AI consulting New Zealand
AI consulting for small businesses in New Zealand
Clever Merchants is an AI consultancy based in Dublin, Ireland, founded by Ger Devereux, who also runs Shamrock Electrical, an electrical wholesaler in Rathcoole. We work remotely with owner-managed businesses in New Zealand with 5 to 50 staff: trades, professional services, retail, distribution and agencies.
We find the two or three AI workflows that save the most hours in your business, build them into the tools you already use, and keep them running. The starting point is the free AI Readiness Review: 6 questions, about 3 minutes, an instant industry-specific report, then a personal follow-up from Ger within 24 hours.
3 minutes
Free AI Readiness Review, 6 questions, instant report
Fully remote
Online review, video calls, built inside your existing tools
72 hours
Shamrock Electrical cited by ChatGPT after our own work went live
What we do
What does an AI consultant do for a small business in New Zealand?
An AI consultant finds the admin your business repeats every week, chooses the tools that remove it, builds the workflow and measures the hours saved.
In practice that means looking at how your business actually runs: who answers the phone, how a quote gets written, who chases the invoices, how you find out whether last month made money. Most owner-managed businesses have the same four or five bottlenecks, and they are all admin that follows the same pattern every time. That is exactly the work AI handles well.
Whether you are looking for an AI consultant, an AI consultancy or an agency in NZ, the useful question is whether anyone builds the thing. A slide deck of recommendations does not answer the phone, so we do both halves: the advice, described on our AI consulting services page, and the build, described on the AI implementation services page. If you already know you want automations built and run for you, the AI automation agency page covers that model.
The first step is the free AI Readiness Review. Six questions about your business, not about AI, and the report names the two or three workflows most likely to pay back first in your industry.
The workflows
Which AI workflows do we implement for NZ businesses?
The seven below cover most of what an owner-managed business needs, and your AI Review report shows which two or three matter most.
| Workflow | What it replaces | The time it addresses |
|---|---|---|
| AI receptionist | Voicemail, missed calls, the owner answering the phone from a van or a site | Every call that currently rings out during the working day |
| Automated lead follow-up | Replying to web enquiries and quote requests by hand, usually that evening | The evening spent chasing enquiries that arrived while you were working |
| AI-assisted quoting | Typing quotes from scratch and re-pricing the same line items | Quote preparation, often the single largest block of admin in a trades business |
| Invoice chasing | Remembering who owes what and sending reminders manually | Credit control at month end and the cash you wait too long for |
| Job profitability reporting | A spreadsheet built after the job closes, if it gets built at all | Monthly reporting, plus the losing jobs you only spot afterwards |
| Document collection and processing | Chasing certificates, receipts, supplier invoices and compliance paperwork | The admin that sits between jobs and never quite gets done |
| Weekly management reporting | Pulling figures out of three systems on a Friday afternoon | The Friday report, and the decisions you make without it |
Across a business of this shape the AI Review report estimates a combined range of 8 to 15 hours per week. That is the report's estimate for the workflows it selects, not a guarantee, and your own report shows how the range breaks down for you.
Working remotely
How does remote AI consulting work between Dublin and New Zealand?
The review is online, calls are by video, and the build happens inside your existing tools, so most work moves forward while New Zealand sleeps.
We have no office in New Zealand and we do not do site visits. You take the review when it suits you, the report arrives instantly, and Ger's personal follow-up lands within 24 hours. After that you can reply by email or WhatsApp in your own time, and the workflows are configured and tested inside the phone system, inbox, CRM and accounting software you already run.
The time difference is the biggest of any market we work in, so here it is plainly. In mid September 2026 Dublin is on Irish Standard Time (UTC+1) and New Zealand is on UTC+12, which puts you 11 hours ahead: 7am in Dublin is 6pm in Auckland and Wellington. New Zealand daylight saving starts on 27 September 2026, and Irish clocks go back on 25 October 2026, so through the New Zealand summer the gap is 13 hours: 7am in Dublin is 8pm in New Zealand, and 8pm in Dublin is 9am the next morning for you.
There is very little overlap between the two working days, and it is better to know that before you start. Video calls are short and sit at the edge of one of the two days, and most decisions are made in writing. The upside is that the work carries on during the Irish day, which is your night, so there is often progress waiting when you open your inbox.
Supports in New Zealand
Can the AI Advisory Pilot help pay for AI consulting in New Zealand?
Possibly. The AI Advisory Pilot offers eligible businesses co-funding of up to 50%, capped at NZ$15,000, through the Regional Business Partner Network.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment announced on 15 May 2026 that the pilot would grow to support up to 150 businesses, up from 50, with wider eligibility, and that it now runs until 31 January 2027. The co-funding is for working with experts to identify where AI fits and to put practical solutions in place, and it is accessed through your local Regional Business Partner.
Eligibility, and whether a provider based outside New Zealand can be used under the pilot, is decided through that network, not by us. Clever Merchants does not process applications, so ask your Regional Business Partner before you count on the co-funding.
Business.govt.nz also publishes free guidance on getting started with AI, including building AI skills and taking a responsible approach. The free AI Readiness Review sits alongside both: 3 minutes today, and a report you can take into a Regional Business Partner conversation. If you would rather hire a firm based in New Zealand, our guide to the best AI consultants in New Zealand names the alternatives.
First-hand, not second-hand
Why an Irish electrical wholesaler is the proof
I own Shamrock Electrical in Rathcoole, County Dublin. It has been trading for over a decade, it runs a real Shopify store with real margin pressure, and every recommendation Clever Merchants makes gets tested there first. I am not a consultant who read about small business. I run one, with the same phones, quotes and supplier invoices a New Zealand trade business deals with.
When we put structured data and question-answering content live on the Shamrock site, ChatGPT named the business 72 hours later. Asked about Irish electrical suppliers it said, in its own words, that Shamrock is the obvious one. Perplexity and Gemini followed. That is the standard we hold ourselves to: a result you can screenshot, not a promise.
Read the Shamrock Electrical case study
Cost
How much does an AI consultant cost in New Zealand?
The AI Readiness Review is free, GEO programmes are fixed at €6,500 or €7,500, and AI implementation is scoped after the review.
01
Why there is no single figure
An AI receptionist for a three-van plumbing business and job profitability reporting for a 40-person contractor are different jobs. Price depends on which workflows you need, which tools you already run, how clean your data is, and what has to be integrated.
02
What you get free first
The review, the instant report naming your two or three highest-impact workflows, and a follow-up conversation with Ger within 24 hours. You know what would be built and why before any money changes hands.
03
Who it is for
Owner-managed businesses in New Zealand with 5 to 50 staff, repetitive admin, and real revenue. If the owner is still doing the quoting, the chasing and the reporting, the numbers usually work.
Published prices on this site are in euro. The full breakdown of what is free, what is fixed and how implementation is scoped is on the pricing page. For what other consultants in the market charge, read how much an AI consultant costs.
Questions New Zealand business owners ask us
Do you work with businesses anywhere in New Zealand?
Yes, anywhere in New Zealand. The work is remote from Dublin, so a business in Christchurch or Tauranga gets the same review and the same implementation as one in Auckland or Wellington.
What size of business is AI consulting in New Zealand built for?
Owner-managed businesses with roughly 5 to 50 staff, where repetitive admin is eating the owner's week, in trades, professional services, retail, distribution and agencies. A sole trader or a large enterprise can still run the free review, but the recommendations are built for the middle.
Is the AI Readiness Review free for businesses in New Zealand?
Yes, it is free, with no card and no obligation. It is 6 questions, takes about 3 minutes, produces an instant report, and Ger follows up personally within 24 hours.
How do time zones work for AI consulting in New Zealand from Dublin?
New Zealand is 11 to 13 hours ahead of Dublin depending on the time of year, so early morning in Dublin is evening in New Zealand. The review is online and most of the work moves forward asynchronously, with short video calls booked where the two days meet.
Can I use the AI Advisory Pilot for AI consulting in New Zealand?
The MBIE AI Advisory Pilot offers eligible businesses co-funding of up to 50%, capped at NZ$15,000, through the Regional Business Partner Network until 31 January 2027. Eligibility is decided through that network, not by us, so check with your Regional Business Partner before counting on it.
Find out where AI saves your business the most time
Six questions, about three minutes, an instant report for your industry, and a personal follow-up from Ger within 24 hours. Free, no card, no obligation, wherever you are in New Zealand.
Take the free AI Readiness Review