In this episode of 'What's Smart in 2025,' hosted by Mark Thomas from the Smart Cities Council, experts Luke Herlihy and Maria Mingallon discuss the integration and opportunities of AI for New Zealand cities.
Luke Herlihy of Associate Director, Strategy & Consulting, Data & AI at Accenture and Co-Founder of Reveal, details his role in helping industries identify AI value cases, emphasizing the importance of a digital backbone and responsible AI practices. Maria Mingallon, Knowledge and Information Manager at Mott McDonald and Chair of the AI Forum of New Zealand’s AEC Working Group highlights solving problems with AI in the built environment.
The session explores existing AI initiatives, such as Lower Hutt's use of AI tools to enhance public services and Auckland Council's machine learning for SafeSwim. The conversation also touches on the ALMA digital twin project by the Environmental Science Research Institute to simulate traffic and infrastructure resilience.
Looking ahead, Maria envisions AI reshaping urban planning by optimizing space usage and implementing smart public transport. Luke advocates for councils to collaborate to achieve economies of scale, citing examples like Buenos Aires' AI chatbots and Sydney's road damage detection systems. The forum provides practical advice on data infrastructure, identifying AI use cases, ensuring privacy and security, and building staff capabilities. It concludes with a discussion on future-proofing AI strategies by remaining agile and flexible.
