Celebrating Excellence: Announcing the Winners of the 2026 TUANZ Member Awards

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Last night, members gathered to cheer on the finalists and hear who were the winners at the 2026 TUANZ Member Awards, in partnership with our Premier Partner, Nokia.

Our Awards recognise outstanding contributions to digital excellence and celebrate individuals, businesses, and grassroots initiatives that embody our mission of a digitally connected and empowered New Zealand.

We are excited to share and congratulate the official winners across all seven categories for 2026:

2026 Category Winners

Technology Initiative of the Year

  • Winner: Auckland University of Technology for AUTGPT.  This is a secure gateway to the leading AI models, and ServiceHub, an AI service agent inside Microsoft Teams. The platform is self-hosted on New Zealand infrastructure, under New Zealand law, owned outright.

  • Recognising an outstanding project or programme that demonstrates innovative thinking, strategic implementation, and meaningful impact on Aotearoa’s digital ecosystem.

Community Initiative of the Year

  • Winner: Te Hapori Matahiko. Established in August 2022 by Katie Brown and Lee Timutimu, it exists to close the exact gap TUANZ names in its own vision: that no one misses out on the opportunities in technology.

  • Celebrating community-focused initiatives and non-profits effectively addressing local needs, fostering digital inclusion, and bridging digital divides.

Outstanding Leader in the User Community

  • Winner: Jo Stansfield, COO at FortySouth

  • Honouring an individual who has demonstrated exceptional leadership, dedication, and positive influence across the tech and digital user community.

Outstanding Future Leader

  • Winner: Tristana Bessier, Public Sector Industry Lead, Databricks

  • Recognising an emerging leader whose vision, passion, and commitment are paving the way for the future of digital leadership in Aotearoa.

Special Recognition & Board Awards

Chair’s Award

  • Recipients: Vanessa Sorenson and Serge Van Dam

  • Selected by the TUANZ Chair to recognise an extraordinary contribution to Aotearoa’s digital economy and community.

Life Membership Award

  • Recipients: Liz Gosling and Grant Forsyth

  • Honouring long-standing dedication and enduring lifetime service to the association and the wider technology community.

Thank You to Our Community

Events like these wouldn’t be possible without our Premier Partner, Nokia, alongside all the judges, nominators, and attendees who made last night so special.

To all our winners, highly commended entries, and finalists: thank you for your commitment to driving digital progress across Aotearoa New Zealand.

(Link: Read more about all the finalists and award highlights here: https://tuanz.org.nz/tuanz-member-awards-2026/)