What to expect
Founder & CEO of academyEX, Frances Valintine CNZM, recently ran a questionnaire designed to capture the thoughts and attitudes of New Zealanders as they respond to generative AI. The collective response of the respondents provided valuable insights outlining priorities, opportunities and concerns as people across the country think about how AI will shape their future.
There was real interest by respondents in participating in events where the topics raised in this questionnaire can be explored further with subject matter experts.
Join us for this online event, held via Zoom, for a panel discussion and conversation with experts.
Who will be there?
We are thrilled to be joined by a range of expert panelists, including:
Ben Reid - Ben Reid is a technology strategist and futurist based in Aotearoa. He has over 25 years' diverse tech sector consulting experience, working with leadership teams helping to navigate future technology and innovation in their organisations. Ben is also known for writing his weekly Memia newsletter on Substack covering the latest emerging tech trends and accelerating global change. Hi forthcoming book Fast Forward Aotearoa explores how emerging technologies are defining the future of New Zealand...and what we can do about it.
Giovanni Russello - Dr. Giovanni Russello is a Professor and serves as the Head of the School of Computer Science at the University of Auckland. Dr. Russello has made significant contributions to the field of cybersecurity. Notably, he holds the position of Director of the Cyber Security Research Programme, a prestigious project funded by MBIE. Prof. Russello is the founding Co-Director of the Cyber Security Foundry.
Prof. Russello seeks to address critical challenges in the field and develop practical solutions to protect individuals, organisations, and systems from cyber threats.
Husain Al-Badry - Husain is a purpose and impact oriented technology leader, people connector, and capability builder. He has spent the past decade pushing Datacom into new spaces and places, helping shape and build Datacom’s strategy, design, and innovation capabilities. He has also helped organisations use emerging technologies like AI and Mixed Reality to re-imagine experiences and uplift productivity. Husain is also an early stage startup advisor both in NZ and overseas, and holds governance roles at organisations that support more equitable and inclusive health and education outcomes.
Jannat Maqbool - Jannat is an Australian born Punjabi and mother of three involved with infrastructure and engineering, AI, digital inclusion, Fintech, and IoT across Australia and New Zealand. She is a CPA and former CIO with a Masters in Digital Business with a core focus on leveraging technology in innovative ways to benefit people, planet and economy.
Jannat co-chairs the Trusted Technology and Data steering programme at IoT Alliance Australia, is Innovation Partner NZ at Aurecon, and Executive Director at the AI Researchers Association.
Matt Boyd - Matt is an independent researcher who completed his PhD in philosophy, has worked as an academic and public sector researcher, and now specialises in global catastrophic risks. These risks include biothreats/pandemics, nuclear war, and risks from advanced technologies. His current work is funded philanthropically, and deals with national risk assessment, resilience, and anticipatory governance of extreme risks. Matt is Co-investigator of the Aotearoa New Zealand Catastrophe Resilience Project (NZCat).