FUTR of Financial Services New Zealand 2026

How NZ's outlook is being shaped by inflation, wages, migration, the labour market and the path of monetary policy

What's driving divergence across industries, and what these signals mean for financial decision-making

How NZ institutions can plan for resilience amid global uncertainty, domestic adjustment and shifting consumption and credit behaviour

• Sharon Zollner, Chief Economist, ANZ New Zealand

The sequencing, decisions and trade-offs behind modernising legacy environments at scale

Why simplifying systems and organisational complexity matters as much as the technology itself

What it takes to sustain momentum and deliver outcomes across a multi-year transformation journey

• Craig Lauchlan, CIO, Executive General Manager, NZ Technology, Suncorp NZ

Simplifying products, processes and operations to reduce complexity, improve efficiency and enable better service delivery under sustained cost and transformation pressure

Rethinking the balance between digital self-service, human support and channels to deliver seamless, accessible and consistent customer experiences

The organisational, technology and change strategies needed to modernise at pace while managing legacy complexity, rising expectations and transformation fatigue

PANELISTS:

• Penny Burgess, General Manager Customer Delivery, TSB Bank

• Angela Henderson, Chief Information & Delivery Officer, Fidelity Life

• Anna Livesey, General Manager Retail Products, ANZ New Zealand

• Matt Williams, Head of Claims Systems & Strategy, Ando Insurance

How the FMA is assessing conduct, fairness and consumer outcomes as the CoFI regime matures across financial services

What the sector should be focused on as AI, open banking and digital advice create new obligations and opportunities

What institutions that are getting it right have in common, and where the FMA is focusing its attention heading into 2027

• Michael Hewes, Director - Deposit Taking, Insurance and Advice, FMA

Moving beyond AI pilots towards trusted, enterprise-wide adoption

Using context-aware AI and governed data to support financial services ecosystems

Focusing AI and data platform strategy on business outcomes, not technology for technology’s sake

• Kaushik GD, Head of Financial Services, Snowflake

What AI is actually delivering in NZ financial services right now, and what the gap still looks like between ambition and reality

Why data, governance and trust remain the hardest problems to solve, and what good looks like when organisations get it right

How leaders are building the capability and confidence to move AI from a project into everyday business practice

PANELISTS:

• Asya Ihanoa, Chief Technology Officer, Generate

• Nikhil Ramrakhiani, Chief Technology Officer, Pie Funds

• Rachel Harrison, Head of Decision Science & AI, ASB Bank

• Wayne Kingi, Head of Operational Data Services, Westpac NZ

• Stephanie Welsh, Financial Services Industry Lead, Databricks

From pilot to scale: How Tower progressed boldly from the pilotphase to rolling out an AI-enabled contact centre across the business, turning innovation into real-world outcomes

People first: Bringing people on the journey alongside the technology to successfully build capability and drive adoption across frontline teams

One year on: The customer, people and efficiency results delivered since the launch of Tower's AI-enabled contact centre.

• Mike Skeens, Chief Operating Officer, Tower Insurance

Where open banking, real-time payments and richer data standards are creating new possibilities for customers and institutions

What system-wide transformation requires across infrastructure, trust, collaboration and regulatory alignment

How New Zealand can turn its payments foundations into competitive advantage and lasting customer benefit

• Steve Wiggins, Chief Executive, Payments NZ

Strengthening fraud, scam and customer vulnerability controls while keeping onboarding and servicing simple and accessible

Balancing security, risk, authentication and verification to reduce friction and support safe engagement across channels

Using clear communication, transparent reporting and customer insight to build trust and improve outcomes across different customer groups

PANELISTS:

• Clive Pedersen, Deputy Chief Risk Officer, Heartland Bank

• Sukhjit Gill, Head of Risk, Compliance & Regulatory Affairs, Southern Cross Health Insurance

• Jing Liu, Chief Risk Officer NZ, Revolut

How Provident selected and implemented a global insurance platform as a specialist New Zealand-owned insurer, and what the process actually required

⁠What it takes to lead technology change that delivers measurable commercial outcomes, not just IT modernisation

⁠The leadership and cultural disciplines that determine whether transformation programmes like this land or stall

• Paul Natac, Chief Information Officer & Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Provident Insurance

Building the right digital and data foundations for meaningful innovation

Turning emerging technology into practical outcomes for members and teams

Leading change in a large, member-focused organisation

• Grant McIvor, Chief Digital Officer, Southern Cross Health Insurance

Dan Wilkinson, Chief Technology Officer, MTF Finance

What resilience actually means across an organisation, beyond the risk function alone

How conduct, ethics and fraud considerations connect to the customer experience

Why trust is ultimately the foundation of brand and long-term growth

• Shivali Kukreja, Head of Risk & Compliance, nib NZ