MEDIA RELEASE
FOR RELEASE 7 SEPTEMBER 2026
Auckland, New Zealand – Sept 7, 2026 - With New Zealand's labour productivity estimated to be up to 40% below many OECD peers, according to MBIE data, organisations are under increasing pressure to improve efficiency, enhance customer experiences and do more with constrained resources. At the same time, business leaders are looking to avoid introducing additional technology silos.
Digital Island believes New Zealand is entering a second wave of AI adoption. While the first wave of AI adoption focused on experimentation and standalone tools, the next phase will centre on embedding AI directly into communications, customer engagement and operational workflows where productivity gains can be realised at scale.
Productivity improvement isn't about asking employees to work harder. It's about reducing the time spent switching between tools, manually documenting interactions and managing disconnected systems.
According to Digital Island, communications workflows represent one of the most practical environments for organisations to embed AI and realise productivity gains quickly. Employees spend significant time switching between applications, searching for customer histories and documenting interactions manually. Through its recently announced partnership with RingCentral, Digital Island is helping organisations modernise communications, customer engagement and address some of these common sources of operational inefficiency.
"We're seeing organisations move beyond AI experimentation and ask where they can generate measurable business outcomes," said Leon Sheehan, Chief Executive Officer of Digital Island.
"One of the biggest sources of productivity loss remains fragmented communications and customer engagement systems. However, the biggest opportunity isn't deploying more technology. It's about deploying the right technology that embeds AI into operational workflows and everyday interactions."
"When AI is integrated into the way employees communicate, collaborate and engage with customers, organisations can improve productivity, enhance service levels and gain insights that support better decision-making, without disrupting how people already work."
"A customer service agent handling 40 calls a day can spend hours each week documenting interactions. AI-powered call summarisation and automated note-taking can return valuable time to employees while improving record quality and consistency. Similarly, when a customer moves from webchat to phone or email, employees can access a complete interaction history rather than requiring customers to repeat information multiple times."
By bringing communications and customer engagement into a single platform, organisations can:
Reduce administrative overhead through AI-generated summaries, notes and follow-up actions that minimise manual post-call effort.
Improve customer responsiveness by giving agents faster access to conversation history and customer insights.
Eliminate communications fragmentation with one platform replacing multiple disconnected tools.
Accelerate AI value realisation through embedded AI assistants and automation capabilities that support routine enquiries around the clock and reduce operational workload.
Many organisations are still managing a mix of legacy phone systems, disconnected communications tools and engagement platforms that create inefficiencies for employees and inconsistent experiences for customers.
“To help solve this challenge for Kiwi businesses, we sought a world-class solution that could unify communications and customer engagement,” said Leon Sheehan. “RingCentral is consistently recognised as a global leader in UCaaS and offers one of the industry’s most extensive integration ecosystems, with more than 500 prebuilt integrations into business applications. These include leading CRM platforms such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, HubSpot and Zendesk, while RingCentral App Connect enables businesses to integrate RingCentral with virtually any commercial or homegrown CRM - helping eliminate disconnected experiences, streamline workflows and improve productivity.”
As organisations move from AI experimentation to operational deployment, Digital Island expects communications and customer engagement platforms to become one of the primary ways organisations realise measurable productivity gains and tangible returns from AI investments.
For more information, visit https://digitalisland.co.nz
About Digital Island
Founded in 2004, Digital Island is a proudly New Zealand-owned provider of cloud communications and customer experience solutions. Through its comprehensive portfolio of cloud collaboration, contact centre, CX consulting and telecommunications services, Digital Island enables organisations to deliver better customer experiences, improve operational efficiency and embrace digital transformation with confidence. Renowned for its innovation, expertise and customer-centric approach, the company supports businesses across New Zealand with solutions designed for the modern workplace. Visit www.digitalisland.co.nz to learn more.
Media Contacts: Iulius Toma / iulius.t@digitalisland.co.nz
Media Contacts:
Iulius Toma
iulius.t@digitalisland.co.nz