Agents of Change, Powered by Curiosity | Kia whakapuāwai

8-9 September 2026 | Tākina Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wellington

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Agents of Change, Powered by Curiosity | Kia whakapuāwai
Aotearoa AI Summit: returns for 2026

The Aotearoa AI Summit was New Zealand’s essential AI gathering, uniting industry leaders, researchers, policymakers, and innovators to explore cutting-edge advancements and real-world applications of AI.

For the first time in 2026 the Summit makes it way to Wellington in a two-day format. Featuring keynotes, panels, and workshops spanning AI ethics, innovation, business, and emerging tech it will be showcasing how AI is transforming sectors like healthcare, finance, agriculture, and government.

2026 Themes

AI Infrastructure and Capability

New Zealand is at a pivotal moment in determining how AI capability is built, accessed, and governed. This theme explores the infrastructure, investment decisions, and strategic choices that will shape long-term digital independence and resilience. It considers the future of compute power, data centres, data and energy infrastructure, and the cross-sector dependencies that enable AI at scale, from regulation and connectivity through to security and reliability. It also asks what AI capability should mean in an Aotearoa context, and how it can be treated as a strategic national asset.

Social Licence, Trust and Public Acceptance

The success of AI in Aotearoa New Zealand will depend on public confidence, transparency, and inclusive design. This theme examines how to build and sustain trust in AI systems by strengthening responsible data use, privacy protections, and clear accountability. It focuses on ensuring AI is developed with communities rather than imposed on them, and that outcomes are fair, accessible, and equitable. It also explores governance approaches and the ongoing public engagement needed to maintain social licence as AI becomes more embedded in everyday life.

Workforce Transformation and AI-Augmented Productivity

With a constrained labour market, AI offers a pathway to augment human capability rather than replace it, with agentic AI creating new opportunities to rethink how work gets done. This theme explores how organisations can lift productivity and value creation by redesigning roles, workflows, and business models around human and AI collaboration. It highlights practical applications across sectors such as health, education, and government, and addresses how to respond to skills shortages through upskilling, reskilling, and AI literacy at scale. The focus is on enabling people to do more meaningful, higher-value work.

Frontier Technologies and What’s Next

AI is accelerating the pace of innovation across emerging technologies, reshaping what is possible and compressing timelines for adoption. This theme looks ahead to the next wave, including the rise of agentic AI and autonomous systems, robotics and physical AI in real-world environments, and the growing impact and accessibility of quantum computing. It also explores the trajectory toward more powerful general-purpose systems and what that means for New Zealand’s readiness, governance, and strategic positioning. The focus is on anticipating change and making deliberate choices early.

Real-World Adoption, Design and Implementation

Moving from experimentation to impact requires practical execution, strong design principles, and scalable approaches. This theme focuses on translating AI strategy into real-world deployment, including how to choose the right use cases, build robust data foundations, and measure outcomes. It emphasises designing systems that are explainable, ethical, and human-centred, and creating the operating models, controls, and capabilities needed to scale AI safely across organisations and wider systems. The goal is sustainable implementation that delivers real value and earns trust.

With a strong focus on collaboration and knowledge-sharing, the summit delivered exceptional networking opportunities for AI professionals, startups, investors, and decision-makers—and set a clear path from intent to execution for Aotearoa’s AI ecosystem.

The Aotearoa AI Summit is brought to you by AI Forum New Zealand and Tech New Zealand and it’s a must-attend event for New Zealand’s artificial intelligence ecosystem.

Sponsorship Opportunities

The Aotearoa AI Summit 2026 offers a dedicated space to explore the role of artificial intelligence in shaping a responsible, inclusive, and innovative Aotearoa. It is an opportunity to engage with a diverse and informed audience, share insights, and build meaningful connections across sectors involved in the development and use of AI.

Thanks to our 2025 Sponsors

Congratulations to our Aotearoa AI Awards Winners

The Aotearoa AI Awards recognise individuals, teams, and organisations making meaningful contributions to the development and application of artificial intelligence in Aotearoa.

Check out our 2025 summit & awards highlights:

Thanks for joining us at the Aotearoa AI Summit & Awards 2025.

Special thanks to all of our speakers, sponsors and delegates for making our summit so successful.

We look forward to seeing you in 2026!