The New Zealand Institute for Advanced Technology (NZIAT) finally has a permanent boss, and he does not come from the grant-administration world. Roman Reyhani, three days into the job, told the Herald that “we have to make this work. The economy really depends on having a strong technology sector”. He is right about the stakes. The harder question is whether an 11-person agency can do what Callaghan Innovation could not.
The hire is the strongest signal yet
Reyhani, a returning Aucklander, spent six years at BCG Digital Ventures and BCG X commercialising ventures in energy, climate tech, mining and advanced manufacturing, including EV batteries, methane detection and industrial decarbonisation. NZIAT chair Steve O’Connor says Reyhani has worked “at the point where technology and ideas become products, businesses and commercial opportunities.”
That is a materially different profile from the culture that ran New Zealand’s last commercialisation agency. It was also the brief. When interim chief Andrew Bridgman was appointed to build the organisation’s systems in March 2026, the board said it was searching for a leader with “commercialisation expertise”. It appears to have found one.
Reyhani’s early instincts are also the right ones. NZIAT has 11 staff and a mandate to hire up to 25, and four of the current team came from Callaghan. Asked whether more would follow, he said he was “taking a first-principles look at this” and would recruit the best people from Callaghan, industry or venture capital. Capability over continuity is exactly what a reset should look like.
We have seen this mandate before
BusinessDesk notes NZIAT’s goals are broadly comparable to Callaghan Innovation’s when it launched in 2013 to accelerate commercialisation in New Zealand businesses. Callaghan was defunded in Budget 2025 and wound up in November 2025 because the gap it was built to close never closed.
The structural difference is meaningful. In 2025, NBR’s Fiona Rotherham pointed out that NZIAT was designed to invest in research rather than perform it, and asked whether it could avoid becoming another layer of innovation bureaucracy. Nearly a year on, that question remains open. An investor model forces sharper choices than an in-house lab does, but only if the agency is willing to stop funding things that are not working.
The money is modest, which may be a feature
Headlines have framed the wider push at $231 million. NZIAT’s own 2026/27 accounts are smaller. Crown revenue totals $25.803 million, with $13.8 million going out in grants and $12.32 million on operating costs.
The flagship AI platform carries up to $70 million over seven years, alongside a Future Magnetic and Materials Technologies platform. Quantum got a $1.35 million discovery phase, with a full platform only if readiness is demonstrated. BusinessDesk adds a fourth stream, foresighting, to spot opportunities just below the horizon.
The staged approach to quantum is fiscally sensible. But context matters. Tech New Zealand chief executive Graeme Muller said in August that it was “a no brainer given every other country is already investing billions on quantum tech”. New Zealand cannot outspend anyone. It has to out-pick them, which makes Reyhani’s venture-selection experience more relevant than any budget line.
NZIAT is also inheriting Callaghan’s Health Technology Activator and New Zealand Product Accelerator programmes, per its performance expectations. That is useful continuity for firms already in those pipelines, and a risk if legacy programmes crowd out the new agenda.
The scoreboard is flat
The number that matters is not how many consortia NZIAT funds. It is whether the tech sector grows faster. Tech NZ’s survey shows the sector contributed $24.5 billion to GDP in 2025, up from $24 billion. That is roughly 2% growth, barely ahead of inflation. Back in 2025, then-science minister Shane Reti said the AI platform would “seed ambitious research-industry consortia”. Seeds are fine. Harvests are what count.
What business should watch
For tech founders, manufacturers and investors, NZIAT is now worth engaging with, particularly anyone working in AI applications, advanced materials or quantum-adjacent fields. The agency needs commercial partners more than it needs researchers, and early partners will shape what it funds.
The test over the next 18 months is simple. Does NZIAT back a handful of companies with real customers and real revenue, and does it kill weak bets quickly? Reyhani has the right CV and the right rhetoric. If the Tech NZ numbers are still tracking inflation in 2028, the country will have rebuilt Callaghan with a better logo.
Sources
- NZ Herald: Roman Reyhani, CEO of NZ’s new advanced technology agency, outlines 3 target areas (2026-10-25)
- BusinessDesk: AI, quantum and super materials – NZ’s new advanced tech institute goes to work (2026-10-22)
- NZ Herald: $231m push to turn NZ tech into global success | Herald NOW Business (2026-10-20)
- NZIAT: Statement of Performance Expectations 2026/27 (2026-06-29)
- RNZ: New high-tech forum looks at photonics and quantum technology (2026-08-18)
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