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News: This is Your Captain Speaking Podcast

Duanne O'Brien

21 Jan 2026

The This Is Your Captain Speaking podcast elevates you to 30,000 feet for candid insights from NZ's best known technology executives and their journeys to the top. Any person that has flown often has a story about an unlikely or surprising conversation that they have had on a plane with a stranger.

I join veteran executive recruiter Julian and talk through what it takes to lead teams through adversity, how to scale internationally and what he believes every tech executive needs to grow a sustainable successful team.

Essay: The Next Digital Channel: Designing for Agents

What Boards Should Be Asking in 2026 Websites are not disappearing this year. But for the first time in the history of digital commerce, decision-making is beginning to move outside them. That shift, however gradual has strategic implications now. The conversation about AI in enterprises has largely focused on productivity,

Essay: 2026 The year commerce leaves the web

There are moments in technology where the interface changes and with it, the power structure behind it. The web browser did this. Mobile apps did this. Marketplaces did this. 2026 will be remembered as the year commerce shifts from the enterprise-owned channel to the AI Assistant. Not as a prediction.

Field Note: Patina

There’s a word I use regularly, and sometimes needs explaining: patina. If you own a proper carbon steel knife or pan, you’ll know what it is. Out of the box it’s bright and uniform. Over time it darkens. Irregular blues and greys appear. It’s not rust.

Field Note: When integration gets easier, responsibility gets harder

Lately, a few conversations and examples, particularly around MCP and the momentum building behind agentic AI and integration patterns, has pushed me to revisit some older mental models. There’s a lot to like in what’s emerging. The composability is real. The primitives (Identity, Permission, Scope, Context...) feel cleaner

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Essay: The Next Digital Channel: Designing for Agents

Essay: 2026 The year commerce leaves the web

Field Note: Patina

Field Note: When integration gets easier, responsibility gets harder