Garry Green, Managing Director and Founder

 Tell readers what your company does

Quanton is an AI, automation and operational excellence business founded in 2016 with a clear purpose: empowering humanity for tomorrow’s technology, today.

We help ANZ organisations navigate digital transformation by making AI and automation work for people, not replace them. Our approach is pragmatic and technology-agnostic – we partner with Microsoft, Google Cloud and leading ai and automation platforms to deliver solutions that generate real business value.

We’ve delivered over 120 intelligent automation and AI programmes, releasing more than five million hours of benefits for our customers.

Our expertise spans financial services, manufacturing, infrastructure, utilities, government and logistics – anywhere organisations need to drive growth, productivity and profitability through smarter ways of working.

How are you currently seeing the transformation of business?

Business transformation today requires a layered approach. We see value delivered at three distinct levels: individual productivity, team performance and organisational capability.

At the individual level, AI tools are transforming how professionals work – meeting capture, document preparation, research and analysis.

At the team level, we’re seeing AI turbocharge sales performance, customer service and operational processes. At the organisational level, AI enables enterprise-wide compliance, quality assurance and strategic capability.

The organisations succeeding are those treating AI as business transformation, not just technology implementation. The technology rarely fails – it’s strategy, governance, change management and skills development where projects stall.

We consistently see that 70% of success comes from people, process and cultures with data foundations and technology accounting for 30%.

AI – how will it change what we do?

2026 is the year AI agents move from experimentation to production. Gartner predicts 40% of enterprise applications will embed AI agents by year-end, up from less than 5% in 2025.

These aren’t chatbots – they’re systems that reason through problems, take actions and learn from outcomes.

The biggest infrastructure investment in technology history is underway – over $700 billion committed by major tech companies this year alone.

The AI capabilities available to every business within 12-24 months will be dramatically more powerful and affordable than today.

For ANZ businesses, the message is clear: move quickly and adapt. The organisations that have built their strategy, data foundations and skills in advance will capitalise immediately. Those waiting will face expensive catch-up.

AI replacing staff is problematic – after all, where do the people go?

The World Economic Forum projects 170 million new roles created globally between 2025 and 2030, while 92 million will be displaced – a net positive of 78 million jobs.

The reality is more nuanced than headlines suggest.

Here’s what many overlook about New Zealand: we have a chronic skills shortage and significant brain drain. Record numbers of skilled Kiwis are leaving for Australia, while businesses report difficulty finding qualified talent.

AI isn’t displacing a surplus workforce – it’s helping us do more with the constrained talent we have.

The skills required are shifting. We need people who can orchestrate AI, exercise human judgment and manage human-AI collaboration. Organisations investing in upskilling alongside technology are building genuine competitive advantage.

The answer isn’t fewer people – it’s people working differently and more effectively.

 AI in a small country like NZ can remove 10% of employees. Where do they go next?

This framing misses New Zealand’s reality. Around a third of business leaders see lack of skilled workforce as a barrier to growth.

We’re importing staff to fill engineering, planning and healthcare roles because they simply aren’t available locally.

New Zealand has persistent skill shortages across construction, healthcare, engineering, IT and professional services. The 2025 Hays Skills Report shows above-average skills gaps in accountancy, HR, logistics and IT.

We’re not facing a surplus of workers displaced by AI – we’re facing a shortage that AI can help address.

The people “displaced” by automation aren’t going anywhere – they’re being redeployed to higher-value work we couldn’t previously resource.

AI literacy and human skills become more valuable, not less. The real risk isn’t displacement; it’s failing to enable your workforce with AI tools while competitors do.

 How are you finding current business conditions?

The last year has been tough across most sectors including ours. New Zealand’s economy contracted in 2024, and many businesses were in survival mode with significant global uncertainty creating headwinds.

Some were just surviving; others found money to invest in their future.

We’re now seeing conditions improve. Business confidence has rebounded sharply – reaching its highest level since 2014 according to NZIER’s latest survey. Lower interest rates are finally translating into real economic activity.

We’re seeing increased investment in AI and automation as organisations recognise they need operational improvements to compete. The smart businesses used the downturn to build foundations – we’re helping them to accelerate.

Where do you see opportunities for growth?

Two areas stand out: AI agents and AI enablement.

AI agents represent the next wave – autonomous systems that execute tasks, make decisions and collaborate with humans. The agent market is projected to grow significantly in 2025.

Organisations that master multi-agent orchestration will have major competitive advantages.

But here’s the gap we see: organisations are investing in AI technology without corresponding investment in people.

Every dollar spent on AI technology without enablement is money wasted.

The opportunity lies in enablement – building AI literacy and fluency across the organisation from executives to frontline staff. Our three-level AI enablement framework addresses this systematically: leadership capability to govern AI strategically, management skills to orchestrate human-AI workflows, and practical skills for everyone working with AI tools.

Technology is increasingly commoditised; human capability to deploy it effectively is the competitive advantage.