PwC Herald Talks​

Our thought provoking business networking series moves into its third year in 2017 & hits the road – with events travelling from Auckland to Wellington and Christchurch.  PwC Herald Talks is designed to give you the knowledge, insight and strategies to grow and diversify in the ever-changing landscape of New Zealand business.

These breakfast events discuss current & upcoming trends in business, including innovation, the internet of things, leadership, sharing economy and global & local business.

Join us and key thought leaders to connect, share knowledge, and think about how to grow your business and remain relevant.

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Keynote Speaker:

Nick Shewring – Co-founder, BizDojo

Nick Shewring is the co-founder of New Zealand’s national coworking and collaboration providers BizDojo, founders support programme Founders Central, and Colo; a platform that connects people with coworking solutions that aren’t just inspiring and functional, but also the perfect culture and community fit. Nick is passionate about supporting individuals and their ideas, seeing coworking not just as a solution for workers in search of a home, but also as a way to improve economic outcomes through collaboration, shared aims, and increased connections between people.

Around New Zealand, Nick and the BizDojo team help run economic development initiatives with local governments, which hold the BizDojo approach to coworking at their core; while using ideas such as community, connection and support to build out bespoke learning opportunities and programming for founders, entrepreneurs and their businesses.

Panelists:

Priti Ambani – Co-founder, The Next Billion

Priti Ambani is co-founder at The Next Billion, an impact-driven enterprise that leverages the power of the “Crowd” as a means to enable the growing number of women-led enterprises worldwide with ‘Access to growth opportunities’. The company launched Globally Spotted – a discovery platform for smart and innovative women led business from the world over.

Priti is a thought leader on the platform and digital economy and over the last 8+ years, she has worked on global teams to grow early stage startups, for-profit and non-profit entities creating impact through digital collaboration and crowds. She works with organisations that are keen to harness the productivity of the Internet to solve societal challenges, particularly within the changing dynamics of the future of work and society in the midst of exponential technologies. Priti is also working with the core team at Tech Futures Lab as business + innovation faculty, helping Kiwis be better prepared for the tech-enabled careers in the 21st century.

She is an Environmental Engineer by education and was born and raised in Mumbai, India. She moved to Auckland with her husband and sons in 2015 after 13+ years in the United States. Follow her on Twitter @envirotarian

Professor Christoph Schumacher - Professor of Innovation and Economics, Massey University

Professor Christoph Schumacher is Professor of Innovation and Economics at Massey University and Director of the Knowledge Exchange Hub.

Christoph holds under and post graduate degrees in Engineering, International Business and Economics from Karlsruhe University (Germany), the University of Auckland and Massey University. He has also recently completed a course in Big Data Analytics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA).

Christoph has previously worked as a business consultant in Germany and New Zealand and joined Massey University in 2003.

Christoph’s area of specialisation is game theory with research interests in mathematical economics, machine learning, health economics, sports and economics and experimental game theory. He has published in top international journals such as the Journal of Health Economics, Applied Economics, the European Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Industrial Economics and Economics Letters.

Christoph is an advisor to the Auckland District Health Board and the Auckland Council and has produced several reports for local governments and businesses. In 2002 he was awarded the Jan Whitwell Memorial Prize by the New Zealand Association of Economists for outstanding research by a young scholar.

Danu Abeysuriya - Founder & CTO, Rush Digital

Danu’s specialist engineering studio Rush Digital has swelled to over 50 staff since it was founded in 2010. International clients include Google, Samsung, Microsoft, Under Armour, Heineken, BBC and ExxonMobil, with local clients like Z Energy, Sky TV, ASB, Vector and Fonterra also looking to Rush for leadership in developing innovative technology solutions.

Danu and his team of hand-picked software engineers never fail to deliver projects they’ve taken on. Collaborating with a unique breadth of skills allows them to create original solutions for every brief, and they’re regarded within the industry as the fail-safe team to turn to for over 150 projects, with strengths in AR/VR/CV and IOT.

Danu graduated with honours from the University of Auckland in 2007 and remains CTO of Rush Digital and subsidiaries.

He was the winner of the 2016 NZ Hi-Tech Young Achiever Award, and was nominated for the NZ Hi-Tech Award 3 years in a row.
On a more personal level, Danu is passionate about social equity and fairness; he has always been involved in philanthropic and non-profit organisations in poverty alleviation and education. He believes that technology has the power to truly serve humanity and make the world better for everyone

For more information on the PwC Herald Talks series visit our website

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Event Format; 

7:00am Registration & stand-up networking breakfast
7:30am MC Welcome
7:40am Keynote Speaker
8:05am Panel Discussion
8:30am Q&A
9:00am End

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