Human In The Loop

Recorded live at the Aotearoa AI Summit 2026 in Wellington, this episode brings together five voices with decades of grounded expertise and thinking past the hype cycle: data sovereignty, governance, physics, defence, venture.In this episode, we hear from:Peter-Lucas Jones — Chief Executive Officer, Te Hiku Media Peter-Lucas leads Te Hiku Media's iwi-led language technology work, speaking to Māori data sovereignty and the imperative to keep people — not systems — at the centre of AI. Dr Mahsa McCauley — AUT; outgoing Chair, AI Forum NZ; UNESCO NZ Commissioner Recorded the day after handing over the AI Forum NZ chair at the end of her maximum six-year term, Mahsa reflects on how far the national conversation has come — from speculative, sci-fi framing to genuine focus on ethics, responsible AI and governance.David Steele — Director, Texas, Plug and Play Tech Center A former decade-long Texas high school football coach turned venture scout, David now oversees Plug and Play's Texas offices after building its global sports-tech vertical. He draws a direct line between sport and startups: both reward agility, direct feedback and comfort with risk.Hema Sridhar — Deputy Director, Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures A physicist by training and a former defence chief advisor, Hema brings that dual lens to AI policy. Koi Tū grew out of a five-year University of Auckland incubation into an independent charitable trust valued for being a neutral voice on hard questions.Aotearoa AI Summit website: https://www.aotearoaai.nz/Follow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcastFind us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/116049478/admin/dashboard/Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/Follow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcastFind us on LinkedIn:Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzLEmail [email protected] if you have feedback, comments, questions or compliments Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

George Meredith leads Security Technical Operations for RUSH, overseeing system quality and infrastructure security. With a Computer Systems Technology degree, Postgraduate Diploma in IT, and a Masters in Cybersecurity, George brings 15+ years of technical expertise to address privacy and security considerations essential to responsible AI deployment in Enterprise and critical infrastructure environments.He's also the Unit Training Manager for the Hawke's Bay Coastguard.In this chat we discuss:· How AI has rewritten the cyber-risk equation, for attackers and defenders· Why the defensive toolchain has caught up but governance hasn’t· What trailing-edge organisations should address first to stay safeGeorge on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-meredith-nz/Follow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcastFind us on LinkedIn:Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzLFollow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcastFind us on LinkedIn:Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzLEmail [email protected] if you have feedback, comments, questions or compliments Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prof. Dr. Aini Suzana Ariffin is a Malaysian academic, policymaker, and global advocate for responsible artificial intelligence. Her core expertise includes AI policy and strategy development, AI governance and ethics, and AI risk and impact assessment. She led the development of Malaysia’s National Artificial Intelligence Roadmap and contributed to key national frameworks such as the AI Governance and Ethics Guidelines and the AI Risk and Impact Assessment Framework, aligning with global benchmarks including UNESCO’s ethical AI principles and IEEE standards.Suzana currently serves as a Fellow Expert at the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Chair of the UNESCO STEPAN Network for Asia and the Pacific.Elizabeth (Liz) Longworth is Chair of the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO and an independent director and advisor, with a career spanning law, government, and international diplomacy. She spent much of her career at the United Nations, holding senior UNESCO posts in Paris — including Executive Director within the Director-General's office — before leading the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva.Before going international, Elizabeth led ICT sector strategy for Industry New Zealand and worked in telecommunications law, and she's also served on the board of New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority.Follow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcastFind us on LinkedIn:Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzLEmail [email protected] if you have feedback, comments, questions or compliments Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recorded live at the Aotearoa AI Summit 2026 in Wellington, this episode brings together six voices spanning the boardroom to the hackathon floor, and ultimately considering when does the human in the loop matter most?In this episode, we hear from:Madeline Newman — Executive Director, AI Forum NZ Lou Compagnone — Director, Artificial Intelligence, DatacomAkilan S — Head of Marketing, Zoho CRM and Zia Agents, Martijn Verburg — Head of Engineering, Microsoft New Zealand Wise Group Hackathon Team — Winners, 2026 Aotearoa AI Hackathon Graeme Muller — Chief Executive, Tech NZ (NZTech) Follow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcastFind us on LinkedIn:Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzLEmail [email protected] if you have feedback, comments, questions or compliments Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Angie Judge is the Chief Data & Intelligence Officer at accesso, where she leads the vision and strategy for accesso Intelligence helping organisations across the experience economy turn data into confident decisions through predictive analytics and AI. She joined accesso following its 2026 acquisition of Dexibit, the company she founded in 2016 and grew into the leading data and AI platform purpose-built for visitor attractions, used by some of the world's most iconic venues.Before Dexibit, Angie held technology and transformation roles at Hewlett Packard and Amdocs, focused on network analytics and enterprise technology across the telecommunications, finance and public sectors. A frequent international speaker on artificial intelligence and the future of the experience economy, she's known for practical, grounded approaches to applying AI to operations, commercial performance and guest experience.We discuss:· The impact of the pandemic on the GLAM industry· The silver lining opportunity to rebuild a SaaS product during downtime· Deep vertical expertise as a data unlockAngie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angiejudge/Accesso's website: https://accesso.com/Follow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcastFind us on LinkedIn:Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzLFollow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcastFind us on LinkedIn:Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzLEmail [email protected] if you have feedback, comments, questions or compliments Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.