Human In The Loop

This Loop Back is a special episode where we touch on the challenges and opportunities for women in tech, in advance of this month's International Women's Day. RUSH Head of People & Performance, Heather Polaschek, shares some recent stats and observations about what's working and what needs more work.

For more info and resources check out:

IWD United Nations: https://www.un.org/en/observances/womens-day

Women in Tech Aotearoa: nz.linkedin.com/company/women-in-tech-nz

Heather on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-polaschek-b47b7a47/

Follow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcast

Find us on LinkedIn:

Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/
Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/
Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/

Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzL

Follow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcast

Find us on LinkedIn:

Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/

Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/

Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/

Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzL

Email [email protected] if you have feedback, comments, questions or compliments
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Craig Boxall is Chief Product Officer & Founder of Nexties, an education technology venture focused on helping learners and organisations build future-ready skills. Alongside this, he is involved with Liven Labs, where he brings together his experience in AI-driven product innovation, venture building, and digital strategy. His work at Nexties and Liven Labs builds on nearly two decades of founding and scaling digital businesses, including Pixel Fusion and Onceit, plus senior product leadership roles in AI and Web3 companies.

We discuss:

· the functionality, technology, and philosophy of the Nexties platform

· modern support tools and a new approach to career guidance

· the undeniable impact of being able to envision a future

Nexties: https://nexties.com/

Craig on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigboxall/

Follow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcast

Find us on LinkedIn:

Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/
Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/
Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/

Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzL

Follow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcast

Find us on LinkedIn:

Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/

Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/

Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/

Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzL

Email [email protected] if you have feedback, comments, questions or compliments
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us as we Loop Back to clarify comments and claims from last week's episode, as well as chat about any new news from the world of tech and AI.

· Plaud Notetaker (not sponsored) https://www.plaud.ai/

· Resist & Unsubscribe https://www.resistandunsubscribe.com/

Follow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcast

Find us on LinkedIn:

Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/
Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/
Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/

Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzL
Follow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcast

Find us on LinkedIn:

Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/

Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/

Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/

Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzL

Email [email protected] if you have feedback, comments, questions or compliments
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Alaina, Danu, and Hamish trade their usual guest format for a freewheeling conversation about what actually mattered in AI and tech over the past year, and what was just noise.

From infrastructure realities like RAM shortages and power grid constraints to the hype around solid-state batteries at CES, we try to separate genuine breakthroughs from marketing spin including:

· the evolution of robotics (Boston Dynamics, anyone?)

· the messy ethics of training data collection

· why cybersecurity in New Zealand still feels like we're living in 2015

The discussion veers through disaster preparedness, the surprising complexity of getting robots to walk, and why slowing down - whether it's your reading habits or your AI implementation - might be the smartest strategy for 2026.

Follow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcast

Find us on LinkedIn:

Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/
Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/
Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/

Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzL

Follow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcast

Find us on LinkedIn:

Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/

Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/

Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/

Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzL

Email [email protected] if you have feedback, comments, questions or compliments
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam Ramlu and Euge Eastlake are creative technology entrepreneurs and leaders, with more than two decades creating digital, AR, VR and immersive experiences. Starting with creative technology studio Method in 2003, their portfolio of businesses now includes AR/VR game studio M Theory and game development studios Might Eyes and Mad Carnival.
​Mighty Eyes’ award-winning, story-driven VR game 'Wanderer' is a time‑travel adventure game where the player gets to rewrite history to save a ruined world, and Mad Carnival releases point and click adventure 'How Was Your Day?' later this year.
​
We discuss:

· The push and pull of community in building, launching and maintaining a successful game

· Aotearoa's successful and growing gaming industry

· Where AI has a role to play in game development & design (and where it doesn't)

Sam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samramlu/

Euge on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eugeneeastlake/

Mighty Eyes Games: https://www.mightyeyes.games/

M Theory: https://www.mtheoryvr.com/

Mad Carnival: https://www.madcarnivalgames.com/

Follow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcast

Find us on LinkedIn:

Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/
Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/
Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/

Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzL

Follow us on Instagram: @humaninthelooppodcast

Find us on LinkedIn:

Alaina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-luxmoore/

Hamish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hafriedlander/

Danu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danuabey/

Sign up to The RUSH newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmARzL

Email [email protected] if you have feedback, comments, questions or compliments
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.