Straits Institute for Applied AI
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Applied AI in New Zealand

The record holds 7 entries from New Zealand, across 3 industries, led by Government & Public Sector, then Legal & Professional Services. Last updated 14 Sep 2026.

On the record
7
entries across 3 industries
Kind
Role
7 entries

Government & Public Sector

4
RegulationGovernment & Public SectorNew Zealand29 May 2026

New Zealand passes law widening automated welfare benefit decisions

New Zealand Parliament — New Zealand's Social Security (Modernisation) Amendment Bill has passed its third reading in Parliament, widening automated decision-making in welfare. Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says automated welfare decisions will cover straightforward cases needing no discretion; the Bill went through under urgency on Budget day.

scoop.co.nz
RegulationGovernment & Public SectorNew Zealand8 Jul 2025

New Zealand publishes its first national AI strategy

New Zealand Government — New Zealand's Government unveiled 'Investing with Confidence', its national AI strategy, branding the nation a 'sophisticated adopter' of machine intelligence rather than an architect of foundational models. Existing statutes and a light-touch, principles-based stance replace any push for fresh AI-specific rules. Science and Technology Minister Shane Reti flagged 8 July 2025 as the latest such rollout among OECD members, leaving New Zealand's AI policy framework trailing every peer nation.

rnz.co.nz
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorNew Zealand26 Mar 2025

Immigration NZ to automate visa approvals in $336m overhaul

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) — Automated visa approvals are coming to Immigration New Zealand under a $336 million, seven-year overhaul Cabinet approved in March 2025, the Our Future Services project. Algorithms clear straightforward grants; humans still handle refusals. Officials expect the shift to automated visa processing to save at least $80 million yearly once finished.

immigration officerrnz.co.nz
RegulationGovernment & Public SectorNew Zealand30 Jan 2025

New Zealand launches Public Service AI Framework

Department of Internal Affairs (Government Chief Digital Officer) — New Zealand now has a formal method for rolling out AI safely across government, set by Paul James under the Public Service AI Framework. It covers every kind of AI in public services, part of a wider effort tied to the National AI Strategy. Public sector AI governance gains a fixed reference point.

dia.govt.nz

Healthcare & Life Sciences

1
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesNew Zealand15 Aug 2026

Health New Zealand rolls out AI scribe Heidi to 1,000 ED clinicians

Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) — Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora) is rolling out Heidi, an AI medical scribe turning consultations into clinical notes, to about 1,000 emergency-department clinicians nationwide after trials including Hawke's Bay Hospital. Hawke's Bay trial clinicians reported saving about 11 minutes per consultation on average.

ED clinicianglobalgovernmentforum.com
Latest on the record
  • DeploymentHealth New Zealand rolls out AI scribe Heidi to 1,000 ED cliniciansHealthcare & Life Sciences15 Aug 2026globalgovernmentforum.com
Asia-Pacific
New Zealand—Australia0.73China0.64South Korea0.73Singapore0.80Malaysia0.63Azerbaijan—India0.49Pakistan0.37Japan0.73Bangladesh—Kyrgyzstan—Philippines0.50Hong Kong0.70Thailand0.54Brunei—Kazakhstan—Armenia—Cyprus—Nepal—Uzbekistan—Cambodia—Indonesia—Taiwan—Mongolia—Papua New Guinea—Sri Lanka—Tajikistan—Fiji—Georgia—Macao—Maldives—Guam—North Korea—Vietnam—
Method and sources

Every entry on this page is a named organisation putting AI to work in a real job, taken from the State of Applied AI record. Each one is traced to the report it came from and dated, and where a figure is the organisation’s own the entry says so rather than presenting it as an independent result. Readiness, ecosystem and policy figures, where shown, are attributed on the card to the body that published them.

The record is maintained continuously by the Industrial Research Unit of the Straits Institute for Applied AI: entries are added as they are found and verified, not on a schedule, and nothing is published without an open source behind it. It currently holds 1745 entries across 249 countries.