Building the foundations for NZ’s AI future: Greg Davidson

• Datacom Group CEO Greg Davidson's keynote from the 2026 Aotearoa AI Summit examines the current state of AI adoption in New Zealand, the widening gap between adoption and measurable business value, and the practical steps needed to close it.
  
  
• The presentation covers infrastructure, resilience and sovereignty considerations underpinning AI deployment, including digital dependencies, data centres, energy, connectivity and supply chains.
  
  
• Full speaking notes, presentation slides and supporting references are included in a downloadable paper, bringing together the evidence and sources referenced throughout the keynote.

At the 2026 Aotearoa AI Summit, Datacom Group CEO Greg Davidson delivered a keynote titled: Building the foundations for New Zealand’s AI future.

This paper contains the presentation slides, full speaking notes and supporting references from that keynote. It brings together the sources and evidence referenced throughout the presentation, covering AI adoption, infrastructure, resilience, sovereignty, governance and New Zealand’s role in the emerging AI economy.

The keynote explores the current state of AI adoption in New Zealand and globally, drawing on findings from Datacom's research and international studies. It examines the gap between AI adoption and measurable business value, the growing use of AI agents, approaches to evaluation and human oversight, and the changing economics of AI as organisations scale their use of the technology.

It also considers the infrastructure, resilience and sovereignty issues that underpin AI deployment, including digital dependencies, data centres, energy, connectivity and supply chains. The presentation concludes by examining New Zealand's potential role in the AI economy and outlining practical steps organisations can take to strengthen their AI capability, governance and resilience.

Download Datacom Group CEO Greg Davidson's 2026 Aotearoa AI Summit keynote.