As the global race to develop quantum computers heats up, New Zealand is working on specialist areas of technology that could add crucial elements to the quantum supply chain.

That’s according to the University of Oxford’s Professor Andrew Daley, a principal investigator in the UK’s national quantum programme tasked with developing more accurate and functional quantum computers.

In the latest episode of The Business of Tech, Daley sat down with me during a visit to Wellington to break down the key issues facing the field, from dealing with error correction in the quantum world, to the challenges quantum computers pose to the encryption systems that keep our data private and secure.

New Zealand’s contribution to the quantum puzzle is not in building the highly complex and expensive computers themselves, but in supplying vital technologies, know-how, and a global network of talent, said Daley. The challenge now is to coordinate expertise, support industry engagement, and stake a place in quantum’s unfolding future. 

As Daley put it, “All of these pieces of the quantum technologies puzzle are going to come together in a very useful way.”

Listen to episode 112 of The Business of Tech in full, powered by 2degrees Business, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

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As US tech companies double down on artificial intelligence, pouring billions into new data centres and offering eye-watering compensation packages to secure the best talent, a different path is emerging for New Zealand.

Catalyst Cloud co-founder Don Christie returned to The Business of Tech podcast this week to lay out his vision for sovereign AI, one where open source models and local infrastructure pave the way for the country’s digital future.

While Christie welcomes the recent government effort to devise a national artificial intelligence strategy, he was clear-eyed about its limitations. 

“My take is that the government is making a start... I thought it was quite generic in its application,” he says, noting that while the strategy offers guidance for small businesses dipping their toes in AI, it stops short of investing in the infrastructure or innovation needed for real autonomy.

Christie is adamant that New Zealand can, and must, chart its own course by leveraging open source AI. Catalyst Cloud runs on the OpenStack cloud platform and has worked with the likes of Te Hiku Media to apply large language models in the cloud to New Zealand-specific applications.

“The technologies are there. You don’t have to build it from scratch. We’ve done this with Linux. We’ve done this with OpenStack in the cloud space. And as open source models begin to mature... the opportunities to build self-determination within New Zealand will explode,” he said.

Listen to episode 111 of The Business of Tech in full, powered by 2degrees Business, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

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This week's episode of The Business of Tech marks a historic moment: the 60th anniversary of Datacom, New Zealand’s largest homegrown IT company. 

I was joined by Datacom’s Group CEO Greg Davidson, who has overseen nearly two decades of remarkable change, steering the Christchurch-founded company through tidal waves of technological innovation. 

“It is older than me, I'm going to hang on to that for as long as I can,” Davidson quipped at the start of a wide-ranging conversation about the company that employs over 5,000 staff across New Zealand and Australia and generated $1.48 billion in revenue last year.

Datacom started in 1965, the era of the computing bureau when it was too expensive for all but the largest companies to own a computer outright, so businesses shared access to a machine. The Computer Bureau Ltd., which became Datacom, was in demand for processing payroll transactions, a line of business it is a major player in to this day.

“We pay about half a million Kiwis every fortnight using those platforms,” said Davidson. 

Listen to episode 110 of The Business of Tech to find out how Datacom is embracing the latest technological sea change, artificial intelligence, and how it stays competitive in the face of stiff competition from multinationals.

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Concrete might be the backbone of modern society, but it comes at a steep carbon cost.

As global climate pressures intensify, the business of “greening” this essential material is heating up, and few are more determined to crack the code than Zarina Bazoeva, co-founder of Neocrete.

In the latest episode of The Business of Tech, Zarina sits down for an in-depth interview about how her New Zealand startup is tackling one of the world’s most stubborn climate problems: cement, the glue in concrete, is responsible for around 8% of global CO2 emissions. 

“To produce cement, we use a lot of fossil fuels, and so partly that's the reason why it's so carbon intensive, and the other part is because the chemistry of cement contains CO2 in it, so it is released during the manufacturing process,” Zarina told me.

Neocrete is using volcanic ash and its own additive to replace conventional cement ingredients, with promising results. With Neocrete shipping product to its first customer in Southeast Asia and embarking on a Series A capital raise, join us to hear Zarina outline her vision for cities build from low carbon concrete.

Streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

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With Big Tech hyperscalers investing billions in local data centres and the Government taking a cloud-first stand, the migration of our data and applications to cloud platforms is in full swing.

But as David Reiss, my guest on this week’s episode of The Business of Tech, told me that moving to the cloud isn’t necessarily the panacea if you are looking to lower the ongoing costs of running your IT systems.

The co-CEO of 30-year-old tech services firm, Equinox IT, says costs can escalate quickly in the cloud without the controls and culture in place.

“Most organisations we talk to now are in the cloud,” Reiss said, “but they are suffering some of those problems due to the fact that they kind of evolved into it rather than necessarily having it being initially a strategic objective.”

Cloud “bill shock” is an increasing reality, not just in New Zealand but globally. 

“There has definitely been a lot of higher [spending] than was expected. Some of the cloud pricing models appear very opaque, they appear very confusing, and it can be very difficult to figure out what is costing you money in the cloud environment if it’s not set up well to begin with,” Reiss said.

So what's the answer? a cultural change in our organisations where IT departments and business teams get on the same page about what they need to do in the cloud - and plan accordingly. 

Listen to the full episode of The Business of Tech, powered by 2degrees Business, for a candid discussion of cloud realities, the human factors shaping IT outcomes, and how businesses can prepare for the next wave of digital change. Streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

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One of New Zealand’s most ambitious startups, Zenno Astronautics, is undertaking pioneering work with superconducting magnets to address one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity’s future in space - space junk.

On The Business of Tech podcast this week, Max Arshavsky, co-founder and CEO of Zenno Astronautics, charts his journey from the steppes of Siberia to the University of Auckland, where in 2017 he founded Zenno Astronautics with Sebastian Wieczorek and William Haringa. 

His motivation? To build technologies that can make space exploration more sustainable and less dependent on Earth’s finite resources.

“The vision I have is that technologies in space should be independent of Earth when it comes to reliance on fuel or radiation protection or an ability to construct anything,” Arshavsky, who is now a New Zealand citizen, told me. 

“We should be able to construct things in space, and they should be autonomous.”

Listen to the full interview with Zenno Astronautics Max Arshavsky on episode 107 of The Business of Tech, powered by 2degrees Business, on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

 

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J.D. Trask, the Wellington-based entrepreneur behind global software success Raygun, is back with a new venture, one he believes could have an even greater impact than the internet itself. 

In the latest episode of The Business of Tech podcast, Trask sat down with me to introduce Autohive, a platform designed to make AI automation accessible for every business, not just those with deep technical resources.

Trask’s well-established company, Raygun, is a quiet powerhouse in the tech world, providing error and performance monitoring for software used by everyone from Domino’s Pizza to HBO. With its behind-the-scenes tech and 93% of its revenue coming from exports, Raygun has flown under the radar in New Zealand, operating with a lean team from just off Wellington’s Courtenay Place.

But as generative AI exploded onto the scene in 2023, Trask saw a seismic shift underway. He described the electrifying moment he realised AI’s potential to transform business productivity. 

"I cannot put down thinking about this, this is going to be a bigger revolution than the internet,” he remembers thinking. Autohive was born, and launched last week with a platform allowing anyone to make their own agents - with no coding experience required.

Tune in to listen to the interview in full - streaming on iHeartRadio and wherever you get your podcasts.

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By now, you’ve probably participated in a video conference call that’s been recorded and automatically transcribed, with a meeting summary sent to you within seconds of the meeting ending.

The likes of Teams, Otter, Zoom and Fireflies are using artificial intelligence to parse our language for insights and meaning, translating long, meandering meetings into useful summaries.

But Christchurch startup Contented AI is taking this a step further, with its transcription app also mining conversations for information that can be turned into action tables, SWOT analysis, deep dives, and decision logs.

On the Business of Tech this week, Contented AI founders Lucy Pink and Hannah Hardy-Jones explain how they've bootstrapped a company that aims to be the "Canva of conversations". Listen to the full interview. PLUS: Dr Sarb Johal answers my big question of the week: What part of your life should always stay analogue, no matter how smart tech gets?

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This week on The Business of Tech podcast, we unpack the sixth annual 2degrees Shaping Business Study, a barometer for the mood and ambitions of Kiwi business leaders as we hit the midpoint of 2025. 

The headline? Optimism is back, at its highest level since the research began, with more New Zealand companies describing themselves as thriving rather than just surviving.

Optimism on the rise

After years of economic turbulence, the study finds that over half of businesses anticipate revenue growth in the coming year. As Mark Callander, CEO of 2degrees, told me on the podcast, given the “survive to 2025” mantra that coloured our thinking last year, it’s little surprise that 45% of them are feeling more optimistic this year.

“What’s more encouraging is that a lot of those businesses deem themselves to be more productive,” he said. 

“Many of them have launched a new product or service in the last 12 months. And again, off the back of that, the intention around investing in business development, sales and marketing is also increasing. 

“So, some really positive indicators in terms of the way businesses are feeling. And I think it’s a great outlook to move from surviving to thriving towards the second half of this year.”

Register to download the 2025 2degrees Shaping Business Study.

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Tracy Sheen isn’t your typical artificial intelligence guru. “I am looking forward to stirring the AI pot with you, Peter,” Sheen told me at the start of an entertaining discussion on this week’s episode of The Business of Tech. 

The award-winning Australian business coach and technology strategist has always been passionate about making technology accessible.

Her latest book AI & U: Reimagine Business is a direct response to the overwhelming hype and complexity surrounding AI, aiming to break down the technology into simple, actionable strategies for everyday business owners.

Sheen, who spent her childhood tinkering with electronics in her parents’ workshop and went on to help launch SMS technology and the iPhone and SMS in Australia brings a grounded perspective to the AI conversation, focusing on the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) rather than tech giants or C-suite executives. Listen to the full interview on Episode 103 of The Business of Tech.

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