Alphero Intelligence is the futures lab of digital agency Alphero. It’s where our team experiments, prototypes, and shares what we’re learning about technology, design, markets and plenty of interesting stuff in between.
Caroline Dewe, Alphero's CEO, shares some of the themes we are seeing in the market around change, and ways we are leveraging storytelling and creative roadmapping to help take people on the journey.
Tech Lead Emlyn shares how he built an AI-powered e-ink picture frame that turns ambient conversation into generative art using local speech-to-text,3D printing and cloud-based image generation.
Harry puts AI efficiency claims to the test, sharing how he built a Figma agent to automate the mundane, repetitive tasks and why the real win isn’t speed.
While machines follow rules, our QA team leans into curiosity, instinct and flexibility to uncover the unexpected.
The third iteration of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is expected in late 2027, with a new grading system and broader coverage of digital platforms beyond just websites. The catch? The current WCAG 2.2 won’t become redundant when 3.0 comes out, so we could be living with both for quite some time. This is a great article on what’s changing, what isn’t and how to navigate the awkward in-between: WCAG 3.0 Will Create a Governance Problem Most Organizations Aren't Ready For.
What makes some public digital services work while others fail? A look at how ownership, not design talent, could be the difference, and why New Zealand has more to protect than we might realise.
Caroline Dewe, Alphero's CEO, shares some of the themes we are seeing in the market around change, and ways we are leveraging storytelling and creative roadmapping to help take people on the journey.
Harry puts AI efficiency claims to the test, sharing how he built a Figma agent to automate the mundane, repetitive tasks and why the real win isn’t speed.
The third iteration of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is expected in late 2027, with a new grading system and broader coverage of digital platforms beyond just websites. The catch? The current WCAG 2.2 won’t become redundant when 3.0 comes out, so we could be living with both for quite some time. This is a great article on what’s changing, what isn’t and how to navigate the awkward in-between: WCAG 3.0 Will Create a Governance Problem Most Organizations Aren't Ready For.
Tech Lead Emlyn shares how he built an AI-powered e-ink picture frame that turns ambient conversation into generative art using local speech-to-text,3D printing and cloud-based image generation.
While machines follow rules, our QA team leans into curiosity, instinct and flexibility to uncover the unexpected.
What makes some public digital services work while others fail? A look at how ownership, not design talent, could be the difference, and why New Zealand has more to protect than we might realise.
Caroline Dewe, Alphero's CEO, shares some of the themes we are seeing in the market around change, and ways we are leveraging storytelling and creative roadmapping to help take people on the journey.
While machines follow rules, our QA team leans into curiosity, instinct and flexibility to uncover the unexpected.
Tech Lead Emlyn shares how he built an AI-powered e-ink picture frame that turns ambient conversation into generative art using local speech-to-text,3D printing and cloud-based image generation.
The third iteration of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is expected in late 2027, with a new grading system and broader coverage of digital platforms beyond just websites. The catch? The current WCAG 2.2 won’t become redundant when 3.0 comes out, so we could be living with both for quite some time. This is a great article on what’s changing, what isn’t and how to navigate the awkward in-between: WCAG 3.0 Will Create a Governance Problem Most Organizations Aren't Ready For.
Harry puts AI efficiency claims to the test, sharing how he built a Figma agent to automate the mundane, repetitive tasks and why the real win isn’t speed.
What makes some public digital services work while others fail? A look at how ownership, not design talent, could be the difference, and why New Zealand has more to protect than we might realise.
Lisa explores what really matters as people adapt to AI: not whether everyone embraces it, but how we treat each other along the way.
What started as training a new puppy quickly became an unexpected experiment in learning.
Senior Designer Fraser reflects on the biggest ideas from The Design Conference in Brisbane, and why AI is making human creativity more valuable.
AI can unlock significant productivity, but only when it's used responsibly. Our Principal Consultant - Security, Brendon, outlines 10 practical security principles every AI user should know.
One of my latest learnings on my accessibility journey was discovering that deaf and Deaf mean different things.
deaf (lowercase d) refers to the medical condition of hearing loss, regardless of sign language use, cultural identity, or when it occurred.
Deaf (capital D) describes a cultural and linguistic identity centred around sign language, such as NZSL.
It was a simple distinction, but one that reminded me how much language matters when we're designing for inclusion.
When you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. The organisations getting the most value from AI right now have a fuller toolbox, and more importantly, they know which tool to reach for.
Woah, this is cool! WikiCity transforms 100,000 most-read Wikipedia articles into a 3D city. The tallest skyscrapers represent the most popular topics. It's a fascinating example of how creative data visualisation can turn familiar information into something completely new to explore. https://wikicity.app
Alphero’s Quality Assurance team loves to attend tech conferences, and have just come back from the 3rd annual NZ Tech Rally at Wellington’s Tākina Events centre.
Chris, our Support Manager, reflects on the movie, The Matrix and what today's AI experiences can learn from science fiction.
The conversation about AI security has mostly focused on what AI agents might decide to do. The more immediate concern is what they'll do when someone else is instructing them.
Our strategy director shares nine hard-won lessons on what separates a great Product Owner from the one who quietly derails your project.
Nic explores how to connect his Apple Watch heart rate data to Zwift. Along the way, he discovered how easy Bluetooth integrations with the Apple Watch and iOS can be.
On AI: Use the tool, but think for yourself
AI is now your most important website visitor. Search has moved from clicks to interpretation, where structure, credibility and accessibility decide what gets surfaced and trusted.
AI is growing fast, but access may not stay equal. As costs rise, premium tools and ads could create a two-tier future where only some can afford the best intelligence.
Google Cloud has scaled its gen-AI use case list from 101 to 1,001 in 18 months, showing just how quickly AI adoption is accelerating. Organisations are rapidly shifting from experimentation to measurable impact. Lots of inspiration here for what’s possible. Explore the full list.
In a world increasingly governed by AI agents, is the concept of digital ‘brand’, as we know it, dead?
Where Lisa grew up in Ōpaki, ‘healthcare’ was the slow, collective work of holding each other up.
Our attention has become currency, and everyone wants a share.
Use AI as your tool, your PA, or your dogsbody, but don’t let it usurp your seat.
What happens when a mobile developer loses her phone and rediscovers what life feels like offline?
AI is neutral. But what we teach it isn’t. After hearing Mo Gawdat speak at SXSW Sydney, one idea stuck: the future of AI won’t be shaped by the tech alone, but by the values we build into it.
Live ‘25 was more than a concert. It was a cultural takeover. Here’s what Oasis can teach organisations about community, identity and the future of brand experience.
I should know better than to be surprised by scammers, but honestly, sometimes their creativity deserves a slow clap.
The latest one? A fake meeting invite claiming there’s been an unexpected McAfee charge. The email went to spam, but the invite still snuck into my calendar. Sneaky!
Stay sharp out there. If it smells fishy, it probably is (and not in a good way).
Joshua, our web dev, had a life-changing conversation with ChatGPT recently. And when we say life-changing, we mean there’s a possibility it played an instrumental role in saving his life.
Why the anthropomorphisation of digital experience is not just a quirk of human psychology. It is a new design frontier.
Many of the solutions that we work with have an experience API that is built using serverless technologies, like AWS lambdas. Swift is a modern, fast, safe, and expressive language.
Genuine “strategy” is not about being the cleverest person in the room; it is about being the most persuasive.
Our prediction came true! The First-look trailer for the Nintendo Switch 2...
Exploring simply speaking to the AI as you would to another person... and it responds back with speech.
AI models played Diplomacy and developed personalities. What they reveal says more about us than we might like.
As smart and efficient as AI is, it is only as good as what it can reference. Lived experiences, as flawed as they may be, makes us unique.
The current architecture of LLMs means that prompt injection is a game of whack-a-mole and may never be entirely solvable. We will likely see a continuous race between guardrails and new exploit techniques for some time.
This non-technical overview of the problem sums it up nicely
When you use an app, you don’t think about all the testing done behind the scenes, you just expect it to work. But for developers and testers, we have to make sure they behave exactly as intended.
Friction is essential to the human experience. So what might life look like if agentic AI takes all the friction away?
AI is everywhere right now - promised as the answer to everything. Unlike the launch of mobile banking or the iPhone, the excitement comes with unease.
The future of development isn't about choosing between human creativity and AI capability, it's about using both of them effectively.
I must admit, when mainstream generative AI reared its ugly head (and deformed hands) approximately two years ago, I was deeply concerned for my profession and my job.
The future of digital will be unlike anything before. Intent-first, ambient, adaptive, moderately terrifying. And Alphero Intelligence is how we prepare. It’s not just a lab. It’s our launchpad.
Looking beyond large language models. It’s easy to forget about the other AI tools available to us. YOLO, is an open-source machine learning framework that is targeted at object detection.
Exploring how design can better support busy, brilliant and neurodiverse minds. What does accessibility look, feel and sound like for people with ADHD?
Our principal architect shares his thoughts on AI, experience, and solving the problems that matter
Resistance to change is natural. We have evolved to understand that change equals uncertainty, and uncertainty can lead to danger.
Reimagining user personas for the age of intelligent tools.
Lisa explores what really matters as people adapt to AI: not whether everyone embraces it, but how we treat each other along the way.
Senior Designer Fraser reflects on the biggest ideas from The Design Conference in Brisbane, and why AI is making human creativity more valuable.
One of my latest learnings on my accessibility journey was discovering that deaf and Deaf mean different things.
deaf (lowercase d) refers to the medical condition of hearing loss, regardless of sign language use, cultural identity, or when it occurred.
Deaf (capital D) describes a cultural and linguistic identity centred around sign language, such as NZSL.
It was a simple distinction, but one that reminded me how much language matters when we're designing for inclusion.
Woah, this is cool! WikiCity transforms 100,000 most-read Wikipedia articles into a 3D city. The tallest skyscrapers represent the most popular topics. It's a fascinating example of how creative data visualisation can turn familiar information into something completely new to explore. https://wikicity.app
Chris, our Support Manager, reflects on the movie, The Matrix and what today's AI experiences can learn from science fiction.
Our strategy director shares nine hard-won lessons on what separates a great Product Owner from the one who quietly derails your project.
On AI: Use the tool, but think for yourself
AI is growing fast, but access may not stay equal. As costs rise, premium tools and ads could create a two-tier future where only some can afford the best intelligence.
In a world increasingly governed by AI agents, is the concept of digital ‘brand’, as we know it, dead?
Our attention has become currency, and everyone wants a share.
What happens when a mobile developer loses her phone and rediscovers what life feels like offline?
Live ‘25 was more than a concert. It was a cultural takeover. Here’s what Oasis can teach organisations about community, identity and the future of brand experience.
Joshua, our web dev, had a life-changing conversation with ChatGPT recently. And when we say life-changing, we mean there’s a possibility it played an instrumental role in saving his life.
Many of the solutions that we work with have an experience API that is built using serverless technologies, like AWS lambdas. Swift is a modern, fast, safe, and expressive language.
Our prediction came true! The First-look trailer for the Nintendo Switch 2...
AI models played Diplomacy and developed personalities. What they reveal says more about us than we might like.
The current architecture of LLMs means that prompt injection is a game of whack-a-mole and may never be entirely solvable. We will likely see a continuous race between guardrails and new exploit techniques for some time.
This non-technical overview of the problem sums it up nicely
Friction is essential to the human experience. So what might life look like if agentic AI takes all the friction away?
The future of development isn't about choosing between human creativity and AI capability, it's about using both of them effectively.
The future of digital will be unlike anything before. Intent-first, ambient, adaptive, moderately terrifying. And Alphero Intelligence is how we prepare. It’s not just a lab. It’s our launchpad.
Exploring how design can better support busy, brilliant and neurodiverse minds. What does accessibility look, feel and sound like for people with ADHD?
Resistance to change is natural. We have evolved to understand that change equals uncertainty, and uncertainty can lead to danger.
What started as training a new puppy quickly became an unexpected experiment in learning.
AI can unlock significant productivity, but only when it's used responsibly. Our Principal Consultant - Security, Brendon, outlines 10 practical security principles every AI user should know.
When you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. The organisations getting the most value from AI right now have a fuller toolbox, and more importantly, they know which tool to reach for.
Alphero’s Quality Assurance team loves to attend tech conferences, and have just come back from the 3rd annual NZ Tech Rally at Wellington’s Tākina Events centre.
The conversation about AI security has mostly focused on what AI agents might decide to do. The more immediate concern is what they'll do when someone else is instructing them.
Nic explores how to connect his Apple Watch heart rate data to Zwift. Along the way, he discovered how easy Bluetooth integrations with the Apple Watch and iOS can be.
AI is now your most important website visitor. Search has moved from clicks to interpretation, where structure, credibility and accessibility decide what gets surfaced and trusted.
Google Cloud has scaled its gen-AI use case list from 101 to 1,001 in 18 months, showing just how quickly AI adoption is accelerating. Organisations are rapidly shifting from experimentation to measurable impact. Lots of inspiration here for what’s possible. Explore the full list.
Where Lisa grew up in Ōpaki, ‘healthcare’ was the slow, collective work of holding each other up.
Use AI as your tool, your PA, or your dogsbody, but don’t let it usurp your seat.
AI is neutral. But what we teach it isn’t. After hearing Mo Gawdat speak at SXSW Sydney, one idea stuck: the future of AI won’t be shaped by the tech alone, but by the values we build into it.
I should know better than to be surprised by scammers, but honestly, sometimes their creativity deserves a slow clap.
The latest one? A fake meeting invite claiming there’s been an unexpected McAfee charge. The email went to spam, but the invite still snuck into my calendar. Sneaky!
Stay sharp out there. If it smells fishy, it probably is (and not in a good way).
Why the anthropomorphisation of digital experience is not just a quirk of human psychology. It is a new design frontier.
Genuine “strategy” is not about being the cleverest person in the room; it is about being the most persuasive.
Exploring simply speaking to the AI as you would to another person... and it responds back with speech.
As smart and efficient as AI is, it is only as good as what it can reference. Lived experiences, as flawed as they may be, makes us unique.
When you use an app, you don’t think about all the testing done behind the scenes, you just expect it to work. But for developers and testers, we have to make sure they behave exactly as intended.
AI is everywhere right now - promised as the answer to everything. Unlike the launch of mobile banking or the iPhone, the excitement comes with unease.
I must admit, when mainstream generative AI reared its ugly head (and deformed hands) approximately two years ago, I was deeply concerned for my profession and my job.
Looking beyond large language models. It’s easy to forget about the other AI tools available to us. YOLO, is an open-source machine learning framework that is targeted at object detection.
Our principal architect shares his thoughts on AI, experience, and solving the problems that matter
Reimagining user personas for the age of intelligent tools.
Lisa explores what really matters as people adapt to AI: not whether everyone embraces it, but how we treat each other along the way.
AI can unlock significant productivity, but only when it's used responsibly. Our Principal Consultant - Security, Brendon, outlines 10 practical security principles every AI user should know.
Woah, this is cool! WikiCity transforms 100,000 most-read Wikipedia articles into a 3D city. The tallest skyscrapers represent the most popular topics. It's a fascinating example of how creative data visualisation can turn familiar information into something completely new to explore. https://wikicity.app
The conversation about AI security has mostly focused on what AI agents might decide to do. The more immediate concern is what they'll do when someone else is instructing them.
On AI: Use the tool, but think for yourself
Google Cloud has scaled its gen-AI use case list from 101 to 1,001 in 18 months, showing just how quickly AI adoption is accelerating. Organisations are rapidly shifting from experimentation to measurable impact. Lots of inspiration here for what’s possible. Explore the full list.
Our attention has become currency, and everyone wants a share.
AI is neutral. But what we teach it isn’t. After hearing Mo Gawdat speak at SXSW Sydney, one idea stuck: the future of AI won’t be shaped by the tech alone, but by the values we build into it.
Joshua, our web dev, had a life-changing conversation with ChatGPT recently. And when we say life-changing, we mean there’s a possibility it played an instrumental role in saving his life.
Genuine “strategy” is not about being the cleverest person in the room; it is about being the most persuasive.
AI models played Diplomacy and developed personalities. What they reveal says more about us than we might like.
When you use an app, you don’t think about all the testing done behind the scenes, you just expect it to work. But for developers and testers, we have to make sure they behave exactly as intended.
The future of development isn't about choosing between human creativity and AI capability, it's about using both of them effectively.
Looking beyond large language models. It’s easy to forget about the other AI tools available to us. YOLO, is an open-source machine learning framework that is targeted at object detection.
Resistance to change is natural. We have evolved to understand that change equals uncertainty, and uncertainty can lead to danger.
What started as training a new puppy quickly became an unexpected experiment in learning.
One of my latest learnings on my accessibility journey was discovering that deaf and Deaf mean different things.
deaf (lowercase d) refers to the medical condition of hearing loss, regardless of sign language use, cultural identity, or when it occurred.
Deaf (capital D) describes a cultural and linguistic identity centred around sign language, such as NZSL.
It was a simple distinction, but one that reminded me how much language matters when we're designing for inclusion.
Alphero’s Quality Assurance team loves to attend tech conferences, and have just come back from the 3rd annual NZ Tech Rally at Wellington’s Tākina Events centre.
Our strategy director shares nine hard-won lessons on what separates a great Product Owner from the one who quietly derails your project.
AI is now your most important website visitor. Search has moved from clicks to interpretation, where structure, credibility and accessibility decide what gets surfaced and trusted.
In a world increasingly governed by AI agents, is the concept of digital ‘brand’, as we know it, dead?
Use AI as your tool, your PA, or your dogsbody, but don’t let it usurp your seat.
Live ‘25 was more than a concert. It was a cultural takeover. Here’s what Oasis can teach organisations about community, identity and the future of brand experience.
Why the anthropomorphisation of digital experience is not just a quirk of human psychology. It is a new design frontier.
Our prediction came true! The First-look trailer for the Nintendo Switch 2...
As smart and efficient as AI is, it is only as good as what it can reference. Lived experiences, as flawed as they may be, makes us unique.
Friction is essential to the human experience. So what might life look like if agentic AI takes all the friction away?
I must admit, when mainstream generative AI reared its ugly head (and deformed hands) approximately two years ago, I was deeply concerned for my profession and my job.
Exploring how design can better support busy, brilliant and neurodiverse minds. What does accessibility look, feel and sound like for people with ADHD?
Reimagining user personas for the age of intelligent tools.
Senior Designer Fraser reflects on the biggest ideas from The Design Conference in Brisbane, and why AI is making human creativity more valuable.
When you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. The organisations getting the most value from AI right now have a fuller toolbox, and more importantly, they know which tool to reach for.
Chris, our Support Manager, reflects on the movie, The Matrix and what today's AI experiences can learn from science fiction.
Nic explores how to connect his Apple Watch heart rate data to Zwift. Along the way, he discovered how easy Bluetooth integrations with the Apple Watch and iOS can be.
AI is growing fast, but access may not stay equal. As costs rise, premium tools and ads could create a two-tier future where only some can afford the best intelligence.
Where Lisa grew up in Ōpaki, ‘healthcare’ was the slow, collective work of holding each other up.
What happens when a mobile developer loses her phone and rediscovers what life feels like offline?
I should know better than to be surprised by scammers, but honestly, sometimes their creativity deserves a slow clap.
The latest one? A fake meeting invite claiming there’s been an unexpected McAfee charge. The email went to spam, but the invite still snuck into my calendar. Sneaky!
Stay sharp out there. If it smells fishy, it probably is (and not in a good way).
Many of the solutions that we work with have an experience API that is built using serverless technologies, like AWS lambdas. Swift is a modern, fast, safe, and expressive language.
Exploring simply speaking to the AI as you would to another person... and it responds back with speech.
The current architecture of LLMs means that prompt injection is a game of whack-a-mole and may never be entirely solvable. We will likely see a continuous race between guardrails and new exploit techniques for some time.
This non-technical overview of the problem sums it up nicely
AI is everywhere right now - promised as the answer to everything. Unlike the launch of mobile banking or the iPhone, the excitement comes with unease.
The future of digital will be unlike anything before. Intent-first, ambient, adaptive, moderately terrifying. And Alphero Intelligence is how we prepare. It’s not just a lab. It’s our launchpad.
Our principal architect shares his thoughts on AI, experience, and solving the problems that matter