to actually realise those outcomes and to optimise them.”

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The deployment, built on Amazon Connect, has shaved more than two-and-a-half minutes off average calls for the 150+ year old company, one of New Zealand’s largest publicly listed general insurance companies, removing more than 796,000 minutes of customer time across sales, service and claims interactions.

“By bringing interactions into a single platform and integrating customer data, we’ve enabled real-time meaningful AI support for our frontline teams.”

But the more telling detail sits behind those numbers.

Paul Johnston, Tower CEO, told iStart the project centred on consolidating customer interactions into a single platform and combining that with integrating customer data to deliver AI support as conversations unfold.

“By bringing interactions into a single platform and integrated customer data, we’ve enabled real-time meaningful AI support for our frontline teams,” Johnston says.

That support is delivered during live calls, with real-time transcription across every call and AI-assisted guidance removing the need for agents to pause interactions to take notes or search for information, and there’s less chance of missing important details.

Rather than building bespoke AI capability, Tower leaned on what was already available within its platform, with Johnston saying most of the capabilities were delivered out-of-the box, with effort focused not on customisation, but integrating those tools into day-to-day operations.

The core of that work sat in data and knowledge.

“Our focus has been on strengthening our core knowledge base and integrating this seamlessly with the platform, ensuring agents receive accurate, up-to-date guidance,” Johnston says.

That meant ensuring information feeding AI responses was well-governed and current, so it could be surfaced in real-time to support customer conversations.

The deployment was designed to sit inside existing workflows rather than alongside them. Johnston says embedding AI into how work was already done reduced friction during rollout and allowed the system to evolve based on frontline use.

Real-time feedback loops

“We’ve been able to continually refine the platform based on what actually works best for our teams,” he says. Real-time feedback loops ensure continual improvements in responses. Involving frontline ‘change champions’ throughout also aided the process, he says.

As a result, Johnston says teams quickly saw benefits, with AI supporting conversations, reducing complexity and improving consistency in responses.

“Our ability to adapt and adopt has been a real strength, supported by a strong culture of innovation and a focus on bringing our people on the journey from day one.”

Alongside the reduction in handling times, he says employee and customer net promoter scores (NPS) have improved, while quality assurance coverage has increased.

The system is also generating a richer data set to inform future product and service decisions.

Monitoring is built into the deployment. Johnston says quality is assessed – and improved – using automated evaluation alongside agent feedback, providing real-time visibility and enabling issues to be identified and addressed as they emerge.

Across the project, Johnston points to a combination of strong data, well-governed knowledge and workforce engagement and empowerment as underpinning the outcome.

“A big part of our success has come from getting those foundations right, while continuing to build and improve over time.”

Johnston describes the work as part of a broader digital transformation, with further opportunities to expand how AI supports both customers and frontline teams.

“We see this as part of our ongoing digital transformation, with continued opportunities to scale and evolve how AI supports both out people and our customers,” he says.

“Looking ahead, we’re poised to invest further in technology and AI-enablement throughout FY26. This is a critical part of our strategy that will drive greater efficiencies and continue to enhance our customer experience over the medium- and long-term.”

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Within two weeks of launching the feature in the realestate.co.nz app, more than 60,000 searches had been clocked up. It’s still a tiny percentage of the company’s searches, but  Simon Hargraves, realestate.co.nz chief information officer, is optimistic.

“We had just finished a project to get our data into a good state. Without that, it would have been extremely difficult to do this work.”

He told iStart users are increasingly comfortable working with AI and expectations for search are changing. “They want to be able to express their search intent more naturally, rather than just using predefined filters or having to use exact keywords.”

The AI-image search gives users the ability to search ‘at a completely different level’ – searching what’s actually in photos.

What users are searching for, however, hasn’t changed in early searches. “We have a list of traditional keywords people were searching for and generally it’s following the same trend,” Hargraves says.

What has changed is how effectively results are being surfaced. Traditional keyword search relies on exact inputs from both sides, with agents required to include the right terms in listings and users having to guess and input the same wording. AI image search removes that dependency, Hargraves notes, with the AI system examining the photos and pulling out key features.

The system also changes how results are presented, with the platform able to surface the image where the feature has been detected, rather than returning a listing with no obvious visual confirmation.

The accuracy challenge

Hargraves says the feature itself was built and released quickly – one month to build and another month spent testing, tuning and getting feedback from the business. “The really challenging part was more the focus on accuracy and making sure the results aren’t frustrating for users because the way the semantic search works is it expands what the user is searching for to understand intent and then expands the search out from there.”

As an example, early on a search for wine cellars associated them with luxury properties – returning a broad range of luxury properties rather than those with wine cellars. Worse, searching for a property with an accessible ramp expanded out to include staircases.

“Those kind of cases are obviously going to be super frustrating to users when you’re getting the opposite of what you’ve actually search for. So we spent probably half the project time actually testing it internally, across the whole company and getting feedback from users of examples where it was wrong. Then we spent quite a bit of time tuning the system.

“Making sure the experience wasn’t frustrating was the most important part.”

Data does the heavy lifting

Behind the feature sits a significant data effort.

Realestate.co.nz had just completed an 18-month re-platforming and centralisation of all of its data into a single Snowflake platform, standardising definitions and consolidating multiple data sources across the business.

“That was a huge foundational piece that allowed us to build it very quickly.”

The work enabled the rapid development of AI features, but also highlighted a clear dependency.

“You have to have that data foundation in place… if you have bad data, then you’ll get bad results out from the AI.”

In image-based search, that extends beyond structured data to the quality of photos themselves – something the company doesn’t control.

“The AI performs much better when the features [are] clearly visible,” Hargraves says.

But he notes the higher the quality the images and the larger they are, the more cost to process via AI. “There are quite a few variables that we had to take into account and tune to try and get the right kind of cost versus quality.”

He deliberately frames the AI image search as an experiment. “The technology has evolved really rapidly and these kind of features are becoming easier and easier to implement so it makes sense to build the feature and release it to users and see if it’s used and useful.”

The company is less focused on initial uptake than on whether users will return. As Hargraves notes, if users don’t find it useful, they won’t come back to it again – a key test for the future of the system.

To manage expectations, it has been clearly labelled as a beta. “Because… with AI, it’s never going to be perfect.”

Beyond search

The company’s broader approach reflects a pragmatic view of AI. Internally it is being used across the engineering process, and teams are encouraged to experiment through hackathons and rapid prototyping.

“These tools are making it super easy and super quick to build out things and test them internally and build proof of concepts,” Hargraves says.

At the same time, decisions to productise those ideas need to be made carefully, he says, noting the challenge of ensuring projects show ROI and aren’t constantly ‘experiments’.

“You have to make sure projects make sense… and as with anything its prioritising what you have in your roadmap case by case with cost versus value.”

In that context, AI image search is seen as a logical extension of existing capabilities, rather than a standalone transformation.

Hargraves says the company is already working to merge AI image search with traditional keyword search into a single, unified experience.

Longer term, there is potential to expand search into other areas, including accessibility requirements and proximity to amenities, though that will depend on the availability and quality of additional data sources.

“Finding a good data source and being able to ingest it and surface it via AI search is going to be the challenge. But I think you’ll see a lot of those features coming over time. It’s just about getting data into a good place first because without that solid foundation you can’t build high quality AI experiences on top of it.”

Beyond real estate

So what’s Hargraves advice for any other companies considering similar tools?

“Getting the data into a good place is probably the most complex thing. We’re lucky because we had just finished a project to get our data into a good state. Without that, it would probably have been extremely difficult to do this work.”

The data needs to be high quality, well-structured and accessible and good governance around it is also required as well.

“Without that, it’s going to take a lot longer and there’s going to be much higher levels of complexity.”

And be prepared to spend time tuning. “The tuning and accuracy piece is going to be the most difficult part to get right from a product perspective,” Hargraves warns.

“With AI image search you don’t have so many of the concerns you’d have with AI in other areas, especially where you have chatbots and people interacting directly with the AI. AI search is an easier place to start but as we get more into potential AI features in future – chatbots and that kind of thing – it becomes more and more concerning from a risk perspective.”

On the cost front, he says there wasn’t ‘massive’ cost. The time spent tuning was the bigger cost, with the company now spending around US$1000 a month for processing all of its listing images.

“Costs are increasing in AI across the board though, so it’ll be interesting to see how it changes over time and it’s something we’re going to have to keep an eye on.”

Hargraves also acknowledges that for some companies, AI image search could surface unexpected content.

“With our platform, the photos have all been taken and verified by vendors and agents, so personally identifying information or anything sensitive is usually scrubbed from the photos anyway. On different platforms, you would definitely have concerns though,” he says.

Despite that, Hargraves says it’s important for all local companies to be experimenting with AI.

There are huge changes coming across every industry. There’s a massive shift in the way people are working in businesses and how they are interacting with AI and that’s changing their expectations of how they use other products too.”

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The new tech hub is the second State-side for CBA – it opened one in Seattle last March – and places ‘squads in residence’ – aka CommBank engineers and technologists – in what the bank describes as ‘one of the world’s most concentrated AI ecosystems’, working directly with partners such as OpenAI, AWS, Anthropic and Microsoft.

“The goal is to have them take away all the learning… and bring [it] back to Australia, to become force multipliers, and scale and compound that capability across our 10,000-plus technologists.”

Matt Comyn, CommBank CEO, says the hub will give the bank’s engineers and technologists access to world-class tools, expertise and partners.

The hub reflects a broader strategy for the bank: Proximity to where AI models are being built and structured pathways to transfer knowledge back to Australia’s engineering workforce.

“This is part of our commitment to working at the frontier of technology, alongside leading global partners,” Comyn says. “We’re investing significantly in our people and capability, because attracting and supporting the best talent means giving them access to the best tools, expertise and opportunities globally.”

Bringing San Francisco skills back

The San Francisco hub is designed as a rotation model. Engineers, product owners and data scientists travel in small squads for short residencies working alongside AI partners and observing how leading organisations are applying new tools and techniques.

For CommBank, the goal is not simply exposure, but replication. Martha McKeen, CommBank lead for AI powered engineering and international tech hubs, says the goal is for the cohorts to take away all the learning they can from the strategic partners, taking that back to Australia to become ‘force multipliers’ and scale and compound that capability across the bank’s technology workforce of more than 10,000 staff.

“Our tech hubs are all about creating incredible surfaces for learning,” McKeen says.

The model builds on earlier success in Seattle, where more than 100 engineers have already participated in similar rotations.

In Seattle, the first cohort back in early 2025 were focused on learning to fast-track adoption of agentic AI and genAI powered solutions to help small business banking customers manage their finances and run their businesses. A second cohort looked at modernising testing to respond to customer feedback faster.

Rodrigo Castillo, CommBank co-CIO central technology, says the new hub will help the bank continue to scale AI solutions, connecting internal teams with where new models are being created. “What we are looking for is connectivity between our teams and places where AI models are being created here in the heart of San Francisco.”

Learnings beyond the tools

For engineers taking part, the value is not limited to access to tools. CBA says it extends to exposure to how leading organisations structure work, iterate on products and integrate AI across the software development lifecycle.

George Beniac, CommBank crew lead, core foundations, says working with OpenAI in San Francisco has changed the way his learning squad is thinking about how it can use AI from planning to product design, to code development and deployment.

Product owner for AI powered engineering, Henry Chan, says the environment itself plays a role in shaping thinking.

“Very quickly, from the moment you land in San Francisco, you notice all the billboards are AI-related. You realise this environment is, by default, AI-powered. Your brain automatically switches.”

For Chan one of the things his team went to San Francisco to learn was how other leading companies were able to move so quickly and how they’ve altered or augmented their product delivery lifecycles over the last couple of years. (His insight: The importance of giving team members the freedom to experiment using AI to prototype, translating thoughts into real life use cases.)

Squads at the hub have also been looking at how AI is reshaping the way software is designed, built and maintained, with a focus on AI-powered engineering. “That is, giving our engineers the emerging best-of-breed, AI-powered engineering tools,” McKeen says. “These tools help them in their everyday workflows, and relieve the toil and burden of manual tasks and allows them to focus on what matters most.

The bank says more than 70 percent of its engineering teams are already using AI tools, with the new hub aimed at accelerating that adoption and embedding more consistent ways of working across teams.

Other Australian organisations are taking similar steps. Telstra partnered with professional services company Accenture last year to launch an AI ‘innovation and research hub’ in Silicon Valley, where Telstra works with partners including AWS, Databricks and Microsoft to build and test AI-based services. However, rather than flying in teams, the Telstra-Accenture joint venture appears to be more of a virtual offering, connecting with teams in Sydney, Melbourne and Bangalore and creating a ‘virtual door’ where teams can ideate, collaborate, build and test in a secure environment.

Australian-founded design platform Canva also expanded its presence in San Francisco last year, positioning the city as a key hub in its global operations and placing teams closer to talent, capital and early adopters.

CommBank’s hub model is built around turning short-term exposure into scaled capability. Engineers are expected to return and apply what they’ve learned across the organisation, embedding new approaches to prototyping, collaboration and AI-assisted development. For organisations across Australia and New Zealand, the key question is not access to new technology, but how effectively those practices can be distributed and embedded across teams.

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New research from Teletrac Navman (those of a certain vintage may recall that Navman was a Kiwi company founded by Sir Peter Maire back in the 1980s) shows the issue is not a lack of technology investment. In fact, 84 percent of fleets have invested in tracking, telematics and integrated equipment platforms to some degree. The problem, Teletrac Navman construction solution specialist James French told iStart, is what happens next – or more accurately, what doesn’t, with many deployments remaining incomplete, creating pockets of insight, rather than organisation-wide intelligence.

“Without all the data… you can be profitable overall, but you’re leaving money in the dirt.”

The report, which is based on a quantitative online survey of 600 companies operating commercial vehicle fleets, including 200 across Australia and New Zealand, 75 percent are still relying on manual logs either as a primary tracking method or alongside digital systems. Fewer than one-third have fully implemented utilisation technology.

French says while most operators recognise utilisation is important – and believe equipment may be underutilised – the actual picture many businesses are working from is incomplete.

“The utilisation information is often incomplete,” he says, describing fleets where some equipment is tracked, while others aren’t, or where telematics is applied only to specific projects, rather than the entire fleet. The result is what he calls a partial utilisation picture – and decisions made on partial data rarely end well.

French says utilisation initiatives commonly stall because projects are left half finished. GPS might be rolled out to part of the fleet, but not all. Maintenance systems live somewhere else. Third-party equipment has its own tracking platform. Acquisitions add yet another layer of complexity, with multiple systems running side by side because no one wants to disrupt what the newly acquired business is comfortable using.

“You’ve got disparate systems,” he says. “GPS sits here, maintenance sits somewhere else, fuel lives somewhere else again.”

Without pulling those datasets together, organisations miss the opportunity to build a full picture of how assets are actually performing – and what they really cost to run.

French says once utilisation data is integrated with maintenance, fuel and financial systems, businesses can calculate their true total cost of ownership per machine, per hour. That’s where the money starts to surface – and sometimes, where uncomfortable truths appear.

“If it costs $250 an hour to run a machine and you’re charging $220 an hour, you’re losing money,” he says. “Without all the data, you don’t know it. You can be profitable overall, but you’re leaving money in the dirt.”

Idling away

One of the headline findings from the research is that equipment is sitting idle up to 50 percent of the time.

French admits calculating idle is fraught with technical challenges.

Basic GPS can tell operators where machines are and when engines are on or off. More accurate utilisation comes when systems are connected into engine data via CAN (controller area network) bus – the vehicle standard designed to allow microcontrollers and electronic control units such as the engine, brakes and lights, to communicate with each other – pulling details such as RPM to distinguish between productive work and an engine running without doing anything useful.

Machine-level integration also matters. A crane truck may be stationary with the engine running, but if the crane is operating, that’s productive use, not idle time. Without that visibility, utilisation data risks being misleading.

Manual logs are also fraught with issues. French points to a real-world productivity study he worked on in a previous role, comparing manually recorded data with machine-generated data.

“We found about a 15 percent difference,” he says.

Human error, transposed numbers, lost paperwork and best-guess reporting cause further issues in manual reporting. With digital systems, French says, the data becomes a single source of truth that can be audited, retrieved and compared across years.

The double-pay issue

Nowhere is the financial impact more visible than in equipment hoarding.

The report found that two-thirds of organisations admit assets are sometimes held onsite but unused, largely due to uncertainty around maintenance and scheduling. French says the behaviour is understandable, but costly.

“If I ring another site asking if they’ve got a 24‑tonne excavator, they’ll often say they’re flat out,” he says. “Sometimes that’s fear they won’t get it back. Sometimes it’s that they don’t actually know whether it’s being used or not.”

Without utilisation data, businesses turn to renting an additional machine – and double-paying.

“If I think it’s being used and I go and rent another machine, now I’m paying for one excavator sitting idle and another one working,” French says. “One is internal money. The rental is external money. That costs more.”

The fix does not require sophisticated analytics from day one. French says even fleet‑wide GPS coverage can immediately change behaviour.

“If I can ring a site and say, ‘I can see that machine hasn’t worked in a week – we’re sending a truck to move it,’ that saves money immediately.”

He cites the example of one client who reported saving roughly $30,000 in just 40 days by identifying idle plant and redeploying assets based on evidence rather than assumption.

For Australian companies, there’s another big win waiting: Fuel tax credits. He says many companies are leaving cash unclaimed simply because they can’t prove how, where and when equipment is used.

GPS and utilisation data can provide an accurate picture of when vehicles and equipment are operating on ‘non-gazetted’ roads where full fuel tax rebates can be claimed.

“GPS gives a very accurate picture of what percentage you’re off road,” he says, pointing to the ability to use geofencing and location data to distinguish between on‑road travel and off‑road work.

The distinction matters across a wide range of real-world scenarios, from trucks and light vehicles operating on job sites as opposed to driving to those sites, to concrete agitators running engines while unloading, washing and equipment once they enter a site. Forestry operations are another area French highlights, with vehicles transitioning from public roads onto private land and becoming eligible for different treatment.

“In Australia there are billions of dollars sitting in unclaimed fuel tax credits and this is one of the areas you make a quick gain.”

Where utilisation delivers fastest value

French says the first integration point for utilisation data should be maintenance. With live hour data, service intervals become predictable, automated and defensible – an operational and compliance win.

From there, fuel data becomes critical, particularly as costs rise and supply remains uncertain. Understanding where and how fuel is being consumed allows operators to narrow down why similar machines are costing more on one site than another – whether that’s environment, operator behaviour or simply the wrong machine for the job.

Critically, this feeds decision-makers beyond the fleet team.

“When it all feeds into a BI platform,” French says, “the CFO can see what machines cost, what they generate, and what happens if you remove assets that aren’t being used.”

At that point, utilisation stops being a reporting metric and starts behaving like what it actually is: One of the most powerful – and under‑leveraged – drivers of financial performance in asset‑heavy businesses.

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AT A GLANCE

• Annexa

INDUSTRY

• Retail and eCommerce

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

• Support rapid international growth across multiple markets.
• Remove manual finance and inventory reconciliation.
• Ensure systems enable scaling rather than constraining it.

SOLUTION

• NetSuite was implemented as a single ERP platform bringing financials, inventory, costing and sales data into one system across every channel and subsidiary.
• Multi-entity, multi-currency capability and live feeds from eCommerce and point-of-sale enabling real-time consolidation across eight operating countries.
• Scalable platform design to support ongoing growth.

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Real-time visibility across eight operating countries.
• Reduced manual processes and reconciliation effort.
• Scalable platform supporting continued growth without increasing headcount.
• Stronger foundations for future AI-driven capabilities within core systems.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Annexa

W: annexa.com.au / annexa.co.nz

How MAAP Cycling is keeping systems hard on the incline…

For fast-growing retail brands, the ravine between commercial ambition and operational capability tends to open quietly.

As transaction volumes increase the systems that supported early growth start to create drag rather than remove it. By the time the problem is visible, it is usually diagnosed as being rather extensive to resolve.

Matthew Nott has managed finance teams through these exact growth phases. He worked on the expansion of tea retailer T2 and the global scaling of skin, hair and body care brand Aesop, to the point at which it was acquired by L’Oreal in 2023 in a deal valued at US$2.53 billion.

Now, as chief financial officer at premium cycling brand MAAP, he oversees the financial operations of a company expanding across eight countries on the same platform.

There’s nothing quite like growth to expose operational gaps…

MAAP was founded in Melbourne in 2014 and now operates via eCommerce, wholesale, and a growing physical retail network. When Nott joined, the technology stack was divided. A financial platform operated in isolation from the inventory tool, and reconciling sales across channels was a manual, convoluted process.

Speaking during a panel session at SuiteConnect 2026, Oracle NetSuite’s annual customer conference, Nott described the moment high-growth businesses outrun their systems. For leaders navigating that transition, his view on what the technology needs to do was clear.

“[For any other businesses in a similar high-growth] stage, where you’re scaling up, you really want to think about ensuring that your technology is going to enable your growth and not hold it back,” he says.

“Often the times where a business has been growing for a period of time, and there’s a moment where the scale and the high growth starts to arise, you’ll quickly outgrow systems. You really need to be thinking about a tool. In our case [that involves] multi-entity, multi-currency, real-time data and reporting, consolidation, intercompany.”

MAAP’s Netsuite implementation, delivered in partnership with Annexa, brought all the company’s transactional data into a single system; financials, inventory, costing, and sales across every channel and subsidiary. Live feeds from e-commerce and point-of-sale now consolidate in real time across all eight operating countries.

“Those things from a Netsuite context are just a given, built in from the ground up, so that doesn’t become part of your decision making when you’re scaling, it’s an enabler for scaling,” Nott says.

The AI mandate

At the same event, NetSuite outlined its next-generation product direction, NetSuite Next. AI capabilities are being introduced continuously across the platform, with NetSuite Next bringing these advancements into a more unified, embedded experience within the ERP core. The solution is expected to be available within the next 12 months.

The release will introduce Ask Oracle, a contextual natural language assistant, alongside autonomous close capabilities designed to reduce month-end friction. AI agents will monitor financials throughout the period, flag anomalies, and handle reconciliations automatically. The goal is a zero-day close managed through AI operating in the background.

Nott expects to consume AI capabilities directly through core vendors rather than building separate models. He favours this integrated approach.

“We’re very much at the start of experimenting with AI … we’re really expecting to rely on our vendors and NetSuite as our core system to deliver a lot of these tools for us to then better use, as opposed to the potential for trying to stitch together your own agentic AI models and having a gigantic technology team to support that,” he says.

“We want to really keep the relationship with our customers pretty human. But even in that space, we think product visualisation and those things are incredibly useful in terms of speed to market.”

The announcement is welcome news for Australian-based ERP and NetSuite systems integrator Annexa, which had worked closely with MAAP on its integration.

“Customers have been coming to us for advice on how they can apply AI capabilities, particularly as they’re emerging across NetSuite and the wider technology ecosystem,” Annexa director Matthew Owens said during a separate webinar.

“There’s a huge amount of opportunity there, and a big part of our work now is helping teams identify where AI can genuinely improve business processes and how to introduce it safely into operational systems.”

Doing more with the same resources

Finance leaders are asking a consistent question across the industry. The focus has shifted from managing immediate scale to driving long-term efficiency without proportionally expanding headcount.

MAAP is continuing to grow, and Nott’s confidence in the current technology stack to support that expansion is high, and his attention has shifted to the question that sits behind it, how to extract more output from the same team as the business scales.

“We’re continuing to focus on growth, and we’re still in a high-growth phase. We’re wanting to open more stores in more countries and regions,” he says.

“The pleasing thing to me is that to do that within our current tech stack environment, the technology is in no way holding us back.

“The theme that I hear from a lot of other CFOs is, how are we going to do more with less? We’re not necessarily wanting to reduce our resources overall, but we just want them to be able to do more and allow them to grow and achieve more.

“These tools that are coming to market are constantly blowing me away with what they can do, so there’s a real preparation to take advantage of them.”

Getting the foundations right

The efficiency gains Nott described on the panel at SuiteConnect depend heavily on what happens before and after go-live. During a separate webinar discussing international growth strategy for retail brands, he was candid about where the complexity concentrates.

“The integration is the devil in the detail. The integration is the hardest part of the entire thing. That’s the area, one hundred percent, to be aware of and focus on,” Nott says.

Nott had worked with Matthew Owens, director of Annexa, in a previous role and brought him in when it came time to scope a solution for MAAP.

Managing multiple third-party logistics providers across different markets has been one of the more demanding elements of the build, with MAAP changing 3PL providers more than once since go-live, each move requiring new technical connections.

Annexa’s Owens understands what retailers need from a systems integrator at this stage of growth, noting that the conversation should start with commercial understanding rather than software features.

“It’s not so much about buying a bit of software and understanding the features of a module. It’s about, can the partner or the system integrators that I’m speaking with understand holistically how to run an online retail business? And how are you going to enable us to actually facilitate growth, expansion, integrations and do it in a way that’s going to be quick to market and sustainable to support?” he says.

“Getting the core system live is the big project, the big change. But equally important is how you sustain it. Do you have the right partnerships and people available when you need them? This is important not just for keeping the lights on but also for the bigger ticket innovation initiatives that retailers can take on” he says.

Annexa has supported a number of Australian retail and consumer brands through similar transitions.

For example, Aussie skincare brand Ultra Violette re-platformed its operations across five global markets in six months, moving from fragmented systems to a single integrated ERP built for scale.

Meanwhile, Davie Group, best known for The Oodie, overhauled its global fulfilment model, shifting from a 4PL structure to direct 3PL integrations embedded in NetSuite, unlocking real-time visibility and reducing fulfilment delays to under 24 hours.

Furthermore, Global biotech company Life Cykel’s move to NetSuite gave the business the operational visibility and control needed to enter the competitive US retail market, a step that fragmented legacy systems would have made significantly harder to execute with confidence.

For growing retail brands, the technology decisions made during periods of high growth tend to compound, in both directions. The right foundations enable speed, visibility, and efficiency at scale. The wrong ones cause operational drag that is expensive to diagnose and harder to unwind.

As embedded AI shifts from emerging capability to standard infrastructure, the businesses best placed to take advantage will be those that already have their data, systems, and integrations in order.

Annexa’s Owens says this positioning will really drive how effective AI can be from an embedded operation perspective.

“A big part of what’s changing right now in AI is how it’s starting to show up inside the systems that finance teams rely on every day,” he says. “That’s where it becomes more relevant, because it’s no longer sitting outside the business as a separate tool, it’s starting to influence the workflows and decisions happening inside core systems.”

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“We started using machine learning and predictive analytics about seven years ago, so this isn’t new for us” Bain tells iStart. “What people think of as AI now is really just the latest evolution of things we’ve been doing for a long time.”

“These projects aren’t really AI projects – they’re data projects.”

From the outset, Spark discovered that deploying AI – particularly where customer data is involved – raised complex questions that couldn’t be solved by technology alone.

“When you’re building models, it can be hard to explain how they choose. So the starting point for all of this was really strong ethical guidelines around how we use the technology.”

Rather than reacting case by case, Spark invested early in defining what it considered acceptable – and unacceptable – uses of AI. “What that looks like: What do we want to use this for, what data is acceptable, how is the data stored securely, and making sure that if a model does something we can explain why it did it.”

The principles were designed to be enduring, rather than technology-specific.

“The technology changes really quickly,” Bain notes. “But if we start from a foundation of what we believe is right and wrong as a business, and what we would never do – even if it was commercially attractive – then those principles still apply as the technology evolves.”

Over time, those principles were embedded operationally, supported by internal tools Spark developed to help teams assess proposed AI use cases before they’re deployed. “We’ve now got tools that allow our people to see the use case, understand what it’s being used for and the system will flag whether this is permissible.” The tool translates Spark’s ethical principles into practical decision-making, helping teams evaluate how data will be used, whether a human needs to remain in the loop and whether the use case aligns with published governance standards. Embedding these checks early reduces ambiguity and gives teams the confidence to move quickly once a project is cleared, Bain says.

He says this foundational work gave Spark a level of maturity before generative AI entered the mainstream.

“We already had a baseline. Our teams understood the effects, the principles and how they turn into actions.”

A Skinny test

That groundwork was tested with an ambitious project to clone a customer for an advertising campaign for Skinny – Spark’s low cost mobile and broadband brand – in what Bain says was a world-first.

“We’d never cloned a human before,” he says. “That’s a whole new level. Someone’s identity. Their voice. Their mannerisms and physical likeness.”

The technology made it possible to produce creative content faster and at a lower cost – and it feed into the Skinny brand – ‘cheeky and innovative’, using AI based on a real person, rather than a completely synthetic human to keep marketing costs low.

“We could put her in space. We could put her on the moon. We could test creative ideas really quickly and get to a finished product much faster than traditional filming.”

The visible outcome however, understated the work required behind the scenes.

“Above the waterlines is what you see,” Bain says. “Below the waterline was a huge amount of new thinking – particularly around security – because this is actually more sensitive than the personal information we usually hold.”

Skinny treated the AI likeness as requiring a higher standard of protection than typical customer data.

“Before we even captured the data, we had to decide who could access it, how many people, whether it could be downloaded, and where it could live. It could only exist in a very secure environment and could never leave it.”

Legal and privacy teams were involved throughout, running alongside the technical work.

“Some of these things you don’t realise until you hit them, so the practical steps evolved as we went,” Bain says. “Our legal and privacy teams were actively involved, making sure they were always a few steps ahead.

Liz Wright, the customer who was cloned, has remained involved throughout the campaign.

“She was more involved each time. We didn’t just do things and put them out there without her knowing, even where we could have done that legally. We didn’t think that was the responsible way to handle it.”

There are clear limits too, on usage. “We have rights for a defined period, and then we destroy the data. We don’t want to hold it for longer than we need to.”

Guardrails unlock speed

While the governance work was intensive upfront, Spark says it was this effort that now allows teams to move quickly.

“What we found was that we spend more time upfront evaluating the risks and making sure we have those covered. But once the guardrails are in place, teams can move very fast inside them.”

Bain argues that the common perception – that AI governance slows innovation – misunderstands where the real friction lies.

“Building the models is really quick these days,” he says. “The hard part is the guidelines and the ethical approach.”

Once teams understand how AI works and what the boundaries are, Bain says fear drops away. “When people understand the technology and the risks, they’re emotionally comfortable with it, that’s when they can really move.

Bain notes that AI governance must accommodate technologies that change continuously. “These models are doubling in capability every six months. You can’t imagine now what will be possible in two years.”

Rather than constantly rewriting rules, Spark applies the same principles to each new use case as it emerges.

“You need to govern it like a piece of technology that will constantly change,” Bain says. “Have broad principles, then apply the same framework every time.”

That approach, he says, creates clarity internally and avoids paralysis. “It means people are never ambiguous about where the business stands. And it lets them move quickly within those guidelines.

Hard won lessons

When asked which AI capability Bain is most proud of at Spark, he points not to the latest offering, but to its customer intelligence platform that uses hundreds of machine-learning models to understand individual customer preferences and predict what will be most relevant to them. “We now have hundreds of models running against our customer base that say things like: Heather loves music, she’s not price-sensitive, she prefers iPhones, she’s an early adopter,” Bain says. That insight is used across channels – emails, texts, retail stores and call centres – to personalise interactions in real time. “What we found was that we massively improved engagement with those communications.”

Adding that same intelligence helps frontline staff make more relevant recommendations when customers get in touch. “That’s a pretty cool thing – and it’s still pretty unique in the market today.”

Another internal AI tool is a system allowing staff to query financial and performance data using plain language, rather than writing manual SQL queries. Traditionally, Bain says, answering questions about revenue, sales or margins meant a slow loop between analysts, spreadsheets and follow-up requests. “We built an AI that could understand text, turn it into an SQL query, query the database and then create a multimodal report with graphs, tables and written insights.”

What once took days now happens in seconds or minutes, dramatically speeding up decision-making and allowing finance teams to focus on higher-value analysis rather than producing reports.

So what are Bain’s three key tips for companies finding their way with AI and data?

Get your data in order first Bain says data quality is the single biggest constraint on successful AI use. “These projects aren’t really AI projects – they’re data projects,” he says, adding that ‘the underlying data is 90 percent of the work’. Where data definitions are inconsistent or ambiguous, models become confused and unreliable. By contrast, when data is clear, structured and robust, Bain says AI solutions can be deployed very quickly and deliver real value.

Start now — the learning curve is unavoidable

Bain warns that delaying adoption doesn’t reduce complexity, it just postpones learning. “If you don’t get started now, there’s a learning curve – and that learning curve will be the same no matter when you start,” Bain says. He recommends beginning with low‑risk use cases so organisations can build confidence, understanding and capability before scaling more complex applications.

The technology is no longer the barrier — mindset is What used to be expensive and exclusive is now widely accessible. “What used to only be possible for a Spark is now available to small businesses – we’re using the same technologies,” Bain says. The real work is educating teams, demystifying how AI works, and putting appropriate guardrails in place. “By understanding it, you can mitigate the risks,” Spark says, adding that responsibility and confidence – not fear – are what allow businesses to move forward productively.

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CPA Australia’s latest Small Business Survey of more than 4,100 businesses across APAC, shows both Australia and New Zealand are sitting near the bottom of the region for growth, innovation and technology adoption. It’s the second year New Zealand has ranked last for growth, something Rick Jones, CPA Australia regional head, dubs ‘a worrying trend’.

“Existing technology spend is not translating into profitability.”

In New Zealand just 38 percent of small businesses reported growth in 2025 – up on last year’s 36 percent but still well below the APAC average of 62 percent, and ranking New Zealand last out of the 11 markets surveyed. Just 26 percent said technology investment improved profitability, less than half the regional average and digital adoption remains weak. Australian results paint a similarly weak picture of low digital uptake and poor returns from tech investment.

Jones told iStart the problem is two-fold: Overall digital uptake in both markets remains well below Asia Pacific peers, and where businesses do spend, investment is heavily weighted toward basic IT such as computer equipment, rather than tools that change how the business operates. Online sales, digital payments and use of social media for customer insights, rather than visibility alone, remain underused, even as productivity pressures intensify.

With productivity firmly on the political agenda in both countries this election year, Jones says lifting small business technology should be a central priority.

“Our data consistently shows that businesses which invest effectively in technology grow faster, hire more people and are more likely to innovate. Countries like Singapore have demonstrated what targeted digital support programmes can achieve – there are proven approaches in our region that could work here,” he says.

Low adoption, low returns

The survey data shows that limited digital adoption remains a key issue across both markets, but the effect is most pronounced in New Zealand.

Only 32.4 percent of New Zealand’s small businesses generated more than 10 percent of their revenue from online sales in 2025, less than half the Asia Pacific average and the lowest results across all surveyed markets. Use of digital payment platforms is similarly low with just 35.4 percent receiving more than 10 percent of sales via services such as PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay, again ranking last in the region.

Technology use remains basic elsewhere too. Almost 31 percent of Kiwi small businesses don’t use social media for business purposes at all, compared with a regional average of 12 percent.

The pattern is mirrored in Australia, where 44 percent of businesses reported earning more than 10 percent of revenue online, still well below the Asia Pacific. The report notes however, that while New Zealand and Australian small businesses continue to be the least likely to generate online sales, Australia, at least, experienced an improvement year on year in 2025, while New Zealand’s decline continued. In Australia, 68 percent used social media for business, trailing the regional norm of 88 percent.

The gaps matter because the survey shows a strong relationship between digital adoption and performance. Businesses with higher use of online sales channels, digital payments and basic automation are most likely to report growth, hiring and innovation. “Technology continues to play a more critical role for high-growth small businesses than for other businesses,” the report notes.

Maintenance, not momentum

Where small businesses do invest in technology, the type of investment helps explain why returns remain weak locally.

In New Zealand, computer equipment was again the most heavily invested tech category last year – continuing a trend echoed repeatedly in the survey since 2020 – followed by website and accounting software. Australia was similar, favouring accounting software, followed by computer equipment and website.

In comparison, high-growth businesses across the region were most likely to invest in AI followed by cloud computing and CRM software.

CPA says this indicates A/NZ spending is often directed toward replacement or maintenance, rather than productivity-enhancing systems.

The profitability data reinforces that conclusion. Just 25.6 percent of Kiwi small businesses surveyed said tech investment improved their profitability in 2025, compared with a survey average of 56.3 percent. Australia recorded a similar outcome, with only 30 percent of businesses reporting profitability improvements from tech investments.

CPA links this to quality, rather than quantity of investment. Simply purchasing hardware – replacing devices, upgrading networks, maintaining on-premise systems – may keep the lights on, but it rarely changes cost structures, revenue flows or decision-making.

“What the survey shows is that existing technology spend is not translating into profitability,” Jones says. He says where business are investing it’s often without the sequencing or support needed to make the tools deliver operational change.

“The question is, how do we support these business owners in that capability piece, so they are not just investing in technology, but are investing in the right technology? That’s not just about using it right, it’s around making it work for the business so they are seeing returns,” he says.

Cashflow and time pressure points

Across both countries, the operational pressures facing small businesses underline why businesses are cautious – and why digital matters.

In New Zealand, 54 percent of businesses said increasing costs had a major negative impact in 2025, ranking highest among surveyed market. Hiring remains weak with only 7.4 percent increasing employee numbers, and just 14 percent expecting to hire in 2026. Innovation plans are similarly subdued with only 4.9 percent planning to introduce a new product, service or process in the coming year.

Australia’s results show similar stagnation, with CPA Australia business and investment lead Gavan Ord warning that prolonged underperformance among small businesses is feeding into a wider productivity slowdown. “When small businesses underperform year after year, it become a national economic problem, not just a sector issue,” he says.

Against that backdrop, the technologies most closely linked to measurable gains are not experimental. Jones points to practical improvements such as faster invoicing and payments, online ordering and booking systems and digital finance and reporting tools that reduce manual work across payroll, inventory and customer management.

He notes when businesses experience clear time savings and faster payments, confidence in technology investment tends to rise, easing hesitation around further adoption.

The older demographics of Australian and New Zealand businesses also has a role to play in tech adoption. New Zealand has the oldest small business ownership profile in the region, with 68 percent of owners aged 50 or over. Australia shows a similar generational divide, though less pronounced.

“It’s not an age thing in isolation, but what the survey showed is that business owners under 40 certainly reported growth,” Jones says. “They showed a lot more revenue through online sales and their digital and tech uptake is a lot higher. Younger business owners have a higher risk appetite and are more likely to invest in digital capability.”

In the wake of the survey results, Jones says business technology adoption needs to be made an essential priority for New Zealand (and Australia’s) growth and productivity agendas.

“We need to introduce some better sequence digital adoption support programmes,” he says, suggesting we look to Singapore for examples of programmes which have a proven track record in providing comprehensive support for small business.

“The government should consider designing business digital support programmes with more deliberate bundling and sequencing of measures, drawing on approaches used in Singapore,” CPA Australia says. “This would increase programme effectiveness, accelerate the diffusion of productivity enhancing technology and promote more effective use of existing digital capabilities. Over time this would support stronger productivity, greater business dynamism and a more competitive small business sector.”

In Australia the organisation is also calling for government to incentivise tech adoption and the development of stronger digital capability.

CPA is also calling for a coordinated package of measures to lift participation of younger people in small business. In New Zealand, that includes a ‘start-up apprenticeship’ or mentoring programme and improved access to finance and professional advice for younger owners, potentially through a ‘First Business Owners programme’ connecting participants with accredited advisers and possibly including a SME loan guarantee component.

Jones, who dubs the survey a ‘challenging read’ for New Zealand, says it’s not just about government investment, however. He’s calling for other organisations and consultants to step up and provide the mentoring relationships to help small businesses, and for the businesses themselves to more actively share with other small businesses their successes and learnings. CPA Australia itself is working on providing extensive professional development for its own members to help them on the journey – and ensure their small business customers can also move forward.

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The report is based on ‘insights’ from more than 4,000 eCommerce founders which Australian company Ecommerce Equation has worked with, and draws a clear line between founders who are seeing commercial impact from AI and those who feel increasingly overwhelmed by it.

“Where that understanding is missing, AI simply creates more activity, complexity and noise.”

The report highlights that AI performs best when companies already understand their business constraints. Those seeing real gains are the ones who know exactly which problem they’re trying to solve.

Or as says Jay Wright, Ecommerce Equation founder, says:  “The founders getting real results aren’t the ones doing the most with AI. They’re the ones who knew their business well enough to know exactly where to point it.”

Founders who skip this step tend to deploy AI broadly, without a clear objective or identifying a bottleneck, resulting in more output but little impact on revenue, margin or time saved, a pattern described as  ‘activity without moving the dial’.

In contrast, those who are seeing results are described as starting with a precise diagnosis: A conversion issue on one product, uncertainty in reordering decisions, a slowdown in creative testing or excessive manual operational work. In these case, AI is applied narrowly to the bottleneck and measured against a defined outcome, such as conversion rate, marketing efficiency, time saved or cash conversion speed. In essence, AI doesn’t fix unclear fundamentals; it amplifies existing systems. Where founders already know what ‘good’ looks like in their business, AI accelerates progress. Where that understanding is missing, it simply creates more activity, complexity and noise.

“The short version is this. AI is delivering real value for a small number of founders who have done the diagnostic work first. For everyone else, it’s generating activity without moving the needle.”

Where AI delivers real value: Revenue and conversion

The strongest, most immediate wins documented in the report occur on the revenue side of eCommerce operations. These include conversion rate optimisation, creative production, advertising performance and customer experience.

Lead-side work of getting products in front of the right people and converting are where most brands find their first meaningful wins, the report says, with successful brands using AI to tighten the connection between product and customer with clearer landing pages, tailored ads and a stronger read on what is resonating and the speed to act on it. “The feedback is fast, the impact is visible and the tools are mature enough to act on.”

For those who are getting it right, the report claims the wins are visible and fast, with conversion rates jumping 24 percent in a week from a single tool built around one specific customer problem.

That 24 percent figure relates to Australian apparel brand The Lullaby Club. It identified that a best-selling product fit differently from the rest of the range, rendering the standard size guide ineffective. A custom AI fit-finder was built in Claude for that single product. When it was tested with the 40,000-strong customer community, it achieved a 97 percent sizing accuracy. Within a week, conversion increased by 24 percent and returns fell. With confidence in that project, Lullaby turned its focus to other initiatives including a velocity trends tracker to show how products were selling and trends, using the same data foundation.

“We’re seeing brands go from sub-three percent to 7-11 percent conversion every day by feeding AI the right context about the customer,” the report says of some of the quick wins achieved.

The report also points to growing, if less headline-grabbing, wins on the operational side. Inventory forecasting, purchase ordering and customer service workflows are emerging as areas where AI is beginning to reduce manual effort and uncertainty.

Companies using AI to draft purchase orders, track sell-through rates and flag shifts in momentum are tightening cash conversion cycles and reducing guesswork.

Australian independent apparel brand Dr Moose is one example. The company identified that growth was being constrained its website. Rather than outsourcing work to an agency, she used Claude tools to redesign site UX, introduce bundles and adjust commercial settings herself. Changes previously scoped as a $15,000 web development project were implemented internally, lifting daily revenue from around $600 to $3,000. To get the most from the tools she used ChatGPT to work out what to ask Claude, avoiding burning tokens on trial and error.

Where AI falls flat

The report is equally direct about common failure modes. The most frequent is confusing activity with impact. Those who deploy AI before identifying a real bottleneck often rebuild systems that already work, or chase issues they don’t have.

But the report also notes there are real risks companies need to understand before they go too far down the rabbit hole. “AI will produce data it doesn’t have, confidently and without

flagging it. It too easily gives everyone asking the same question the same answer. And it will sand off the rough edges that make your brand distinct if you let it.”

Those getting the most out of it are the ones who stay in the loop, sense check the output and never let it make the call they should be making themselves, the report notes.

The report leaves little ambiguity about what separates results from noise: AI delivers value where it is applied with intent, against clearly defined constraints with humans remaining closely involved in the outcomes.

Where it is treated as a general productivity layer or a substitute for decision‑making, it tends to add complexity rather than remove it. The implication for eCommerce founders is practical rather than philosophical: AI works best not as a strategy, but as an execution tool, applied deliberately, measured against specific outcomes, and expanded only once it proves its worth.

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The long-awaited strategy and accompanying Cyber Security Action Plan 2026-2030, released earlier this month, signal that cyber resilience must now be treated as a core governance, risk-management and strategic decision-making responsibility. It also flags that regulatory change is likely on its way.

“The Strategy clearly signals that regulatory reform is being considered.”

Alongside the Strategy and the Action Plan, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet also released a discussion document seeking industry feedback on a new approach to the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure.

In it together

The Strategy adopts a whole of society model, outlining shared responsibility on government, industry and individuals. Businesses sit at the centre, with the Strategy’s four national objectives – Understand, Prevent and Prepare, Respond, and Partner, defining practical expectations.

Understand is around improving cyber awareness and literacy across organisations and New Zealanders, providing improved reporting of cybersecurity and sharing of information between government and industry to better understand the threat environment. NCSC will establish a single cyber security reporting service, with processes established for other types of online harm and cyber-enabled crime and redirected to other agencies. Critical infrastructure providers garner special mention, with the strategy noting there will be tailored guidance, including assessments, strategies for risk management and guidance to implement technical controls to protect IT and OT networks, for them (more on that later).

Prevent and Prepare is about strengthening cyber risk management, resilience and preparedness across government and industry. That includes strengthening the existing mandate for the Government Chief Digital Officer to entrench a culture of security from procurement to systems operations, with the Government Chief Information Security Officer establishing and enforcing minimum cybersecurity standards and working with digital supply chain vendors to apply more consistent security controls across agencies. Industry and public consultation on core elements of the regulatory framework is also proposed, including additional non-regulatory actions the government can take to better partner and support critical infrastructure owners and operators to manage cyber risk.

The Respond section says resilience and preparedness must be strengthened across government and industry, ensuring effective, coordinated responses to cyber incidents. Victims of cybersecurity incidents will be ‘supported to remediate and recover’. Legislative frameworks will be modernised to account for the complexity and global nature of cyber threats, with work to address jurisdictional barriers to Kiwi enforcement agencies can access cyber evidence to investigate cybercrime.

Partner highlights the need for ‘strategic and targeted cooperation’, both locally and internationally, with industry and international partners.

The Action Plan, meanwhile, provides the actions required over the next two years to put the Strategy into action, detailing lead agencies for each action.

Notably, the Critical Infrastructure discussion document highlights that if accepted, critical infrastructure entities would be required to develop, implement and maintain a risk management programme aligned with an internationally recognised cybersecurity framework – either endorsed by the NCSC or recognised internationally, such as the US National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework.

The discussion document also outlines requirements to allow government to collect specific information, such as (initially) a description of their operations including critical components, information on the owners and controllers of the entity, and mapping of key dependencies and interdependencies.

The establishment of a voluntary information exchanges connecting organisations across the critical infrastructure system with each other and the government to coordinate cyber security efforts, a requirement for sharing of certain information with other critical infrastructure organisations – for example information on projected restoration times – and a requirement for cyber incidents to be reported are also proposed.

Regulatory change

The Strategy clearly signals that regulatory reform is being considered across several areas including strengthened requirements for the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure, which encompasses everything from the electricity grid to telco networks, health and transport services and financial systems.

The Strategy document notes that around 120 countries have some form of critical infrastructure regulation. “As a first step, the government will consult industry and the public on the core elements of a regulatory framework, including additional non-regulatory actions the government can take to better partner and support critical infrastructure owners and operators to manage cyber risk.”

The critical infrastructure discussion document highlights that cyber risks are ‘not well understood or collectively managed to a consistent level’ across the system, and that effective protection requires understanding ‘critical components, ownership and control structures, and mapping of dependencies’.

The document suggests the reach of proposed obligations could extend beyond the core operator to include third-party service providers with operational control of critical components.

Another potential area for regulatory change is the potential introduction of a civil pecuniary penalty regime to the Privacy Act aimed at incentivising protection of personal information. The Ministry of Justice will provide advice on options to incentivise protection as part of the two-year action plan.

Thomas Anderson, MinterEllison solicitor says if implemented it would mark ‘a notable shift in New Zealand’s privacy landscape’ which currently has no civil penalties for breaches of the Privacy Act.

“At present, the Act relies on a complaints-based enforcement model administered by the Privacy Commissioner, which can result in recommendations or, in serious cases, referral to the Human Rights Review Tribunal. However, there is no power to impose civil fines for contraventions of the Act (such as a failure to comply with the data security requirements in information privacy principle 5), unlike comparable regimes in Australia, the European Union and the United Kingdom,” he says.

Also on the table is the creation of a potential new offence for handling – including disseminating – illegally obtained personal information. That’s an area the Ministry of Justice has been charged with providing potential advice on the new offence.

The proposal would extend liability beyond the breached organisation to anyone knowingly handling unlawfully obtained personal information. While the intention is to deter malicious actors from circulating stolen data, Anderson notes the wording also captures organisations or third-party recipients who are aware that the information they are accessing or using was acquired through unauthorised means.

“Together, these two actions seem to signal a clear intent: The Government plans to use both stronger Privacy Act enforcement tools and new criminal offences to create meaningful financial and legal consequences for the mishandling or exploitation of personal information after a cyber incident.”

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The round was led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, which has been a long-time investor in the company, backing it in its Series A round in 2017. Existing investors Blackbird, Icehouse Ventures, DCVC, Bond, Bessemer, Ubiquity, NewView and Promus also participated.

“Halter is beginning its largest ever hiring effort, seeking more than 200 people across product, engineering and customer operations.”

The US$220 million raise is one of the largest-ever in agtech globally and smashes Halter’s own record for the largest VC raise by a Kiwi-founded company. It follows earlier reporting that the round was heavily oversubscribed with some of the biggest names in VC keen to get involved.

Halter’s GPS-enabled collars use audio cues and vibrations to contain and herd both dairy and beef cattle within virtual boundaries, enabling farmers and ranchers to move herds from a smartphone, redrawing fence lines from their smartphone. Animal health can also be monitored through the smartphone, along with pasture management, with live data on animal locations, health and feed availability providing a digital twin of farms and ranches, and providing users with access to complex data points in simple and easy to interpret ways. Versions are available for both dairy and beef cattle, with Halter saying beef farming needs its own technology, not a dairy product repurposed for beef cattle as everything about beef systems varies massively. The company has positioned the systems as full herd management, from a smartphone, at US$5 to US$8 per animal per month.

Since launching in the US in 2024, Halter says American ranchers using Halter have built 60,000 miles of virtual fencing. Globally it claims 645,000 kilometres of fencelines have been drawn since 2024.

Founder and CEO, Craig Piggot, who was recently named Innovator of the Year at the 2026 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards, says Halter was started because of the belief technology could fundamentally change what it means to run a farm, and enable farmers to use innovation to build long-term futures on their land.

“Our farmers need tools that work and the fact they’re using Halter tells us our technology has earned their trust. This raise lets us bring it to far more of them, and faster.”

Scaling up

As part of the Series E expansion stage, Halter says it is beginning a recruitment drive, seeking more than 200 people – its largest-ever hiring effort. Positions will cover product, engineering and customer operations with many based at its Auckland headquarters. Additional staff will also be hired in Australia and the United States in the coming weeks as well. The company employs more than 300 staff, including a team of more than 100 engineers and designers.

Founded in New Zealand and maintaining an Auckland headquarters, Halter also has Australian operations, based in Melbourne, and a US office, which it opened in Colorado in 2024 following its US$100m Series D funding round.

The company, which topped the 2024 Deloitte Fast 50 Index with 1,539 percent revenue growth and secured $165 million in 2025 to accelerate its global expansion, has rapidly scaled across New Zealand, Australia and the United States, with more than 2,000 farmers and ranchers as customers, and a million of the solar-powered smart collars sold.

The Series E funding round will support several initiatives for the company, which says it will enable it to accelerate its commercial expansion across the United States and fund the roll-out of a range of new products in the coming months.

“Investment will continue across product development, including animal health monitoring and pasture management, shaped by how customers are using the system in the field,” Halter says. “The focus remains on supporting farmers building their operations with Halter.”

The company says it will also enter the United Kingdom and Ireland later this year, along with key South American markets.

Piggot says farmers in the UK and Ireland have long expressed interest in Halter.

“The UK and Ireland are very similar to New Zealand in terms of landscape and climate – we know we can have impact there,” he says.

Halter’s growth sits within a wider movement toward virtual fencing and precision livestock management. Research and Markets has put the precision agriculture market at US$9.5 billion in 2025, with projections to reach US$17.3 billion by 2031.

Across New Zealand and Australia, Halter’s uptake aligns with increasing adoption of agricultural automation.

Founders partner Amin Mirzadegan says while agriculture is a “multi-trillion dollar industry that feeds the world”, it remains one of the least digitised sectors on earth.

“Halter is changing that by bringing software, sensors and AI directly into livetock operations in a way that farmers actually adopt.”

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“Once these foundations are established, the lessons learned – both technical and institutional – can be applied to other sectors.”

Koronios, founding CEO and managing director of the Australasian Space Innovation Institute (ASII), says the digital twin, launched last month and a flagship initiative for ASII, isn’t just another farm app or dashboard, it’s a chance to rewrite how a climate-exposed, globally competitive sector makes decisions, replacing delayed, fragmented information with AI-enabled ‘what if’ scenario modelling across climate resilience, biosecurity, water management and productivity, enabling decision-makers to test options, anticipate risks and optimise actions before implantation.

And the benefits won’t just be reaped by the agricultural sector with Koronios telling iStart the initiative will establish a national capability in digital twin infrastructure and space-enabled intelligence, which can progressively support multiple sectors of the economy.

“Agriculture provides an ideal first application because it allows us to develop the core architecture, governance frameworks and data integration methods that are necessary for large-scale digital twins. Once these foundations are established, the lessons learned – both technical and institutional – can be applied to other sectors.”

He says the same principles used to integrate satellite observations, environmental data and modelling tools for agriculture could also support digital twins for water systems, natural ecosystems, coastal environments or disaster management.

Real-time national picture

The elevator pitch is simple – but bold: Bring satellite earth observation data, sensors, climate records, soils, agronomic models and the wealth of other data already available into a single sovereign, AI-enabled system that mirrors conditions on the ground and updates continuously. The digital twin aims to end the fragmentation that has existed in agriculture and turn the abundance of data into decision-ready intelligence that can be used with confidence.

For Meat and Livestock Australia, who along with Elders and Charles Sturt University are backing the initiative, the prize is speed and certainty. Michael Lee, Meat and Livestock Australia’s group manager for science and innovation, told iStart the twin could ultimately reduce risk and potentially cut years from research cycles.

By putting hypotheses through a virtual R&D engine first, teams can refine and narrow failure modes, deploying only what looks likely to work. Producers, in turn, could see more accurate grazing plans, better timed interventions and lower operating risk, with the potential to also unlock provisions for stronger evidence for sustainability and traceability requirements – something brand owners could be rewarded for in a margin-tight industry, where proof that travels cleanly through the value chain is money.

“We are expecting that the digital twin will support evidence-based scenario testing by combining satellite imagery, climate data and agri models in one system. Industry can use this to then compare stocking plans, pasture strategies or herd timing against various climate outlooks and assess expected changes in productivity, groundcover and emissions intensity.”

This supports the kind of repeatable and transparent assessments needed by producers, researchers and other supply chain partners, which could even include banks and other policy advisors who are looking for analytical intel on how agriculture is performing and where it is heading, he says.

Lee has a long list of use cases that most excite him. Top of the list is forecasting pasture growth and testing grazing strategies under different seasons. Climate and drought scenario planning supporting early and confident decisions; landscape pest, weeds and biosecurity modelling for coordinated responses; testing water and infrastructure options for improved productivity and animal welfare and emissions and natural capital modelling using satellite data and agronomic models also feature.

Koronios has a similar list, with the addition of carbon and sustainability monitoring. “As global markets increasingly demand proof of sustainable farming practices, the digital twin could help measure land condition, vegetation cover and carbon outcomes across farms, giving Australian producers a credible way to demonstrate environmental stewardship,” he says.

“What excites me most is that these applications are not futuristic concepts. The underlying technologies already exist. The digital twin simply brings them together into a single intelligence platform that helps farmers make better decisions every day.”

Phased, with challenges…

The program will be delivered in a phased development approach, with Koronios stressing that practical benefits will be realised progressively, rather than only at the end of the program.

First up is the formal establishment of the program’s governance structure, including a steering committee and key delivery partnerships. Koronios says initial workstreams will focus on designing and building the core digital twin platform while working with industry and research partners to validate the first practical use cases.

“During this phase the emphasis will be on developing and testing the foundational capabilities: Integrating key data layers, building analytical tools, and demonstrating how the system can support real-world agricultural decision-making,” he says.

Importantly, early pilot deployments will allow farmers, agronomists, industry partners and government agencies to begin using and benefiting from the platform as it evolves, rather than waiting for a fully completed system. Koronois says these early deployments will provide immediate value while also helping refine the models through real-world feedback.

As the platform matures, the program will expand from pilot deployments to nationally scalable operational services, incorporating additional datasets, analytical models and regional applications. With each phase, new capabilities and insights will become available to users, expanding the value.

“Ultimately, the National Digital Twin for Australian Agriculture is conceived as a long-term national capability – a digital infrastructure designed to support Australia’s agricultural sector for decades to come. Much like national mapping systems or weather forecasting networks, it will act as a shared digital backbone for agricultural intelligence, supporting productivity, climate resilience, biosecurity and evidence-based policy.”

There are, of course, technical challenges, the biggest of which will be bringing together all the agricultural, environmental and satellite data sets into a single, consistent system that can operate across an entire continent.

Koronios notes currently data, models and insights remain fragmented across jurisdictions, research programs, Research and Development Corporations and proprietary platforms. “This fragmentation has resulted in duplication, inconsistent standards, slow translation of research into practice and rising costs for levy payers and taxpayers alike.”

Each of the datasets, which come from a wide range of sources including satellites, weather systems, soil databases, farm sensors and government programs – has different formats, resolutions and update cycles. Harmonising those datasets so they can be combined into a coherent, real-time model will be no mean feat.

One of the most important layers is the satellite earth observation data, which provides frequent updates on vegetation health, crop growth, pasture condition and land use across the entire country, every few days and in a few cases as frequently as daily. “This gives us a consistent, continent-wide view that simply isn’t possible from ground observations alone,” Koronios says.

Soil and moisture data will be another critical layer, helping farmers and advisors understand water availability and plant stress. When combined with weather and climate data it becomes possible to anticipate drought conditions, irrigation needs and crop development patterns.

Farm-level and environmental data, such as sensor measurements, land management information and water systems will also be integrated, providing the local detail needed to translate satellite observations into meaningful insights for individual farms.

Biosecurity and environmental monitoring datasets will also be included, helping detect changes in vegetation patterns that could signal pests, disease outbreaks or land degradation.

“The real value comes from combining these layers, because when they are analysed together they reveal patterns and trends that would not be visible in any single dataset,” Koronios says. “This is a current gap in the ecosystem.”

Scale is another challenge, Koronois is preparing for, with Australia’s agricultural regions spanning millions of square kilometres. “The system must process very large volumes of data continuously, while still delivering useful insights at the level of individual farms or paddocks.”

He says modern cloud computing, AI and advanced observations will address those issues to integrate and interpret data streams. “Rather than trying to centralise everything in one system, the digital twin works as an intelligent platform that connects existing systems and continuously updates the model as new data arrives.”

The final challenge is ensuring information is practical and usable for farmers and advisors, not just technically sophisticated, he says. That means designing tools and dashboards that translate complex data into clear insights that support real-world decisions.

“We are embarking on a journey where the priority is not the volume of data, but the acceleration of technology adoption. We want to ensure that the data we ingest translates into high-value insights and practical tools that the industry can trust and use with ease. The Digital Twin will work by integrating multiple layers of data that together describe what is happening across Australia’s agricultural landscape.”

Over time other information sources will be integrated, particularly as Australia’s sovereign earth observation capabilities advance and tech such as IoT networks with intelligent sensors are increasingly deployed across agriculture and related sectors.

“Ultimately, the Digital Twin is not a destination with a fixed finish line. It is a living R&D engine designed for continuous progress and evolution. There is no ideal amount of data, as the system is designed to learn and improve as we move forward.”

There’s a broader national dividend here, too. A sovereign digital capability for agriculture is a food‑security asset as much as it is a productivity play. It reduces reliance on offshore analytics to interpret Australia’s land and climate signals, while creating a platform for local companies and researchers to build exportable services on top. In Koronios’s framing, the twin strengthens food systems and regional economies today while laying tracks for tomorrow’s cross‑sector twins – water systems, disaster resilience, coastal environments – a reusing the architecture and governance patterns forged in agriculture.

Koronios says in practical terms the twin is designed as an open, modular platform that different users will interact with in ways that suit their needs. For agronomists and advisors, the most common interface will likely be intuitive dashboards and decision-support tools that translate complex datasets, such as satellite observations, soil moisture and weather data, into clear insights about crop health, risk conditions and management options. For agtech companies and software developers, the platform will provide APIs that allow them to integrate digital twin data directly into their own applications and farm management systems. “This means companies can build specialised tools, such as irrigation optimisation models, yield forecasting systems or sustainability monitoring platforms, using the digital twin as the underlying intelligence layer.”

Researchers and advanced users will also be able to access modelling environments and analytical tools to develop new algorithms, predictive models and agronomic insights.

“The platform is not intended to be a closed system controlled by a single organisation. Instead, it is conceived as a national innovation platform that allows multiple organisations – agtech companies, research groups, industry bodies and government agencies – to build services and applications on top of the core infrastructure.

“In that sense, the digital twin acts as a shared intelligence layer for agriculture, enabling an ecosystem of tools and innovations to emerge around it, while ensuring that the underlying data and analytical capabilities remain consistent, trusted and nationally coordinated,” Koronios says.

“If we get this right, the Ddigital twin will become something that future generations of farmers simply take for granted – much like weather forecasting or satellite navigation today – because it supports better decisions across the entire agricultural sector.”

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Currently in beta, the new suite of AI agents and features will progressively roll out across MYOB’s product portfolio including MYOB Business Lite, Pro and AccountRight, and aim to tackle one of the most persistent challenges facing SMEs: Time.

“Small improvements quickly add up to big results.”

Paul Robson, MYOB chief executive, says MYOB is targeting business pain points ‘ready for reinvention and transforming how customers and partners operate, unlocking a step-change in productivity through efficiency and insight’.

The new SME-focused AI features land against a wider backdrop of MYOB’s ongoing AI work across its wider platform ecosystem and a push to encourage local businesses towards becoming an ‘autonomous business’. Late last year Valantis Vais, MYOB general manager for product, product marketing and design told iStart that ‘practical’ was a key aspect of that push. While midsize businesses are curious about AI, they’re also wary of hype and sunk costs, wanting tools that provide practical benefits in the here and now, rather than promises of a sci-fi future.

He detailed to iStart a range of AI features going into Acumatica ERP solution, including accounts payable bill entry powered by OCR and semantic interpretation, expense management with AI-driven receipt capture, AI advisor anomaly detection and Auto Complete.

The new rollout extends the AI features to smaller businesses, including sole traders using Lite, as well as the more complex mid-market companies using AccountRight.

According to MYOB’s latest Business Monitor, 24 percent of employing SMEs say late payments exert significant pressure on their operations. The company believes embedding AI directly into existing workflows, with the likes of smart invoice reminders, automated reconciliation and AI-driven business insights, is key to unlocking productivity boosts without disruption.

Making sense of numbers and smart reconciliation

At the heart of the latest wave of promised updates is an AI Business Insights feature which will provide interactive charts and commentary to allow businesses to identify patterns and establish areas which need attention. MYOB says it will ‘plainly’ tell the story behind the numbers, providing easy-to-digest explanations for businesses, and a quicker avenue to surface trends and identify performance drivers in preparation for advisory-focused conversations for accountants and bookkeepers.

Another major addition will be Smart Reconciliation, which uses machine learning to categorise and auto-reconcile transactions based on user behaviour and pre-set schedules. Bank feeds are matched automatically, reducing hours typically spend on repetitive admin.

For small businesses, this means real-time visibility of expenditure and cashflow – an essential advantage in volatile trading conditions. For advisors MYOB says the feature means fewer errors and cleaner files when compliance deadlines loom, reducing the time spent tidying data before submission.

The focus on practical time savings echoes themes raised in MYOB’s earlier mid-market Acumatica rollout, where early adopters reported savings of upwards of 20 hours a month thanks to automation in accounts payable. While the new release doesn’t replicate those features, it shares the same underlying goal of removing manual volume so human effort can be redirected to higher-value decisions.

Behavioural cues to tackle late payments

The Business Monitor data shows late payments remain a stubborn issue for small businesses. MYOB’s Smart Invoice Reminders aims to address that, analysing late payer behaviour to recommend actions and tone, with customisable scheduling of automatic reminders.

For owners, MYOB says the offering will reduce administrative load, while providing clearer visibility of expected cashflow to reduce uncertainty in planning conversations for advisors.

Robson says the approach reflects the company’s belief that small improvements quickly add up to big results for local SMEs.

“AI can completely change the game for small businesses and their advisors, powering up productivity and accelerating innovation beyond anything we’ve seen before,” he says.

The company says it has guardrails and evaluation measures in place to ensure the accuracy and safety of its AI outputs, but does admit AI can still get things wrong. Users can view the context and data source of suggestions to review them.

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Last year saw a ‘robust’ 12 percent increase in IT spend, (IDC has suggested that growth rate is likely the highest since 1996) with S&P saying it believes enterprises increased their total IT budgets to accommodate new AI-related investments, rather than reallocate or take away from existing IT priorities.

“Enterprise IT budgets could tighten if monetisation of AI investments proves low or delayed.”

That AI spend, which includes infrastructure, software, services and AI-embedded devices, is now making up 26 percent of overall IT spend, according to Gartner figures.

In a report very much skewed towards the impacts on vendors – S&P Global is, afterall a financial intelligence company for whom credit ratings are key – S&P notes that enterprises expanded IT budgets in 2025 specifically to fund AI initiatives, rather than shifting money away from core operations, maintenance or long-standing digital transformation programs. Enterprise spending, which started the year cautiously, accelerated through the second half of 2025 to reach high single-digit growth.

However, in a now all-too-familiar tale, AI monetisation is lagging AI investment with S&P noting a ‘high degree of variability’ in its forecasts as concerns around the sustainability of AI-related investments continue to build. Despite accelerating cloud revenue growth among hyperscalers, S&P says enterprises themselves have yet to see broad, measurable returns from AI deployments and while cloud service provider capex spend is forecast for strong growth, enterprise budgets might not be so forgiving.

Despite its optimistic title, AI Tailwinds Bode Well for 2026 IT Spending, the report warns that tightening enterprise IT budgets are a risk in 2026 if AI investment payoffs remain limited or delayed.

“Negative feedback on the pace of AI monetisation could cause enterprises to re-evaluate their AI projects and cloud service providers to slow data centre expansion. Credit markets may no longer support unlimited infrastructure financing under such a scenario,” S&P says. “This has the potential to set up for a rocky 2027.”

2026 outlook

S&P is forecasting global IT spend to rise nine percent this year, far ahead of global GDP growth projections of three percent, but it notes the forecast carries a ‘high degree of variability’ due to uncertainty around the sustainability of AI investment.

Enterprise budgets for 2026 are expected to skew strongly toward cloud, cybersecurity, data and analytics and AI infrastructure, however discretionary projects remain constrained, with elongated sales cycles, particularly for large transformation deals, and continued funding uncertainty across the public sector, education and healthcare clients.

Software is forecast to grow on pace with last year, at around 10 percent, but S&P highlights that budget scrutiny has increased and deal cycles are lengthening – a potential early indicator of pressure that could intensify if AI returns fail to meet expectations.

SaaS is expected to be a key driver, along with digital transformation and cloud migration. The transition to SaaS, which now accounts for 60 percent of the total software market, was a driver for 2025 software figures, along with, and linked to, enterprise focus on cost efficiencies and digital transformation.

Despite the hype around agentic AI, S&P isn’t expecting it to be a meaningful ratings driver in 2026. “Many software companies report high client interest and growing adoption, yet the revenue impact remains low. However, we believe generative AI features may create incremental growth opportunities and value-based pricing uplift for software vendors over time and increased consumption of existing product suites.

It cites Salesforce revenue growth – the company’s Agentforce and Data Cloud 360 annual recurring revenue more than doubled year over year to hit US$1.4 billion in the most recent quarter – as an example.

While enterprises may be cautious, albeit still spending, it’s the largest data centre players whose investments are eye-wateringly high: In 2025 estimated capital expenditure for Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Oracle hit a combined US$437 billion, up 68 percent year on year (and, S&P admits, far surpassing its initial forecast of 20 percent a year ago). This year, S&P is expecting cloud service providers’ capital expenditure to close in on US$600 billion thanks to a 38 percent rise in spend. Total capex spend is forecast to hit $3-4 trillion from 2025 to 2030.

The investment is focused primarily on AI training capacity and data centre buildouts, and S&P points out that hyperscalers are now reaching a point where external funding is becoming necessary, with recent debt issuances in the bond market by major operators to support continued investment.

“Their commitment to investing hundreds of billions in AI data centres and high-powered AI chips remained steadfast even in the face of the Trump administration’s threat of substantial tariffs on global trading partners in April and the cautious pace at which enterprise customers are adopting AI in the workplace.”

The release of an IT focused report by S&P is itself something of a milestone, highlighting the importance of IT spend – and AI-driven IT spend – on broader economic and credit-market assessments.

“We maintain a positive long-term view of the technology industry. Sectors from health care to energy are increasing their investments in IT, and AI in particular, to increase sales, hasten research and development and improve operational efficiency.”

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AppWrap December 2025

15.12 The Reserve Bank has filed civil proceedings in the High Court against ASB Bank, with the bank agreeing to a $6.7m penalty after admitting to seven breaches of the anti-money laundering and countering financing terrorism rules. The breaches include failing to adequately conduct ongoing customer due diligence and enhanced due diligence and failure to report suspicious activity within the correct timeframes, the Reserve Bank says.

12.12 A fault on a new Immigration NZ system saw hundreds of visa applications unable to be submitted or processed. INZ says its Adept technology platform, which will eventually become the country’s single vias applications submission channel and processing system required an upgrade which was ‘very large and complex and presented unexpected challenges’, RNZ reports.

12.12 The government has launched a $1.8 million pilot program to enable Kiwi space companies to develop technologies that could feed into a future national space mission. Space minister Judith Collins says the Kiwi Space Activator will help more businesses and universities move novel concepts from the lab to the skies. Two rounds of funding will be available with up to $600,000 offered for each successful project. The pilot will support a minimum of three projects.

12.12 Time magazine has named ‘the architects of AI’ as it’s 2025 Person of the Year. It says Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and other tech titans have ‘grabbed the wheel of history, developing technology and making decisions that are reshaping the information landscape, the climate and our livelihoods’.

11.12 A software ‘glitch’ related to a long-standing issue in Airways oceanic air traffic control system code has been blamed for the August air traffic outage which saw affected services operating across the Tasman, Stuff reports.

11.12 NZ Police are reducing what information they provide to the Auror surveillance system about suspects, amid concerns about who will see the information. RNZ reports Customs wants to use the system and might be able to see what police are telling retailers about suspects – despite the two organisations not having an agreement to share data this way, and concerns from the police’s tech watchdog about security and privacy.

10.12 Around 26,000 New Zealanders’ devices have been infected with Lumma Stealer malware the National Cyber Security Centre says. The malware typically impacts devices using Microsoft Windows and is designed to steal sensitive information for fraud or ID theft, the NCSC says. It has emailed New Zealanders who may be impacted and is directing people to its Own Your Online website for advice on how to remove the malware.

09.12 NZTech and the Tech Alliance have joined forces, becoming Tech New Zealand. The organisation says what once was a national industry body and a coalition of specialist groups is now a single, coordinated entity. CEO Graeme Muller says the refreshed brand offers ‘greater clarity for members, partners and government’.

08.12 Hnry has raised just over $30m in an oversubscribed Series C raise, with Movac’s Growth Fund investing in the accounting software company for the first time. Hnry says the funding, which lifts its total investment to nearly $100m since 2018, will be used to accelerate international expansion and scale the platform.

08.12 Projects to make quantum communication more practical and secure over long distances have been granted funding as part of a triennial New Zealand-South Korea Joint Research Partnership Programme. The projects, which are all running jointly between a New Zealand university and South Korean organisations,  nclude an initiative to develop quantum repeaters – akin to ultra-secure relay stations – a compact quantum light source which would provide ultra- secure communication and enable opportunities to manufacture components, and an interface to connect different types of quantum signals have been chosen, MBIE says.

05.12 A medical drone delivery trial has successfully delivered medical equipment to Matakana Island during a simulated emergency raising hopes the service could offer faster healthcare access for remote communities. The trial was a partnership between drone company VertiLink, the University of Auckland and Ngāi Te Rangi Iwi, RNZ reports.

04.12 Rocket Lab has been crowned Company of the year in Deloitte’s Top 200 Awards. Deloitte says the award is recognition of Rocket Lab’s ability to combine cutting-edge technology with bold ambition. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare took out the Best Growth Strategy award. On the individual awards front Sky’s Sophie Moloney was named 2025 Chief Executive of the Year with Carmel Fisher receiving the Visionary Leader award for her influence on New Zealand’s investment landscape.

03.12 Kiwi authors are among those included in Anthropic AI’s US$1.5 billion settlement over claims it used pirated books to train its large language model. RNZ says authors are being offered payment of US$3000 for each title accessed by Anthropic.

02.12 Data infrastructure, renewable energy, digitisation and AI and technology including agtech, medtech, spacetech and fintech, have been identified as key target areas for investment and growth by investment agency InvestNZ. Trade and Investment minister Todd McClay says New Zealand is lagging when it comes to international investment, which is starving the country of capital for infrastructure and business. InvestNZ, which was announced earlier this year aims to attract direct foreign investment. Investment banker and corporate leader Rob Morrison has been appointed chair of the InvestNZ board.

02.12 Microsoft NZ’s data centre business has recorded revenue of $225.5 for the year ending 30 June 2025 a $33.6 million profit – up from a $16.3m loss in FY2024. The company opened its New Zealand hyperscale data centre in December 2024. Its financial records show it recorded an income tax benefit of $16.6 million for the year versus the $28.2 million tax expense a year earlier.

02.12 OpenAI has declared ‘code red’ in a push to improve the quality of ChatGPT amid pressure from competitors. Ars Technica says other OpenAI products will be delayed as a result, along with advertising plans. Google released Gemini 3 last month, with the model outperforming ChatGPT on some industry benchmark tests.

01.12 Open banking regulations are now in force in NZ with ANZ, ASB, BNZ and Westpac all required to have open banking systems live. Kiwibank has until June 2026 to have payment services ready, and December 2026 for other open banking services. MBIE says it is now accepting applications from organisations wanting to become accredited data requestors.

01.12 One NZ has been fined $1.1 million and ordered to pay $100,000 towards the Commerce Commission’s costs, after admitting to 10 breaches of the 111 Contract Code. The High Court found the telco failed to check some vulnerable customers could call 111 during power cuts. The code requires providers to give vulnerable consumers a no-cost way of calling 111 in a power cut, to communicate information to consumers on options and accurately report engagement, ComCom says.

AppWrap November 2025

30.11 Kiwi VC firm Icehouse Ventures has raised $10 million in equity capital ‘specifically for new people, technology and resources to help Kiwi entrepreneurs achieve more’. The company says the funding will go toward long-term, higher risk initiatives that help Icehouse Ventures find, invest in and support more Kiwi companies from pre-seed to pre-IPO. The company’s Growth Fund I backed 32 companies including Halter, Hnry, Tracksuit and Crimson Education, with those companies generating more than $360m in aggregate revenue in the last year, up $100 million year on year.

30.11 Drone and thermal imaging technology is being trialled in central Otago in an effort to control possum population sand and eradicate bovine tuberculosis. The drones allow OSPRI teams to access remote areas and detect possum populations to accurately pinpoint where people need to be deployed, RNZ reports.

29.11 Airbus has issued a recall for thousands of A320 jets due to data corruption risks from solar flares. The company says a significant number of A320 family of aircraft needed immediate software updates amid concerns that ‘intense solar radiation’ could corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls, ABCnews reports. Air New Zealand and Jetstar flights were among those grounded and awaiting software updates.

28.11 Japanese beer giant Asahi has revealed more than 1.5 million customers’ private details may have been leaked in a September cyberattack which crippled the company’s factory operations in Japan. The BBC reports that names, gender, addresses and contact information of more than 1.52 million customers is regarded as being at risk of possible leakage, along with data from current and former employees and family members and external contacts.

27.11 Hamilton’s Company-X has signed a deal to supply its virtual reality training systems to UK-based international defence company Babcock. Company-X’s simulation software is already used by the NZ Navy. Company-X has not disclosed any figures for the deal.

26.11 The government is cutting red tape for businesses developing drone and other aviation technologies. Space minister Judith Collins says a new rule allows regulatory sandboxes where technology can be tested freely and safely in controlled environments, enabling businesses and researchers to rapidly develop products without needing approval for small changes from CAA. Drone rules have also been updated to make it clearer when drones and other aviation technologies can and can’t be used. The rules clarify that drones can be used for low-risk work like surveying and mapping without certification and provide clarity around higher-risk activities like agricultural spraying and top dressing.

26.11 Mental health data won’t be misused as the result of a new AI navigation tool, mental health minister Matt Doocey says. The tool will help users find health support in their area, and in some cases to book it directly, RNZ reports. Doocey says Health NZ’s AI governance group will approve the project, which is being developed by telehealth provider Whakarongorau Aotearoa.

26.11 US President Trump has signed an executive order instructing the country’s 17 national laboratories, AI companies and universities to pool government data on a single platform and create AI models using the government’s scientific data. Genesis Mission aims to ‘double the productivity and impact of American research and innovation within a decade’, Nature reports. The Department of Energy has been charged with creating the platform, with companies including Microsoft, IBM, OpenAI, Anthropic and Google as collaborators.

25.11 Anthropic has launched its Claude Opus 4.5 AI offering, with a 67 percent price cut signalling its intention to become a production-ready enterprise tool, InfoWorld reports. The new pricing brings Anthropic closer to OpenAI and Google while maintaining a premium position and comes hard on the heels of Google’s launch of Gemini 3 and OpenAI’s release of GPT-5.1.

22.11 Filings in a class action against Meta and other social media platforms allege Meta shut down internal research into mental health effects of Facebook after finding causal evidence its products harmed users’ mental health, Reuters reports.

21.11 Canterbury startup Amua has garnered $1.2m in funding from government-agribusiness partnership AgriZeroNZ for a device that spreads a cow’s urine so it can be used as a fertiliser, allowing nitrogen to be better absorbed by pasture to increase grass growth and lower fertiliser use. The NZ Herald reports the investment is one of 16 so far for AgriZeroNZ, with $71.1m now committed.

20.11 Jade Software is buying fellow Christchurch company Contec Group International, which makes a specialist dairy supply chain system, MadCap, for an undisclosed sum. The deal will see Jade’s workforce grow from 250 to around 300 with Jade saying it has a goal of doubling the size of the company over the next three to six years. MadCap is used by six of the world’s 10 largest dairy companies, The Press reports.

18.11 Four general practices are piloting the Shared Digital Health Record service, which will ultimately enable healthcare providers to use existing shared electronic health record systems or clinical portals to access core patient information nationwide. eHealthNews reports the pilot, which runs until January, is focused on collecting information from patient records on allergies, intolerances, conditions and observations. The trial will be expanded further in early 2026 and in future the SDHR will incorporate existing national data services for medicines and immunisations.

17.11 ACC is using AI to help identify long term claimants who ‘may benefit from a further review by a staff member to help ensure they’re receiving the right support’, ACC deputy chief executive Michael Frampton says. The move has been slammed by ACC advocate Warren Forster who says its being used to force people off ACC at the expense of rehabilitation, RNZ reports.

17.11 Kiwi banks have implemented new fraud intelligence technology to help stop scammers using ‘mule’ accounts to move stolen money through the banking system. The system will help banks identify and share information about suspected mule accounts more quickly and freeze funds before they are moved on, the NZ Banking Association says.

17.11 The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says an IT system introduced at Wellington Hospital this year is a constant risk to patient safety, with Health NZ admitting there are ‘performance and stability issues’ but saying safeguards are in place to ensure patient information is not lost. RNZ reports it takes up to three minutes to load a screen with patient information with regular crashes, providing risk for both efficiency and patient safety.

17.11 The government is introducing ‘safe harbour’ legal protections to enable banks, telecommunications providers and digital platforms to act faster to block suspected online scams, without fear of being prosecuted if they take down legitimate customers or websites accidentally. Commerce and Consumer Affairs minister Scott Simpson says to complement the safe harbour, the cross-sector NZ Anti Scam Alliance is also exploring a ‘trusted flagger’ systems enabling regulators and law enforcement to provide reliable information about suspected scams to online providers.

14.11 The cofounders of edtech provider Kami, Alliv Samson and Hengjie Wang have been named EY Entrepreneur of the Year for 2025. EY says Kami supports 40 million uses across 180 countries and is used in 92 percent of US schools, though a very small foothold in NZ despite being a Kiwi company.

13.11 The Privacy Commissioner says New Zealand’s Privacy Act needs to be modernised and strengthened. His comments come as the Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s annual report shows privacy complaints were up 21 percent last year on 2023/24, which was also a record year, and the number of serious privacy breaches notified soared 43 percent. The Commissioner says the current Privacy Act provides insufficient incentives for organisations to meet even the most basic privacy requirements.

13.11 Auckland’s MSSP provider Defend has won the Security category in Microsoft’s global Partner of the Year Awards. Fusion5 was a finalist in the Dynamics 365 Service category, while Lab³ claimed the Microsoft Partner of the Year Award for New Zealand in the regional awards section, Microsoft says.

13.11 OpenAI is challenging a court order requiring it to turn over 20 million anonymised ChatGPT chat logs to the New York Times and other plaintiffs suing over alleged copyright infringement, arguing it would expose users’ private conversations. OpenAI says the logs are complete conversations and as such more likely to expose private information, ArsTechnica reports.

10.11 Payments NZ has won the Outstanding Payments Industry Collaboration award at the APAC Payments Awards for its work with the API Centre. The awards also saw Hnry take out Best B2B Payment Experience.

10.11 University of Canterbury research shows there is no strong evidence that robots have a consistent impact on wages, either positive or negative. Researchers reviewed 52 studies and found on average the effect was ‘close to zero’ – falling below even the minimal threshold for economic significance, associate professor of economics Tom Coupe says writing in The Conversation.

09.10 A defence analyst is touting the idea of a ‘drone wall’ to keep China at bay, saying New Zealand could benefit from Australia building the wall of military drones and the platform could operate better if allies co-operated. Drones are second, behind space, in New Zealand’s strategic industrial base priorities, RNZ reports.

09.10 Microsoft’s refund offer for its Microsoft 365 Personal and Family customers is up and running three days after the email was sent to customers with the offer. Initially users clicking the link were taken to a page requiring them to enter an Australian billing address and phone and online chat support was besieged resulting in hours-long backlogs. A ‘corrected’ email resulted in further problems. The NZ Herald reports many users are still unhappy with confusion over the offers.

07.11 Meta projected 10 percent of its revenue in 2024 – or US$16 billion – to come from ads for scams and banned goods, according to documents seen by Reuters, which says the social media company internally estimates its platforms show 15 billion scam ads a day.

08.10 AI stocks lost more than US$820 billion this week as the Nasdaq experienced its worst week since April’s ‘Liberation Day’ plunge, NBC News reports. Shares in Microsoft, Nvidia, AMD, Plantir, Oracle and Meta all tumbled. Experts have been warning of an ‘AI correction’.

06.10 A project is underway to measure the geometry of old forestry roads using a laser-equipped drone. The project follows the death 2023 death of a forestry worker killed when he crashed on a private road. The company involved will pay to develop a method and software for analysing forestry roads, based on research using LiDar data or new data from a $50,000 LiDAR equipped drone, RNZ reports.

06.10 Microsoft is offering refunds to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family forced to upgrade to 365 with Copilot a year ago. Customers were not given an clear option for opting out. Those not wanting Copilot can now opt out by 31 December and receive a refund for the $5/month charged since their first renewal date after 30 November 2024, Microsoft says. The offer comes after Australia’s competition watchdog, the ACCC, began legal proceedings against Microsoft alleging the company mislead 2.7m Australian companies by telling them that they had to accept the integration of Copilot and pay higher prices or cancel their subscription.

05.10 Amazon has fired warning shots at AI agents being used on its site, taking legal action against AI startup Perplexity AI. Amazon has accused Perplexity of covertly accessing customer accounts through its Comet browser and associated AI agent, and disguising AI activity as human browsing. It’s alleging the action poses security threats and that the company hasn’t been transparent in identifying the agents’ activities, the Guardian reports. Perplexity has hit back accusing Amazon of bullying.

06.10 The password for the Louvre’s video surveillance system has been revealed as… Louvre. The security blunder was revealed in the wake of the US$102 million jewel heist, ABC says. There’s no indication the thieves accessed the system.

04.11 NZX-listed Being AI is proposing to sell its final remaining business, the mail and logistics company Send Global for $8.8 million to Evan Christian’s Wilshire Treasury to meet debt obligations. The business has outstanding debt of more than $9.3m to ANZ and $3.8m to Wilshire Treasury. Being AI says it plans to maintain its NZX listing while directors ‘seek to identify and execute potential new acquisition opportunities’.

04.11 OpenAI has signed a seven-year, US$38 billion deal to buy cloud services from AWS. The deal includes provision of Amazon EC2 UltraServers featuring ‘hundreds of thousands’ of chips and the ability to scale to tens of millions of CPUs for advanced genAI workloads, AWS says.

03.11 Tauranga robotics company Syos Aerospace is expanding to Australia and will establish production in the country to capitalise on demand for sovereign produced uncrewed vehicles, particularly maritime and interceptor drones. The company, which recently acquired Tauranga’s uncrewed underwater vehicle developer Bay Dynamics, has UK operations and will look to Asean and APAC markets for further growth, The Post reports.

03.11 Kordia has sold its IT professional services and procurement business to Fusion5 for an undisclosed sum. Kordia Group CEO Neil Livingston says the decision will enable it to ‘sharpen its focus’ on core business areas providing renewed focus and resources to strengthen its offerings in core services of tech and critical comms provision across maritime, media, critical comms infrastructure and cyber, connectivity and cloud.

02.11 A visiting expert is calling for New Zealand to follow Australia’s lead and introduce strict new Scam Codes requiring banks, telcos and social media companies to collaborate in detecting and blocking fraudulent activity and, in some cases, reimburse victims. Gabby Lewis, a criminologist heading fraud and financial crime at digital assets exchange Swyftx and a keynote speaker at this week’s Anti-money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism conference, says NZ needs a balanced approach that protects consumers without removing personal responsibility.

01.11 The APEC summit has wrapped up with a joint declaration including an agreement for a five-year AI initiative to advance secure, accessible and reliable AI across APEC economies and ensure AI benefits are spread across whole populations. InnovationAus reports this year’s summit stood out for its depth of focus on tech issues from AI to semiconductors, data centres and other cloud infrastructure.

AppWrap October 2025

30.10 Halter has replaced around 30 transmission towers, needed for its virtual farm fencing systems, after they were knocked out by recent storms. Around 70 South Island farms were affected by the disruption, RNZ reports.

30.10 Google parent Alphabet has recorded its first US$100 billion revenue quarter, with Google Cloud – which includes AI services – Search and YouTube all seeing double-digit growth. Entrepreneur reports the $102.3 billion was well ahead of analysts estimates and double the $50 billion logged just five years ago.

29.10 Microsoft’s net income took a US$3.2 billion hit in Q1 2026 on the back of its OpenAI investment. The company’s latest financials show it has invested US$13 billion into OpenAI, with $11.6 billion of that since the end of September, CNBC reports. Net income still rose to US$27.7 billion, with cloud revenues up 26 percent yoy to more than $49b.

30.10 New Zealand websites were knocked offline by a major Microsoft Azure outage which affected sites around the world along with business Microsoft 365 customers. Health NZ, NZ Police, Air NZ, Immigration NZ and Fire and Emergency NZ systems were among those impacted, RNZ reports.

24.10 A bug in automation software has been blamed for the AWS outage which brought down thousands of sites and applications. The bug in DynamoDB’s automated DNS management system was an empty DNS record for an AWS region, which failed to automatically repair, The Guardian reports.

23.10 SaaS companies community KiwiSaaS has relaunched as part of NZTech. The relaunch follows a campaign, supported by NZTE and NZTech, to re-establish the organisation as a membership group with a goal of securing $50,000 in annual memberships and signing up 10 of the top 50 SaaS companies. In July it announced it had raised $100,000 and secured 21 founding members and support of Movac, NZX and Stripe as its first partners. The organisations aims to boost capability across the full SaaS lifecycle while highlighting the opportunities software creates for high-value jobs in NZ. It says the sector contributed $2.22 billion to GDP and employed 17,000 Kiwis in 2023.

23.10 A bill to amend existing laws to criminalise sexually explicit deepfake images has been drawn from the biscuit tin and will be read a first time at a later date, RNZ reports.

22.10 Space tech, cleantech and a university course guidance platform were among the winners at this year’s KiwiNet Awards. The awards, which celebrate deep tech talent who translate cutting edge research into technologies, businesses and tangible economic benefits, saw Dr Ben Mallett of The MacDiarmid Institute claim the Breakthrough Innovator Award for his space tech work, with Professor Aaron Marshall from the University of Canterbury taking out the Researcher Entrepreneur Award.

21.10 A major AWS outage has knocked thousands of online services, including banking, and websites offline. AWS reported an issue on its Health Dashboard last night. By 5am this morning services were gradually coming back online, but AWS acknowledged there were still ‘significant errors’ affecting some services. The company says the root cause is an underlying internal subsystem responsible for monitoring the health of its network load balances, with the issue originating within the EC2 internal network. Users have reported issues with their Alexa speakers, Ring doorbells, and sites including Facebook, Snapcaht, Zoom, Reddit, Duolingo, TVNZ and Spark.

20.10 The Law Association has written to government saying over reliance on concentrated cloud and digital infrastructure is creating centralised vulnerabilities with far-reaching consequences. RNZ says the Association is asking government to undertake a select committee inquiry. Its other suggestions include amendments to the Fair Trading Act, greater powers for the National Cyber Security Centre and a compensation scheme for those affected. The letter says while businesses can’t function without cloud services, they face uninsurable and unrecoverable risks arising from providers’ platforms and systems.

20.10 Labour has announced a $200m plan for a ‘Future Fund’, to allow the next TradeMe, Xero or Rocket Lab to grow and thrive here, as its first key election policy. It would operate alongside the existing Super Fund, but a larger amount of investment would be made in New Zealand compared to the just 11 percent currently from the Super Fund, 1News reports.

17.10 Kiwi healthtech Toku Eyes has been bought by a Japanese headquartered Topcon Healthcare for an undisclosed sum. Toku, which is now based in the US, develops AI-powered tools for retinal imaging. Topcon invested US$8 million in the company back in 2023. Topcon says it will integrate Toku’s AI algorithms into its connected care ecosystem to ‘empower primary care and eyecare with preventive medicine’, making non-invasive, AI-driven risk screening widely available across primary care, eyecare and telehealth environments.

17.10 MBIE has released the finalised regulations for open banking in New Zealand. The regulations start coming into force, in a phased rollout, on December 1. Included is a ban on banks charging for requests. There is still scope for banks to pass on ‘ordinary charges’ notes HudsonGavinMartin or to agree exceptional charges with accredited requestors. Interest reports fintechs are, in general, ‘pretty happy’ with the regulations.

17.10 Canva is promising AI agents which can carry out design, marketing and sales tasks in its first phase of agentic tools. InformationAge reports Canva says the agents will work a ‘proper teammates’ alongside human users, but did not confirm whether the agents would be available to users without a paid subscription.

13.10 Qantas says some Kiwi customers have had their personal data leaked following a July hack which saw personal information of 5.7m Qantas customers breached, RNZ reports. Data containing the five million customer records was reported released onto the dark web last week after a ransom deadline passed. The data was stolen from a Salesforce database. Forty companies were caught up in the hack, including  Disney, Google, Ikea, Toyota, McDonalds and KLM.

10.10 Earth Sciences NZ (formerly Niwa and GNS Science) is on the hunt for more GPUs for its $35m supercomputer – just weeks after the computer was launched. An RFP document says the crown research group is seeking to expand GPU capacity ‘to meet growing scientific demand’.

10.10 A Health NZ funded wellbeing chatbot using generative AI to provide answers to questions about mental health and wellbeing, has launched. Ask Groov was developed by Wellington’s Groov – which was co-founded by John Kirwan. The NZHerald reports that the chatbot appeared slower and less human sounding that chatbots such as ChatGPT, but includes regular prompts to speak to a counsellor and information about accessing helplines and has ‘the additional policy’ that users’ data will be kept safe and not used to train AI, unlike other chatbots. The launch comes as clinicians debate the ethics of such offerings.

10.10 Billionaire tech investor and Palantir cofounder Peter Thiel says the ‘antichrist is a luddite who wants to stop all science’ pointing to critics of AI, such as Eliezer Yudkowsky, and Greta Thunberg. Thiel has been garnering plenty of attention with his off-the-record lectures about Armageddon and the antichrist. The Guardian has substantial quoted passages of his ‘lectures’.

10.10 Three researchers who paved the way for quantum computing have won the Noble Prize in Physics. Quantum physicists John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis observed ‘distinct quantum behaviours of a macroscopic physical variable’ in 1985 and their groundbreaking work led to achievements in constructing prototype quantum computers, The Conversation says.

09.10 ANZ New Zealand is hailing the success of new fraud prevention tools, saying its behavioural alerts helped block $1 million in suspicious payments within eight weeks, while since rollout, confirmation of payee has seen mistaken payments drop by 30 percent. Customers using dynamic security code verifications has experienced 54 percent lower fraud rates than those using the static number on a card, while cyber quarantine tools have taken down 3,000 fake and scam websites, the bank says.

07.10 Google Threat Intelligence Group and Mandiant have warned of a new large scale extortion campaign by the Cl0p ransomware group, this time alleging theft of sensitive data from Oracle E-business Suite environments. Oracle has issued emergency patches to address the vulnerability. GTIG says starting late September, the threat actor launched a high-volume email extortion campaign from ‘hundreds, if not thousands’ of compromised third-party accounts, threatening to leak information stolen from companies’ databases unless a ransom is paid. The FBI’s cyber division assistant director has warned companies this is a ‘stop what you are doing’ and patch immediately’ vulnerability.

05.10 Melbourne’s Heidi Health, makers of the Heidi medical scribe approved for use in New Zealand, has raised US$65 million in Series B funding, StartupDaily reports. The latest deal boosts the company’s valuation to US$465m. The Heidi ambient AI medical scribe is used by two of New Zealand’s largest primary healthcare providers, Tamaki Health and ProCare, and was endorsed by Health New Zealand for use by clinicians earlier this year.

02.10 Tech teachers are concerned education reforms will reduce creativity and problem solving, replacing it with a focus on specific knowledge and skills and ‘ruining’ what they say is a world-leading curriculum. RNZ reports teachers are also concerned about subjects being designated ‘vocational’ or academic’, noting each tech subject can take students in either direction.

07.10 Futureverse, which took a half-a-billion-dollar bet on the Metaverse has gone into receivership. The Kiwi company, which started life as Centrality in 2016 and rebranded in 2022, was recognised on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2025 list and was valued at more than $1 billion in June 2023. Callaghan Innovation was an early supporter, providing funding for R&D. Futureverse directors have voluntarily appointed McGrathNicol as administrators with Calibre Partners appointed receivers by investor 50T Funds, which was part of a $54m 2023 Series A raise.

06.10 St John has developed an AI clinical audit system system which audits ambulance service patient care records in what it says is a world first in pre-hospital care. eHealthNews reports St John is required to audit 5-20 percent of its 430,000 annual patient care records for regulatory compliance – a task that takes 250 volunteers 7,500 hours a year, alongside 1.5 FTEs. The AI system does an initial audit of all records then triages cases needing urgent assessment by clinicians. A proof of concept, focused on falls, completed earlier this year and St John is now working to rebuild the model in-house.

02.10 Kiwi insurtech Javln has secured AU$6 million in capital investment to support its expansion across Australia and entry into new markets and accelerate R&D. The funding will also support the company’s strategic partnership with Australian insurance and financial services distribution group, Envest, Fintechnews reports. Javln says it has over 11,000 contracted users.

02.10 Queensland’s SwarmFarm Robotics has raised $30m in Series B funding to ramp up production of its autonomous SwarmBots and expand into North America, SmartCompany reports. SwarmFarm’s open platform, SwarmConnect, provides an ‘app store for agriculture’ enabling developers to build software tailored to different crops and farming practices. Farmers then use the apps to customise the bots for specific jobs.

02.10 NZ’s IT professional body, ITPNZ has proposed liquidation, facing falling revenues and long-term unpaid accreditation license fees. The industry body says ITP is no longer sustainable in its current form and members will vote at a meeting on 23 October. ITPNZ’s board has recommended members vote for the liquidation to enable the organisation to ‘draw a clean line under this chapter and move forward to secure a new home for professional recognition in New Zealand’.

01.10 Financial companies including some fintechs, licensed under the Deposit Takers Act 2003, may be able to call themselves banks under proposed changes. The Reserve Bank is currently consulting on the changes, which would take effect when the DTA fully commences, expected to be 1 December 2028, The Post reports. Fintechs have previously argued they are being hampered by not being able to call themselves banks.

AppWrap September 2025

29.09 Older workers are reaping the benefits of AI – and embracing the technology and training. RNZ reports 44 percent of those taking an adult education course were aged over 50 with AcademyEX founder Frances Valintine saying older people may actually have a ‘massive benefit’ because human in the loop is still required in every part of AI, and those with more experience are more capable at identifying anomalies in AI-generated reports.

28.09 New Zealand and Australia are joining forces on space science and technology with three space projects. MBIE says New Zealand will invest up to $5.3 million in collaborative space science projects including satellite sensing in agriculture practices monitoring soil moisture, and one project looking at the development of a high-speed trans-Tasman optical communications network for satellite data. The third project will is a joint satellite mission to enhance maritime domain awareness.

26.09 A US judge has given preliminary approval for a US$1.5 billion class settlement in a class action lawsuit charging Anthropic with copyright infringement. Publishers Weekly says authors and publishers will receive about US$3,000 for each of the books covered by the agreement.  Authors alleged millions of books had been illegally pirated to train chatbots, but just 482,000 works qualify for the payment. The settlement does not apply to future works.

25.09 Canstar says 99 percent of Kiwis are now doing most of their banking digitally, with apps accounting for 75 percent of that, but warns there’s a huge difference in functionality among the banking apps. The company has just crowned ASB bank of the year for digital banking based on a review by its expert panel and a survey of 4,244 bank customers.

25.09 Meta has expanded ‘teen account’ restrictions to under-16s to all Facebook and Messenger users. The restrictions debuted on Instagram last year, rolling out in New Zealand earlier this year. However, critics say the restrictions won’t do anything to protect children online and have dubbed the changes a ‘media stunt’, The Press reports. B416 is warning parents not to rely on the new settings, which are meant to restrict content, messaging and hours of usage.

25.09 US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order approving a proposal for a new joint-venture company to oversee the platform’s US business, with ByteDance holding less than 20 percent of stock. CNBC says China has yet to approve the deal, which values the company at US$14 billion. Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX investment will be the main investors in the US business under the deal, with ByteDance and new holders owning 35 percent. ByteDance has not acknowledged that a transaction is taking place and there is no indication the Chinese government has made law changes required for the deal to take place, though Trump claims the Chinese president has giving the deal the go-ahead.

23.09 A new pilot program, Project Fetu, has launched in Otago, supporting Pacific workers to complete a six-week, NZQA-recognised Digital Skills for Manufacturing micro-credential. The partnership between the Oamaru Pacific Island Trust and Hanga-Aro-Rau Workforce Development Council for the manufacturing, engineering and logistics sectors could become a scalable model for regional upskilling, delivering a methodology for delivering training in rural areas without tertiary infrastructure, Hanga-Aro-Rau says.

22.09 New Zealand has joined 18 other data protection agencies in supporting ‘extended global commitment to innovative and privacy-protecting AI’. The signatories have committed to a developing clear standards to process training data lawfully, Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster says. He says it is important to work with other jurisdictions on AI as it is a global tech, developing at pace.

22.09 The NZ government is centralising the procurement of major IT projects under the government chief digital officer in an effort to avoid tech blowouts and cut up to $3.9 billion over the next five years. Digitising Government minister Judith Collins says a centralised approach could save up to 30 percent on the projected $13b tech spend for the public sector over the next five years, while providing a joined up, digital-first public service. The GCDO will develop and deliver key digital tools on behalf of agencies, she says.

18.09 The New Zealand government has invested $4.5 million in an NZ-US partnership to develop AI-powered digital twins for health and bioeconomy innovation. The funding, over four years, comes from the MBIE-administered Catalyst Fund and will see researchers from the Auckland Bioengineering Institute and the University of Texas’ Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences develop digital twins to enable personalised healthcare, accelerate drug development and support agricultural innovation by simulating responses to genetic and environmental changes, MBIE says.

18.09 Atlassian has continued its acquisition spree with a US$1 billion cash-and-stock deal for developer productivity platform DX. Forbes reports the deal positions Atlassian to capitalise on the critical market need of measuring AI-driven development, with DX providing an analytics platform that helps organisations track engineering team performance and identify development bottlenecks.

17.09 David Rozado has been named AI Research Pioneer of the Year at the Aotearoa AI awards. Rozado was recognised for ‘advancing the state of the art and building bridges from research to applied impact’ and his work to make black-box systems more transparent and accountable. Lee Wilson, Kiwa Digital, Dr Andrew Lensen and the New Zealand Institute of Public Health and Forensic Science ALMA team were also recognised for their AI work. ALMA is an AI powered digital twin of New Zealand’s population used to model health, environment, climate and population dynamics including disease outbreaks and health equality.

18.09 The government says it is investing up to $70 million over seven years through the New Zealand Institute for Advanced Technology to support AI research in New Zealand. Announcing the investment, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Shane Reti said it would accelerate work by bringing together researchers and businesses to build capability, fast-track commercialisation and create high value jobs and new opportunities for researchers.

18.09 The Court of Appeal is hearing the most significant challenge yet to NZ Police use of automated number plate recognition. RNZ reports a lawyer for the Privacy Commissioner has said Europe would not allow the kind of surveillance currently going on in New Zealand, while the Crown has argued that ‘a great deal of care’ has been used with the technology.

17.09 New Zealand’s national esports team, the E Blacks have defeated their trans-Tasman rivals to defend the Oceanic title they first claimed last year in the Dota 2 Oceanic Qualifiers for the World Esports Championships. The victory means the E Blacks will represent New Zealand at the World Esports Championships later this year, competing with 16 nations from a starting pool of 151 countries, NZ Esports says.

18.09 Tesla’s self-driving technology has arrived in New Zealand. Unlike fully autonomous models available overseas, the New Zealand offering is ‘full self-driving (supervised)’ 1news reports.

16.09 Kiwi edtech Kami is acquiring UK education platform Book Creator for an undisclosed sum. Book Creator claims more than 20 million teachers and students have used its platform. Kami, which last year received investment from Boston Ventures Investment Partners, expects the deal to see its products reach 70 million teachers and students.

15.09 Victoria University’s Hēki technology demonstration payload has been successfully launched to the International Space Station. The superconductivity project by Robinson Research Institute will test the feasibility of using superconducting magnets in space and is a ‘vital validation’ for the novel technologies at the heart of the Kōkako thruster, an electric propulsion system developed at Robinson. Unlike chemical rockets, electric propulsion systems can operate continuously for months or even years, enabling deep space missions and heavy cargo transport with minimal fuel use, Victoria University says.

15.09 The Ministry of Social Development is going ahead with a billion-dollar tech makeover, but in an unusual twist for a government IT project, has a reduced estimated cost of $1.8-2.1b, rather than the earlier $2.1-2.6b. MSD has ‘been able to adapt the program based on lessons learned in the first two years’ along with learnings from other organisations to result in a ‘more efficient’ program, documents show. In the first two years of the nine-year program, $183 million has been spent on a digital employment service and improved system to support partnering for outcomes.

15.09 Workers in computer systems design and related services are the second highest earning category in New Zealand, according to Stats NZ data, logging a median income of $125,630. Those working in coal, oil, gas and metal ore take the number one slot at $144,450, RNZ reports. The data only covers PAYE, not self-employed workers and doesn’t take into account hours worked.

15.09 Spark and One NZ have launched a new service for emergency services, showing mobile network outages across the country in real time. Planned outages will also be shown up to two weeks in advance. The service, trialled earlier this year during Cyclone Tam will enable emergency services to see when and where operations will be impacted and put workarounds in place. Police minister Mark Mitchell says New Zealand is believed to be the first country in the world to provide a service bringing together coverage from two competing mobile providers.

14.09 The owner of publications including Rolling Stone, Billboard and Variety has sued Google, alleging the company’s AI summaries use its content without consent, and have significantly reduced search referral traffic to its sites. Penske Media Corporation’s suit says while the company allows Google to crawl its websites in exchange for traffic, Google has begun to require publishers to also supply the content for other uses that cannabalise or preempt search referrals, TechCrunch reports. The only way to opt out is to remove Penske entirely from Google search, the publisher says. Penske is the first to target Google and its parent company Alphabet.

10.09 OpenAI has signed a $300 billion contract with Oracle purchase compute power in one of the largest cloud deals ever signed. The deal will reportedly require 4.5 gigawatts of power capacity. The NYTimes notes that OpenAI previously said it had reached a deal with Oracle to build AI data centres in the US as part of Project Stargate, but had not revealed particulars of that deal. The new deal spans around five years, with OpenAI starting to purchase compute from 2027.

09.09 New Zealand’s national Shared Digital Health Record service’s go-live has been delayed until mid-2026, a year later than planned. The service will enable patients information to flow to point of care, such as when they visit another healthcare provider. eHealthNews reports an early adopter pilot is planned for late 2025 with practice information sharing scheduled to start in early-mid 2026.

09.09 Meridian Energy has implemented a unified Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP and enterprise performance management system. The energy provider moved to the system from heavily customised legacy systems, with the solution bringing together finance, procurement, project portfolio management and enterprise performance management into a single cloud-based environment, connecting broader systems through Oracle Integration Cloud. DXC says it handled the implementation and is providing multi-year managed services.

08.08 Kiwi medtech companies Upstream Medical Technologies and Tiro Medical have gone into liquidation after unsuccessful attemps to raise capital. The liquidations follow Exsurgo’s receivership and subsequent liquidation last month, the NZ Herald reports [paywalled].

04.09 Projects to develop new technology to monitor the upper atmosphere and improve climate modelling and forecasting, marine spatial planning using AI and the creation of a rapid, low-cost diagnostic platform are among the 19 research programmes to win a combined $183.82 million in the latest round of the government’s Endeavour Fund. MBIE says it is also continuing to fund 106 research programs awarded in previous years.

03.09 The Financial Markets Authority is seeking feedback on the implications of tokenised products and their potential role in New Zealand financial services. It says along with getting a better understanding of the industry views on current and future potential of tokenisation, it is exploring whether current regulatory settings are helping or hindering responsible innovation and what can be done to support innovation, improve regulatory certainty and enhance consumer protection.

02.09 AWS has officially launched its Auckland data centres re-hyping its oft-iterated claims of $7.5b in investment and the creation of 1000 jobs. But at a press conference this morning the company declined to break down specifics of where the investment was made or over what time frame – though it did note that it ‘started our investments years ago’, investing in the Hawiki cable back in 2016 along with bringing services including Outposts to New Zealand and future power costs. The company was also extremely vague in response to questions about the data centre planned for a now apparently abandoned west Auckland site. “As of today the region is live… and as part of that, of course, we have established data centres,” NZ country manager Manuel Bohnet said. “The centres are up and running… we looked at different options and made our choices to bring them online today.” Industry speculation has suggested that the company is in fact using other companies’ data centres.

02.09 Being AI has been fined $50,000 and publicly censured for breaching NZX governance rules relating to independent director requirements and the composition of its audit committee, the NZ Markets Disciplinary Tribunal says. The company, which acknowledged the breaches, will also pay costs.

AppWrap August 2025

26.08 One in five gen Z and millennials admit to exaggerating their AI skills in job interviews, with most workers feeling overwhelmed by how quickly they’re expected to deploy AI to tackle tasks, according to LinkedIn research. 1news reports 46 percent of workers said learning about AI was such a burden it felt like taking on a second job.

24.08 Rotorua Lakes Council candidates have mixed views on the use of genAI in their campaigning, with some acknowledging they’re using it in some form or other, while others are keen to see its use declared, RNZ reports.

23.08 Mobile device locations are being made available to emergency services, even when a 111 call hasn’t been made, if there are serious concerns for their safety or health. The Device Location Information service becomes available on Monday 25 August and can be used by Fenz, Wellington Free Ambulance, Police, St John, Maritime NZ and New Zealand Search and Rescue. Police Minister Mark Mitchell says rigorous processes are in place to ensure appropriate and transparent use. St John says the tool will help emergency services respond faster.

23.08 US President Trump says the US government has secured a 10 percent stake in Intel through the conversion of US$11.1 billion in previously issued funds and pledges. The deal makes the US Government one of Intel’s largest shareholders. AP notes the deal comes just a couple of weeks after Trump depicted Intel CEO  Lip-Bu Tan as a conflicted leader unfit for the job amid national security concerns about his previous investments in Chinese companies when he was a venture capitalist.

22.08 Self-driving vehicle startup Nuro, founded by Kiwi Dave Ferguson, has raised US$203 million from new investors including Uber, Nvidia and New Zealand’s Icehouse Ventures, and returning investors. Reuters reports the latest tranche of US$97m – following on from $106m in April – puts the company’s valuation at $6 billion, down from 2021’s $8.6 billion.

21.08 Police have arrested a 25 year old woman for alleged ‘ghost tapping. The woman was allegedly attempting to make a paywave purchase of more than $6000 using ghost-tapped credit cards, where credit card details have been stolen via smishing or phishing, NZ Police says. Targets of ghost tapping are sent a text or email ‘reminder’ – ones allegedly from NZ Police or NZTA about unpaid fines or tolls are currently popular. Clicking on the links takes victims to a page to enter details, ultimately providing the scammer with access to the credit card through services like Google Pay and Apple Pay. A verification code is allegedly sent to confirm the payment, but is actually the code sent by Apple or Google as the criminal adds the card to their own phone’s digital wallet.

21.08 Thyme Technologies, Datacom and KPMG New Zealand are among the winners in Wiise’ 2025 Partner Awards. Australia’s Momentum Software Solutions took out Partner of the Year, with Thyme named New Zealand Partner of the Year.

18.08 Kiwi insurtech Simfuni has banked $3 million in an over-subscribed pre-Series A funding round. The latest round lifts the company’s total funding to $5.8 million, and will be used to strengthen automation and AI capabilities, expand its regional presence and develop further tools, InsuranceBusiness reports. The company provides an API-enabled platform for insurers handling policy lifecycle from onboarding to claims. The company had initially only sought $1.5m in this funding round.

17.08 An outage of the main oceanic area’s air traffic control system which affected trans-Tasman flights on Saturday will be the subject of a full review, an aviation commentator says. RNZ reports the commentator says the systems are typically very robust and the glitch was highly unusual, with a ‘pretty intense’ investigation expected.

14.08 Accenture is acquiring Australian cybersecurity company CyberCX for an undisclosed sum to expand its cybersecurity capabilities across APAC. AFR reports the transaction is valued at more than AU$1 billion. CyberCX, which has New Zealand operations, has 1,400 staff across APAC. Since 2015, Accenture has completed 20 security acquisitions it says.

13.08 Spark has sold a 75 percent stake in its New Zealand data centre business to Pacific Equity Partners, in a deal which values the data centre business at up to $705 million. Spark says with cloud and AI uptake increasing demand for data storage and compute in New Zealand, the introduction of a capital partner secures a funding pathway to build out Spark’s planned 130MW+ data centre capacity development pipeline. Money from the deal will be used to reduce Spark’s net debt.

12.08 Startup Perplexity AI has made a headline grabbing US$34.5 billion unsolicited all-cash offer for Google’s Chrome browser. The browser hasn’t been offered for sale, but Google is facing regulatory pressure after a US court ruling found it held an unlawful monopoly in online search and sought a Chrome divestiture. The deal value is far above Perplexity’s own valuation, Reuters reports, and would provide it access to the billions of Chrome users it wants in the AI search race.

11.08 New Zealand and Fiji will ‘explore’ deeper cooperation on cybersecurity, along with enhanced bilateral collaboration in digital transformation and telecommunications reform, Fiji Times reports. Media and communications Minister Paul Goldsmith is currently in Fiji for the Second Pacific ICT Ministers Dialogue.

10.08 Instagram’s new location sharing feature has sparked concerns, despite Meta saying it is an ‘opt-in’ service. The NY Times reports some users saw their prior posts plotted on the map without using the feature. Instagram’s Adam Mossseri says the map was populated not only with real-time locations, but also with earlier posts tagged with a location. Location tags existed previously, but were not collated on a prominent map as they now are.

09.08 OpenAI has unveiled GPT-5, claiming it can provide PhD-level expertise in areas such as coding and writing. OpenAI CE Sam Altman says the new model will suffer fewer hallucinations and be less deceptive, providing answers that show workings, logic and inference BBC reports. The company is pitching GPT-5 to coders as a proficient assistant, able to create software in its entirety. Some experts, however, say the launch may not be as significant as its marketing suggests, with companies needing keep up the hype, while others have highlighted a growing gap in governance.

08.08 The OAIC is suing Optus over the 2022 cyber attack alleging the company ‘seriously interfered’ with the privacy of around 9.5 million Australians by failing to take reasonable steps to protect their personal information. ABCnews reports Optus could face a fine in the trillions in theory, with the Federal Court able to impose a penalty of up to $2.2 million for each contravention. The OAIC is alleging one contravention for each of the 9.5 million individuals.

07.08 A police review of their use of the Auror automated number plate recognition system has found use has been too loose with limited control on who can log into the system and no requirement to enter the lawful reason for data being obtained. The review says there is a risk of misuse and access needed to be tightened, RNZ reports.

01.08 Tech has made a strong showing in this year’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalists lineup. Allive Samson and Hengjie Wang from ed-tech platform Kami, Geoff Henshaw from air quality monitoring equipment and software designers Aeroqual and Luke Campbell from VXT, a phone system for the legal sector which integrates with legal software to streamline processes are among the 19 finalists. ProjectWorks Matt Hayter, Guild and Spence Technologies Michael Pope and Nick Lissette from Blackpearl Group also feature.

AppWrap July 2025

29.07 Four regional digital directors have been appointed at Health NZ to oversee the performance of digital services in their regions. Megan Milmine, Debbie Mankelow, Steve Miller and Kirsty Martin will report to regional directors, acting as the interface into digital services, eHealthNews reports.

30.07 Air NZ chief digital officer Nikhil Ravishankar is stepping into the top role, replacing CEO Greg Foran in late October. Ravishankar, whose previous roles include CDO at Vector and Accenture managing director, has been with Air NZ nearly five years, the airline says.

30.07 Kiwibank, Mattr and Deloitte have signed on to use the AWS Asia Pacific (New Zealand) cloud region when it launches this year, AWS says.

28.07 NZTA has been using footage from cameras in billboards at city intersections to identify vehicles. RNZ says a trial, using SaferCities vGrid, started in February to combat fraud by illegal garages issuing warrants of fitness to cars or passing trucks. The trial is looking at the potential for using images gathered by the cameras to prove the location of a vehicle at a point in time. RNZ says the move has ‘appalled’ a source in the industry.

24.07 Air NZ has signed a deal to work with OpenAI on a number of projects to boost efficiency and enhance customer outcomes. Early ‘areas of exploration’ include improving customer self-service and enabling safe, responsible integrated planning across airline maintenance and operations. The airline says it is also looking into how data-drive insights can enable smarter, more informed operational decisions. The deal will see Air NZ gain direct access to OpenAI technologies to develop and apply use cases, providing employees across the business with the AI tools.

24.07 Microsoft’s New Zealand North Region facility has been granted Public Cloud Data Centre Provider certification by the Government Chief Digital Office. The certification provides a standardised and consistent security assessment of onshore public cloud facilities, the GCDO says. Microsoft is the first global cloud provider to gain the certification, joining Team IM and CDC.

24.07 The government has announced $24m in funding for two research programs in partnership with Singapore focusing on AI tools for healthy aging and biotechnology for future food production. The funding will support seven joint research projects over the next three years, aiming to develop tools to support clinicians and improve care for the aging population, AgScience says. The projects include AI augmented cognitive health monitoring and building an AI-driven risk score for dementia.

24.07 The Tāwhaki joint venture has received $5.85 million in government funding to support it to become a national aerospace centre and innovation hub. Space minister Judith Collins says the operational funding will help Tāwhaki scale up aerospace operations, attract new customers and strengthen New Zealand’s position in the global advanced aviation sector. The Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre was allocated permanent Special Use Airspace recently, providing the test flight area to trial next-generational technologies. Key infrastructure is in place in Canterbury. The latest operational funding takes the Crown investment to more than $35m, Collins says.

21.07 Dunedin health monitoring startup Sahha has raised another AU$1.2m – bringing its funding to $4m. Sahha collects and analyses data from wearables and smartphones to provide behavioural and health insights. The company says the funding will accelerate its commercialisation efforts.

21.07 NZTA Waka Kotahi says the National Ticketing Service Governance Group is working to address challenges with ‘complex’ parts of the technology for the $1.4 billion national ticketing project. The project will enable Kiwis to tag on to buses, trains and ferries nationwide using contactless payments. RNZ says an independent review has been commissioned looking at challenges for delivery and approach to managing delays, and to support the delivery of the program. The review is expected to be completed this month.

21.07 Researchers from the University of Canterbury have developed a chainsaw drone, aimed at making trimming trees around power lines and pylons safer and more efficient. The prototype drone is part of an eight year research project to develop drones that can use precise tools in complex, dynamic environments, the University says. It is expected to be ready for commercialisation next year.

21.07 Auckland medtech Heartlab, which provides a cardiology imaging platform, has raised $2m in its latest funding round. The country entered the US market on the back of a $3.5m raise in late 2021 and says the new raise will help cardiology professionals around the globe access the technology.

21.07 Noel Leeming says it’s baffled over criminal charges the Commerce Commission has filed against it alleging it misled consumers with its ‘price promise’ and other promotional practices. ComCom says it believes Noel Leeming’s price promise had ‘many’ limitations and conditions which weren’t made obvious to customers and which made price matches difficult to obtain. Other charges relate to promotions where product or prices advertises were different to what could be purchased, with ComCom also alleging incorrect or misleading information about consumers’ rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act was provided. Noel Leeming will ‘vigorously’ defend the charges, Stuff reports.

21.07 The National Cyber Security Centre has issued an alert over active exploitation of a vulnerability enabling unauthorised access to on-premise SharePoint servers. Patches are only available for SharePoint Subscription Edition and SharePoint Server 2019, with the NCSC encouraging immediate patching and, where remediation isn’t possible, isolating the SharePoint instance from the internet. SharePoint Online is not affected. US government agencies, universities, energy companies and an Asian telco are reportedly among those already hacked.

18.07 Health NZ has approved two ambient AI scribe tools for clinicians. iMedX and the enterprise version of Heidi – but not the free version – have been approved by the agency’s National Artificial Intelligence and Algorithm Expert Advisory Group. The tools provide voice-to-text technology to transcribe patient notes into medical notes. Health NZ says a number of other AI scribe tools are under review.

18.07 Mark Zuckerberg and other Meta directors and officers have settled claims seeking US$8 billion in damages for their handling of repeated privacy violations at Facebook. Shareholders had alleged Zuckerberg’s actions led to the Cambridge Analytica scandal in which data of millions of Facebook users was leaked and used by a political consulting firm, the BBC reports. The settlement came just as the trial was about to enter its second day.

17.07 OpenAI is integrating a payments checkout system into ChatGPT enabling consumers to complete purchases while on the platform, Payments Journal says. OpenAI is reportedly working with Shopify and other brands to develop the system and negotiate rates, after an upgrade to the shopping feature earlier this year, done in collaboration with Shopify, enabled users searching for a product on ChatGPT to see top results with prices, reviews and links to sites.

15.07 A Waiuku pizza outlet owner has become the first person in New Zealand to be convicted and sentenced for use of electronic sale suppression tools ESSTs) which manipulate point of sale transaction data to hide income. The man was sentenced to seven months home detention on tax evasion charges and a charge of aiding and abetting his company for possessing the ESSTs. An income tax discrepancy of nearly $100,000 was identified along with PAYE and GST discrepancies of nearly $100,000, Inland Revenue says.

11.07 New World Clubcard members have been warned to change passwords after suspicious external activity was identified where scammers have attempted to gain access to accounts by trying commonly used passwords across many user names. New World says incident has affected ‘a number of New World Clubcard accounts’. “It appears some accounts with weaker or reused passwords may have been accessed without the cardholders authorisation,” New World says. It says its systems have not been breached with the issue arising because some Clubcard members passwords have been determined by scammers and compromised.

11.07 Forget the smartwatch, Samsung is looking into wearable devices potentially including earrings and necklaces. The company says AI could enable a wave of devices allowing users to communicate and get things done quickly without having to take out their phone, CNN reports.

10.07 Microsoft is claiming US$500m in savings thanks to AI in its call centres last year, with ‘tens of millions’ more savings from using AI to handle interactions with smaller customers, BusinessTimes reports. Last week the company announced it plans to lay off nearly four percent of its workforce to make savings amid its heavy AI investments.

10.07 The government has launched an Anti-scam Alliance to combat online fraud. The initiative includes government, industry and consumer groups to coordinate sharing of scam information in an effort to shut them down in ‘real-time’ Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson says. The alliance will also update industry codes, strengthen consumer protections and provide education on scam protection.

09.07 Payments NZ has launched a website providing advice on switching banks, ReadyToSwitch following recommendations by the Commerce Commission in its market study into personal banking. The study identified that customer inertia meant a lack of competitive pressure on the big four banks, with ComCom criticising Payments NZ’s switching service, saying it wasn’t working, RNZ reports.

08.07 New Zealand’s first-ever national AI strategy has received a mixed response. While the business sector has been enthusiastic about the plan, titled Investing with Confidence, critics say it is worrying light on ethical considerations and sets ‘a dangerous path forward’ RNZ reports. The strategy and business guidance can be found here.

07.07 An independent review into the use of police technology has slammed NZ Police’s lack of oversight of data and internet usage on police devices, finding current systems are inconsistent, inadequate and insufficient. A review instigated after the May resignation of former deputy commissioner Jevon McSkimming following allegations of pornography on his work computer, found weaknesses in internet access controls, unmanaged devices, limited monitoring and governance gaps, The Post reports.

07.07 Christchurch agritech Onside has launched a map-based tool, developed in partnership with Anzco, which highlights risk areas to increase worker safety at agricultural workplaces. The PCBU Enterprise platform outlines potential hazards on a map with drivers, contractors and other workers entering properties getting an app alert when they arrive. Other risk areas, such as processing facilities and machinery yards can also be plotted out. Star News says meat processor Anzco Foods has rolled out the tool, with trials underway in other countries.

07.07 Wimbledon’s much heralded line calling technology is under fire a match was marred by tech failure. The Guardian says organisers have apologised after the AI-enhanced line-calling system was turned off ‘in error’ at a crucial moment in a match. Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has accused the All England Club of home bias, saying the match against Britain’s Sonay Kartal, was ‘stolen’ from her when the system missed a call, with the umpire unaware the system had been turned off.

04.07 Israeli company Gigablue’s plans to trap carbon at the bottom of the sea using ‘particles’ it has designed, have been questioned by scientists. The company began trials off Dunedin last year, releasing 60 cubic metres of particles, and has staff in New Zealand. The company claims Niwa (now part of Earth Sciences NZ) reviewed the company’s work and has said it is ‘scientifically sound’. However, AP says other scientists, frustrated by a lack of public information about Gigablue’s technology, say serious remain about whether the tech works. The company will face hurdles in moving from research to any commercial activities in NZ with the country one of several who have agreed not to allow commercial climate endeavours involving the release of iron in the ocean – something embedded in the particles released in October.

04.07 Nvidia has hit a market value of US$3.92 trillion, briefly putting it on track to become the most valuable company in history, Reuters reports. The company passed Apple’s record market capitalisation of $3.915 trillion in December 2024 as demand for the company’s high end processors soars with companies race to build AI data centres.

03.07 Health NZ’s current approach to technology is backward looking and focused on cost rather than value, says Health NZ commissioner Lester Levy. He says technology is the only viable path forward for New Zealand’s healthcare system as we move towards healthcare delivered closer to patients’ homes and Health NZ will be making announcements in the coming months around where to start and funding, eHealthNews reports. But he warned that in order to invest in technology, things that don’t add value will need to be stopped.

03.07 A severed fibre optic cable resulted in a widespread communications outage in Golden Bay, with around 800 fibre and 350 copper connections affected, along with the 111 network The Press reports. Cell sites have started coming back online.

02.07 Service records of around six million Qantas customers have been compromised after cybercriminals targeted a call centre and gained access to the airline’s third-party customer service platform. The NZ Herald reports Qantas as saying it is continuing to investigate the proportion of data stolen but expects it will be ‘significant’.

01.07 Datacom has reported increases in group revenue and profit in the year to March, thanks to strong growth in Australia. Revenue was up from $1.47 billion to $1.48 billion with net profit after tax increasing $3 million to $37m, Datacom says. Group EBITDA was down as were staff numbers.

AppWrap June 2025

30.06 Government CDO Paul James has appointed an AI expert advisory panel to advise on safe and responsible use of AI in the public service. The panel includes University of Auckland’s Michael Witbrock as chair, Kiwibank chief digital and technology officer Paul Littlefair, NZ Story CEO David Downs, Inland Revnue’s David Shanks, Te Taka Keegan, co-director of Waikato University’s AI Institute Māori and Simply Privacy’s Frith Tweedie.

30.06 Former AWS country manager Tim Datacombe-Bird has been appointed as head of Google Cloud in New Zealand.

27.06 Canterbury has unveiled an ambitious aerospace strategy which includes creating 1,500 high-value jobs and injecting $1 billion into the regional economy by 2035. The Waitaha Canterbury Aerospace Strategy aims to position Canterbury as a hub for world-class research and international investment, The Press reports.

27.06 A San Francisco federal court judge has ruled that Anthorpic’s use of copyrighted works to train its AI was ‘fair use’ and not a copyright breach, but the company may face a big bill for piracy instead. Anthropic downloaded more than seven million books from ‘shadow libraries’ including countless copyrighted works, without permission. The LA Times reports the judge as saying there will be a trial on the pirated copies, and the resulting damages – noting that piracy on that scale could result in judgements worth ‘untold millions’.

27.06 DeepSeek is facing potential bans in Germany after Berlin’s commissioner for data protection and freedom of information asked Apple and Google to remove DeepSeek from their app stores accusing the company of illegally transferring user data to China. The official says DeepSeek did not provide convincing evidence data was protected as required by EU law, Euronews reports. The app has already been banned from Italian app stores, with other countries banning, or recommending it not be used, on government devices.

26.06 Autohive has launched its AI agent building platform in New Zealand and Australia. The company is a spinoff of Kiwi software performance monitoring company Raygun, and is designed to enable SMBs to create and use AI agents. Mi3 notes the platform offers a range of use cases including handling customer inquiries 24/7, transforming spreadsheet data into actionable items and generating client proposals and reports.

26.06 Two Sydney quantum startups have published research they say provides a pathway for scaling the number of qubits on a chip from current numbers under 100 to the millions needed to make quantum computation a ‘practical reality’. The result is enabled by new cryogenic control electronics operating at close to absolute zero, developed at the University of Sydney. The university says the development will take us from the realm of quantum computers being fascinating lab machines to a real-world offering, solving real world problems.

25.06 Health NZ interim chief executive Dale Bramley has been officially appointed to the CE role for three years, in a move welcomed by digital health leaders. eHealthNews reports HiNZ and the Digital Health Association have welcomed the appointment of Bramley, who has been interim CE since February, when Margie Apa resigned suddenly.

26.06 Entrepreneur Derek Handley has dubbed his treatment by the 2018 government as ‘anything but kind’. Handley moved his family back to New Zealand after being offered the role of CTO for the 2018 Jacinda Ardern-led government only to find the job didn’t exist. He told the NZ Herald he felt like a football, and the experience was ‘the epitome of the difference between people and politics’.

25.06 Xero is looking to crack the US SMB market with plans to buy US-Israeli payments provider Melio in a US$2.5 billion deal. Reuters says the deal fills a gap in Xero’s offering, adding payments to its accounting software while enabling both companies to scale up. US sales account for just seven percent of Xero’s sales currently.

24.06 Halter has raised $165 million in series D funding. The funding, lead by global tech investment company Bond, values Halter at $1.65 billion, Halter says. The funding will be used for ‘exciting product innovations’ and expansion in New Zealand, Australia and the US. Among the investors was Kiwisaver company Generate, which threw in $10m.

24.06 A project to map every tree in New Zealand’s forests from space is one of five New Zealand-Nasa projects receiving $5.6 million in government funding. Dragonfly has received $973,024 in MBIE funding and will team up with Nasa and using continuous earth observation from Nasa and European missions along with LiDar, and machine learning upscaling to enable ‘unprecedented’ tracking of forest growth and disturbance, MBIE says. Other projects include a near real-time fuel moisture system for wildfire and drought, high altitude coastal remote sensing, monitoring vegetation-geothermal interactions and a satellite multi-scale hydrologic framework project.

24.06 Stats NZ has signed up Spark to develop a new data platform to improve the accuracy, efficiency and speed of producing price indexes such as the Consumers Price Index. Stats NZ was allocated $16.5m in Budget 2025 to deliver monthly CPI data from early 2027, rather than the current quarterly reporting. Spark says the new platform will be based on Azure Databricks.

23.06 Auckland Council is using Lidar technology to provide virtual ‘walkthroughs’ of stream networks to detect changes and map critical waterways with ‘remarkable precision’. A low-flying helicopter equipped with Lidar was deployed earlier this year to gather high-resolution data across 560 square kilometres. Similar work is planned for the south and east of the region. The resulting datasets are over 20 times more detailed than Auckland’s current regional Lidar data and are helping build accurate flood models and track erosion, Auckland Council says.

23.06 Kiwi Eftpos terminal provider Smartpay is being acquired by US payment processing business Shift4 in a $296m takeover. The deal has been unanimously supported by Smartpay’s directors but is subject to shareholder and other approvals, Smartpay says.

19.06 The Payments NZ API Centre has released data handling guidelines providing a universal framework for ethical handling of customer data. The guidelines are grounded in the principles of Māori data sovereignty and Māori data governance, Payments NZ says and will be key in shaping the future of payments in New Zealand.

18.06 Kiwi peer-to-peer subletting startup Kiki – formerly known as EasyRent – is pulling out of the New York market, after officials threatened to sue it for breaking short-term rental laws. New York has been cracking down on short-term rentals. AFR says the move – Kiki’s fifth change in direction in three years after it earlier fail in plans to run its platform in New Zealand and Sydney – leaves the company y in a precarious position as it struggles to justify the US$28m valuation placed on it in 2023 when it raised $7 million.

17.06 Waterway-mapping robots were among the innovations on display at Fieldays. The Māki boat was a finalist in the Prototype awards and has already caught the attention of Waikato Regional Council, The Detail reports.

17.06 Google and OpenAI are reportedly winding down work with Scale AI after Meta’s US$14b investment in the AI data company. Meta is taking a 49 percent share in the company. Time reports that a Scale competitor has seen demand for its services ‘triple overnight’ on the back of the deal. Another company has added potential contracts worth US$50m as companies seek ‘truly neutral partners’. “With Meta being such a large owner of Scale, the ability for [Meta] to get information around what other foundation model labs are doing becomes a lot more challenging to manage,” the boss of another AI training data company says.

17.06 Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has warned employees the company will need fewer employees in future thanks to efficiency gains through AI. CNN reports Jassy says while the net outcome isn’t yet known, in the next few years the corporate workforce is expected to reduce through extensive AI use and urged employees to view AI as ‘teammates’.

13.06 The National Cyber Security Centre has reported a 14.7 percent quarterly increase in financial loss reported by Kiwis in Q1 2025. The $7.8m in financial losses is the second-highest quarterly total loss figure recorded by the NCSC, which says many came from scams and fraud, particularly business email compromise. Over half of reported losses were from businesses.

12.06 The government has been warned that siloed data could hurt infrastructure development and bog down plans to fast-track big projects. RNZ reports the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment warns place-spaced or geospatial information required for infrastructure builds is held in ‘all sorts of dispersed places’, and will be difficult to pull together quickly – potentially slow tracking decision making.

12.06 An identity and access management failure within Google Cloud has caused large scale disruption across a range of internet services, including Google Workspace apps, Cloudflare, Spotify, Discord, Snap, Shopify and Replit. Silicon Angle reports the issue was traced to a misconfiguration in Google Cloud’s IAM systems.

12.06 Dawn Aerospace has made its first sale of a spaceplane, with the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority signing a $17m deal for the Aurora suborbital spaceplane. SpaceNews reports flights of the vehicle from Oklahoma are scheduled as soon as 2028. Dawn Aerospace will provide the plane and an operations team, handling up to 100 Aurora flights over a year. A team hired in Oklahoma will be trained in New Zealand, including test flights.

12.06 The NZ Transport Accident Investigation Commission is calling for stricter rules for drones after a near collision between an Air New Zealand Airbus passenger flight and what was reported to be a drone. The near collision occurred at 2000 feet last April as the airbus was approaching Auckland Airport. TAIC has recommended the Ministry of Transport and CAA work to fully integrate drones into the aviation system and develop ‘appropriate rules and standards’. Operator licensing/accreditation, registration of drones, electronic conspicuity or remote identification of drones and geofencing or geolocation awareness would likely lead to more compliance with rules, TAIC says.

11.06 Kiwi brand tracking startup Tracksuit has raised US$25 million from private investors for its expansion in the US, Asia and Europe. RNZ reports the company has 1000 customers in New Zealand, the US and Europe with its software tracking 10,000 brands. Initially aimed at SMBs its clients now include the likes of Goodman Fielder and Disney.

11.06 Kiwi businesses operating on Microsoft Windows 10 are being warned to reassess their security posture and insurance exposure with end of support in October meaning no free security updates, technical assistance or software patches will be available. InsuranceBusiness says unsupported software could violate key conditions to trigger insurance coverage.

11.06 Disney and Universal studios are suing AI image creator Midjourney, alleging copyright infringement. The suit filed in federal court in Los Angeles claims Midjourney allows users to blatantly incorporate and copy famous characters including Shrek, Darth Vader and Frozen’s Elsa. Time magazine says the lawsuit challenges one of the AI industries fundamental assumptions: that it should be allowed to train upon copyrighted materials under the principle of fair use, and could reshape the battle over AI and copyright.

10.06 NCEA data shows a 10.4 percent decrease in students taking tech subjects such as computer science, programming and digital design in Year 11, 1News reports.

10.06 Air NZ has begun trialling wireless internet, via Starlink, on domestic aircraft. The trial is initially on an Airbus A320 domestic jet, but will expand to an ATR turboprop later this month, in what the airline says is a global first.

10.06 Westpac NZ has partnered with Kiwi open banking intermediary Akahu to provide customers access to more than 70 government, corporate and fintech services through secure account linking. MPAmag says the deal allows Westpac customers to atomate budgeting, accounting, payroll and investment management.

09.06 A Taranaki internet provider has accused the NZ government of failing rural New Zealand by not responding properly to last week’s outage caused by a visiting Australian naval vessel. Primo’s Matthew Harrison told RNZ he’s concerned about that we don’t have spectrum to avoid issues like this happening and has called for Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith to take action.

07.06 Friday’s internet outage across the lower North Island was caused by human error, Chorus says. The hour long outage was caused when a core ethernet router for the Wellington region was isolated from the network, affecting 118,000 services, OneNews reports.

06.06 Australian navy ship HMAS Canberra inadvertently caused wireless internet and radio outages across parts of New Zealand on Wednesday, with the ship’s navigation radar interfering with Wifi from Taranaki to Marlborough. The Guardian reports that when the radar was heard on the frequency used by internet providers and radio stations, those commercial operators had to stop using the channel. The issue was resolved when HMAS Canberra changed frequencies.

06.06 Wide spread internet outages are being reported in the lower North Island, with internet provider Spark confirming a Chorus fault is impacting broadband services across all telecommunications providers in the Wellington region. Around 90 percent of connections are affected, the ODT reports.

05.06 Datacom and 2degrees have partnered up in a preferred supplier deal to help them compete more effectively in enterprise and government bids. The deal will enable the two companies to provide a full suite of services spanning managed IT services, networking, cloud, cybersecurity and mobile, 2degrees says.

04.06 Christchurch’s Black Salt Games has won a 2025 Apple Design Award in the Interaction category for its Dredge game. Black Salt Games calls Dredge a ‘cosmic horror fishing adventure’, while Apple judges says it blends ‘slow-burn horror with exploration and adventure’. Players take the helm of a fishing boat to navigate eerie islands, uncover strange wildlife and piece together a haunting mystery.

04.06 Hackers are abusing a malicious version of a Salesforce-related app to steal data, gain access to corporate cloud services and extort companies in Europe and the Americas, Reuters reports. The Google Threat Intelligence Group says hackers have tricked employees at companies into installing the modified version of Salesforce’s Data Loaded.

03.06 Kiwibank is partnering with local fintech Wych for its open banking moves. Wych will provide the cloud-based platform and connectivity infrastructure to enable the bank to connect with accredited third-party providers. The bank says it won’t charge accredited third parties for standard API requests.

03.06 IT workers are struggling on the job front, with some describing the market as a ‘nightmare’ with fierce competition and a shortage of opportunities. RNZ reports one recruitment company says employers are taking a very cautious approach to hiring, favouring fixed term for contractors and aiming high with permanent staff.

02.06 Apple has appealed against the EU’s decision requiring it to make iOS more compatible with rival products, saying the rules are ‘deeply flawed’ and a threat to user security. Apple says the requirements force it to share sensitive user data with competitors, creating security risks, MacRumors reports.

01.06 Google has called on a US judge to reject the idea it should spin off its Chrome browser as remedy after the company was found to have an illegal monopoly in search. US government attorneys are calling for the divestment of the browser, and for Google to be barred from agreements with partners like Apple and Samsung to distribute its search tools. Google, meanwhile, noted that of the around 100 witnesses at the trial, not one had said if they had more flexibility they would have installed Bing, AFP reports.

AppWrap May 2025

27.05 Rocket Lab is entering the satellite payload market with the US$275m acquisition of the parent holding company of US national security satellite provider Geost. Rocket Lab says the deal, which is expected to close in the second half of 2025, strengthens its position as a provider of end-to-end national security space solutions, enabling it to bring mission critical payloads in-house. SpaceNews reports the deal is part of Rocket Lab’s broader campaign to establish itself as a serious contender for US military satellite contracts, with more acquisitions expected.

27.05 Outset Ventures has raised $25m to fund Kiwi deep tech after closing its second fund at an oversubscribed $41.5m. TechCrunch reports the fund’s mission is to back startups working on hard science and engineering breakthroughs, from aerospace to medtech. Outset’s big focus, however is on energy generation and storage. The venture firm and incubator has previously backed Rocket Lab and Lanza Tech.

27.05 Smarter, more diverse land use – aided by technology – could unlock $10 billion for farmers and the wider economy, a report from ASB and Lincoln University says. The report explores four possible futures for New Zealand and sets out ‘transformational pathways’, such as diversifying farm systems to introduce mixed revenue streams. It says technologies such as smart farming technologies are a critical enabler for optimisation and transition of land use and calls for increased funding for R&D.

26.05 AgriTechNZ has welcomed several Budget initiatives it says will support the future of agritech and primary resources. The initiatives include the new Investment Boost depreciation incentive allowing businesses to claim an immediate 20 percent deduction on eligible capital assets, a move AgriTechNZ says will support tech adoption. The $100m boost to the Elevate NZ Venture Fund, designed to help high-growth startups access later-stage capital and the creation of the Primary Sector Growth Fund, redirecting $70m in annual operating funding to co-funded growth-focused initiatives, was also applauded, though the Fund creation comes alongside a $40m overall budget reduction and closure of the SFFF fund seen as enabling innovation and impact.

24.05 Mt Maunganui robotics company Syos Aeerospace has been named Company of the Year at the 2025 NZ Hi-Tech Awards. The company, which develops unmanned vehicles and drones, recently signed a deal with the British Defence Force. Mindhive Global, which has developed a proprietary vision system which detects defects in cowhides, won both the startup and agritech categories. Other winners included Luke Campbell, cofounder and CEO of VXT who took out the Hi-Tech Young Achiever award; Toku Eyes, named most innovative hi-tech software solution and Sir Peter Beck who was the recipient of the Flying Kiwi and inducted into the Hall of Fame.

24.05 Salesforce has reportedly restarted talks to buy data management software company Informatica and a deal if reached, could be announced next week. The two companies ditched earlier talks – which were reportedly advanced –  in April 2024 after failing to agree on terms, Reuters reports.

23.05 The Government Communications Security Bureau’s funding has dropped significantly in the latest budget, as a large infrastructure project comes to an end. RNZ reports $267m has been allocated, 20 percent less than its spending in the 2024/25 period.

22.05 OpenAI is buying Apple veteran Jony Ive’s AI device startup, io, in a US$6.5 billion all-equity deal. The deal will see io’s team working on hardware that allows people to interact with OpenAI’s technologies, endgadget reports.

22.05 The Financial Markets Authority has issued a public warning about a managed investment scheme run by a former crypto company and its director, Jesse Joseph Vaughan. The FMA says Vaughan, director of former company Crypto Partners Ltd, has offered investments without holding a MIS manager license or providing the required disclosures.

21.05 Labour has dubbed the dumping of earlier work on a digital services tax – which would have imposed a three percent tax on digital services for NZ users – a tax break for tech giants. Labour claims the tax would have brought in around $479m over four years from Jan 2026, RNZ reports. Revenue Minister Simon Watts says a ‘global solution’ is preferred and recent commitments of countries to the OECD work in this area is ‘encouraging’.

21.05 61 percent of Kiwi workers would change jobs for a higher salary, with most angling for 10-25 percent increases to compel them to move. The Robert Half survey of full-time office workers in IT and technology, finance and accounting, shows just 40 percent believe their current salary is an accurate reflection of their expertise, experience and/or level of responsibility.

19.05 A new outsourcing deal with Nokia is expected to see around 80 jobs at Spark go. The telco has confirmed a strategic network operations partnership which will see Nokia managing day-to-day monitoring and support for Spark’s network. Nokia will establish a local network operations centre as part of the deal, with around 100 jobs available. The deal is part of a push by Spark to deliver a $80-$100 million reduction in net labour and opex costs in FY25. The two companies will also work together on AI and automation, Spark says.

19.05 Kiwi medtech startup Veriphi has launched a crowdfunding round on PledgeMe to raise up to $2 million for its expansion into Australia. Managing director Greg Shanahan says Veriphi secured its first commercial contract, with Melbourne’s St Vincent Hospital, in March after 15 years of R&D to develop a laser analyser to verify the contents including drug identity and dose, of IV bags or syringes.

16.05 New Zealand’s police commissioner has initiated a review into preventing misuse of police technology and equipment for non-work purposes. The independent review follows investigations by police and the Independent Police Conduct Authority into former deputy commissioner Jevon McSkimming, including the discovery of pornography on his work computer. RNZ says the review is expected to include opportunities to enhance security of police systems and defend against attempts to access inappropriate content.

15.05 CDC Data Centres’ Silverdale and Hobsonville facilities have become the first local data centres to achieve New Zealand Government Chief Digital Officer public cloud data centre certification. The certification provides a standardised and consistent security assessment of onshore public cloud data centres. The Department of Internal Affairs says the certification provides government agencies and organisations with confidence the data centres meet security obligations and reduce ownership, control and supply chain risks.

14.05 Some Microsoft NZ employees are expected to be among the 6,000 globally to lose their job with the tech giant cutting three percent of its workforce worldwide. The new round of layoffs is expected to be the largest since it cut 10,000 roles in 2023. CNBC says one objective in the latest round is to reduce layers of management, however staff across all levels, teams and geographies are expected to be laid off.

09.05 New Zealand’s space sector has grown 53 percent since 2019, contributing nearly $2.5 billion to the local economy in 2023-24 and supporting 17,000 FTE positions, according to a new economic analysis of the sector. MBIE says the advanced aviation sector, which overlaps the space sector, contributed close to $500 million over the same period.

08.05 A University of Sydney academic is warning that Meta’s new standalone Meta AI chatbot is ‘a sophisticated data harvesting tool’ to potentially sell more to users via Meta’s ecosystem of apps. Professor Uri Gal warns that Meta’s cross-platform integration private information can seamlessly flow into the company’s advertising machine to create user profiles ‘with unprecedented detail and accuracy’ and that the chatbot has the capability to become an active participation in the manipulation, with the potential for product placement in its responses. The Washington Post has warned that Meta AI keeps a copy of ‘everything’ and deleting the app’s memory is problematic.

08.05 The US Trump administration plans to rescind predecessor Joe Biden’s global AI chip export restrictions. Biden’s rule, due to take effect May 15, had seen most countries subject to caps. A Commerce spokesperson says the Biden AI rule will be replaced ‘with a much simpler rule that unleashes American innovation and ensures American AI dominance’ Reuters reports.

08.05 A US federal jury has ordered Israeli spyware company NSO Group to pay Facebook parent Meta almost US$168 million in damages for exploiting WhatsApp to deploy its Pegasus spyware. NSO exploited a vulnerability in WhatsApp’s infrastructure to silently install the spyware without requiring any action from targets other than having their devices turned on, ComputerWorld reports. Around 1,400 accounts were compromised before engineers patched the vulnerability.

07.05 John Roche has been named as New Zealand’s new chief science advisor, almost a year after Juliet Gerrard stepped won. Roche was previously the chief science adviser for the Ministry of Primary Industries. Also announced were the members of the Science and Technology Advisory Council: Peter Gluckman, Craig Piggott, Professor Merryn Tawhai, Komal Mistry-Mehta, Malcom Johns and Roche.

06.05 New Zealand is proposing to follow Australia in banning under-16s from using social media, with a planned draft law to force social media companies to verify user age before enabling people to sign up or face $2m fines. A date for when the bill, authored by National MP Catherine Webb, will be introduced to parliament is unclear and bipartisan support will be required, the Guardian notes.

05.05 Victoria University of Wellington-based Paihau-Robinson Research has been awarded $71m in government funding for a new advanced technology science platform. The research platform aims to grow New Zealand’s hi-tech exports based on superconductors, magnets, processed materials and cryogenics, InsideGovernment reports. The institute will develop the platform over seven years.

05.05 Genesis Energy says it’s investing $100 million on base technology platforms to enable it to get ‘to the point where we can offer time of use and use AI to drive that’. The company told a Parliamentary committee it is currently deploying AI for productivity gain, but within the next five years the technology will be needed for overall network efficiency, citing the example of using AI to manage hot-water cylinders, rather than starting up a generation unit.

02.05 ASB Bank is partnering with Poli to allow customers to use the payment platform to make open-banking based payments, without needing a third-party, such as a card provider, in the middle. RNZ reports that consumers have previously been warned using Poli could breach their banks’ terms and conditions as it requires people to provide their internet banking login. ASB says its deal with Poli will enable it to use ASB’s open banking APIs, enabling it to be used without a customer’s username and password.

02.05 Being AI has divested its education group, Being Education, to Crimson Education eliminating $3.9m in debt and related trading liabilities. The deal is part of an ‘ongoing strategic review’ Being AI says. It says without ‘considerable’ further investment, Being Education was unlikely to yield a positive future return. In December, the company sold its shares in Being Consultants.

01.05 Four new regional ‘digital directors’ will be responsible for defining and delivering regional digital roadmaps for New Zealand’s health sector. eHealthnews reports the digital directors will be responsible for ensuring digital services support the evolving needs of the region and includes enabling necessary investment.

01.05 Spark is looking for buyers to take a stake in its data centre business. The telco has reportedly hired investment bank Jarden to seek buyers for a stake in the platform with a $1.2 billion price suggested for a 50 percent stake, RNZ reports. Spark has since said it has commenced a process to explore interest to support future data centre investment but no transaction has been agreed and a transaction is not yet certain.

01.05 Login credentials for around 100 staff at Australia’s big four banks have been compromised according to cyber intelligence firm Hudson Rock. The company told ABC ‘dozens’ of compromised staff credentials were found at ANZ and Commonwealth Bank, with fewer than five at NAB and Westpac. All were stolen between 2021 and April 2025. The banks have protections in place to prevent stolen passwords being exploited but in a worst case scenario the credentials could enable initial access. The report follows one earlier this week when ABC revealed more than 31,000 customer banking passwords had been stolen across the big four banks.

AppWrap April 2025

29.04 Kiwis are more worried than optimistic or excited about AI, with 76 percent saying they’re concerned about negative outcomes and 44 percent believing the risks outweigh the benefits. The University of Melbourne-led research shows 33 percent say they have personally experienced or observed negative outcomes from AI. It also shows high demand for AI regulation.

28.04 The first 27 of more than 3,200 planned satellites for Amazon’s US$10 billion Project Kuiper have been launched into space. The network aims to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink, which has 8,000 satellites in orbit, with 1,600 of Kuiper’s satellites expected to be up by July 2026, CNBC reports.

28.04 NZ Police have been warned that shifting information to Microsoft cloud could have ‘severe detrimental impacts on the wellness and safety of people’ and the organisation’s reputation if data is compromised. A privacy impact assessment says the proposed use of Office 365 exposes NZ Police to ‘a very high level of privacy risk’ and lists 31 measures police should take to reduce those risks. If controls are taken the upgrade would be ‘within its risk appetite’, RNZ reports.

28.04 Rakon has ‘discontinued’ commercial relationships with a major Chinese telecommunications infrastructure customer in light of the current geopolitical environment. The company says the customer accounted for around five percent of gropu revenue in FY25, but cutting them strengthens the company’s compliance profile and reduces risk exposure in shifting regulatory environments, while enabling it to align business resources with markets that ‘offer more sustainable long-term growth opportunities’.

24.04 Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has highlighted the role of tech for New Zealand’s economy during a UK visit saying Kiwi tech exports to the UK have nearly doubled in the last three years. Tech exports ‘are a key part of transitioning New Zealand to be a more productive economy’, he says. Luxon visited Xero’s London office as part of his UK visit.

24.04 The Department of Internal Affairs is seeking a new face biometrics capture technology providing better images and protection against fakes. It says it’s not seeking a facial recognition tech, but instead online technology to enable users to take selfies for passport applications and RealMe verification, BiometricUpdate says.

24.04 A robot has been used to craft ANZAC commemorative designs in Canterbury. The robot has painted the designs, including a ‘Lest we forget’ design outside Selwyn District Council and a poppy at Leeston war memorial, on grass. Normally used for marking grounds for sports, the robot is guided by a tablet and uses GPS, Stuff reports.

23.04 The EU has fined Apple €500m and Meta €200m under the Digital Markets Act legislation introduced last year to curb big tech’s power. In Apple’s case the EU Commission says the company failed to offer alternative app marketplaces to users and app developers, while Meta’s fine came for choice offered on data collection, with users forced to chose between allowing Meta to combine data collected on Facebook or Instagram, or pay a monthly subscription. The BBC reports both companies have reacted angrily, with Meta accusing the EU of attempting to handicap successful American businesses.

21.04 The second phase of the Science System Advisory Group review into the science sector, which includes final recommendations, could be handed to the Science Minister in early May, RNZ reports. The Prime Minister’s office has previously said an appointment to the role of chief science advisor – which has been vacant since June – will be timed with the review.

20.04 A New Zealand police officer has developed a nationwide interactive Missing Persons Map showing the last known location of the nearly 500 people who have gone missing in New Zealand the last 50 years. The map, which includes dental, medical and DNA records along with details of clothing, jewellery and property, is available to Search and Rescue coordinators and will be used to provide a starting point when human remains are found. It has been used twice during development to rule people out, but not yet to make an identification, NZ Police says.

19.04 An Australian couple have developed an ‘autofill’ system enabling agricultural robots to automatically fill themselves up with more pesticide or fertiliser. Farmer Andrew and Jocie Bate launched their agtech startup in 2012 and have 145 robots working on farms across Australia. They told ABC News they believe the new autofill system is a world-first.

18.04 A US judge has ruled Google has a monopoly in online advertising tech. AP reports the finding is the second time in a year that Google has been branded an abusive monopolist by a federal judge, following the August 2024 decision that Google’s search engine has illegally leveraged its dominance to stifle competition. Remedy hearings in that case are scheduled to begin next week and will see lawyers aiming to have Google sell its Chrome browser.

17.04 One NZ has opened up satellite texting to customers north of Hamilton, including Tauranga, and Rotorua after Cyclone Tam knocked out power to some cell sites. Most 4G and all 5G phones can access basic messaging using the satellite-based text service, One NZ says. The NZ Telecommunications Forum says no damage has been reported to the physical infrastructure of cell towers but power outages have impacted a number of towers across Northland.

15.04 The personal data, including driver licence information, credit card details and passport information, of Kiwi Hertz, Thrifty and Dollar customers is among data which appears to have been compromised in a supply chain attack. The rental car company says an unauthorised third-party stole data after exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities within file-transfer vendor Cleo’s platform late last year. Hertz says it is not aware of any misuse of the information and has hired Kroll to provide two years of dark web monitoring services to potentially impacted customers.

14.04 Directors relying on AI summaries from meetings and not exercising their own judgement risk breach their legal duty of care, Simpson Grierson’s Michelle Dunlop says. Writing in The Post, Dunlop warns that AI note-takers have a number of legal risks for board members, with government organisations facing additional risks. While caution must prevail, she says there are ways to reduce the risk including using reputable tools with control features such as the ability to pause recording, checking where data goes and how it is used and stored, having real people review and correct AI notes and deleting transcripts when they’re no longer needed.

14.04 The New Zealand Defence Force is planning a $200-$450 million drone spending spree. The drones would be used for maritime and security surveillance and reconnaissance and combat, with the plans currently ‘indicative’ only and needing a business case and Budget funding, RNZ reports.

14.04 The Trump administration is readying to announce ‘a special focus-type of tariff’ on smartphones, computers and other electronics products within two months, with semiconductor tariffs also planned, the Guardian reports. The new tariffs will fall outside the ‘reciprocal’ tariffs. Last week Trump exempted smartphones, computers and some electronic devices from the tariffs, including the 125 percent tariffs against Chinese imports. Semiconductor chips from China will also be the focused of a national security probe.

11.04 One NZ has been named the ‘most zombie resilient network’ by the US-based ‘historical, cultural and scientific research group’ Zombie Research Society (yes, it is a real thing – the society, not the zombies). One NZ says the award, on the back of the launch of its One NZ Satellite, is the ‘most bizarre endorsement ever’ for its mobile network.

10.04 Amazon boss Andy Jassy has defended the company’s investment in AI, saying it is necessary to remain competitive – and wants customers to invest ‘aggressively’ in AI too. The company plans to spend more than $100b on capital expenditures this year, with the vast majority of that for AWS AI capabilities, TechCrunch reports.

09.04 The CTU’s ‘reimagined’ Aotearoa includes ‘lifelong digital learning entitlements’ to provide workers with free access to digital tech training. The policy platform also calls for investigation into whether regulations need to be changed to ensure workers benefit from new digital tech, rather than being harmed by it.

09.04 Concerns are rising over a $1.4 billion NZTA national ticketing project which has been plagued with delays which are likely to have ‘cost implications’ for councils involved. RNZ reports the project, which has been trialled in Christchurch, is running behind rollout ‘because of challenges of more complex components of the new solution’. Wellington is awaiting US contractor Cubic, which is delivering the tech in a nearly $500m deal, to set up a local testbed, while Auckland councillors have suggested it’s time to walk away from the project.

08.04 An EU official has downplayed expectations over the size of fines expected for Apple and Meta for infringing digital antitrust rules, saying the issue is about compliance, not fines. Politico reports decisions in the Apple and Meta cases are expected in the coming days, with the official suggesting the fines shouldn’t be compared to those handed out for past antitrust infringements which reflected repeat offences. The DMA only came into force a year ago.

07.04 Woolworths supermarkets across New Zealand shut up shop for nearly two hours this morning after a technical fault affected electronic shelf labels, the Waikato Times reports.

07.04 Callaghan Innovation’s GovGPT may be dead in the water, but Kiwi tech house ASI has launched ASI GovGPT providing a web search based AI model for New Zealand government information. ASI says ASI GovGPT doesn’t rely on a static database of information, or the data it was trained on, instead looking up information online as you ask the question. The bot focuses only on New Zealand government information.

05.04 China has called time on a deal to spin off TikTok into a new US-based company, owned and operated by a majority of American investors, following US President Trump’s tariffs. AP reports White House officials believed a deal for the spin off was close but it is uncertain whether a tentative deal can be announced after the Chinese government signalled it wouldn’t approve the deal until there can be negotiations about trade and tariffs.

04.04 Oracle has finally admitted to suffering a serious data breach, confirming to customers that some of its cloud systems have been breached. Bloomberg reports Oracle, which initially categorically denied the incident, has told some customers that a hacker has stolen old client log-in credentials and that the FBI and cybersecurity company Crowdstrike are investigating. Credentials from as recently as 2024 are reportedly among those stolen. The incident, which is separate from the health-care hack Oracle suffered last month, came to light when a hacker offered to sell millions or lines of data allegedly from 140,000 Oracle Cloud tenants.

03.04 2degrees has been fined $325,000 after admitting it made misleading claims that its Aussie business roaming was ‘free’ or ‘at no extra cost’ when users were charged for roaming after 90 days. The company pleaded guilty in the Auckland District Court to five breaches of the Fair Trading Act, ComCom says.

02.04 The National Child Health Information Platform, an $11m infection tracking system, cybersecurity projects and $15m to replace devices that won’t run on Windows 11, are among the 136 Health NZ projects deferred or stopped. RNZ says an OIA shows several cyber security projects are among the projects impacted, but 732 projects worth $200m were completed or underway.

AppWrap March 2025

30.03 Ditching your mobile phone won’t stop you being distracted according to a UK study which found it’s not the devices themselves that are distracting people, but how we’ve been trained to constantly check them. ABC News reports the study found people find other ways to distract themselves when their smartphone is out of reach.

30.03 Elon Musk has sold X to his own xAI company in a US$33b all-stock deal, with Musk saying the deal with ‘unlock massive potential’ by blending xAI’s capability with X’s reach. AP reports the deal values xAI at $80b and X at $33 billion according to Musk.

27.03 RocketLab has won into a contract with the US Pentagon worth up to US$5.6 billion. The company will be one of five launch providers competing for the Department of Defense’s ‘highest-priority national security missions’ for the National Security Space Launch program. A minimum of 30 missions are planned through to 2029 with the program, RocketLab says. It receives a US$5m task order to perform a capabilities assessment as part of the on-ramp to the program.

27.03 The New Zealand Society of Authors has hit out at AI companies including Meta and OpenAI and pirate site LibGen’s after it was revealed thousands of books written by Kiwi writers have been used in LibGen and are being used to train AI models. The NZSA says big tech can afford to pay to legally use content to train their AI models. “It appears those companies would rather steal that content than ask and pay for the use of it.”

27.03 Fulton Hogan is trialling watch-type devices with its Australian roadworkers to identify traffic threats and alert road workers of danger. RNZ says the trial is limited to Australia with no plans for the Kiwi company to roll it out in New Zealand.

26.03 New Zealand’s Customer and Product Data Bill has passed with New Zealand on track to have open banking operational by the end of the year. Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson says that’s ahead of the target of June 2026, with the electricity sector next to follow.

26.03 StaplesVR has launched a $7m capital raise led by Soul Capital. The raise marks the immersive technology solution provider’s first external funding round after years of steady expansion and aims to secure $5 million within 90 days, with a focus on attracting Kiwi-based funds, Kapitales notes.

26.03 Kiwi businesses are overestimating their cyber resilience, with 71 percent of security leaders assuming employees are well-prepared to handle threats when half of employees say they lack the training and awareness according to Datacom’s State of Cybersecurity Index 2025. Just 26 percent of New Zealand respondents said they have a business continuity or resiliency plan in place in the event of a cyber-attack or incident, Datacom reports.

21.03 Infosec company CloudSek says more than six million records, affecting more than 140,000 tenants, have been exfiltrated from Oracle Cloud, with many Kiwi organisations among the listed domain names reportedly affected. The hacker posted about the theft on an online forum, claiming credentials, including single sign-on passwords, are among those stolen. Oracle has denied its systems have been breached.

21.03 The Warehouse Group slashed systems and digital investment in six months to 26 January, with major projects now completed and in stabilisation phase helping reduce overall project expenditure by 82 percent – from $50.2m in H1 FY24 to $8.9m. Expenditure for core systems was down from $22.5m to $4m, with spend on other information systems dropping from $8.9m to $2.8m the company says.

20.03 Fonterra says its ‘once in a generation’ replacement of its ERP software is ‘progressing well and remains on budget’. The $450-500m project, based on SAP, sees the co-operative  will reach peak expenditure of $130m, this financial year, Fonterra says.

20.03 Air New Zealand has inked a five year deal with Tata Consultancy Services to ‘explore opportunities for digital transformation, innovation and operational efficiency’. Air NZ says TCS’ expertise will be used to enhance customer experience, streamline operations and up cybersecurity and data protection. The companies have been working together since September, with Air NZ saying it has already seen benefits, though it didn’t provide any specifics.

19.03 Tourism New Zealand has partnered with Minecraft to make New Zealand ‘the first fully playable destination’ in the Minecraft world. Six Kiwi destinations, including the Waitomo Caves, Abel Tasman National Park and Doubtful Sound, are downloadable in a move Tourism NZ says is expected to generate $50m in visitor spend this year. The content coincides with the release of A Minecraft Movie next month.

19.03 Meta is fighting to shut down a memoir from Kiwi whistle-blower and former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams. An emergency arbitration ruling this month saw Wynn-Williams ordered to temporarily stop personally promoting or distributing copies of the book, but does not stop the publisher or its parent from distributing or promoting Careless People. Slate says the memoir is filled with scandal and a portrait of Facebook’s execs as flawed, awkward and hypocritical humans.

15.03 OpenAI and Elon Musk have agreed to fast-track a trial over OpenAI’s ‘for profit’ shift, though a decision on whether the case will be by jury or judge-alone has been delayed, Reuters reports. Musk has accused OpenAI, which he cofounded, of straying from its founding mission of developing AI for the good of humanity, rather than corporate profit.

14.03 The government says it is making it easier for businesses to verify the identity of staff and customers by simplifying the process to be approved for the RealMe Identity Verification Service. Organisations wanting to use RealMe will be automatically granted access by the Department of Internal affairs rather than having to be approved by Cabinet in ‘lengthy’ sign-off process, as is currently required, Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says.

12.03 UK business management software provider The Access Group has snapped up Kiwi job management platforms GeoOp and GeoNext for an undisclosed sum. The Access Group says the deal will expand its offering in ERP software.

12.03 Spain’s government has approved a draft law imposing fines of up to €35 million for not correctly labelling AI-generated content. EuroNews reports the bill classified incorrect AI labelling as a serious offence with penalties of €7.5m to €35m or 2-7 percent of a companies global turnover. Startups and medium-sized companies could receive lower penalties. The move is designed to limit deepfakes.

11.03 Rocket Lab plans to raise up to US$500 million (NZ$877 million) to support future acquisitions, corporate expansion and working capital needs. The company has lodged documents with the US Securities and Exchange Commission detailing its plans for an ‘at-the-market’ equity offering.

11.03 2degrees has inked a deal with AST SpaceMobile and says it will provide satellite broadband to smartphones from next year. 2degrees says it will build its own dedicated ground station in New Zealand and that the deal will expand connectivity beyond existing infrastructure.

07.03 NZ mid-sized businesses are looking for government-led programs to support their digital upskilling and cyber-resilience, according to MYOB’s The Bigger Picture report. Improving international trade relations through FTAs or other trade deals was the top desire to help businesses grow, followed by addressing interest rates and inflation. The report shows mid-size businesses will be crucial to helping New Zealand ‘reclaim its exporting mojo’.

07.03 Being AI CEO David McDonald has resigned from the company’s board, effective immediately, with the company’s chief marketing officer and vice president of HR roles both being disestablished from earlier this week, the company told the NZX. McDonald, who remains as CEO, is replaced on the board by Send Global CEO Paul Forno. The company’s shares were suspended by the NZX after two independent directors resigned, leaving it without required number of independent directors to meet governance standards.

07.03 Christchurch East MP Reuben Davidson has taken on the Science, Technology and Creative Economy portfolio for Labour in a reshuffle to unveil a new ‘economic team’, Labour says.

06.03 Spark says it is reviewing ownership of non-core assets in an attempt to reduce debt levels. The comment follows a negative A- credit rating by S&P. The telco says the $311m from the sale of its remaining stake in Connexa will also be used to reduce net debt and that it is ‘committed to improving earnings’.

06.03 A ransomware group is threatening to publish data, including valid passport documents, it claims it has stolen from Wendy Wu Tours. CyberDaily reports that the amount of data stolen isn’t revealed on the darknet leak site, but several documents are shared as evidence of the hack including nine scans of passports belonging to residents of Australia, the UK and Germany, and a passenger pre-travel form which includes names, addresses, emergency contacts and frequent flyer numbers.

06.03 The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has dropped its investigation into the Microsoft-OpenAI partnership, concluding that despite Microsoft investing billions into OpenAI and having exclusive users of some of the company’s AI products, the relationship remains the same as previously and is not subject to review under merger rules, the BBC says.

05.03 Gartner says New Zealand organisations will spend almost $792 million in 2025 on information security and risk management products and services. The figure equates to a 15.6 percent year on year increase.

05.03 Microsoft has launched two sales AI agents to its lineup. Sales Agent and Sales Chat will initially connect to Dynamics 365 and Salesforce. Agent will ‘help grow your pipeline’ researching leads, reaching out to customers and setting up meetings, while Chat will provide insights from CRM data, pitch decks, meetings, emails and the web. Both will be released for public preview in May, Microsoft says.

03.03 Microsoft is cancelling data centre leases and increasing subscription prices for 365 software by up to 45 percent, in a push to make users carry AI costs, Queensland University of Technology and UNSW Sydney academics write in The Conversation. Kevin Witzenberger and Michael Richardson say Microsoft’s moves are indicative of a change in strategy to make AI profitable by shifting the cost onto consumers in ‘non-obvious’ ways.

03.03 Kiwi mobile and broadband provider Skinny has gone AI with its advertising, with a clone of a customer as a brand ambassador to cut marketing costs. Liz Wright, from Kerikeri, was selected to be cloned for the campaign, which the company claims is the first of its kind globally.

02.03 Thousands of Microsoft 365 customers have been hit by outages which locked many out of accounts, including Outlook and Azure. Most impact was felt in the US. AP reports Microsoft has identified a potential cause of impact and reverted the suspected code to alleviate impact.

01.03 Spark has sold Digital Island, which it acquired in 2017. The cloud communications and contact centre company will transition to private ownership, led by its CEO Leon Sheehan, who will coinvest alongside entrepreneur James Reeves. Sheehan says the divestment will enable more agility and a ‘doubling down’ on contact centre and cloud comms solutions.

AppWrap February 2025

28.02 After more than 20 years, Microsoft is shutting down Skype, which it acquired in 2011 for US$8.5b. The company, which says Skype will be retired in May, has been focusing on Microsoft Teams for a number of years.

27.02 More than 50,000 Kiwi businesses have registered with the eInvoicing network. Small business and manufacturing minister Chris Penk says more than 160,000 eInvoices have been exchanged with the number growing fast. He says moving away from slow and administratively intensive paper and PDF invoices could bring $400m in annual productivity gains across New Zealand and provide increased stability for small businesses thanks to the improved cash flow, greater accuracy, stronger protection against invoice fraud and scams and reduced admin.

27.02 MPs have been ordered to remove WeChat, RedNote and CapCut apps from all devices connected to the parliamentary network. The order to remove the Chinese app came hard on the heels of a ban of DeepSeek on parliamentary devices, RNZ reports.

27.02 Google Cloud is funding an Auckland Council AI trial to use ‘AI agents’ to provide citizens with information and support from across its digital platforms. The council claims the scale of the project, dubbed Ask Auckland Council, makes it one of the largest applications of the technology in New Zealand, and that in future it could be used by other councils. Deloitte is a partner in the program.

25.02 Tauranga agtech Robotics Plus has been bought by Yamaha Motor for an undisclosed sum which falls below the $200m threshold for the OIC. The Kiwi company will form the foundation of a new business, Yamaha Agriculture, based in the US. Robotics Plus’ offerings include the Prospr autonomous vehicle, Aporo Fruit Packer which automates fruit packing and a robotic log scaler to automate log measurement for trucks and trains. Robotics Plus, which has around 130 staff, says it will continue to operate its core business from Tauranga.

24.02 The Australian government is banning products and web services from Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky on all government devices and systems, saying it poses an ‘unacceptable security risk’. Canada, the UK and the US have already announced restrictions on Kaspersky software, leaving just New Zealand remaining of the Five Eyes countries. TechCrunch reports Kaspersky’s spokesperson as saying the company is disappointed with the decision with the directive which was issued without warning.

23.02 Hackers have stolen $1.5 billion from Dubai-based crypto platform Bybit’s Ethereum digital wallet in what is believed to be the biggest crypto theft in history. The company, which holds $20b in assets, has told users their funds were ‘safe’ and it will refund those affected, the BBC reports. Hackers ‘exploited’ security features and transferred the money to an unidentified address.

21.02 Health New Zealand is urgently overhauling contracts which left the gate open for Covid and Census information to be misused after it implemented contracts which gave it no power to check if people have been misusing sensitive health data, RNZ reports. HNZ and the Health Ministry did not do audits and had no power to do so under the contracts and was unaware of the weaknesses until a recent enquiry exposed it.

21.02 The future of the GovGPT chatbot, launched just months ago amid much fanfare appears uncertain following the end of its PoC this month. A note on the site Callaghan Innovation is being disestablished and decisions around GovGPT and the AI Activator are yet to be made.

21.02 $1 billion in market value was wiped off Spark following its announcement that half-year profits were down more than three-quarters to $35 million, down from $157 a year ago. RNZ reports underlying profit was 15 percent below analyst estimates while operating expenses were higher than expected. The telco recorded revenue of $1.94 billion, down from $1.98b a year ago, blaming the recession for the result. Accelerated depreciation of the copper network also contributed.

20.02 Kiwi healthtech Medtech Global has been sold to US-based software investor Banyan Software for an undisclosed sum. The company provides locally developed practice management systems and healthcare tech which are also sold in Australia. CEO and managing director Geoffrey Sayer will remain as CEO, Medtech says.

20.02 Spark and Microsoft have announced what they claim is New Zealand’s largest Microsoft public cloud partnership, with Spark moving an undisclosed proportion of workloads to Azure and rolling out Microsoft 365 Copilot to a further 1,800 users. The deal also includes an enablement program to support adoption of Microsoft’s services and an NZ-first commitment in advanced data residency for Spark’s M365 tenant, providing access to onshore capacity, Microsoft says.

19.02 Microsoft has unveiled a quantum computing chip, which it says could bring quantum computing within years. Microsoft says the Majorana 1 chip, developed after 17 years research, features a ‘breakthrough’ material, the topoconductor, a category of material that can create an entirely new state of matter which isn’t solid, liquid or gas, The Guardian reports. Microsoft says Majorana 1 could potentially fit a million qubits onto a single chip not much bigger than a desktop CPU.The claims have, however, been questioned by some physicists, according to the WSJ.

17.02 Google’s AI has been breaching New Zealand court name suppression orders revealing the names of individuals, including former Act Party president Tim Jago before his suppression lapsed. Requests from RNZ to Google to explain how its AI is able to name those with name suppression, and whether it could also access victim names, have had no response, RNZ says.

17.02 Netsafe and NZ Tech have been accused of ‘lawyering up’ after the Human Rights Commission criticised them for failing to protect Jacinda Ardern from online abuse. RNZ reports the HRC was also critical of New Zealand’s online safety code, launched by Netsafe and NZTech and administered by NZTech, saying it wasn’t fit for purpose. NZTech and Netsafe say the commission’s findings have been arrived at unlawfully, and are tainted by bias and predetermination.

15.02 OpenAI’s board has unanimously rejected a US$97 billion takeover bid by Elon Musk, saying the company is not for sale and dubbing Musk’s bid his ‘latest attempt to disrupt his competition’. AP notes Musk, an early OpenAI investor, sued for breach of contract a year ago over what he called a betrayal of OpenAi’s founding aims as a non-profit. The company is increasingly seeking to capitalise on the commercial success of generative AI, but first needs to buy out the non-profits assets. Musk was attempting to buy the non-profit.

15.02 The University of Waikato has admitted it is using facial recognition on students at a Hangzhou, China campus. RNZ reports the university says the technology is being used for ‘facility access’, with no plans for the tech to be introduced in New Zealand.

11.02 The US and UK have both refused to sign a declaration on ‘inclusive and sustainable’ AI at a Paris summit. Sixty other signatories, including Australia and New Zealand, France, China and Canada, signed the document which calls for priorities to ensure AI is open, inclusive, transparent, ethical, safe, secure and trustworthy and sustainable. The Guardian says the UK says the statement has not gone far enough in addressing global governance of AI and its impact on national security, while the US has criticised ‘excessive regulation’ of technology and warned against cooperating with China.

11.02 US vice president JD Vance has criticised Europe’s ‘excessive regulation’ saying it could cripple the AI industry, Time reports.

11.02 Microsoft is adjusting its Office-Teams pricing in an effort to avoid an EU trust fine, Reuters reports. The company has offered to widen the price differential between Office with Teams and without Teams in a move which could help rivals offer their own products at competitive prices and entice users to switch to them.

10.02 MBIE’s Gill Jolly and the AI Forum have contributed towards a new 300-page International AI Safety Report. The report looks at risks and safety of general-purpose AI risks including large-scale labour market impacts, scams, non-consensual imagery, bias, hacking and loss of control over AI. The report notes a need for policymakers and governments to have access to the current scientific understanding on risks and calls for global collaboration to take advantage of opportunities.

10.02 The PSA has slammed Te Whatu Ora’s plans to cut almost half its data and digital positions, calling the plan ‘astonishing, shocking and unacceptable’. RNZ reports the ‘reset’ will cut or pause more than 100 projects, and cut more than 1000 jobs. The agency needs to save $99m.

08.02 Commerce and consumer affairs minister, Andrew Bayly, says we should ‘embrace’ cryptocurrency and the ‘real opportunities’ it presents. He told the Financial Service Council Outlook 2025 there was real commercial opportunity in New Zealand being a trading platform. Bayly also referred to blockchain as a ‘fantastic’ technology for anti-money laundering and noted US president Donald Trump was pushing crypto, something he said was ‘fascinating’.

08.02 Meta is cutting five percent of its workforce – or potentially around 4,000 jobs – on Monday as part of its performance-based job cuts. Workers in more than a dozen countries outside the US will be notified via work and personal emails and will lose access to systems within an hour of being informed, Business Insider says.

06.02 Workday is laying off 1,750 employees, or around 8.5 percent of its global workforce, saying it is realigning resources in light of increasing demand for AI and its potential to drive growth for Workday, FastCompany reports.

05.02 The National Cyber Security Centre has issued guidance for edge device security after observing an increase in targeted attacks on the devices. It has released four documents, covering mitigation strategies for edge devices for both executives and practitioners, security consideration for edge devices and guidance on digital forensics and protective monitoring specifications for producers of network devices and appliances. “Failing to secure these network perimeters is equivalent to leaving doors open,” NCSC says.

05.02 Health minister Simeon Brown has said he expects to see ‘substantial progress’ in the use of telehealth. He told eHealthNews digital services and telehealth are key enablers for achieving better health outcomes for Kiwis and he expects to see improvements in the use of technology such as telehealth in the sector, and expanded use of video calls by Healthline.

05.02 Kiwi fintech Hnry is launching in the UK, five years after it hit the Australian market. the company was founded in 2017 and says its combined Australasian market has grown by 58 percent over the last two years, thanks in part to a $35m series B raise in 2023. It’s now targeting the UK’s four million sole traders.

05.02 The government is considering a new tertiary institution model, combining universities and apprenticeship-style training, RNZ reports. The ‘combined university vocational entity’ model is outlined in a cabinet paper which also shows funding for bodies overseeing industry qualifications and standards will be halted for the last six months of the year so funding targets can be met.

04.02 Salesforce is cutting 1,000 jobs – while continuing a hiring push for AI-focused sales roles. Bloomberg says it is unclear which divisions will be impacted, and staff will be able to apply for other jobs within Salesforce. The company had nearly 73,000 staff a year ago.

04.02 Mastercard plans to phase out credit card numbers by 2030, replacing them with tokenisation and biometric authentication.

04.02 Twenty-eight percent of SMBs are planning on putting most of their budget for growing their business towards tech and digital transformation this year, according to an MYOB survey of 500+ SMBs. The survey shows 30 percent Kiwi SMBs are entering 2025 with more work lined up than usual, while 41 percent say they have the same level of work or sales in the pipeline as usual, with 24 percent planning to increase spending to improve business operations this year. Spend on marketing and sales tops the list at 33 percent.

04.02 New Zealand faces an increasing struggle to keep the increasingly powerful ‘digital oligarchy’ in check, according to an Auckland University academic. Professor Alexandra Andhov, chair in law and technology, says the digital age has fundamentally changed national sovereignty with big tech takin gon functions traditionally reserved for government institutions, including becoming arbiters of speech. She warns of an ‘urgent need’ to reconcile the global influence of tech companies with local democratic processes and to create mechanisms which safeguard individual and national sovereignty.

03.02 Being AI’s shares have been suspended until further notice by the NZX regulatory agency NZ RegCo following the resignation of two of its independent directors, Brett O’Riley and Andy Higgs, took effect last week. NZX rules require a minimum of at least two independent directors, RegCo says.

AppWrap January 2025

31.01 The US Justice Department has filed a lawsuit to block HPE’s proposed US$14b acquisition of Juniper Networks, citing antitrust concerns. HPE and Juniper both say they will ‘vigorously defend’ the deal in court.

30.01 Icehouse Ventures has closed out its second growth fund with a record $122m to invest in 20 late-stage start-up tech companies. Growth Fund I backed 32 companies including Hnry, Halter and Crimson Education, StartupDaily reports.

28.01 US President Trump has claimed Microsoft is in discussions to buy TikTok’s US operations. Trump made the claim to reporters aboard Air Force One. He signed an executive order extending the deadline for ByteDance to divest from TikTok a day after a law banning it came into effect. The outcome of the proposed deal is expected to be revealed in the coming days, Newsweek says.

27.01 New Zealand has eased its visa requirements in an effort to attract ‘digital nomads’. The new rules enable tourists to work remotely for their home countries for up to 90 days after which they need to declare themselves as a New Zealand tax resident. 1News reports the government is targeting the initiative particularly at highly skilled IT workers from the US and East Asia aiming to boost numbers of high-value tourists.

24.01 Road Ninja, a Kiwi developed subscription online marketplace for commercial drivers, is expanding into Australia, focusing on the fly-in, fly-out driving jobs in the mining sector. The company claims to have onboarded more than 500 drivers and 100 companies in its first year in New Zealand, facilitating more than $1 million in transactions, NZ Trucking reports.

23.01 Orion Health is being sold to Canada’s Healwell for $200m. The deal includes Virtuoso Digital Front Door and Amadeus Digital Care Record, used for clinical portals across New Zealand, however it does not include the Orchestral health intelligence platform and hospital patient management system which will move to a new entity, McCrae Tech, eHealthNews reports.

23.01 Consumer NZ has slammed Payments NZ, saying New Zealand has been left behind the rest of the world when it comes to modern payments infrastructure because of ‘abject failure’ on the part of the bank-owned payments governance organisation and the banking sector. New Zealand only country in the OECD not to have committed to, or implemented, a real-time payments network. Consumer says while there is widespread agreement that businesses, consumers and the economy will benefit, banks only benefit a little, ‘so they’ve chosen not to do it’.

23.01 Callaghan Innovation is being scrapped and four public research organisations are being established in a major shake up of New Zealand’s science and research sector. The four public research organisations include one focused on advanced technology. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who announced the changes, says he’s particularly excited about the advance tech institute which will be focused on commercialisation of technology like AI, quantum computing and synthetic biology. The remaining three organisations will bring together seven existing CRIs. Callaghan Innovation’s key functions will be moved to other entities.

23.01 A new agency, Invest New Zealand, is being set up to attract foreign direct investment across a range of critical sectors, including fintech, and manufacturing and innovation. Todd McClay will lead the agency as Minister of Trade and Investment, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in his State of the Nation 2025.

23.01 LinkedIn is being sued for disclosing customer information to train AI models. The class action filed on behalf of millions of premium users alleges the Microsoft-owned platform disclosed private messages to third parties without permission to train models, and then attempted to ‘cover their tracks’ by quietly introducing a privacy setting  to enable or disable sharing, and updating its privacy policy, Reuters reports.

23.01 US President Donald Trump has announced a $500 billion joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank to build a network of data centres and the infrastructure to power AI development in the US. The Guardian reports the move comes just a day after Trump reversed predecessor Joe Biden’s executive order on AI safety standards.

19.01 Shane Reti has been appointed Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology, succeeding Judith Collins in the role. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says Reti, stripped of the health portfolio, will assume responsibility for New Zealand’s universities and science sector in part of a wider shift to drive economic growth in 2025.

16.01 Kiwi pricing engine specialist Flintfox has been acquired by US venture-backed rebate management company Enable for an undisclosed sum. Enable says the acquisition enables it to address the growing demand for end-to-end digitalisation of pricing and rebate processes.

14.01 Scott Technology has won $18m in new contracts with three companies. The deals include an advanced lamb primal system for JBS in Australia, a loin deboner for Silver Fern Farms in New Zealand and multiple bladestop units for Cargill’s North American meat processing operations, Scott Technology says.

06.01 Consumer NZ has laid a complaint with the Commerce Commission over Microsoft’s attempts to push consumers to more expensive Microsoft 365 services containing AI features. Consumers are facing 30-40 percent price hikes for M365 – but it’s not a price increase but rather an upsell – and one many customers can bypass, by pretending to cancel their plan, at which point they’re presented with the Microsoft 365 Classic option, at the old price (and without Copilot), Consumer NZ says. It says it believes the move is a flagrant breach of goodwill and trust and that it is unethical to automatically upgrade customers. Its complaint to ComCom alleges breach of the Fair Trading Act by tricking users to upgrade.

For 2024 news from around the web head over to the 2024 AppWrap archive.

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