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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?
Rueben Davidson | Labour
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.
Martijin Verburg | Head of Engineering, Microsoft New Zealand
10:20 – Keynote | Building the foundations for New Zealand’s AI future
AI is creating new opportunities for productivity, innovation and economic growth, but those outcomes depend on infrastructure that is often overlooked.
In this keynote, Datacom Group CEO Greg Davidson explores the critical digital foundations that will shape New Zealand’s AI future, from data centres and submarine cables to compute capacity, energy and resilience. As AI drives demand for increasingly sophisticated digital infrastructure, Greg will examine the dependencies, risks and strategic choices that could influence New Zealand’s ability to compete, innovate and capture value in the global AI economy, and the need to balance global technology platforms with strong local capability.
Greg Davidson | Group CEO, Datacom
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.
Nick Valentine | Partner – Technology and Data, DLA Piper
Megan Tapsell | GM Enterprise & Pacific Technology, ANZ Bank
Martijin Verburg | Head of Engineering, Microsoft New Zealand
Peter Griffin (Moderator)
11:40 – Keynote
Peter–Lucas Jones | Te Hiku Media
12:10 – AI and Digital Technologies: A Human Rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi Approach
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how we work, access services, share knowledge and participate in society. But the future it creates is not inevitable. It will be shaped by the choices we make now about whose values are embedded in these systems, who shares in their benefits, who carries their risks and who has the power to influence their development.
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission presents its new report, AI and Digital Technologies: A Human Rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi Approach. Building on the foundations laid by Māori leaders in data sovereignty, Indigenous AI and community-led innovation, the address will explore why AI and new digital technologies should be understood not merely as a collection of tools, but as public infrastructure designed and governed for the public good.
We outline how human rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi provide a practical framework for rights-respecting innovation that puts people and communities at the centre. We will share a vision for a fairer, more trusted and more self-determined digital future.
Dr Stephen Rainbow | Human Rights Commissioner
Dayle Takitimu | Rongomau Taketake 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
Dayle Takitimu | Rongomau Taketake Indigenous Governance Partner, Human Rights Commission
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 | Director | Kaiwhakahaere – Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, 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
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.
Yash Kapoor | CEO & Founder, Innovate Now
Jayne Foster, Principal Advisor | The Policy Project, Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet
Stacy Pence | AI & Data Lead, Accenture ANZ
Stacey Morrison | Broadcaster, MC, author, Māori language Translator, Interpreter & consultant
15:10 – Quickfires: AI in Practice: Stories from the Coalface
15:40 – Afternoon Tea Break
16:10 – 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.
Albert Bifet | Waikato University
Madeline Newman | AI Forum
Nicholas Fourie | Fisher & Paykel Healthcare
Representative from Woolworths
16:40 – 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)
17:10 – Day one closing remarks
17:20 – Networking Drinks
9:00- Opening of day 2
9:10 – Opening Keynote | Workforce transformation
AI is changing not only how work gets done, but how organisations create value, build capability and serve people and citizens. Drawing on global insights and practical experience from what’s worked and lessons learned, this session will explore how Aotearoa’s organisations can move beyond isolated use cases to redesign work around human and AI collaboration, unlock productivity and turn emerging possibilities into practical outcomes.
Dr. Viveca Pavon-Harr | Global AI & Data Lead, Public Sector, Accenture
Louise Barrere | Global OpenAI Lead, 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
Amanda Veldman | Senior Learning and Development Advisor, Datacom
Karaitiana Taiuru | Director, Taiuru & Associates; Chair, Kāhui Māori
Moderator: Louise Barrere | Global OpenAI Lead, Accenture
10:30 – Morning tea
11:00 – Panel Discussion: The Productivity Dividend – Turning AI Efficiency into Economic Growth
Hema Sridhar | Deputy Director, Koi Tū – Centre for Informed Futures
Dr. Viveca Pavon-Harr | Global AI & Data Lead, Public Sector, Accenture
Moderator: Carol Hirschfeld | Journalist, TVNZ
…and more panellists to be announced!
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 | Executive Insights into Strategic Decision Making presented by Accenture
Join Accenture’s Global OpenAI Lead and Global AI & Data Lead for the Public Sector for these back-to-back executive insight briefings.
Grounded in global evidence, real-world implementation experience, and decision frameworks from complex organisations, the sessions are designed to help executives understand where AI programmes succeed, where they stall, and what their teams need to resolve before committing at scale.
Global OpenAI Lead, Accenture, on Global lessons on Scaling AI safely
Join Louise Barrere for a session exploring what global organisations are learning.
Drawing on implementation lessons, failure patterns, and executive decision points from scaled AI programmes, this session will focus on the trade-offs leaders face when deciding whether, when, and how to commit at enterprise scale.
You will gain a clearer view of:
· Where AI programmes have demonstrated material enterprise value, and what conditions enabled success
· Where initiatives have stalled, failed to scale, or required executive intervention
· The board-level questions and trade-offs to resolve before committing at scale
Speaker: Louise Barrere, Global OpenAI Lead, Accenture
Practical Governance with Accenture’s Global AI & Data Lead, Public Sector
Join Dr. Viveca Pavon-Harr for a discussion about executive level assurance, accountability, and governance disciplines.
Viveca joins us from the UK, where she has worked directly on AI governance in complex public sector, utilities, and critical infrastructure environments. Drawing on real AI programmes across government organisations, this session will examine what governance models have worked, where assurance has broken down, and what leaders would do differently in hindsight.
You will gain a clearer view of:
· The assurance, accountability, and traceability expectations leaders need to understand
· Where governance models commonly break down in complex public-sector and infrastructure environments
· The leadership decisions required to manage risk, assurance, and public trust at scale
Speaker: Dr. Viveca Pavon-Harr, Global AI & Data Lead, Public Sector, Accenture
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:
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