EPIC AI Conference

The EPIC AI conference is a day of workshops, community conversation, presentations, and leadership dialogue at EPIC Innovation. This event is part of TechWeekNZ, Aotearoa New Zealand’s national festival of tech and innovation.

The spirit of the day is shaped by the themes of this year's TechWeek festival: innovation, inspiration and impact across Aotearoa; bringing together ideas, people and opportunities; and connecting innovators with communities across the motu to help shape New Zealand’s future.

Throughout the day, the emphasis is on local capability, shared learning, practical experimentation, thoughtful discussion, and the wider Christchurch AI community. This will collect and share insights about how AI is being explored, applied, and led in Aotearoa.

1. AM Workshops — 9–11:45am
2. Lunchtime Coffee & Jam — 12–1:15pm
3. PM Presentations — 1:30–5pm
4. Evening Panel — 5:30–7pm

From morning skill-building to evening leadership reflection, the programme unfolds as a day-long community gathering at EPIC. Each event stands on its own, but together they create a fuller picture of how AI is being explored and discussed in Christchurch during TechWeekNZ.

9:00 AM – 11:45 AM

AM Workshops

The morning workshop block is designed for people who want practical experience, not just theory. Across five fast, hands-on sessions, attendees explore how AI can support communication, workflow design, nonprofit impact, and visual creation.

Hosted by the Christchurch AI Meetup Group as part of TechWeekNZ, the EPIC AI Conference brings together local and international practitioners for a compact, high-value morning of experimentation and applied learning. Whether you’re just getting started, or already using AI at work, these sessions will give you fresh ways to think about what the tools can do, where they fit, and how to use them more effectively.

12:00 PM – 1:15 PM

Ministry of Awesome: Coffee & Jam

Coffee & Jam is Christchurch’s longest-running founder meetup: a lunchtime tradition where the Ōtautahi startup community comes together to connect, learn from founders across different stages, and collaborate on ideas that help startups thrive.

With light refreshments provided at EPIC, this session creates a natural bridge between the morning workshops and the afternoon presentations. It broadens the day beyond AI tooling alone and roots the programme in the wider innovation community around EPIC.

1:30 PM – 5:00 PM

PM Presentations

The afternoon speaker session of the EPIC AI Conference brings together practitioners working at the edge of AI implementation, risk, infrastructure, and strategy.

These are not abstract future-gazing talks. They are grounded presentations from people thinking deeply about what happens when AI moves from prototype to production, from possibility to governance, and from technical novelty to social consequence. Across four sessions, attendees hear perspectives on operational excellence, AI safety, privacy-preserving infrastructure, and the long-term future AI may unlock.

5:30 PM – 7:00 PM

Leadership in the Age of AI

The closing panel widens the lens from tools and implementation to leadership, responsibility, trust, and change.

After a full programme of workshops and presentations, this is where the conversation turns to leadership, responsibility, and the human decisions that shape how AI actually lands inside teams and institutions.

Each part of the programme is registered separately through Humanitix. These 4 events can be attended individually or all together, if you want to stay for the whole day. 3 of the 4 events require a $10 registration fee. Venue is limited to max 100 capacity.

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