TTC Global at the NZ CIO Summit 2024

Well, it was no surprise that the focus of this year’s NZ CIO Summit, held at the Vector Arena on 20th and 21st August, was largely centred around AI with an unspoken suggestion that whoever could showcase the most cutting-edge tech in this space would surely grab the spotlight at this prestigious two-day event.

TTC Global, as always, were keen exhibitors with a nicely located booth that we shared with our sister company, Data Domain, and while attendance numbers were certainly down on previous years, the event was no less a success and if anything, the reduced crowd seemed to allow for more in-depth interactions with visitors to our stand. We had meaningful conversations with a significant number of new leads and existing customers alike, around new and emerging trends including S4Hana, Dynamics 365, and of course, AI.

With all the hype and rapid advancements around AI, it can be an overwhelming space for our clients and our position is to continue to assess new products as they become available so that we can provide real value rather than just chase trends. While many businesses are rushing to gain an edge with the latest and greatest technologies, it is fair to say that there are still relatively few proven products in our industry. At TTC, we are determined to help our clients navigate this minefield by ensuring firstly that they are actually in a position to benefit from AI tools and secondly, that those tools can provide the expected benefits.

In terms of the keynote speakers, while the subjects inevitably contained content relating to AI, there were some very interesting takeaways around related topics. Google Cloud and One NZ collaborated to present an engaging talk around People, Process and Partnering, the latter resonating particularly with us at TTC as we consistently strive to be true partners to our clients, rather than just suppliers, emphasising our vision to deliver the most appropriate skills and tools to each individual client and recognising that not one solution is fit for all clients.

Another interesting talk was delivered by Cindy Taibi, ex CIO of The New York Times, who touched on the subject of employee engagement and motivation. As leaders, we can all get somewhat fixated on competitive remuneration to keep our teams satisfied when in fact what Cindy pointed out was that recognition, meaningful work and career development are all actually considered more important to employees than salary and benefits alone.

This perspective certainly gave me food for thought in my role within TTC as it strongly suggests a shift towards valuing the non-financial aspects of work that lead to employee satisfaction and retention, an ongoing challenge when managing large teams of professionals.

In addition to the usual swag at our booth, we spiced things up with a free raffle featuring a prize that was a bit more exciting than the standard stress ball, a Drone DJI Mini 2 SE. There was a catch however - entrants had to tackle our QA-focussed crossword puzzle to earn a raffle ticket. Our booth team was more than happy to assist of course, and we found this to be an effective and fun way to break the ice with newcomers and give them a light introduction to what we do as a professional testing consultancy.

This turned out to be an extremely positive process of engagement and we were pleasantly surprised at how well the importance of testing was understood.

All in all, it was a well-organised event filled with great networking and stimulating presentations. We’re already looking forward to next year’s summit and planning how to outdo ourselves — who knows, maybe with an AI-based trivia contest and a jetpack next time!

See you then.