The Digital Health Leadership Forum returned to Wellington on 12th May 2026 with a program that covered a lot of ground, from government procurement reform to quantum computing timelines.

Last week I closed the AI in Clinical Practice conference with a provocation I hoped the room needed to hear. While the day had showcased impressive AI deployments across New Zealand’s health sector, I argued that the most important question was still going unasked: not whether AI works, but whether we are applying it to the right problems.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending and speaking at the AI in Clinical Practice: Transforming Healthcare in Aotearoa conference in Auckland. The event brought together a diverse group of clinicians, policymakers, and tech vendors to explore the real-world embedding of AI into our local clinical workflows.

At the Collaborative Aotearoa conference in Ōtautahi Christchurch at the end of March 2026, I spoke about something I’ve been reflecting on for a long time: how we make better decisions about digital and AI in healthcare.

The New Zealand healthcare system is under immense, highly publicised pressure, battling burnout, long wait times, and systemic inequities. Yet, inside the doors of Papa Hou in Christchurch during the late March 2026 Collaborative Aotearoa "Modernising Primary Health" conference, a profoundly optimistic narrative emerged.

No strategy, no matter how well conceived, ever springs full grown from nothing. Every strategy has its roots in other thinking and planning. The word strategy itself derives from the Greek word strategia, meaning to lead an army. All strategy originally evolved from the thinking of generals in military campaigns, where it descended through mind numbing iterations of peer reviewed business publications and large consulting firms into its current managerial interpretation.

Not long ago while I was on assignment as an interim CIO to a major brand, I attended a routine digital steering group meeting of senior leaders. On the agenda was an item from a well-intentioned colleague who had taken the initiative to explore what AI could offer the organisation. As the presentation unfolded, however, it became clear that enthusiasm had outpaced process in ways that raised serious concerns.

Last week a chap called Matt Shumer, the CEO of OthersideAI wrote a viral post on X that argued that AI progress is accelerating so fast that within 12 to 18 months it will automate much of today’s white-collar (including clinical) work.

In this episode of the CIO Studio podcast, Ray Delany is joined by Mark Laurence, founder of Ten Past Tomorrow and one of New Zealand’s leading voices on generative AI.

The following is a summary of what has been published online regarding the late December 2025 cyber breach of the Manage My Health portal. Some of the sources reported have since taken down their content. We have endeavoured to be as factual as possible and will update this post as new information comes to light.

When a major cyber breach occurs, like the one involving Manage My Health in the closing days of 2025, the public debate follows a familiar pattern. Everyone has something to say, even though very little reliable information is available at the time.

The hype cycle around artificial intelligence has reached full saturation, and nowhere is that more evident than in global health. To the outside world, it can look like we are in the middle of a speculative gold rush: ballooning valuations, convoluted financing structures reminiscent of pre-GFC exuberance, and a relentless push to secure every last chip on the planet.

When we first released our eBook, A Practical Guide to AI Adoption for Health Leaders in New Zealand, AI in healthcare was already gathering momentum, but it still felt a bit new and often misunderstood. Since then, a lot has happened. Some AI releases have been genuinely impressive; others have fallen short. The hype has softened, scepticism has grown in some quarters, but beneath the noise one trend is undeniable: AI in healthcare is not slowing down. It's accelerating.

Digital Health Week, hosted by Health Informatics New Zealand (HINZ) at Te Pae in Christchurch, opened with a set of keynotes that offered both a clear-eyed assessment of the current state of New Zealand’s health technology and an outline of a long-term plan to improve it.

In this episode of The CIO Studio Podcast, CIO Studio’s Ray Delany sits down with Rod Hall, founder of Tranzsoft and long-time innovator in supply chain digitisation and primary care procurement.

I’ve been following Radically and Edwin Dando for a while now, so it was a real privilege to attend the Adaptive Conference at the Marriott in Auckland this week. The conference was all about exploring how to lead, scale and build organisations that thrive in a rapidly evolving and complex world. And it did not disappoint.

The narrative surrounding Artificial Intelligence often feels polarised: a dizzying "back-and-forth tennis rally between hype and disillusionment". On one side, we hear about major tech companies pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into sprawling data centres and chasing "super-intelligence". On the other, we see reports of underwhelming new products and organisations spending $US30-40 billion on generative AI with little to no return.

In this episode of The CIO Studio Podcast, CIO Studio’s Ray Delany sits down with Jess Morgan-French, CEO of Collaborative Aotearoa and a leader with deep experience in health system collaboration and community care.

The potential of AI in healthcare is real: faster triage, earlier diagnoses, better use of stretched resources. But so are the risks. When used without care, AI can embed bias, reduce transparency, or even compromise patient trust. That's why good governance is not a barrier to innovation, it's the foundation of it.

At the TUANZ Tech Summit on 10 September 2025, two keynote speakers, educator Frances Valentine and the Prime Minister's Science Advisor Dr John Roche, delivered what felt less like speeches and more like a national call to arms. Listening to them back-to-back was to experience a one-two punch of exhilarating possibility and sobering reality.