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We sat down with NZ business leaders to talk AI. Here’s what they said.

We wanted to get past the generic AI reports and stats that come out of the US.

So, we got a group of New Zealand business leaders in a room to have a frank conversation about how AI is actually impacting their businesses right now.

The plan was to get a higher-level view – not just tactical tips, about how leaders are thinking strategically.

Hearing directly from people in industries like construction, professional services, B2B and engineering gives you a completely different perspective.

A real-world perspective.

So today, I want to share the key things that came out of that discussion.

How businesses are actually using AI (and the tools they pick)

Unsurprisingly, everyone is using AI in some way.

What was interesting, though, was seeing how their existing tech stack dictates their choice of tool.

• If a business runs on Google Workspace, they’re using Gemini.
• If they’re a Microsoft house, they’re on Copilot.

It shows that people are picking tools based on what integrates easily, which makes complete sense.

The issue that we saw is that organisations were forcing employees to use one tool (which is understandable and advised), but they weren’t providing the guardrails on HOW to use those tools effectively.

It was a case of – look, we’ve given you access to Copilot.

Now what?!

The “adapt or get left behind” mentality is real

One of the attendees put it bluntly: if you haven’t adopted some sort of AI tool into your business by March next year, you’re in trouble.

We also talked about how some are still clinging to legacy tools, with spreadsheets being the main example.

Those who have been in the workforce for longer are what we found to be less likely to adapt.

For people who love their spreadsheets, it’s hard to get them to switch to a newer tool/or way to process that information.

But the opportunity isn’t to replace the spreadsheet, it’s to use AI to make it better. Like getting AI to write complex formulas for you in seconds. It’s about using these new tools to make the old ones faster.

AI is helping senior roles, not just replacing junior ones

The common narrative is that AI is coming for junior roles.

But that’s not what we heard in this discussion.

For the businesses in the room, it was the opposite.

AI tools are helping senior leaders get through their work faster and more efficiently, especially for things like tenders/quotes/proposals.

This frees them up to focus on higher-value tasks. Focus on training junior ‘do-ers’.

The flow-on effect is that this efficiency was helping to create more jobs for junior team members.

If you’re winning more tenders because your process is more efficient and impactful, you need more people on the ground to do the actual work.

It’s a completely different way to look at the impact on headcount.

When everyone uses AI for proposals, your brand is what makes you different

This was a big one.

As AI gets more and more widely used, your brand becomes your business’s superpower.

When every business is using AI to write their proposals and quotes, everything starts to look the same. So how do you stand out?

The conversation kept coming back to brand.

Even for these leaders who aren’t marketers, they identified that their brand voice and their ability to build trust are now their biggest differentiators. Your proposal has to prove you have the expertise and authority to get the job done right, beyond just the price.

Make your brand guidelines AI-ready

So – taking that into account, how do you then practically bring your brand into an AI-generated document?

It all comes down to the prompt.

We talked about the need to create a version of your brand guidelines that is specifically designed to be fed into an AI tool.

You can’t just give it your logo and colour palette; you need to give it a document that explains your tone of voice, who you serve, and what you stand for. It should be designed and built specifically for your team to use within AI tools.

This goes back to the education piece that we speak of in this article.

The output you get is only ever as good as the input you provide.

If you just ask for a proposal, you’ll get a generic one. If you give it your brand voice, you’ll get something that sounds like you.

Is a human even reading your proposal?

One of the leaders shared a fascinating story.

They received several insurance renewal quotes from a broker, put them all into an AI tool, and asked it to compare the options.

The AI found gaps and loopholes that they had missed.

We’re getting to a point where our proposals aren’t being sent to a person, but to a bot for analysis first.

Are we structuring our quotes and tenders so that a machine can easily break them down and compare them?

It’s something to think about.

A few final takeaways: Data, education, and keeping up

We wrapped up with a few other key points:

• Data Security: This wasn’t a big concern for this group. The general feeling was that their data is just a “tiny spec” and not a significant risk. This was surprising but an honest reflection of where their priorities are.
• The Education Gap: The difference in AI skills within teams is becoming a massive issue. You have some people building complex workflows while others are still at the very beginning. There’s a real need for training to get everyone on the same page.
• The Pace of Change: A shared frustration is how quickly the tools change. Just when you figure one out, a new model is released and you have to adapt all over again. It makes continuous conversation and learning essential.