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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As chief data officer for Australia and New Zealand at Publicis Groupe, Maurice Riley stands at the intersection of data, technology, and advertising strategy.

On this week’s episode of The Business of Tech, Riley outlined the trends reshaping the advertising industry, highlighted the growing importance of the "middleverse" in customer journeys, especially during sluggish economic times, and offered practical advice for New Zealand businesses navigating the evolving digital landscape.

Riley describes the last decade as a period of profound change, with advertising becoming "100% data-driven”. While the tools have evolved from direct mail lists and census data to sophisticated digital signals, the core objective remains: using data to unlock insights that connect brands with their audiences.

“It's an old cliche, but we like to say data is just people in disguise,” Riley told me. 

“Now we just have that in a different form with a whole bunch more signals at our disposal to wheel together to get to that unlock, that insight that unlocks a great creative idea or make sure that we're getting to the prospects and the humans that we want to reach."

Listen to episode 102 of The Business of Tech for the full interview with Publicis Groupe's Maurice Riley. Plus, Sir Peter Beck's provocative challenge to New Zealand - aim to capture 10% of the global space industry, which would amount to a $230 billion share of the pie in a decade's time!

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Wellington, once a vibrant hub for New Zealand’s tech innovation, has faced stagnation in recent years. 

Last week, a packed audience at a Vision for Wellington event on Wellington’s waterfront heard from the city’s tech luminaries about how the city can embrace its strengths, particularly in technology, and foster a more supportive, connected ecosystem.

Sitting in the audience was Ralph Highnam, founder of breast screening software maker Volpara Health, which was started in Wellington in 2009 and, after listing on the ASX, was bought in 2024 by South Korean AI medical imaging company Lunit in a deal valued at around $300 million. 

On this week's episode of The Business of Tech, Ralph outlines his own vision for Wellingtion and his plans for WellyForge, a new organisation started with the aim of breathing new life into the city's tech ecosystem.

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If the novelty of seeing AI-generated videos popping up in our newsfeeds has started to
wear off, Google has something new for you to feast your eyes on.

Last week, the AI giant released Veo 3, the latest version of its AI content generator. Its claim to fame? Veo 3 not only generates short video clips based on prompts from users, but also audio, syncing sound effects and character dialogue with the video.

That’s yet another step towards generating entire video clips solely with the use of prompts fed into a chatbot, and serves as a stark reminder of the disruptive power AI represents for the creative industries.

On this week's episode of The Business of Tech, Datacom’s Director of AI, Lou Compagnone, who last week hosted an AI Forum summit on AI's use in the creative industries, outlines how the creative sector can
embrace AI to enhance productivity, foster new forms of creativity, and address existential dilemmas.

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Litmaps, a Wellington-based startup that’s just raised $1 million in a Series A funding round, is redefining how scientists navigate the sea of academic literature by merging citation network analysis with generative AI. 

Founded in 2016 by Axton Pitt and Kyle Webster, the platform now serves over 2 million researchers globally, including institutions like Harvard, Stanford, and the University of Cambridge. Its mission? To "accelerate impactful science" by helping researchers identify gaps in knowledge and avoid redundant work.

The playbook is the same pursued by many Kiwi startup founders with Kyle and Axton, who was a University of Auckland biomedical and computer science student at the time, growing frustrated with legacy systems poorly equipped to meet the needs of modern researchers. 

“We just found the tools that you had to use very clunky,” Axton told me on this week’s episode of The Business of Tech. The acquisition of rival Research Rabbit now gives Litmaps an audience of millions worldwide. Find out how better scientific research discovery, powered by AI and visualisations, is changing how science is done on episode 99 of The Business of Tech.

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The Technology Users Association has issued a stark warning that New Zealand risks falling further behind in the global digital economy unless the government urgently reforms its approach to digital and technology skills, with a particular focus on vocational training. 

In a wide-ranging interview on this week’s episode of The Business of Tech, TUANZ CEO Craig Young expressed deep frustration at the lack of strategic leadership and investment in building the local tech talent pipeline, calling current government proposals “disappointing” and “a step backwards” for the industry.

“We’ve missed a trick here,” Young said, referring to the government’s plan to wind down the Workforce Development Councils and replace them with new industry standards boards that largely ignore the unique needs of the digital and creative sectors. We also delve into AI, cybersecurity, and the digital divide as we unpack the pressing issues outlined in the latest TUANZ digital priorities report. All that and more on episode 98 of The Business of Tech.

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Reuben Davidson, Labour’s new spokesperson for science, innovation, technology, broadcasting and the creative economy, isn’t shy about the scale of the challenges facing New Zealand’s high-value sectors, or the damage he says the current government is doing. 

In this week’s episode of The Business of Tech, the former TV producer, who won the Christchurch East seat in the 2023 general election, is scathing of the coalition Government’s approach to science and innovation, particularly funding cuts and redundancies, and the “rolling change” that’s left researchers and innovators in limbo.  

“It feels very much to me… that this is a crisis that’s been created. If it’s unintentional, then that doesn’t make it any better,” he told me on the podcast. 

So what would Labour do differently? Tune in to find out on The Business of Tech featuring Labour MP Reuben Davidson in his first major interview on science, innovation and media.

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New Zealand, like many smaller nations, has become deeply reliant on American technology platforms for everything from government operations to daily business functions. 

In this week’s episode of The Business of Tech, Canadian journalist and author Paris Marx warns that this dependence is not just a matter of convenience, it’s a growing vulnerability that puts the country’s digital sovereignty at risk.

The issue has gained urgency amid rising geopolitical tensions, especially with the resurgence of Donald Trump in US politics and the increasing weaponisation of tariffs and regulations against countries that challenge the dominance of American tech firms.

What should we do about it? Tune in to hear Paris give his take on how New Zealand can forge a path towards digital sovereignty.

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As global trade becomes increasingly protectionist, New Zealand’s tech sector faces a welcome anomaly for now: digital exports are tariff-free. 

Unlike goods, software and digital services still move relatively freely across borders, and nowhere is this opportunity greater than in India—a vast, fast-growing market hungry for innovation. 

The story of Valocity Global, founded by Auckland-based serial entrepreneur Carmen Vicelich, is a masterclass in how Kiwi tech companies can thrive in India which with its 1.4 billion people, youthful demographics (over 50% under 28), and ambitious “housing for all” and financial inclusion policies, is digitising at speed. 

Valocity Global now offers services to 20 banks in India, streamlining the process of valuing property with an app-based system that replaces manual and time-consuming valuation processes. Carmen joins me on episode 94 of The Business of Tech to explain how Valocity cracked the indian market, and how other Kiwi digital exporters can do the same.

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