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Agentics NZ Newsletter #2 - getting involved!

Where we trigger sleeper agents, create a code refactoring engine, run 1,000s of agents at scale, and have a side of shower thoughts leading to burnout 😱

Chris Barlow

18 Oct 2025 — 7 min read

(If you're reading this via. email its because you've previously registered for an Agentics NZ event. If you don't want to receive emails from us in future, feel free to do the unsubscribe thing.)

We promised a proper home for the newsletter, and here it is!

My master plan seems to be working - to seek out agentic engineer sleeper agents (I knew you were out there), and give them a platform to share their knowledge. Enter, Blair Nilsson!

The excitable guy who chipped in at the end of our first session was keen to be let loose, so we let him do exactly that! The resulting How to unscramble an egg presentation on legacy code transformation has been a hit and taken on a life of it's own being given no less than three times, with requests for more replays coming in hot.

From humble beginnings with our launch in August, to completing our 5th Agentics NZ event!

Since then we've started a WhatsApp community, the best way to get connected with the group! We have a diverse range of people joining the group from the AI curious, people tinkering with local LLMs, to fully-fledged agentic engineers.

Agentics chapter spotlight: Finland

Over the last few weeks I've been very fortunate to get to know Mikko and Janne from the Agentics Foundation - Finland Chapter. We managed to navigate the time zone difference between Wellington and Helsinki to have a couple of great video chats where we shared our respective progress.

For comparison, their chapter in Finland launched a couple of weeks after ours, which as already grown to over 1,800 members! It helps that Mikko is the #1 AI celebrity / hacker in Finland, and is regularly invited to speak on AI on TV and podcasts. One day, eh Chris? 😏

Janne has a background as "the Waylon Kenning of Finland" working in their social services agency in an emerging tech role. He since teamed up with Mikko (with his history of successful exits in Silicon Valley startups) to create Agion Oy, which provides a comprehensive solution to running 1,000s of agents at scale they call 'Governance as Code'.

This is currently being rolled out to the first customers across public and private sector. Very exciting stuff, check them out!

New Zealand Institute for Advanced Technology AI Platform opportunity

Last month Minister Dr Shane Reti announced the launch of the NZIAT Artificial Intelligence Research Platform – a Government investment of up to $70 million over seven years to strengthen New Zealand’s AI research capability and commercialisation to build enduring competitive advantage.

More information about that has been released with a webinar hosted on Thursday by the AI Forum. Applications for this platform open on 23 October and close on 20 November.

Looking after yourself

With my background in infrastructure architecture, I never expected to be pulled into software development. But that's exactly what happened after being blown away by the agentic coding tools that hit the scene late last year. Suddenly, I could bring to life the wild ideas I've been dreaming up in the shower all these years!

During that time I was introduced to the Agentics Foundation and met all sorts of amazing people around the world, and developed a strong belief that we need to understand and embrace this technology to be competitive. It was this conviction that led me to co-found a chapter here in NZ, along with Marc Vincent.

So for the first half of 2025 I went a massive tear, building an unholy number of widgets, prototypes, and other experimental aberrations. The truth is, I set myself a big challenge with an ambitious project and bit off more than I could chew, and in September hit burnout. My commits dropped off a cliff.

This is not a unique occurrence. We've been seeing a pattern where people are discovering agentic coding and then disappear into a dark hole for weeks, emerging bleary-eyed, declaring "LOOK AT WHAT I HAVE CREATED!", having achieved in weeks what it used to take an entire team 6 months to create.

Some incredible productivity right. But at what cost? We are hearing stories of people setting their alarm clocks in sync with the 5 hour rate limit cycle of Claude Code... that doesn't seem sustainable.

So, with great power comes great responsibility, my message is this: from time time to time, take a moment to step back and reflect. Get into nature. Remember to look after your whole self: the physical, the emotional, and most importantly your family.

For me, for the time being I'm focusing my limited spare time and energy on building the community side of Agentics NZ. We're off to a great start! I'm starting to make some beneficial industry connections, and hope to announce some cool stuff for the community soon (fingers crossed).

I've made a commitment with Marc Vincent, the other co-founder of Agentics NZ to host an event at least monthly.

What's the next NZ event then?

We've had some great feedback from our earlier sessions on what topics you'd like to cover next. So now its your turn!

Kindly fill out the form to let us know what interests you the most and we'll prioritise that session next! Better yet, let us know if you'd like to present on any topic you like:

Fill out the Google form

Update on Agentic Engineers Guild NZ

Thank you to everybody who registered your interest in joining the Agentic Engineers Guild following our inaugural event in August.

The original plan was to form a local non for profit, which would enable us to formalise the relationship with the global Agentics Foundation organisation based in Canada.

It gradually became clear that starting a not for profit organisation is not necessary at this stage. We can run things effectively as a informal group without the added administrative burden, for the time being. If you know any sponsors who might be keen to support the cause, please let us know!

Adding to that, as much as we love the 'guild' logo, Marc Vincent and I have agreed to stick with the Agentics branding too. We still think of the group as a guild of practitioners honing our craft, however we are better off standing together with our brothers and sisters in the wider Agentics Foundation!

So, how can you get involved?