Kia ora,
I’ve just returned from a week in Taiwan and Singapore. The world turned up for the Singapore FinTech Festival, with 600+ exhibitors and 65,000 attendees from 136 countries. Fintech is the fastest-growing tech sector globally and one of New Zealand’s too, but where was New Zealand?
I’ve shared why this matters and the big signals we can’t ignore: a global regulatory push to enable stablecoins, tokenisation and agentic AI. This is timely given BlockchainNZ’s work bringing together politicians, regulators and industry to ensure we don’t fall behind. Meanwhile, the evolution of SaaS will be agentic, so next year we’ll expect to see more collaboration across the AI Forum, FinTechNZ and KiwiSaaS communities. Read my post here.
At the Asia Pacific Digital Summit in Taiwan I also observed the value of consistent long term planning as countries from around the region shared their progress in AI education, digital infrastructure and emerging technologies. With sustainable and resilient data processing a major concern I was able to position New Zealand as a potential partner to enable their growth as I shared our recent data centre research.
Today, we’re finalising our submission on New Zealand’s productivity. The pattern is familiar; we understand the problems and many of the solutions we really struggle to execute.
The key takeaway is clear: New Zealand needs to lean into technology to drive exports, productivity and inclusion for every part of Aotearoa’s economy and society. This has to be non-political and enduring. How can we advance if every three years tech and infrastructure policies are changed?
Last chance: Applications for Phase 1 of the NZIAT AI Platform close on Thursday
Applications for the NZIAT Artificial Intelligence Research Platform close on 20 November. This landmark Government investment of up to $70 million over seven years aims to lift New Zealand’s AI research and commercialisation for enduring competitive advantage.
You’re invited to wrap 2025 with us in Wellington!
Wrap 2025 with great company, sharp insights and a festive toast. This celebration is about you, our members. Your mahi has powered a year of growth across the ecosystem, from innovation and investment to skills, safety and sustainable growth. Join us for networking, a fast‑fire panel on the year’s biggest shifts, and our outlook for 2026.
Event details:
- DATE: Thursday 4 December
- TIME: 5.30 – 7.30pm
- LOCATION: Silverstripe, Level 2, 275 Cuba Street, Pōneke Wellington
👉 REGISTER
Spaces are limited, secure your spot early.
Curious how New Zealand SaaS companies scale globally?
Join Stripe and KiwiSaaS to hear Kami co-founder Alliv Samson — fresh from her EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 win — share how they scaled from a local edtech startup to a global powerhouse with 50 million users.
Event details:
- DATE: Wednesday 26 November
- TIME: 3.00 – 6.00pm
- LOCATION: QT Auckland
Here’s key dates for members across the NZTech Group: Voting for the Digital Identity NZ Executive Council is open ahead of the Annual Meeting on 4 December. Voting for the BlockchainNZ Awards closes on Friday.
Ngā mihi nui,
Graeme Muller
CEO
NZTech
PS: Join the AWS Public Sector Day in Wellington on Wednesday (8.30am – 4.00pm) where we’ll celebrate the launch of the AWS Asia Pacific (New Zealand) Region. We’ll explore how to unlock opportunities for the public sector (education, health, nonprofit and government) with sessions on gen AI, machine learning and cloud innovation. Register here.
Read full news here: Insights from Asia + AI deadline this week