The AI Corner

Join host Mike Bayly and guest Cowan Henderson, co‑founder of Avocado AI, as we unpack how he’s helping New Zealand businesses move beyond AI hype into real‑world adoption. Cowan draws on his decade‑plus experience in digital growth and change management to show why AI works only when people lead it, not just tools.

In this episode we discuss:

• 00:00 – Intro & guest bio• 00:29 – What drew Cowan into AI and his first “paperless” project• 01:52 – Key learning: involve the users early, not after the build• 02:49 – Shift from consultancy model to education model at Avocado AI• 04:40 – The three offering tiers: leaders, teams and online platform• 06:02 – Why leadership alignment is the must‑start for AI success• 07:57 – Handling scepticism and resistance in the room• 09:46 – Mindset first, then roadmap: how to sequence AI adoption• 11:13 – The “wow” moment: prompting basics and custom GPTs• 13:27 – Foundational skills: habit formation and view AI as colleague• 18:15 – Case studies: plumbing apprentices, custom GPTs and knowledge bases• 20:41 – What a 12‑week training programme actually looks like• 23:14 – Measuring uplift: culture change and efficiency gains• 26:29 – Looking ahead: Avocado AI’s education ambition from primary to business level• 27:54 – Quick‑fire round: favourite model, overhyped trend, hidden NZ AI company• 28:48 – Final recommendation: first steps in AI and why ask for reasoning• 29:18 – Outro & next steps

SUBSCRIBE TO STAY AHEAD:Cowan Henderson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cowanhenderson/

Mike Bayly's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebayly/

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Join host Mike Bayly and guest Fiona Hewitt, founder of Unboxable, for a candid look at how AI is reshaping work, leadership and organisational culture across New Zealand. Fiona has spent 20+ years leading transformation and now helps executives face the uncomfortable truth: AI isn’t just a tool, it’s a forcing function for how businesses are run.

Discover why “standing still” is the real risk, how fast adopters will outpace laggards, and what future-ready leadership actually looks like (hint: control becomes a liability). We dig into AI councils, hybrid human / AI teams, New Zealand’s low confidence in AI, and what boards should be doing right now to avoid becoming obsolete.

In this episode we discuss:

• 00:00 – Intro & guest bio• 00:24 – Why Fiona moved from transformation to AI• 02:41 – Standing still is the real risk• 03:11 – Two-speed economy: fast adopters vs laggards• 06:30 – Rethinking org design for human + AI teams• 07:25 – Last generation of human-only teams• 08:24 – Range over rigidity in leadership• 10:15 – The internal AI forum that actually worked• 15:10 – When old leadership strengths become liabilities• 16:58 – Judgement, accountability and “defend your answer”• 21:38 – NZ’s low AI confidence and why that should light a fire• 25:48 – How leaders and boards should get started

FIONA HEWITT’S LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionahewitt/SUBSCRIBE TO STAY AHEAD:NZ AI News: https://theaicorner.co.nz/subscribeNZ AI Events: https://theaicorner.co.nz/p/ai-events-in-new-zealand

Join host Mike Bayly and guest Leo Garcia‑Curtis to explore how embedding conversational AI and voice agents is creating new revenue pathways and productivity gains for New Zealand businesses. Leo brings his journey from e‑commerce agency founder to AI growth strategist, showing why now is the time to move.
Discover concrete takeaways: how to prioritise AI workflows vs simple automation, what “agentic commerce” really means (when the buyer isn’t a person), and actionable prompt‑engineering and voice‑agent strategies you can apply now.

In this episode we discuss:

• 00:00 – Intro & guest bio• 01:23 – Early web agency days and spotting tech shifts• 03:18 – Why Leo left his agency to go all‑in on AI• 08:02 – Consulting vs building: the two phases of AI adoption• 12:39 – What agentic commerce is (and why brands should care)• 14:57 – Websites, reviews & SEO in the age of AI agents• 22:45 – Real‑world use cases: voice agents handling orders via WhatsApp, phone, email• 27:27 – Voice‑to‑voice models, Kiwi accents & conversational design• 30:36 – Adoption in NZ vs overseas: where we stand

LEO GARCIA‑CURTIS’S LINKEDIN:

LEO GARCIA‑CURTIS’S LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leogcurtis/

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Join host Mike Bayly and guest Emily Makere Broadmore, founder of trategic communications firm Heft, and Director of Creative Intelligence consultancy Beyond Logic, to explore how she moved from AI cynic to advocate, what changed her mind about Claude, and why she's making ethical decisions about hiring juniors in the AI era.

You'll hear Emily's rules for good AI use (bad use is worse than none), how she's writing strategies for machines instead of humans, why creativity is about opinions not artistic skills, plus her take on training junior staff, the labour-intensive reality of AI education, and why human judgment remains essential even when outputs are AI-generated.

In this episode we discuss:

33:30 – Outro & next steps

EMILY'S LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-makere-broadmore-388b1317/

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Join host Mike Bayly and guest Serge van Dam, Wellington-based tech investor and board director with portfolio companies spanning fintech, proptech, and AI, to explore how he guides founders through AI adoption, what makes people resistant versus receptive, and why New Zealand's small market size is actually an advantage.

You'll hear Serge's four-persona framework for spotting AI adoption styles, how one Australian CEO went all-in on AI with 3,000 employees, why he switched from ChatGPT to Gemini, plus his disciplined two-hours-weekly training system that built genuine mastery, and why current LLMs are already sufficient for world-changing businesses.

In this episode we discuss:

00:00 – Intro & guest bio

00:28 – First exposure to AI breakthrough

01:27 – Guiding founders through adoption

02:53 – Founders without AI conviction

04:16 – Pre-AI versus AI-native companies

05:43 – Four adoption personas framework

06:39 – Australian CEO goes all-in

09:15 – Board discussions around AI strategy

12:30 – Showing versus forcing belief

15:45 – Cultural shifts in organisations

18:20 – Portfolio company transformations

21:10 – Small market advantage for NZ

24:05 – Room for multiple operators

25:32 – ChatGPT to Gemini switch

26:29 – Are LLMs over-hyped

27:48 – Contented AI recognition

28:43 – Two hours weekly training system

29:39 – Outro & next steps

SERGE'S LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mistervandam/

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Join host Mike Bayly and guest Taru Peters‑Naug, founder of Do AI, who has led data‑science and AI strategy roles at ANZ and Squirrel, and now works with Kiwi businesses to build practical AI‑powered products.

Hear how organisations in Aotearoa can move from planning with AI to actually using and building with AI. Taru shares how he applies human‑centred design and engineering to AI; his view on why big organisations should experiment fast rather than wait; and concrete examples of how product‑lab thinking helps founders and businesses deploy solutions rather than just talk strategy.

In this episode we discuss:

• 00:00 – Intro & guest bio• 00:27 – Taru’s origin: robotics, mechatronics and the wrong job interview• 01:26 – Building the data‑science team at ANZ• 02:24 – Does data science lead naturally into AI? Taru’s view• 03:23 – Why Taru left corporate to start Do AI• 05:15 – Readiness assessment and the 7‑pillars for AI adoption• 06:41 – Big corporates: experiment safely, start small• 08:59 – Do AI’s model: product‑lab vs consultancy• 10:24 – Ideal clients: businesses who know their problem or founders who live a problem• 12:48 – Ongoing support, training, platform partnerships at Do AI• 14:41 – Real‑world use case: vision + automation in plant nursery inventory• 17:00 – Interface vs functionality: when is it truly AI?• 18:50 – Data and AI: what’s most misunderstood in businesses• 21:44 – Example project: computer vision for plant health and sale automation• 24:10 – Off‑the‑shelf vs custom software: key trade‑offs• 29:19 – Big systems inertia: why change is so hard

TARU'S LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taru-peters-naug/

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Join host Mike Bayly and guest Caelan Huntress, Head of Learning & Enablement at Agentic Intelligence, transforms everyday professionals into AI‑enabled performers. He blends his background in marketing and acrobatics with immersive, hands‑on workshops to help organisations embrace AI in a tangible way.

We cover how to bring AI into your daily workflow (even something as simple as “what’s for dinner?” becomes a productivity hack), dive into the New Zealand AI ecosystem, and uncover the one mindset shift that moves people from curiosity to action with AI.

In this episode we discuss:

• 00:00 – Intro & guest bio

• 01:26 – From marketing to generative AI: the leap and why it mattered

• 02:18 – Hands‑on workshops: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini across browser tabs

• 04:40 – Launching the Christchurch AI meetup and growing the community

• 06:21 – NZ’s AI strategy, hesitation and the role of the AI Forum

• 10:24 – Four types of people in the AI change curve (do‑mers, gloomers, zoomers, bloomers)

• 15:07 – Workforce upskilling, job fear and AI’s productivity impact

• 18:22 – A simple “fridge photo” prompt to spark personal‑to‑work use cases

• 20:38 – Quick fire: ChatGPT vs Gemini vs Claude, most over‑hyped trends

CAELAN'S LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caelanhuntress/

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Join host Mike Bayly and guest Hitarth Sharma, founding engineer at a stealth AI startup backed by OpenAI, to explore how he moved into AI, what he’s building now, and why memory systems are central to the next frontier of agent design. You’ll hear Hitarth's rules for upgrading models (when a jump is worthwhile), how he handles hallucinations and blending personal vs professional memory, plus his take on “vibe coding”, hiring for AI teams, and how to turn technical curiosity into intuition.

In this episode we discuss:

• 00:00 – Intro & guest bio• 00:27 – Early journey into LLMs & aha moment• 03:22 – Building side projects inside company time• 06:12 – Hallucinations, hype, and staying grounded• 11:13 – When to adopt new models vs stick with reliable ones• 16:02 – Working on long‑term memory infrastructure• 19:48 – Personal vs enterprise memory separation• 22:14 – RAG, embeddings, and grounding memory systems• 23:41 – Vibe/wipe coding and engineering trade‑offs• 29:15 – Hiring AI engineers: traits over technical tests• 33:35 – Quick‑fire round: models, agents, startups• 34:57 – Advice for technical newcomers getting started

HITARTH'S LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hitarthsharma/

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Join host Mike Bayly and guest Gavin Sharkey, Managing Director of Kōwhai, as we explore how New Zealand organisations can move from AI curiosity to sustainable adoption. Hear why many AI pilots fail, how to prioritise high‑impact use cases, and why embedding governance, measurement and mindset change is just as important as the tech.

In this episode we discuss:

• 00:00 – Intro & guest bio• 00:28 – Gavin’s early AI journey• 02:21 – From corporate AI role to founding Kofi AI• 04:16 – How Kofi operates & builds client capability• 05:12 – Common mistakes & wrong starting points• 07:59 – Culture, innovation platforms & tooling choices• 09:44 – Leading with Microsoft & Databricks• 11:05 – Identifying use cases & ROI modelling• 14:00 – Proof of concept to production success rates• 17:44 – RPA → Intelligent process automation evolution• 19:05 – NZ market trends & sector interests• 21:26 – Change management & AI fluency• 22:44 – Quick‑fire round: tool picks & advice• 23:39 – How individuals and firms should get started

GAVIN'S LINKEDIN:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavin-sharkey-87a5725/

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NZ AI News: https://theaicorner.co.nz/subscribe

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Join host Mike Bayly and guest Jacob Bank, founder & CEO of Relay.app, as they explore how AI agents are evolving beyond chatbots and copilots. You’ll hear how Relay pivoted through multiple prototypes to land on “agent + workflow” tooling, plus Jacob’s definitions of agents vs workflows, advice for trusting AI in business, and his predictions for how many junior knowledge roles will vanish by 2026.

In this episode we discuss:

• 00:00 – Intro & guest bio

• 01:23 – From AI research to Calendar & Gmail at Google

• 03:30 – Early prototypes & product pivots

• 10:04 – Defining chatbot, copilot, and agent

• 16:33 – Best use cases: research vs meeting follow‑up

• 23:27 – How Relay’s assistant helps build agents

• 27:27 – Feedback loops, prompt testing & model choice

• 30:07 – Relay’s place in existing AI stacks

• 34:18 – Pricing, predictability & credit anxiety

• 45:05 – Future of work & roles in 2026

JACOB BANK'S LINKEDIN:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobbank/RELAY.APP:http://relay.app/?via=mikeSUBSCRIBE TO STAY AHEAD:NZ AI News: https://theaicorner.co.nz/subscribeNZ AI Events: https://theaicorner.co.nz/p/ai-events-in-new-zealand