From The Edge: Kiwis at Stanford

The group was as diverse as Aotearoa itself: leaders from major enterprises and emerging start-ups, Māori business and cultural leaders, high-performance sport, creative pioneers in film, music and the arts, as well as investors and changemakers advocating for social, environmental and economic outcomes.

The purpose wasn’t just to showcase the best of Aotearoa New Zealand. It was to raise aspirations: building the confidence, insight and courage needed to act boldly on the world stage. Through the connections and ideas forged at Stanford, From The Edge is setting out to create a movement that lifts our people, enterprises and culture in ways that deliver enduring global impact.

Over the week participants immersed themselves in the vibrant energy of Silicon Valley, drawing on world-leading faculty and creative provocateurs including IDEO’s Tim Brown, Stanford Professors Baba Shiv, Sarah Soule and Huggy Rao, Allbirds co-founder Tim Brown, and global voices from luxury, tech and investment.

The programme explored key threads central to New Zealand’s future:

• How we show up as the pinnacle expression of Aotearoa New Zealand –  authentically, boldly and globally
  
• The power of story to transform our nation’s identity and impact
  
• Creative Exports as Strategy – positioning music, arts and culture as economic and diplomatic levers
  
• Unlocking abundant renewable energy as a catalyst for regeneration
  
• The Power of Small Groups – activating ripple effects and collaborative advantage beyond the moment

A sense of shared responsibility – to our whenua, our children, our culture and our future – ran through every encounter. So too did a call to “design for serendipity”: to let trust, openness and bold imagination shape what comes next.

Through deep dives into AI, behavioural science, premiumisation, futures thinking and high-performance sport, participants wrestled with a shared challenge: how New Zealand can lead with authenticity and humanism in a world hungry for connection and hope.

As one participant said, “We have the ability to be what the world so desperately needs right now.” Another reflected, “We can’t use the old map to navigate the new future.”

Built on the shoulders of Te Hono, this was the second successful prototype of this kind of initiative, one that combines design thinking, diverse global perspectives and collective purpose to shape a movement beyond the moment. Off the back of this programme, plans are already in motion for a New Zealand-based gathering in November and a global presence at Milan Design Week 2026.

From The Edge is about more than a week at Stanford, it’s about weaving together the ingenuity, creativity and leadership of New Zealanders everywhere to create lasting prosperity for our people and our planet. 

To learn more and explore ways to connect, please reach out to John Brakenridge [email protected]