Paul Spain NZ Futurist
New Zealand Futurist · Keynote Speaker

Most people meet the future late. Let's meet it early.

Paul Spain is a New Zealand futurist and keynote speaker, founder and one of the country's strongest proponents for thinking forwards about the role of technology in business and life - helping leaders, teams and audiences make sense of what's coming and decide what action to take.

Book Paul to speak ↗ See the work
1997Building tech since
2National podcasts hosted
TV · Radio · PressQuoted across NZ & AU
Who is Paul

A futurist's job isn't to predict - it's to notice. To read the signals already in the room before they become headlines, and translate them into decisions you can make today.

Paul founded Gorilla Technology in 1997 and later launched New Zealand's first social network - he has been early to most of what's mattered in NZ tech ever since. Today he hosts the NZ Tech Podcast and NZ Business Podcast, and is one of the country's most sought-after commentators, featured across ABC News, RNZ, TVNZ, Warner Bros. Discovery, Newstalk ZB and the NZ Herald.

His work sits where entrepreneurship, deep technology knowledge and decades of business experience meet - and his focus is singular: helping individuals, organisations and New Zealand as a whole succeed through technology, while staying clear-eyed about the risks.

Paul Spain, futurist and founder FUTURIST · FOUNDER · COMMENTATOR
Work with Paul

Four ways to bring the future into the room.

Whether you need to move a thousand-person audience or a single board, the brief is the same: clarity about what's coming, and the confidence to act on it.

Paul Spain speaking on stage at a conference
On stage

From conference mainstages to leadership offsites - the future, made tangible.

01 - Keynotes

Keynote speaking

Energising, grounded talks on AI, emerging technology and the forces reshaping business - tailored to your audience and the moment they're in, never off the shelf.

02 - Advisory

Strategy & advisory

Future-thinking sessions, board briefings and strategy work that turn distant trends into a roadmap your team can actually execute against this year.

03 - Commentary

Media & commentary

A trusted, plain-English voice for newsrooms and producers who need technology and business explained well, fast, and without the hype.

04 - Podcasts

Podcast & partnerships

Reach an engaged NZ audience of leaders and builders through the NZ Tech and NZ Business podcasts - as a guest, partner or sponsor.

On the horizon

The signals Paul is tracking now.

Ordered by distance - what's already landing, through to what's still forming on the edge. Each is a talk, a briefing and a point of view.

NEAR

AI in the real economy

Past the demos and the doom - what AI is actually changing in how NZ organisations work, and how to adopt it without losing the plot on risk.
talk · briefing ↗
NEAR

Cybersecurity & resilience

From ransomware to nation-state risk - keeping people and organisations safe as the threat landscape and the defences both accelerate.
talk · briefing ↗
MID

Digital identity & trust

Who you are online, who gets to verify it, and why getting the trust framework right matters for every New Zealander.
talk · briefing ↗
MID

The future of work

What changes when the tools think back - roles, teams, skills and the human work that becomes more valuable, not less.
talk · briefing ↗
FAR

Post-quantum & what's next

The longer arc - quantum, the next computing shift, and NZ's place in a world that's moving faster than our policy can.
talk · briefing ↗
As heard & seen on

A voice the country already trusts.

RNZ National
1 News
Newstalk ZB
The New Zealand Herald
Stuff
ThreeNews
ABC News
Sky News
Reuters
Listen

Two podcasts. One front-row seat to NZ's future.

NZ Tech Podcast

The week in technology, decoded - for builders, leaders and the merely curious.

NZ Business Podcast

Conversations with the founders and leaders shaping New Zealand business.
Insights

Notes from the edge.

Longer thinking on the signals worth paying attention to.

Analysis

What AI actually changes for New Zealand organisations

Cutting through the hype cycle to the handful of shifts that genuinely matter for how Kiwi teams work.

Read → Briefing

Preparing for the post-quantum era

Why the cryptography conversation has started, and what NZ leaders should be doing about it now.

Read → Perspective

Digital identity, done humanely

Building a trust framework that works for every New Zealander - including the ones tech usually forgets.

Read →
Let's talk

Bring the future to your stage, your board, or your inbox.

Booking Paul for a keynote, a strategy session, or media? Or just want the signals worth knowing, free in your inbox? Start here.

Enquire about booking ↗ Speaker kit & topics