Luxon is struggling to impress his former business peers

Two things jumped out at me.

One, there's a lot of talk about...

AI and there was a lot of talk about politics.

AI, it's interesting, everybody knows about AI, they're talking about AI, but only about 40% of those businesses have actually implemented some form of AI or have redesigned roles around AI.

Yeah, it's interesting actually.

I mean, as you know, I'm a great user of AI.

I think this is revolutionary.

I think this will really change the way everybody will work.

And for years, I've been frustrated with the slow take-up of AI, both in the private and in the public sector in New Zealand.

But this morning, the really interesting thing was actually over coffee.

Before the mood of the boardroom breakfast really kicked off, I had a conversation with quite a few business leaders.

And you know what the topic of the day was? AI.

Nobody talked about the election.

Nobody wanted to tell me how much tokens they use and how active they are and how agentic they are.

So I think there's a different mood of the boardroom because a few years ago it wasn't quite like that.

So you are of the belief that this technology is actually going to be transformational from a productivity perspective.

I'm an evangelist for AI because I think this will make us super productive before it kills us all.

What is the downside to AI?

The biggest downside, actually, I think, is it works only for people who know what they're doing.

I can see the attraction to old folks like us.

I mean, we know roughly what we're doing.

We know what good research looks like.

We know, probably in your case, how to liquidate a company.

AI will make you super productive for all of that.

And it makes me super productive when it comes to doing research.

Two things jumped out at me.

One, there's a lot of talk about...

AI and there was a lot of talk about politics.

AI, it's interesting, everybody knows about AI, they're talking about AI, but only about 40% of those businesses have actually implemented some form of AI or have redesigned roles around AI.

Yeah, it's interesting actually.

I mean, as you know, I'm a great user of AI.

I think this is revolutionary.

I think this will really change the way everybody will work.

And for years, I've been frustrated with the slow take-up of AI, both in the private and in the public sector in New Zealand.

But this morning, the really interesting thing was actually over coffee.

Before the mood of the boardroom breakfast really kicked off, I had a conversation with quite a few business leaders.

And you know what the topic of the day was? AI.

Nobody talked about the election.

Nobody wanted to tell me how much tokens they use and how active they are and how agentic they are.

So I think there's a different mood of the boardroom because a few years ago it wasn't quite like that.

So you are of the belief that this technology is actually going to be transformational from a productivity perspective.

I'm an evangelist for AI because I think this will make us super productive before it kills us all.

What is the downside to AI?

The biggest downside, actually, I think, is it works only for people who know what they're doing.

I can see the attraction to old folks like us.

I mean, we know roughly what we're doing.

We know what good research looks like.

We know, probably in your case, how to liquidate a company.

AI will make you super productive for all of that.

And it makes me super productive when it comes to doing research.