Has your business stepped into the world of GenAI as yet? If you’re thinking it’s time you joined the already good proportion of Kiwi businesses who are making the leap, and are also upskilling in cybersecurity measures, there’s a plethora of training and micro-credential courses available, both free and otherwise.
Since generative AI systems like ChatGPT became widely available in late 2022, New Zealand firms have accelerated their use of AI, exploring how they can apply the technology to help achieve their business goals, according to the AI Forum of New Zealand’s AI Productivity Report.
The September 2024 report found that 67 percent of firms surveyed reported using AI, with generative AI being the most common type used.
The report highlights that AI is being used across businesses in innovative ways, enhancing operations, improving customer experiences and driving growth. It also found that marketing and administration are currently the most prevalent areas of use.
The inaugural biannual snapshot of AI adoption across NZ was conducted in partnership with Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington and Callaghan Innovation.
Madeline Newman, Executive Director, AI Forum of New Zealand, says that of the 67 percent of respondents already using AI, particularly generative AI, nearly all (96 percent) reported increased worker efficiency and over half were experiencing positive financial outcomes.
Asked about the best type of AI training for SME owners and their teams, Newman tells NZBusiness that while not everyone can take two years to do a Masters in AI, many tertiary institutions, both private and public, offer micro-credential programmes.
Personally, she undertook an AI course at Media Design School which comprised four to five hours a week for seven weeks at a cost of $150. She also points to AcademyEX, and short courses at the universities in Waikato, Canterbury, Otago, Auckland, Wellington and the Open Polytechnic.
She says micro-credential courses can give business owners ideas on how to use AI in their own business, taking you through the whole thought process “where the pain points in your business are, what is the answer to that pain point and sometimes the answer is AI”.
The big tech firms have free courses, although these may be more about learning how to use the tech, rather than how to implement it within a business.
Copilot can also help. Newman says for business owners being informed and using a variety of AI tools is a good start – even just trying to use them for a short period each day or weekly.
However, she warns, the tools are not always right.
Foundational understanding
Katja Feldtmann, the President of global professional association ISACA’s Wellington Chapter and MD of Cybershore, also recommends SME owners start with a foundational understanding of AI and its applications.
“Once you understand what AI is and its (potential) use cases, you must understand your obligations when using AI tools, such as privacy requirements. The New Zealand Privacy Commissioner published guidance on Artificial Intelligence and the Information Privacy Principles, a must-read for any business and anyone using AI in NZ.”
Asked about free training, Feldtmann says for SME owners, platforms like Coursera or LinkedIn Learning offer excellent, often free, introductory AI and data analytics courses, often tailored for non-technical learners.
“Look for courses such as “AI For Everyone” by Andrew Ng, which is accessible and explains AI concepts without overwhelming technical jargon.
“Another good free training is the “Elements of AI” course, a globally recognised free course designed to teach the basics of AI. YouTube channels like “AI Explained” provide bite-sized content that can help people skill up.”
Because these resources are self-paced, they are perfect for busy SME owners.
“I also advise not to jump straight into training that promises to help SMEs boost productivity and enhance work because it is fundamental to understand AI, its applications, and its privacy risks first to adequately assess the implications that may come with the use of AI for a business’ specific use case.”
Feldtmann also points to most universities now offering AI courses, and suggests reaching out to local Chambers of Commerce or the Institute of Directors for AI training opportunities.
AI governance
Newman says business owners also need to upskill around AI governance.
She points to a lack of discussion about AI at the top table of many firms, when ChatGPT was first released in November 2022.
At the time the forum set up a Working Group on AI governance and it has created aigovernance.nz with Callaghan Innovation. It offers free toolkits and talks business owners through best practice for putting in place AI governance measures, Newman says.
The Workshop Essentials is for organisations that are not ready for external governance advice or those that don’t have the financial wherewithal for external advice.
This workshop offers tools SME owners can use to facilitate their own AI governance workshop and resources that “will help you kickstart conversations, understand challenges, and document your journey towards responsible AI use”.
A refreshed version will be available in 2025 but Newman says that what’s online now has value and also provides links to other curated resources.
The Forum also has a Working Group creating a ‘living’ LLM White Paper, and is gathering 20 chapters, each representing what is happening with AI across different industry sectors in NZ. Newman is hopeful the first part will ready in the first quarter of 2025.
The next logical training move
So once business owners have the basics, what would be the next logical training move?
Feldtmann says the next step is to explore practical applications relevant to your business.
“For example, what do you want to use AI for, and what are the desired benefits? This will highly depend on what the company does. A digital marketing agency might use generative AI, such as ChatGPT, to help draft content for the web, reducing the time it takes to write it from scratch and increasing efficiency.
“However, they must also consider the impact of using AI on the business – using AI to help write content might make [it] more generic, which could affect the performance … in search engines or cause readers not to enjoy the content as much.”
She says from a training perspective, it also depends on your objectives. Do you want to train staff using generative AI … or how to design and develop AI? Or do you want to train people to understand the risks of using AI?
“A good starting point could be to reach out to Callaghan Innovation, which helps businesses explore AI with expert guidance. There’s a wizard on their website to help identify what a company needs.”
Feldtmann reiterates that another critical area of training is understanding AI’s privacy and security implications and how AI accelerates and improves cyber criminals’ operations.
She says her own business, Cybershore, can help train business owners and their employees on detecting scams, understanding privacy principles, security education, and awareness of AI and the internet in general.
“Cybersecurity training is also often a requirement to obtain cyber insurance. Businesses need to realise that a potential cybersecurity or privacy breach will likely be more costly than having a consultancy help assess their security and privacy risks to guide them in implementing the most effective safeguards.”
For organisations wanting globally recognised courses, ISACA offers a range of resources including AI Essentials, which explores foundation principles.
So, are AI skills something that needs constant updating, or are you educating yourself by just using the AI tools?
Feldtmann says AI evolves rapidly, so it’s a bit of both.
“Educating yourself by using tools is a great way to stay familiar with updates. However, periodic formal learning through courses, attending webinars, or subscribing to AI newsletters will help you stay ahead of larger trends and significant changes, especially in the regulatory environment.”
However, she adds, that learning by doing with AI or any new technologies without the knowledge and understanding of risks can be dangerous.
“As a business owner, you are responsible for providing your staff with guidelines on using AI responsibly. For example, an employee may copy/paste content into an AI tool such as ChatGPT or even one embedded in your existing systems such as Adobe Acrobat Reader and unintentionally share personal information.”
She says there’s a significant risk that information will end up in the cloud storage of the AI provider, “and you, as the business owner, must safeguard not only your business data but also the information of your people (staff, customers, partners)”.
As to cybersecurity training – is this something an SME owner could take on themselves?
Newman says it’s important to have a good understanding on how to keep safe and current practice includes having safe words as a good start.
Again, look for relevant micro-credentials offered by recognised educators near you, or free courses offered via the big tech companies including Microsoft, Google and AWS.
She says scammers often go for the weakest link which could well be the overworked business owner. So when asked to authorise an urgent transaction or something similar, safe words, that are not shared online, or a direct call to the person in question on known phone numbers can help to validate if a request is genuine, she says.
Feldtmann says cybersecurity is a field where expertise is crucial, but SME owners can, and should, handle the basics themselves.
“For example, understanding phishing threats, securing passwords, and implementing multi-factor authentication are manageable without expert intervention. Free resources like Own Your Online, created by CERT NZ … are excellent resources for getting started.”
For more complex needs like risk assessments to help understand where the business is at in terms of security and what the gaps are, hiring experts or partnering with a service provider is often necessary.
She says her company has developed a special CyberRiskCheck assessment to help businesses understand the current state of their cybersecurity and provide prioritised recommendations to help improve their cybersecurity. This also doesn’t just cover technical controls but ensures the business builds a solid foundation for governance.
While SME’s also often use IT service providers, she says her CyberRiskCheck is a good tool to ensure that the provider meets security requirements.
You cannot outsource risk
“There is usually the thinking that providers do everything, but Feldtmann says as the business owner, you cannot outsource risk.
“Even if you have an IT service provider, you are still responsible for doing your due diligence to ensure the provider meets its obligations. Accountability still sits with the business owner, and they must have oversight and monitoring frameworks in place to provide the appropriate assurance that risks are effectively managed and that the proper controls are in place to mitigate them.”
If a business owner wants to look into structured security awareness and education for their staff, she recommends implementing a platform that will send regular training modules to staff and phishing simulation emails to help employees identify and respond to cyber threats, which can reduce the risk of data breaches.
This article was originally published in the December 2024 issue of NZBusiness magazine. To read the issue, click here.
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