Where AI is heading, and how to use it well.
I track where AI is heading and share practical ways for leaders, academics and researchers to put it to work, with the tools, updates and productivity tips I use myself. My background is in surgery, health leadership and national AI governance.
Professor of Surgical Innovation, University of Waikato
Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon
The evolution of AI
Where AI is going, why it matters, and how I think about using it well.
My perspective →AI tools
Curated tools for productivity, research and creative work, plus the ones I use myself.
Browse the tools →Updates & insights
Where AI is heading, practical productivity tips, and what I'm working on.
See the updates →AI: a disruption full of possibility
AI shows up across my work, in national governance and in the operating theatre. I spend a lot of time working out how to use it well, and where it goes next. I share that thinking here, along with practical ways for leaders, academics and researchers to get more done with it.
Tracking AI's evolution
AI is moving quickly, and my advisory and research work keeps me close to where it is going. I try to translate what matters into plain terms for people who don't build it.
Read →Putting AI to work
How leaders, academics and researchers use AI day to day to think, write, analyse and decide faster, and which tools earn their place.
Read →Leadership & governance
Adopting AI well is a leadership problem as much as a technical one. I help organisations decide what to bring in, how to govern it, and how to carry their people through the change, drawing on an MBA and years in board and national governance roles.
Read →The three layers of putting AI to work
Using AI well is more than picking an app. The tools are what you sign up for; skills teach them your way of working; plugins and connectors link them to the software you already use. Three directories, one for each layer. Awareness, not endorsement.
What you sign up for
Standalone AI products like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, NotebookLM and ambient clinical scribes. This is the layer most people know, and the one they rarely move beyond.
Browse the tools directory →Teach it to work your way
A skill is a small file of instructions an assistant loads when the task calls for it, so your standards get written down once and applied every time. You can open it, read it and audit it.
Browse the skills directory →Plug into your software
A connector links the assistant to one app you already use, like GitHub, Notion or Slack, so it can read and act there. A plugin goes further, bundling connectors with commands, skills and guardrails so a whole workflow installs in one step.
Browse the directory →Tools → · Skills → · Plugins → · Have one I should add? Get in touch.
Where AI is heading, and how to use it well
Essays, productivity tips and what I'm working on in AI, written for leaders, academics and researchers.
Surgery, leadership & governance
Alongside the AI work, I practise as a cardiothoracic surgeon and advise health organisations on leadership and system design.
Cardiothoracic surgery
Aortic, heart-valve and coronary (bypass) surgery, with an emphasis on the least-invasive approach that's safe for you, including keyhole vein harvesting. For patients and referring GPs.
Referrals →Leadership & advisory
An MBA (Distinction) and Institute of Directors member, from clinical director to founding dean and national clinical lead. I build teams, culture and psychological safety, and advise on governance and strategy. Available for board, advisory and leadership roles.
Discuss a role →
Governance & speaking
National-scale health-technology procurement and system stewardship, plus keynotes on AI, rural health and the future of medicine.
Invite me to speak →A clear voice on the future of medicine
"For most of humanity, the closest approximation of living anatomy was dead anatomy. That is not true any more — both in how we learn, and how we practise."
— Scalpels Down, Waikato Times"Every time we move capability closer to home, we restore a measure of dignity."
— World Rural Health Conference"It's a complete game-changer for our patients."
— On keyhole bypass surgery, Braemar Hospital"We do not build better care by pulling people further into the system; we build it by moving the system closer to life."
— Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators President's ForumTraining & appointments
- Appointments
- Now Health AI Lead, AI Institute
- Now Professor of Surgery & Surgical Innovation, Waikato
- Now Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon — Waikato & Braemar
- Now Member, National AI & Algorithm Expert Advisory Group — Health NZ
- Now Member, Advisory Group on AI in Surgery — RACS
- Now Member, Stewardship Group — AI in Health Research Network
- Now NZ National Surgical Lead — CSANZ
- Now NZ Jurisdictional Committee — RACMA
- Past Interim Dean, NZ Graduate School of Medicine
- Past National Clinical Lead (Health Technology, Procurement & Supply Chain) — Health NZ
- Past National Senior Clinical Leadership Team — Health NZ
- Past Deputy Chair, New Procedures Committee — Health NZ
- Past Clinical Director, Cardiothoracic Surgery — Waikato Hospital
- Past Associate Chief Medical Officer, Waikato DHB
- Qualifications & fellowships
- FRCS (CTh) Royal College of Surgeons of England
- FRCSEd (CTh) Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
- FCSANZ Cardiac Society of Australia & NZ
- FACS American College of Surgeons
- FRSM Royal Society of Medicine
- MFSTEd Faculty of Surgical Trainers, RCSEd
- AFRACMA Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators
- MInstD Institute of Directors
- MBA Distinction, Waikato
- MBBS Distinction, University of London
- BSc (Hons) University of London
- Trained at King's College, Guy's, St Thomas', Harefield, Hammersmith, St George's & Imperial Healthcare hospitals · GKT Medical School, King's College London
- BMJ Awards finalist — Transforming Patient Care Using Technology (ROQAS)
- Patient Safety Awards finalist — Technology & IT to Improve Patient Safety (ROQAS)
- Sustaining Excellence in Patient Safety Award, Waikato
- SCTS / Ethicon Travelling Fellow
- SCTS & ASiT Best Cardiothoracic Research
- Wellcome Trust Research Award
- Jean Shanks Foundation Scholarship
- Rayne Award for Research in Developing Countries
Also a member of: Institute of Directors NZ · Health Informatics NZ · AI in Health Research Network NZ · NZ Artificial Intelligence Researchers Association.
Let's build better care.
For AI collaboration and advisory work, surgical referrals, speaking invitations or media enquiries. Tell me how you're reaching out and I'll get back to you.