Wellington waterfront and harbour with the city and hills behind

Wellington, central government and the capital's head offices

AI consulting for Wellington agencies and organisations

Solve8 offers AI consulting to Wellington government agencies, the suppliers who serve them and the professional firms and head offices based in the capital, documenting every AI build against New Zealand's public sector guidance and the Privacy Act 2020.

Plan a workshop in Wellington

AI consulting in Wellington from an Australian consultancy

Solve8 is an AI consultancy based in Beenleigh, in the Brisbane region of Queensland, and has no office in New Zealand. Our consultants travel to Wellington for workshops, design reviews and handover. Builds run remotely under your access controls, through accounts and permissions your team grants and can withdraw at any time.

Much of Wellington's work touches central government. Before ministries, departments and Crown entities approve an AI system, they need evidence of how it reaches its outputs, who reviews them and where the data sits. Suppliers bidding for agency work can be asked for the same evidence about the tools they use on agency data.

Phases have fixed fees. Discovery covers one process at one site with a measured baseline. A shadow pilot runs on live work against an accuracy bar you set, then the build goes into your systems in a New Zealand or Australian region you control, or on your own servers. A person approves outputs throughout, and support or handover follows.

Where the manual work sits in Wellington

Central government agencies
Ministries and departments handling correspondence, ministerial briefings, official information requests and case notes across several systems.
Crown entities and regulators
Teams assessing applications, submissions and compliance records against published criteria, where each decision needs a reason a person can explain.
Suppliers to government
Consultancies, IT providers and service providers answering security, privacy and AI questions in procurement, and documenting what their own tools do with agency data.
Professional services
Law, accounting, engineering and policy firms moving content between documents, practice systems and billing.
Head offices
National organisations headquartered in Wellington consolidating reporting from branches and entities around the country.

New Zealand public sector AI guidance and what a build should leave behind

New Zealand public sector AI guidance and what a build should leave behind
Guidance	What it sets out	Evidence the build should produce
Public Service AI Framework	Published by the Government Chief Digital Officer and last updated in January 2025. Five principles, including transparency and explainability, safety and security, and accountability.	A design record explaining how outputs are produced and who is accountable for them
Responsible AI Guidance for the Public Service: GenAI	Guidance beneath the Framework covering governance, security, procurement, privacy, transparency, bias and accountability for generative AI.	Logs, access controls and documented review points for each generative AI step
Algorithm Charter for Aotearoa New Zealand	A July 2020 commitment by signatory agencies, applied through a likelihood and impact risk matrix, with commitments on transparency, partnership, people, data, privacy and human oversight.	Plain English documentation of the algorithm, the data it uses and the role of the person who reviews it
Privacy Act 2020	The information privacy principles, including IPP 12 on disclosing personal information outside New Zealand.	A data flow map against each principle and the country of every component
Privacy Commissioner's AI guidance	Artificial Intelligence and the Information Privacy Principles, September 2023, which recommends a privacy impact assessment before an AI tool is used.	A draft privacy impact assessment prepared with your privacy officer

Manager signing off a document beside a laptop

Algorithm Charter evidence written during the build

The Charter commits signatories to explain how algorithms inform decisions, understand the limits of their data and manage bias, peer review algorithms for unintended consequences and retain human oversight, including a channel to challenge or appeal decisions. Solve8 writes that documentation while the system is built, so it describes what was actually delivered.

Plain English description of each model, prompt and rule
Data sources, limitations and known bias recorded
Human review points and override steps documented
Hosting in a New Zealand or Australian region you control

How to choose an AI consultant in Wellington

Checks for agencies, suppliers and head offices comparing firms, with Solve8's answer to each.

Public sector documentation
Ask for an example of the evidence a firm produces for the Public Service AI Framework and the Algorithm Charter. We produce it during the build, mapped to each document.
Data location
Ask which country each component runs in. We build in your environment in a New Zealand or Australian region, or on your servers, and record each location in the design.
Human review
Ask where a person approves outputs and how a decision can be challenged. Every Solve8 build has a named review step and an override.
Access controls
Ask how the consultant reaches your systems. Our engineers work through accounts and permissions you issue, and you can withdraw them at any point.
Systems experience
Ask which platforms they have integrated. Ours include Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Power BI, Power Platform, Dynamics 365, Salesforce and NetSuite.
Fixed phases with a stop point
Ask for a fee per phase and the right to stop after each one. Both are in our scope documents.

How a Wellington engagement runs

Discovery on site
Workshops in Wellington on one process at one site, with a baseline measured before anything is built.
Shadow pilot
The AI works on live cases alongside your team, and your team sets the accuracy bar it must meet.
Build under your controls
Delivered into your systems through access you grant, with a person approving each output and the documentation written as it goes.
Support or handover
Runbooks, training and the design record for your team, or ongoing support. Brisbane is two hours behind Wellington in winter and three during New Zealand daylight saving.

Where Wellington organisations start

Sources

Government Chief Digital Officer, Public Service AI Framework: https://standards.digital.govt.nz/nz/generative-ai-guidance-gcdo/public-service-ai-framework/2025/en/

Responsible AI Guidance for the Public Service: GenAI: https://standards.digital.govt.nz/nz/generative-ai-guidance-gcdo/responsible-ai-guidance-for-the-public-service-genai/2025/en/

Stats NZ, Algorithm Charter for Aotearoa New Zealand (July 2020): https://www.data.govt.nz/assets/data-ethics/algorithm/Algorithm-Charter-2020_Final-English-1.pdf

Office of the Privacy Commissioner, Artificial Intelligence and the Information Privacy Principles: https://www.privacy.org.nz/resources-and-learning/a-z-topics/ai/

Questions

Who are the best AI consultants in Wellington?

No independent ranking of AI consultants in Wellington exists, so judge firms on evidence. Ask each one for documentation it has produced against the Public Service AI Framework and the Algorithm Charter, where every component of its builds runs, how a person reviews outputs and whether you own what is built. Then ask who will be in Wellington and how often. Solve8 has no New Zealand office, which a local firm may offer.

How can an agency show an AI tool meets the Public Service AI Framework?

An agency shows it with records: what the tool does, the data it uses, where it is hosted, who reviews its outputs and how errors are corrected. The Framework's principles include transparency and explainability, safety and security, and accountability, and the GenAI guidance beneath it covers governance, privacy and procurement. Solve8 writes these records during the build.

What does the Algorithm Charter mean for suppliers to government?

Agencies sign the Algorithm Charter, and suppliers feel its effect through their contracts. A signatory applying the Charter to a moderate or high risk algorithm needs plain English documentation, information about the data and a clear account of human oversight, and much of that has to come from whoever built the tool. Suppliers who keep this documentation ready answer agency questions faster.

Can an Australian consultancy work on New Zealand government AI projects?

It can, subject to each agency's requirements on hosting, security and procurement. Solve8 runs workshops on site in Wellington, builds remotely through access the agency grants, and hosts in a New Zealand or Australian region the agency approves, or on its own servers. The location of every component is written into the design for the agency to review.

Does AI used by an agency need a person to review its outputs?

For signatories applying the Algorithm Charter, human oversight is one of the commitments: a point of contact for public inquiries, a channel to challenge or appeal decisions informed by algorithms, and a clear explanation of the role people play. Every Solve8 build has a named review step where a person approves outputs.

Can AI help with Official Information Act requests?

AI can help staff find the documents a request covers, group them by topic and draft a summary of what is in scope. Decisions on release, redaction and withholding stay with an authorised officer under the Official Information Act 1982. A safe first phase measures how long one team spends gathering documents today.

Can AI consultants work inside our Microsoft 365 environment?

Yes. Many Wellington agencies and head offices hold their documents in Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, and Solve8 builds into that environment using Power Platform and Power BI under the permissions your administrators set. Content stays in your environment, and each automation logs what it read and produced.