Why Aotearoa New Zealand needs an AI Activator
Recent advances in AI have opened up a world of business opportunities ready to be explored. Globally, AI is boosting productivity and paving the way for commercialising new products and services that seemed impossible just a few years ago.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, AI adoption is still in its early stages, and many businesses like yours face barriers to tapping into AI's full potential. That's where AI Activator comes in. We're here to provide the targeted support you need to accelerate AI adoption, seamlessly integrate it into your operations or build a world-leading AI-enhanced business.
AI & Productivity in Aotearoa New Zealand
Callaghan Innovation has partnered with the AI Forum and Victoria University of Wellington to research and report on AI’s impact on productivity in Aotearoa New Zealand. We will update these reports regularly to highlight AI adoption trends over time.
How the Activator can help you take advantage of AI
Like any new technology, Artificial Intelligence can seem daunting at first. It can be difficult to see how it can benefit your business if you haven’t overcome that initial hurdle of not being able to answer, “So what is it again?”
A crucial part of the Activator is dedicated to helping you and your team explore and leverage AI. We do this through our AI discovery workshops and by being able to call on experts who can help you devise or deploy the right AI-enhanced solutions for your business’s needs. As a first step, why not try the wizard below to get an idea of how the Activator can help you?
Not sure what you need?
Choose what best reflects your current AI needs and find out how AI Activator can help
AI Activator can EDUCATE you.
Dive into a wealth of resources and initiatives designed to help you begin your AI journey. Check out the Upskill section below to find out more about some of them.
AI Activator can ENABLE AI for you.
We can connect you with experts who will guide you to the most suitable AI tools for your needs, whether it’s something as simple as a chatbot or a solution that requires several off-the-shelf tools working together for your particular solution.
AI Activator can EMPOWER you.
Join this vibrant community of innovators and tap into the expertise of world-class AI professionals. Learn from others who have tackled similar challenges, and leverage their experiences to build your own AI capabilities.
AI Activator can ENHANCE your existing AI projects
There will always be a better way to do things with AI, and a solution that worked well a year ago, may not be best practice anymore. Because of the depth of world-class expertise available through the Activator, if there is a way to optimise your project, you'll hear it here first.
AI Activator can EDUCATE you.
Dive into a wealth of resources and initiatives designed to help you begin your AI journey. Check out the Upskill section below to find out more about some of them.
AI Activator can ENABLE AI for you.
We can connect you with experts who will guide you to the most suitable AI tools for your needs, whether it’s something as simple as a chatbot or a solution that requires several off-the-shelf tools working together for your particular solution.
AI Activator can EMPOWER you.
Join this vibrant community of innovators and tap into the expertise of world-class AI professionals. Learn from others who have tackled similar challenges, and leverage their experiences to build your own AI capabilities.
AI Activator can ENHANCE your existing AI projects
There will always be a better way to do things with AI, and a solution that worked well a year ago, may not be best practice anymore. Because of the depth of world-class expertise available through the Activator, if there is a way to optimise your project, you'll hear it here first.
AI is a fast-moving technology, so the Activator also helps you upskill, stay across the latest developments and understand how they affect your business as well as any new opportunities for growth that they bring. It will also help you keep up to speed with the latest regulatory requirements and governance information — vital if you are building or deploying AI in different regions worldwide. You can get started below.
The AI Activator is where you can learn about the different ways to obtain funding for everything from recruiting top-notch AI talent to developing your innovative AI product.
For example, Callaghan Innovation manages several grants that help fund Aotearoa New Zealand innovators on their journey to commercialising their groundbreaking ideas, including ones in Artificial Intelligence.
Access a carefully curated selection of AI service providers offering paid solutions to help you overcome road bumps on your AI journey. If you'd like to get a preview of the sort of expertise available through the Activator, visit Callaghan Innovation's Data & AI team page to learn more about them and their world-class capabilities across data science and AI.
Through the AI Activator, you can access paid services from a carefully curated list of AI service providers, (including Callaghan Innovation’s Data & AI team). As a first step, you can browse the nationwide AI capabilities directory below to find the ideal partner for your AI needs.
Get access to a global network of experts
Your access to world-class AI expertise, capabilities, resources isn't limited to Aotearoa New Zealand. The Activator opens the door to experts and contacts worldwide, along with expert export advice courtesy of NZTE. Within Aotearoa, Activator founding partner NIWA is your path to connecting with Crown Research Institutes and benefitting from their various areas of expertise.
Events & Masterclasses
Attend one of our workshops or AI masterclasses for insightful deep dives into the latest regulations and legislation governing the use of AI, strategies to transform your business, predicting trends with future forecasting, AI ethics and data privacy, using AI to unlock new opportunities for your business and more.
Join the community
Collaboration is key to driving growth and innovation, so we’d like to build a community of people who are passionate about AI. If you are interested in AI and want to learn, engage, and contribute, you are welcome to join us.
Our community platform will serve as the primary channel for all things related to AI Activator, GovGPT and future AI projects. We will share updates on the development of our pilots and actively seek public feedback and input on potential new features for GovGPT.
Other programmes that will benefit your AI-enhanced business
Callaghan Innovation supports innovators at all stages of their journey to successfully commercialising their ideas, and we have designed a suite of products and services based on our comprehensive experience of what innovators need to succeed.
Make your innovative AI idea a reality with access to over $750,000 in funding and bespoke mentoring from incubators and venture capital firms skilled in bringing cutting-edge ideas to market.
Identify, protect and enhance your intangible AI assets (secret sauce) by working with experts to build and implement a bespoke IP strategy to cover the things that make your business unique.
Expert analysis of your manufacturing capabilities, using an internationally recognised standard, to benchmark your business against competitors and set future goals.
Develop the right roadmap and business strategy to drive sustainable growth for your AI Business, with mentoring from our Business Innovation Advisers.
Who's behind the AI Activator?
Partners
The AI Activator is an initiative led by Callaghan Innovation, supported by our major partners NZTE and NIWA. It aims to accelerate advances in AI, boost adoption, foster innovation, and support Aotearoa New Zealand’s businesses in using AI in the successful commercialisation of their ideas.
Other innovation ecosystem partners include the AI Forum and the Data Ethics and Innovation Centre. If you would like to join us as a partner, please get in touch
With a career spanning four decades in government science, I've worked my way through various institutions including DSIR Head Office, Applied Maths Division at Victoria University of Wellington, and IRL before finding my current home at Callaghan Innovation's Data Vision team, in Applied Technologies.
Read more
As the Head of Digital & AI Whare at Callaghan Innovation, I am actively involved in and leading mission-led initiatives in emerging technologies.
Read more
I'm the Team Leader of the dynamic Data Vision Team and the AI Lead of Digital and AI Whare. We work to solve business challenges through innovative use of data and Artificial Intelligence. My journey includes having pioneered the Data Discovery and Data DIY services at Callaghan Innovation.
Read more
I am a senior research scientist in the Applied Technologies, Data Vision team at Callaghan Innovation. I have spent my career researching and helping industrial customers in the field of computer vision, specifically in 3D sensing and 3D processing.
Read more
I work in the Data Vision team in the Applied Technologies research group doing work on artificial intelligence. My projects span vision systems and language processing for custom-design systems. These capability research projects are one step on the journey to commercialising technologies for Callaghan Innovation’s customers.
Read more
I work in the Data Vision team as a Senior Data Scientist. We’re helping companies using my applied maths skills in the areas of Machine Learning and Finite Element Modelling, and have developed several cutting-edge models in Image Processing and Natural Language Processing.
Read more
I work as a Principal Computer Vision Engineer within the Applied Technologies and Data Vision team. My journey in the realm of computer vision began in 2013 when I completed my PhD in Robotics vision and machine learning at the Australian Center for Field Robotics, The University of Sydney.
Read more
My work as Principal Software Engineer within the Applied Technologies division is mainly in machine learning, computer vision and software engineering using embedded systems.
Read more
I am the Acting Team Leader and a Principal Research Scientist in the Data Vision Team. My expertise lies in the exciting fields of AI, machine learning, data science, image processing, and computer vision.
Read more
Callaghan Innovation is a gold sponsor of this year’s Aotearoa AI Summit – Atamai Tuatahi, Intelligence First. The 6th annual summit will bring together industry thought leaders for informed panel discussions, topical roundtables and workshops to ignite interest and boost AI adoption in New Zealand.
Callaghan Innovation and the AI Forum, New Zealand’s community of artificial intelligence technology champions, is today launching AI Governance, a new website to drive leadership in the responsible use and governance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Callaghan Innovation will pilot GovGPT, an AI conversational companion, to help businesses get the information they need from several Government websites much faster.
We're excited to share this demo video that dives deeper into what GovGPT is and its purpose.
Ready to transform your business?
Get started today
Unlock AI's transformative power to drive growth for your business