Building with AI:
Speed, Structure & Scale
AI is making it possible for small teams to build software, automate workflows, and create new capabilities at a pace that was difficult to imagine a few years ago. October's Christchurch AI meetup looks at what that speed makes possible, and what structure is needed underneath it.
Joshua Campbell will share practical lessons from building with AI inside a growing Christchurch business. Caelan Huntress will then explore how organisations can move from individual AI use and isolated experiments towards operational implementation.
The Talks
What AI Speeds Up and What It Can't Replace
Joshua Campbell - Atlas
Joshua Campbell will share lessons from Atlas, which began as a small Christchurch video production business and grew into a company building internal tools for content management, distribution, websites, and social platforms.
He will use that experience as a case study in what AI-assisted development makes easier, where the limits remain, and why privacy, consent, security, ownership, architecture, and careful technical design matter more when software can be built faster.
AI Implementation in Business
Caelan Huntress - AI Coaching Academy
As AI moves from optional to operational, the challenge is teaching AI agents how the business actually works. The workflows, standards, decisions, rules, exceptions, and institutional knowledge need a digital Company Brain.
Caelan Huntress will show what practical AI implementation looks like inside a business: documenting workflows, onboarding agents, transferring repeatable work, assessing AI readiness, and assembling an internal AI Working Group.
Who Should Come
- Developers, founders, product teams, and consultants building AI-enabled tools
- Business owners and leaders considering what small teams can now build with AI
- Operations teams ready to document workflows and hand repeatable work to AI agents
- Professionals thinking about privacy, consent, architecture, and responsible implementation
Format
Drinks and networking from 5:30 PM. Talks run from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM, followed by open Q&A and more conversation until 8:00 PM. Sponsored by AI Coaching Academy.