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My Takeaways from the Aotearoa AI Summit 2025
Published 6 days ago • 4 min read
“The shape of the traditional hierarchy is going to change, especially as people become moderators of AI output.”
- Dr Amanda Williamson
Hello Reader,
The #AotearoaAISummit hosted by the AI Forum NZ explored some really interesting conversations last week. Here are my takeaways:
The emcee Megan Tapsell shared that what 5 BAs could do in 1 year can now be accomplished in 1 day.
The New Zealand Institute for Advanced Technology announced they would provide $231 million in funding over 4 years to invest in AI, Quantum, & Biotechnology. According to Minister Shane Reti, there are 56 data centers in NZ with 20 more planned, and since we are in the bottom half globally for electricity cost, we have unique advantages.
Greg Davidson talked about 2 important concepts: the Context Window (how much information AI can hold before it hallucinates) and Cost of Token Processing (as we move out of flat-fee monthly plans for LLMs). + Chatbots are evolving into sophisticated multi-step reasoning models + If you’re not sure where to start, start with what’s the highest ROI + Server racks consume 10-100x the power of previous generations + The NZ Tech industry generates $17 billion “Success depends on choosing the right use cases.”
David Siroky from Cisco said more is being spent on AI buildout than the Apollo program. + There is a fierce demand for AI talent - if you can find it, snap it up. + Meta is building AI data centers so fast, it has to put them in tents! + Reasoning models use 20x the tokens + We need to bring GPUs closer to data centers to decrease latency “There are not a lot of places where you can build a gigawatt of AI processing and the grid can handle it.”
The first panel with Dave, Amy Dove, Elle Archer, moderated by Graeme Muller discussed data centers and sovereign AI. They discussed a Māori-driven language model and increasing trust through governance, education, and access.
Dave Howden shared some of the work they have done at SupaHuman AI. “AI is a massive amplifier for growth, efficiency, & risk.”
Maria Mingallon moderated a panel on productivity and innovation in construction, with Pamela Bell, Ali Hamlin-Paenga, and Hema Sridhar. + Construction workers were early adopters of mobile phones + There is lots of complexity & compliance in tendering & procurement + It’s now knowledge-building time with AI
The next panel moderated by Hema Sridhar discussed whats’s next in AI with Matt Bain, Michael Witbrock and Ming Cheuk. + It’s a pivotal time in history + Change is happening faster than companies can absorb it + We need to rethink what universities are for + Businesses are going to look completely different in a few years
The second half of the #AotearoaAISummit started with a fascinating panel: Designing AI That Puts People First.
Expertly moderated by Dr Amanda J. Williamson, the conversation with Pedro R. and James Lawrence was riveting. + The tools are so easy, but change and education are so hard. + Last year - building trust & scale. This year - building context. Making AI relevant to people & their roles. + the problem of ‘human in the loop’ has been overstated, and it makes things more inefficient
+ the same metrics for value that define a good AI project now are the same metrics that defined a good business project 10 years ago. + A new metric: prompts/users/month. + if we educate our workforces, we get much better use cases with AI.
The second emcee of the day kept us on topic through the afternoon, the lively and engaging Julia Pahina.
After the panel we broke out into roundtables. The AEC table was led by Maria Mingallon to discuss AI in the Architecture, Engineering, & Construction industries. + In regulated industries, you don’t want to make too many mistakes. + data is fragmented across lots of different systems. + what’s holding us back? Trust. There are lots of tools that promise a lot.
The final quick-fire talks with Arash TayebiGavin SharkeyRichard WrightDr. Alexandra Andhov covered: + The world’s largest AI sign language database + How AI is being used In conservation of kiwi bird populations + Think of regulation not as a noun, but as a verb
Awards were awarded, and the executive board took to the stage for well- deserved applause. Thanks for a great day, AI Forum NZ.
**all images were made with ChatGPT, inspired by Studio Ghibli
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