The SME Stream

This week on The Business of Tech, I talk to Inspired Education founder Nadim Nsouli to explore a bold experiment in AI‑driven schooling that will reach Auckland primary students from 2027.

Inspired Education operates seven ACG private primary schools in New Zealand, including five in Auckland, focusing on personalised learning. A new learning programme, Inspired Edge Academy, compresses the traditional core curriculum – English, maths, science, computing and languages – into three highly structured, interactive hours each morning. 

Afternoons are turned into a lab for real‑world skills: financial literacy, entrepreneurship, public speaking and problem‑solving.

Underpinning it all is an adaptive AI learning system that changes questions and pathways in real time, depending on where each child is struggling or racing ahead, making progression based on mastery rather than age.

AI can personalise learning

Nsouli told me that Inspired has already invested tens of millions of dollars in technology across its 125 schools, using platforms like Century Tech to personalise homework and classwork for 95,000 students. In some subjects, students using these adaptive tools have lifted assessment scores by the equivalent of a GCSE grade boundary in just six weeks.

Nsouli walks through what this looks like for an eight‑year‑old: short 20–25 minute learning blocks, small clusters of students regrouped by mastery for each subject, a teacher‑to‑student ratio of about 1:8, and AI dashboards that show educators exactly where to intervene.

The philosophy behind the empire

Nsouli also tells Inspired's origin story. He left a successful private equity career after a personal tragedy, the death of his daughter Lyla, who died in 2012 at age 3 from a rare, aggressive brain cancer.

It was a turning point in Nsouli’s life, inspiring him to build a global group of premium schools that now employ 15,000 staff and educate 95,000 students on six continents. He sees the use of AI as “digitally native but human‑centred”. Smartphones are banned in all Inspired schools globally, teachers remain central, and technology is used where it can clearly outperform paper – in adaptive practice, feedback and assessment.

What it means for New Zealand

From 2027, the Edge model will appear in Auckland’s Inspired schools, after an early access launch in London, with the potential to spread faster where parent demand is strongest. 

We also discuss whether AI‑powered mastery learning will widen the gap between private and state schools or eventually filter through to the public system as costs fall and evidence grows.

Listen to the conversation with Nadim Nsouli, streaming on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Meet Jason Huljich, co-CEO of ASX 200 property fund manager Centuria Capital. Since the 90s, Centuria has built an empire worth $22B, managing 150 funds spanning from industrial warehouses to private credit.

Why does Jason believe the work from home shift is finally stabilising—and how is it impacting office supply vs demand? How do you offset the risks of lending billions to residential developers during a housing crisis? Why does Centuria use 26 different banks? 

We discuss Centuria’s expansion from bricks and mortar into digital infrastructure and alternative assets—and partnering with Nvidia to build "AI factory" data centres, using liquid immersion technology to cool high-powered processors.

Plus, hear Jason’s view on luring workers back to the office with saunas.

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Reserve Bank chief economist Paul Conway weighs in

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"The markets are saying two rate hikes before the election and that's going to be tough for people" - Independent commentator Bernard Hickey

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The Prime Minister comments on the fuel crisis, the tax credit relief package, Winston Peters and Halter.

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We have apparently moved from “obliterate” to “productive conversations” in just over a day.  Matthew Goodson from Salt Funds Management  

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Business update with Garth Bray thanks to Forsyth Barr

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The New Zealand sharemarket turned downwards, finishing with a fall of over 1.53 percent.

The conflict in the Middle East has continued on, and oil prices have kept going up as a result. 

Milford Asset Management's Jeremy Hutton explained further.

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Every New Zealander at the moment is feeling the impact of the price of fuel.  

It’s something Finance Minister Nicola Willis has mentioned time and time again.  

She’s also made it incredibly clear that this government won’t make the same mistakes as the last – so, any financial assistance must be targeted, and temporary. 

That’s why she’s announced extra support for low-to-middle-income families. 

From April 7, about 143,000 working families with children will get an extra $50 a week through a boost to the in-work tax credit.  

But, what else could the Government do? What about the rest of the population without kids who are also still struggling to make ends meet? 

Today on The Front Page, Journalist and publisher of The Kākā, Bernard Hickey is with us to break down how a war about 15,000 kilometres away is affecting New Zealand’s economy, and New Zealanders’ wallets. 

Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.

Host: Chelsea Daniels
Editor/Producer: Richard Martin
Producer: Jane Yee

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The Finance Minister is confident she hasn't jumped the gun with her fuel relief package. 

The Government's unveiled a temporary $50 weekly tax credit for about 143 thousand eligible lower-income families with children. 

It will continue for a year, or until the price of 91 drops below $3 a litre for four weeks in a row. 

Nicola Willis told Mike Hosking she has to prepare for a range of scenarios. 

She says the conflict could be prolonged, and the supply chain disruption that's causing prices to rise could continue for some time. 

Willis says she’s focusing on securing supply rather than providing support for businesses facing rising fuel prices. 

When it comes to helping businesses, the Government is changing fuel rules so importers can bring in fuel refined to Australian standards. 

She told Hosking it's essential the transport, manufacturing and agriculture sectors have enough fuel to keep going. 

Willis says it would be wrong to artificially push down the price of diesel when —if the worst-case scenario plays out— we could be having to preserve our diesel supply. 

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