Interest.co.nz reveals how AI will change your daily life, the risks, opportunities and what to expect in practice. Our new series brings you policy makers, experts and industry leaders from New Zealand and overseas.
The lighting is dark. Wellington’s Takina Event Center is packed and seats are very expensive. The speakers are equipped with microphones and walk around the stage as if they were at a presentation for the latest iPhone.
AI is still baffling to me, and I secretly google terminology that everyone seems to already know (My AI dictionary is linked here). So I wasn’t sure what to expect when I attended the 2026 Great New Zealand AI Roadshow hosted by AI New Zealand.
But after the roadshow, I understood the basics, had a deeper understanding of how AI would impact me as a worker, and explained the regulatory gaps in a way that the average person could understand.
The crowd seemed to be a mix of people, young and old, men and women, from both the private and public sectors. It certainly wasn’t the intimidating, brainy tech festival I had imagined.
The most memorable line for me was a line by Arcanum’s Asa Cox during a presentation on AI profitability.
He said that in the 10 years he’s been trying to get organizations to adopt AI, eight out of 10 times the technology wasn’t the culprit. It was humans who got in the way through lack of planning, some kind of fear, or lack of organizational design.
“You need someone in your organization who can articulate why they want to do AI, why they want to embrace it, and why they want to use it.
“Because if you don’t communicate that clearly, and I can tell you from hundreds of companies that we’ve worked with, some people will say, ‘I’m worried about losing my job, and that’s all I know from the press…I mean, the writing is on the wall — I’m going to block it as much as I can.’
“Or it will be, that’s cheating. My bosses say they don’t allow me to use AI, so if I get caught using AI, it’s cheating.”
Cox said it takes time to get value from AI.
“This is a transformative technology. It unlocks value, it frees up time. It’s an investment, it’s an investment in personal development, it’s an investment in organizational development. For some companies, this is an existential threat or an existential opportunity. Don’t take it lightly.”
Implement cybersecurity alongside AI
“If you’re thinking about AI and you’re not thinking about cyber security, you’re not thinking about AI,” Datacom’s Richard Kenyon told the audience.
Kenyon spoke about bringing AI into organizations and encouraged people to think about things they would like to do but can’t do today because they don’t have enough talent, capital or time.
Ben Schollitt from cybersecurity company Check Point gave a presentation titled: Data is not being leaked, it is being passed on.
Schorit outlined three ways AI creates new attack surfaces. Via employees (“one bad paste can leak precious gems”), through applications (can hijack Gen AI applications with a single prompt), and through agents (can autonomously perform dangerous actions).
“Whether it’s AI chatbots… or if we start experimenting with agents and agent workloads, that’s going to create a lot of value for New Zealand businesses, but it’s also going to increase risk,” he said.
“With AI-specific threats such as data leaks, prompt injections and uncontrollable autonomy, allowing your agents to do what you tell them to do and execute whatever commands you want them to do will end up doing more than they need to.”
According to Schorit, 78% of organizations use AI, and almost 70% of enterprises say AI-enabled data breaches are their top security concern, yet nearly half operate without AI-specific security controls.
To learn more about AI, check out our series Unpacking AI.
“If you don’t have an AI plan now, you’re already exposed to AI.”
Simon Martin from the law firm Hudson Gavin Martin explains the key legal issues surrounding AI.
Martin said the three main categories of output risks include accuracy (such as hallucinations and misinformation, breaches of fair trading laws and breaches of professional conduct), intellectual property risks (such as output infringement and ownership uncertainty), and privacy and confidentiality breaches (from uploading sensitive information to external AI tools).
“The reality is that if you don’t have an AI plan now, you’re already exposed to AI. The risk is that if you’re not using AI, other people in your organization, your suppliers, are already using AI.”
“If they don’t think about these things, if they don’t recognize these risks, if they don’t prepare something around it, the problem is there’s nothing to really hold them accountable. There’s nothing to give them guidance on what’s acceptable and what’s not.”
He described the legal framework for AI in New Zealand as “relatively light”.
“At the moment there is no specific AI regulation in New Zealand so we are dealing with normal legislation. Data is at the core of everything so there are some big challenges when it comes to privacy law issues.”
“Just jump in.”
Technology company founder Serge Van Dam talked about AI for boards and directors. He said AI can feel intimidating, but encouraged the audience to jump in.
“Whether it’s a travel itinerary, a bike comparison if you’re interested in cycling, or building a website with FIFA World Cup draws, just dive in.
“To be honest, the consequences of not sticking with it are dangerous, not just for you as a professional, especially those in the governance space, but also for the organizations you represent, because obviously… leadership is so important.
“If the board is lukewarm, timid, and unwilling to engage, it’s no wonder the teams trying to execute, be more productive, and move faster feel the same way.”
