Where Kiwi Business Owners Really Stand on AI

 My entire focus right now is AI, specifically, helping Kiwi business leaders understand what it means for them and how to actually make use of it. 

It's a pretty unique position to be in. Day in, day out, I'm in conversations with owners and leaders across New Zealand, and over the past few weeks a clear picture has started to emerge about where most businesses genuinely sit with AI right now. Not the hype version. The real version.

Here's what I'm hearing.

The general mood: interested, but not yet committed

A clear picture is emerging. AI is on everyone's radar. Business owners are interested, many are dabbling, and some teams are already using it for the low-hanging fruit. A few individuals are doing courses. There's likely a fair amount of shadow AI happening too — people quietly using tools without any formal sign-off or strategy.

But most leaders are still heads-down dealing with what's in front of them. The economy, the political environment, the day-to-day pressures of running a business. AI is bubbling away in the background. They can see the potential, but it hasn't yet prompted anyone to say, "Right, we need an AI strategy," or "Let's spin up a project team to figure out how to bring this into the business."

They get it. They know it's a thing, and that it's going to be a thing. They're just not sure when or how to pull the trigger.

Fascinated, but waiting for proof

There's a mix of fascination and scepticism. Part of the hesitation comes down to a lack of visible, relatable success stories. There aren't many examples of well-known companies that business owners can point to and say, "They've done it, so we should follow suit."

It's a classic first-mover versus wait-and-see tension — and, honestly, it's pretty typical Kiwi thinking. AI isn't being seen so much as an opportunity right now as something they'll need to do at some point, but not urgently. The bigger issue is that most business owners don't yet know what the value is, what to pay for it, or what kind of return they'd get from investing in it.

The split is familiar:

• Early adopters who are ahead of the curve and already leaning in
• Late adopters who are just discovering what it can do ("It just wrote me an email!")
• The majority in the middle — aware, but uncertain

The timing feels right

When reaching out to business owners to talk about where they're at with AI, the response isn't "not on my radar." It's more like, "Yeah, good timing." The hype has settled down, and people feel like now is the moment to think seriously about it. They've seen more, they know more, and they feel ready. They're just not entirely sure what they're ready for.

What the real questions are

The shift that matters is moving from talking about what AI is to talking about how to actually use it — and make it work inside a real business. That's when it becomes real for people. Less theory, more practical application.

Once that conversation happens one-on-one, people get it quickly. And for business owners sitting in the middle of that aware-but-uncertain space, there are some good questions worth starting with:

• How could AI help me get a clearer picture of my financial position?
• Where is time and resource being lost in my business — and could AI help address that?
• How could AI help me better understand my customers, sharpen my marketing, and build a content approach that actually reaches the right people?
• How could AI make governance easier — getting the right information to the right people at the right time?

These aren't abstract questions. They're the kinds of problems business owners are already wrestling with. AI just gives them a new set of tools to work with.

What's coming

The feeling across these conversations is consistent: now is the right time. This year looks like a turning point — the gears are starting to shift, and more business owners are beginning to lean in. Once momentum hits, it’ll move fast… and leave a lot of businesses behind.

Want to make a start? Find out more about AI Foundations for Business Leaders.