One New Zealand has announced Summer Collins has been appointed to its executive team as Chief AI & Data Director.

The role is new and reflects the increasing importance of data analytics and use of artificial intelligence at all levels of One NZ’s operations says CEO Jason Paris.

“I’m hugely excited about Summer’s appointment and the opportunity it presents to ensure One NZ is best placed to take advantage of the incredible technological changes that are revolutionising the world.

“We’re already successfully using AI in a variety of ways in our service, network, support office and marketing areas and this role demonstrates our commitment to data analytics and using artificial intelligence within all levels of our operation. It also reflects the significant investment we make in developing our people at One NZ and I’m delighted that this has resulted in Summer joining the executive team” says Paris.

Collins will be responsible for One NZ’s transition to become an AI-led telco with customer experiences, products and ways-of-working fuelled by AI capability.

“Developing our AI capabilities is a critical to unlocking service performance and efficiencies beyond what we can today,” says Collins.

“The world is changing rapidly. Twelve months ago, no one had heard of ChatGPT, now the technology is becoming ubiquitous and One NZ needs to ensure it’s well placed to thrive in the AI-era.

“We're not just talking about enhancing customer experiences or refining products. We're looking at a complete reimagining of how we work, seamlessly meshing human intuition with machine precision.”

Collins says her focus will be on three key priority areas: building up One NZ’s data foundations to provide secure and insightful data platforms, developing its AI execution to discover and scale opportunities, and providing AI-driven insights to improve operations and customer experience.

“A key area for us is ensuring data is governed properly and used in a way that benefits our customers. Being successful in the AI-era is about seamless integration across human and machine capabilities, and using it to provide market-leading customer experiences at maximum efficiency.”

Collins’ prior role at One NZ was as Head of Data & Growth Capability. She has previously held positions at BNZ, Spark, Air NZ and Vodafone Group. She is currently studying toward an Executive Diploma in Artificial Intelligence for Business from the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford.