Sky Network Television’s Sophie Moloney, Xero’s Sukhinder Singh Cassidy and last year’s winner, Miles Hurrell of Fonterra, have been named as finalists in the category.
The recent Mood of the Boardroom survey found New Zealand chief executives were becoming gradually more optimistic, with a clear majority expecting higher revenue and profit from their businesses over the next 12 months – an improvement on last year’s sentiment.
When it came to capital expenditure, 43% of respondents said they were planning to invest more, with a major focus on AI.
Tulp says for many chief executives, this means doubling down on two critical pillars: maintaining a resilient organisational culture and robust decision-making.
“The most successful organisations I work with are purpose-driven, adaptable and embrace change. I also believe economic uncertainty should be a reason to speed up – not slow down – decision-making. Securing New Zealand’s future as a dynamic, knowledge-based economy relies on strong technology leadership as we navigate this new era of AI.”
ServiceNow’s latest research shows risk and governance are make-or-break for AI adoption. The number one barrier to realising AI value cited by leaders was data security.
Ethics, upskilling and disruption
Artificial intelligence is already reshaping the workplace, automating routine tasks and freeing employees to focus on higher-value work.
“GenAI is replacing thousands of hours of human effort,” Tulp says, “and it’s reshaping entire job roles and professions in the process.”
But the clock is ticking. ServiceNow’s research showed organisations have just five years to deploy an effective AI strategy that delivers financial and productivity gains while safeguarding employee growth through upskilling.
ServiceNow NZ country manager Kate Tulp.
“When you compare Kiwi organisations to others globally, we’re sitting on a superpower,” Tulp says.
“New Zealand’s traditionally risk-averse culture and strong governance frameworks are a strength when it comes to navigating this once-in-a-generation technological shift. We’ve already got great governance. The guardrails, legislation, regulation, privacy laws are in place – this gives leaders certainty.
“CEOs should be thinking how they can disrupt their own business in a really positive way that generates greater productivity, greater profit and enables scaling up without risk.”
AI adoption: From pilots to execution
Globally, organisations are struggling to keep pace with the rapid evolution of AI.
“Breakthrough technologies like agentic AI are advancing so rapidly, businesses are falling behind,” Tulp warns.
In New Zealand, AI maturity is declining year on year, largely because teams are mired in pilot programmes rather than scaling enterprise-grade implementations.
Tulp says the solution is to shift from trial mode to execution.
“It’s now a market-driven, board-driven imperative to push ahead with transformation,” she says.
Culture and data remain central to this shift.
“The more leaders embrace new technologies, the more we’ll see highly profitable, investment-ready Kiwi enterprises which are also great places to work, and even better partners to do business with.”
Addressing talent shortages
Another big issue for chief executives is talent shortages – particularly in leadership, digital and technical roles.
Tulp says New Zealand’s productivity ambitions cannot be met by human labour alone.
“We’re absolutely depending on automation and AI to free up workforce capacity. And while the global AI race is accelerating demand for specific technical expertise, we’re also seeing enormous growth in demand for critical soft skills.”
As machines take over repetitive tasks, employees are being asked to innovate, problem-solve and amplify their most human qualities.
Tulp says the onus is on employers to prepare their people for this shift by fostering a culture of experimentation and investing in soft-skills development.
The Deloitte Top 200 Awards were established in 1990 and are held annually to recognise and applaud outstanding individual and management team performances among New Zealand’s largest companies and trading organisations.
All the Deloitte Top 200 winners will be revealed at a gala event on Thursday, December 4. The event will be live-streamed from 7pm on the Herald website.
The 2025 Deloitte Top 200 CEO of the Year finalists – Sponsored by ServiceNow
Sky TV chief executive Sophie Moloney.
Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell. Photo / Dean Purcell
Xero CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy. Photo / Xero
Full list of the 2025 Deloitte Top 200 Awards finalists:
• Amazon Web Services Company of the Year: Fonterra, Rocket Lab and The a2 Milk Company.
• ServiceNow Chief Executive of the Year: Sophie Moloney (Sky TV), Miles Hurrell (Fonterra) and Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (Xero).
• Tax Traders Chief Financial Officer of the Year: David Muscat (The a2 Milk Company), Richard Thomson (Air New Zealand) and Simon Kebbell (Port of Tauranga).
• Forsyth Barr Chairperson of the Year: James Miller, Peter McBride and Pip Greenwood.
• Sustainability Leadership: BNZ, Goodman Property Trust and Precinct Properties.
• 2degrees Best Growth Strategy: Contact Energy, F&P Healthcare and Xero.
• BusinessNZ Most Improved Performance: Port of Tauranga, Sanford and Tower.
• Snowflake Young Executive of the Year: Anna Mitchell (Chorus), Boyd Scirkovich (Ngāti Toa Rangatira) and Kate Boyer (Air New Zealand)
• Diversity and Inclusion Leadership: AIA, Clarus and Microsoft.
• Hobson Leavy Visionary Leader: To be announced on the night.
The winners will be announced on Thursday, December 4.
– This was produced in partnership with the Deloitte Top 200 Awards and sponsors