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Explore our summit programme filled with inspiring keynote presentations, engaging panel discussions, and plenty of networking opportunities in the company of AI leaders from Aotearoa and around the world.
8:30 – Registration Opens
9:00 – Mihi Whakatau
9:15 – Welcome from the AI Forum New Zealand
9:30 – Conversation | What is the role of AI in Aotearoa going forward?
Will Mace | NBR (Moderator)
9:50 – Opening Keynote | The Age of Intelligence: Why the next decade may matter more than the last fifty – and what it means for New Zealand
We are entering an era where intelligence itself is becoming a technology. Advances in AI are accelerating scientific discovery, software development, healthcare, education outcomes, and human creativity at a pace few predicted.
This keynote explores the most important developments happening at the frontier of AI today, including reasoning systems, autonomous agents, multimodal intelligence, and emerging scientific applications. It also examines what these advances mean for businesses, governments, communities, and individuals.
For New Zealand, this is more than a technology story. It is a chance to build globally significant companies, solve uniquely local challenges, and participate in shaping one of the most consequential technological transitions in history.
Martijn Verberg | Head of Engineering, Microsoft New Zealand
10:20 – Keynote
Details to be announced
10:50 – Morning Tea Break
11:10 – Panel Discussion | Sovereign Capability in the AI Era: Building the Foundations for New Zealand’s Digital Future
New Zealand is at a pivotal moment in determining how AI capability is built, accessed, and governed. This panel will explore the infrastructure, investment, and strategic choices that will shape the country’s long-term digital independence and resilience.
Lou Compagnone | Director of Artificial Intelligence, Datacom
Nick Valentine | Partner – Technology and Data, DLA Piper
Megan Tapsell | GM Enterprise & Pacific Technology, ANZ Bank
11:40 – Keynote
Peter–Lucas Jones | Te Hiku Media
12:10 – Human Rights Commission Paper on AI
Dr Stephen Rainbow | Human Rights Commissioner
Dayle Takitimu | Indigenous Governance Partner, Human Rights Commission
12:30 – Panel discussion: Earning Trust in the Age of AI – Building Social Licence for Innovation
Moderator: Dr Mahsa McCauley | Chair of AI Forum and UNESCO NZ Commissioner
Dr Stephen Rainbow | Human Rights Commissioner
Prof. Dr. Aini Suzana Ariffin | Vice Chair, Science, Technology, Engineering & Innovation Policy Asia-Pacific Network (STEPAN), UNESCO; AI Ethics Expert Without Borders, UNESCO; & President, AI & Robotics, ASEAN CXO Association
Emma MacDonald | StatsNZ – Chair of AI Forum’s People Working Group
Amy Dove | Partner & Pås Peau (Pasifika services group) Lead, Deloitte NZ
13:00 – Lunch Break
13:50 – Roundtable Discussions
Details to be announced
14:30 – Panel Discussion: From Pilot to Production: Scaling AI for Real-World Impact
Many organisations have moved beyond experimenting with AI and are now focused on delivering measurable outcomes. This panel brings together leaders who are navigating the challenges of implementation, exploring how to translate strategy into action, scale successful initiatives, and embed AI into everyday operations in a way that is practical, responsible, and sustainable.
Panellists to be announced
15:10 – Quickfires: AI in Practice: Stories from the Coalface
Details to be announced
15:30 – Afternoon Tea Break
16:00 – Aotearoa AI Hackathon Festival Segment
The top four teams from the Aotearoa AI Hackathon Festival will take the stage to pitch their solutions live. Each team will share how their idea tackles a real world challenge through AI, before the Summit audience votes to decide the overall winner.
16:30 – AI as a Team Sport: Lessons from Building Innovation Ecosystems Across Sports, Cities, and Startups
Drawing from his background as a coach, sports business executive, and innovation ecosystem builder, David Steele shares how AI adoption works best when treated like a team sport. Through lessons from sportstech, city-led innovation, universities, startups, and corporate partnerships, this keynote offers a practical playbook for turning AI from hype into measurable impact for industries, communities, and regional economies.
David Steele | Director, Texas, Plug and Play Tech Center (USA)
17:00 – Day one closing remarks
17:15 – Networking Drinks
9:00- Opening of day 2
9:10 – Opening Keynote | Workforce transformation
Representative from Accenture
9:50 – Panel Discussion | Augmenting Human Potential – AI, Skills and the Future of Work
As organisations grapple with skills shortages, workforce constraints, and rising productivity expectations, AI presents an opportunity to enhance human capability rather than replace it. This panel will explore how businesses, governments, and educators are leveraging AI to empower their people, unlock new ways of working, and build a workforce equipped for an increasingly AI-enabled future.
Ana Ivonovic-Tongue | Chief Delivery Officer, AcademyEx, Chair, AI Skills Working Group
Nilay Rathod | GM Group Architecture & IT, Spark
More panellists to be announced
10:30 – Morning tea
11:00 – Panel Discussion: The Productivity Dividend – Turning AI Efficiency into Economic Growth
Panellists to be confirmed
11:40 – Keynote | The AI Opportunity: Building New Zealand’s Next Export Economy
Artificial intelligence is creating new opportunities for countries to generate value, compete globally, and develop entirely new industries. This presentation explores how New Zealand can move beyond being a consumer of AI technologies to becoming a creator of AI-enabled products, services, and intellectual property, unlocking new pathways for economic growth, productivity, and international competitiveness
John-Daniel Trask | Co-founder & CEO, Raygun; & Co-founder & CEO, Autohive
12:10 – Aotearoa AI Awards Finalists Announcement
12:40 – Networking Lunch
Choose the workshop option that works for you. From one of our two workshops designed for senior leaders presented by Adobe and Zoho, or our hands-on workshop presented by academyEX there’s something for everyone.
Please note: we will reach out confirming your selection a few weeks prior to the summit.
13:15 – Senior Leadership Workshop | The Visibility Imperative: How to Get Found in an AI-First World presented by Adobe
Generative AI is changing how people find, evaluate and engage with information. As audiences increasingly rely on AI-powered tools for search, recommendations and decision-making support, traditional approaches to visibility and engagement are shifting.
Join our experts from Adobe in a session designed specifically for senior leaders. This workshop will cover:
what has changed, why it matters, and how your organisation can adapt.
practical guidance on how new AI tools are reshaping audience behaviour, influence and trust.
how to expand your organisation’s audience reach, improve discoverability, strengthen credibility, and optimise content and communications for an AI-mediated environment.
how to guide strategy, investment and capability-building in this new world.
Designed for decision-makers, the workshop will equip leaders with the insights needed to guide teams, shape priorities, and ask the right questions.
13:15 – Senior Leadership Workshop | How do we build trusted, integrated AI agents across the organisation? presented by Zoho
Successful AI adoption starts with identifying meaningful organisational problems, then solving them in ways that are secure, governed, measurable, and aligned to existing systems. Fragmented tools, inconsistent data, unclear ownership, and weak access controls can prevent promising pilots from becoming trusted operational capability.
Join experts from Zoho for a practical executive workshop designed for senior business and government leaders. The session will show how to identify high-value opportunities for agentic AI, assess readiness, and build connected AI-enabled workflows across marketing, customer relationship management, finance, human resources, IT, and collaboration platforms.
Participants will learn how to:
This workshop is designed for senior leaders, the key message is not simply that agents can be built quickly; it is that they must be built around real organisational problems, trusted data, clear governance, and measurable outcomes.
13:15 – AI-Powered Micro Design Sprint presented by academyEX
This fast-paced, hands-on session takes participants through a condensed, time-boxed design sprint. Using AI as a thinking, ideation and prototyping partner, you will move from a real challenge to a clear concept, simple prototype and pitch-ready solution.
Participants will:
By the end of the session, you will have a simple concept or prototype and a one-minute pitch ready to share.
16:15 – Summit Closes