The start of 2026 has certainly kicked off in a turbulent fashion as we see geopolitical tensions rise in the world which is having an impact on our economy in New Zealand.
We know many of you are navigating real uncertainty right now — rising costs, shifting markets, and a lot of noise to cut through. Our focus this month is on giving you practical tools and thinking to help you do just that.
That is why this month we have asked Founder of Flipview Ben Stevens to demonstrate his risk/strategy platform that can help businesses navigate risks and look for opportunities in these times.
See Ben's video later in the newsletter.
Also in our Global Musings section we show Global Short Term and Long Term risks in one graphic which obviously is very topical at present.
What's new at Faraday
In March we welcomed two new Certified Professional Chair and Advisors to the Faraday team: Steve Bambury based in Sydney and Craig Percy based in Auckland.
Welcome aboard!
Time for a quiz
Have you ever wondered if a Professional Advisory Board is right for your business? If so, try the short quiz on our homepage. Only five questions, less than 1 minute to complete.
Save the date!
The 9th Annual Faraday conference is scheduled for the 26th of August in Auckland at The Northern Club with several speakers already confirmed including Deputy Prime Minister and Act Party Leader David Seymour and former All Black Conrad Smith.
Watch highlights from our 2025 conference here to get a flavour of our conferences.
How to manage risk and strategy in these turbulent times
This month, founder of Flipview Ben Stevens takes us through Flipview which provides a structured, AI-enabled environment that significantly accelerates strategic analysis and decision-making.
Instead of relying on fragmented workshops, spreadsheets, and static reports, Flipview enables businesses to obtain a clear, end-to-end strategy process — from diagnostics and risk identification through to strategic priorities and actionable plans — in a single user-friendly platform.
The value lies in combining proven strategy frameworks with AI-assisted insights and real-time collaboration, which delivers deeper analysis, more consistent outputs, and ongoing strategic visibility for businesses.
If you're keen to talk to Ben, here is Flipview website. Ben has kindly agreed to offer Faraday newsletter subscribers 50% off the Flipview Kickstart Plan, which reduces the plan to $500.
Featured Course
Project Management: 10 simple steps on how to manage projects better
This month, Nicola Faithful who has spent her whole life deep in Project Management shares her 10 simple steps on how to manage projects better. It includes eight videos and takes less than 60 minutes to gain knowledge on this key area.
The course unpacks:
If you are already a Faraday Learning Platform Member, you can view the course right here.
Not a member yet? Membership details are below.
About the Faraday Learning Platform and how to become a Member
The Faraday Learning Platform is a hub for sharing knowledge, ideas, and inspiration to help New Zealand businesses thrive. It's about accelerating your momentum and expanding your potential.
See it in action – 3-minute video here
Membership: Just $1,000 + GST per year gives your entire business or leadership team access to all Faraday content and insights from industry experts. We add new, meaningful video and learning material every month.
Interested in joining? Email Henry at henry@faraday.company
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Faraday Musings
Learning from others is key to the Faraday approach of building great companies together. We think it's worth including in our newsletters some stimulus of things we're seeing in the world that might be valuable for our community. Here for April are two things:
Global
We thought this was an interesting view on the Worlds Biggest Risks based on short term (2 years) and long term (10 years), all in one graphic.
Local
Are Kiwi businesses keeping up with the AI productivity opportunity?
New Zealand businesses have been surprisingly quick to embrace AI, with 87% of NZ businesses now using some form of AI in operations — up from just 48% in 2023. Among those adopting it, 89% report productivity gains, with 20% achieving significant time savings of 25%.
For a practical read on where NZ sits and what forward-thinking businesses are doing, this is worth five minutes of your time:
