Digital Leadership Day Aotearoa 2026

Capability gaps are not just skills. They are unclear roles, incentives and decision rights.

• The leadership system for digital: who owns standards, platforms and stop-go calls.
• Building digital literacy in executive teams and boards so risk is understood, not avoided.
• Setting baselines and minimum conditions before adopting new tech.
• Using “decision logs” and playbooks to make accountability explicit.

• Leadership for digital maturity — clarifying roles, decisions, and ownership in a tech-driven world
• As leaders, how can we cultivate a leadership style that thrives amidst the complexities of tech team dynamics
• Pathways for reskilling and redeployment in the public sector
• Building literacy and confidence to work alongside AI - leading people, not just technology

Kate Tibbitts

Chief People Officer, Te Pūmanawa Tāngata - Human Resources, Victoria University of Wellington

Steve Long

National Manager - Data and Digital, Te Kāhui Kāhu

Vicki Scott

Deputy Chief Executive – People Services & Delivery, Parliamentary Counsel Office

• How can tech leaders align digital initiatives with governmental policies while leading through bureaucratic complexities?
• In the role of a leader, how do you instil agile thinking to reshape traditional processes within the public sector?
• How should leaders approach vendor relationships to cultivate fruitful partnerships that drive technological advancement?

• Shifting from transactional to strategic procurement: How procurement leaders can enable agile, AI-ready service delivery through outcome-based contracts and flexible supplier engagement
• Embedding trust, transparency, and ethics in tech sourcing: Meeting public expectations around bias, safety, and explainability
• Navigating complexity and compliance: Balancing probity, risk, and innovation in procurement frameworks built for a fast-evolving technology landscape

• Using AI for climate resilience, public health modelling and complex social issues.
• What counts as a “good” use case: citizen benefit vs agency efficiency.
• How to embed equity and Māori perspectives into use case design.
• Measuring impact: beyond cost savings to public trust and social outcomes.

Bill Moses

Former Head of Corporate, Ministry for Regulation and Former Chief Digital Officer, Te Kawa Mataaho - Public Service Commission

Stuart Gregory

General Manager, Information Systems, Te Puni Kōkiri - Ministry of Māori Development

Julie Watson

Chief Information Officer, Worksafe New Zealand