YKIA National Conference 2027: Speakers So Far
Drafted with AI assistance.
Key takeaways
- Speakers so far include Hanna Siebdrat (Nayamind), Brodie Dye (ZURU) and Georgia Singleton (Trade Me).
- Both keynotes and more speakers are still to be announced.
- The conference is on Friday 12 February 2027 at Novotel Auckland Airport.
The first speakers for the YKIA National Conference 2027 are locked in. Here are some of the people on stage on Friday 12 February at Novotel Auckland Airport, and what they are talking about. More names, including both keynotes, are coming.
Hanna Siebdrat, Founder, Nayamind
Talk: Breaking in without the perfect path, 9:45am.
Hanna is the founder of Nayamind, an Auckland-based AI operations advisory. In March 2025 she moved from Germany to New Zealand barely knowing anyone. Today she runs her own company, helping businesses put AI to work by teaching their teams or building AI automations for them. She will share how she built her network from zero.
Brodie Dye, AI Integration Engineer, ZURU
Panel: AI inside large New Zealand businesses, 3:30pm.
Brodie is an AI Integration Engineer at ZURU, the global company behind consumer brands, toys and construction technology. He helps teams across the business get real value from AI, building tools that automate processes, analyse data and generate insights. He also runs the Auckland AI Safety meetup, bringing together people interested in making AI go well.
Georgia Singleton, AI Engineer, Trade Me
Panel: AI inside large New Zealand businesses, 3:30pm.
Georgia is an AI Engineer at Trade Me, building customer-facing AI experiences. Her current work is on Trade Me Property Search using conversational AI, helping people find their next home. With a background in cloud infrastructure, she treats AI as an engineering discipline, not magic, and uses AI agents daily to build software faster.
She holds a B.Com in Information Systems and Mathematics from the University of Canterbury, and is passionate about supporting the next generation of engineers as they enter the workforce.
Blake Harkness, Founder, Young Kiwis in AI and Harkness AI
Talk: Personal brand in the age of AI, 11:15am.
I founded Young Kiwis in AI in January 2026 and run Harkness AI, an AI consultancy that helps New Zealand businesses adopt AI and automation. I am a Massey University mechatronic engineering graduate who went all-in on AI mid-degree.
More to come
The rest of the line-up, from the hiring panel to the young builders showcase, is on the conference page and the programme, with more names added as they are confirmed.
Early-bird tickets start at $79 for students and run until 15 December. Get your ticket
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