A Day in the Life of a 23-Year-Old AI Consultant in NZ

What does an AI consultant's day actually look like?

It's less laptop-in-a-cafe and more airports and rental cars.

I was at Christchurch Airport early, heading to Wellington. The plan for the day had five parts: a client workshop, meetings with some prospective clients, a catch-up with someone I went to uni with, a Young Kiwis in AI event at night at Trade Me, and a flight back down.

Then the little problems turn up. On the way I opened my laptop and couldn't find my charger. I'd had a quick look at home and assumed it was in my bag. It wasn't.

The fix was simple. Make sure everything's loaded and tested, and if it comes to it, log in on the client's laptop and use the stuff there. Things go sideways on a travel day. Have a plan B and keep moving.

How is a ChatGPT workshop different from a Claude one?

This was the first ChatGPT workshop in ages. All my other workshops have been built in Claude. This client uses ChatGPT extensively, so that's where we built.

Before I got there I checked that all the connections worked the same way. They did. We installed two custom MCP servers, one for Xero and one for Employment Hero. I tried this about six months ago on ChatGPT and it was so hard. This time it was a really easy process.

ChatGPT inside Excel was hugely helpful for her analysis of payrolls and that kind of thing. We also set up a centralised AI brain on SharePoint.

Looking back on the day, the workshop was mind-blowing for what we got done, especially with ChatGPT's computer use for her. That was huge.

We're catching up with them again in two weeks to check in, and then we'll keep helping with support.

Why use SharePoint instead of GitHub?

With clients I set up a centralised AI brain repository, a shared place for the business's knowledge. For this client we built it just using SharePoint, with no GitHub in there.

If you're going into an existing business, I don't know if the GitHub route is worthwhile. Every business already has some kind of shared knowledge base. So why not use that, instead of giving them a whole new system?

So we typically use their existing SharePoint, OneDrive or Google Drive. That's been a huge unlock for them. I'm excited to see how they get on.

Why spend a day catching up with people?

Because it's always good to know other people in the space.

After the workshop I had lunch with a mate from uni who works at Transpower. A lot of the people I know there were working from home, so I missed them. He always brings a sweet treat, though, so that part was a win.

Then I met Chris from the team at Agentics. They're pretty busy across New Zealand, running heavy AI engineering development meetups, with members all over the country. We talked about collaborating on events with Young Kiwis in AI. They'll have the mentorship side, which will be pretty nice.

How do you get comfortable filming yourself in public?

With a bit of time before the event, I walked along the pier and filmed myself.

I thought about being in high school and not being able to do a speech in front of the class. Now I've got a camera sticking out, I'm walking through a crowded place and I'm talking to myself. It's kind of insane.

But you miss every shot you don't take, and you build up the confidence every single time.

What does it take to run a Young Kiwis in AI meetup?

That night was the first Young Kiwis in AI meetup in Wellington, at Trade Me on Friday 30 October 2026. 68 people signed up and 55 came. That's very few drop-offs for a free event, and it was one of the better ones we've run. There's a lot more demand for more of these, so we'll be running them.

In my own talk I told the room about hiring for a marketing assistant and an AI intern over summer. We asked every applicant for a short video. Only nine of the 50 sent one. It's a two-minute video. My closing message was this: soon everyone will have and use AI, but not everyone will be good at it. Be someone who is. Talk's cheap, so show something, build something, release something.

The talks, the venue and the rest of the night are in the Wellington meetup recap. This page is the whole day, not a second recap.

If you want a full day of it, the Young Kiwis in AI National Conference is on 12 February 2027 in Auckland, right by the airport. It's easy to fly in and out. See the conference page.

What happened on the way home?

We rushed to the airport with about 45 minutes before the flight. We got the rental car back in time, but it was very windy. The car was getting pushed around on the drive. We watched a plane land on the way in, and it was a very dodgy landing, so we weren't sure we'd get out that night.

We did. The flight was bumpy, but I'm so used to it now that I just watched Netflix. My partner picked me up, and the dog came along.

What would I tell someone who wants this job?

Show something. Soon everyone will have and use AI, but not everyone will be good at it. Build something, release something, and put your face on camera even when it feels odd.

And get to know other people in the space. On this one day I got a workshop, a catch-up with a mate, a possible collaboration and a room of 55 people.

You can join Young Kiwis in AI here. To see the talks from the night, watch my full talk on YouTube.

What does an AI consultant do?

In this video, it was a client workshop where we set up ChatGPT with custom connectors for Xero and Employment Hero, ChatGPT in Excel and a shared AI knowledge base in SharePoint. The rest of the day was catching up with people and hosting a community event.

Can you use ChatGPT for a business AI workshop?

Yes. This client uses ChatGPT extensively, so we built there. The custom MCP servers were a really easy process this time, after being hard when I tried about six months ago.

Do you need GitHub to build an AI knowledge base for a business?

Not necessarily. I'd rather use the business's existing SharePoint, OneDrive or Google Drive than give them a whole new system.

How many people came to the Wellington Young Kiwis in AI meetup?

68 people signed up and 55 came, on Friday 30 October 2026 at Trade Me.