Homegrown talent is helping a Hamilton IT firm grow globally.
Hiring Waikato University interns at Aware Group is just one example of how the region’s thriving IT sector is helping nurture and retain local talent.
Aware Group has been around just three years and produces artificial intelligence products and services. Aware Group also has the Microsoft contract to accelerate AI in the top 500 organisations within Asia Pacific.
The company develops technology to capture simple things. “We count and classify objects through the use of audio and video. It essentially means if you can see it with your eyes, we can capture it and count it,” says CEO Brandon Hutcheson.
“For example, from a smart city perspective, we can have a camera attached to a rubbish truck and count how many bags are on the side of the road, per house.”
In three years, the Hamilton company has successfully recruited three computer science interns from Waikato University. Mr Hutcheson says it all came about through necessity.
“We realised that as a company we had a tendency to headhunt talent from other places, which inflates salaries, and didn’t grow the talent pool.”
‘So, we had an obligation to train graduates to a degree otherwise we are never going to grow the industry in New Zealand.”
While most of their work is overseas, nearly 30 staff are in New Zealand, including all the technical staff. “That is one of the reasons that we try to encourage and develop the Waikato.”
The company invest upwards of $40-50,000 per year into every intern in their final year of study in the hope they will accept the permanent job offer at the year.
“The biggest thing that we do with interns is we pay them, and we work very flexibly around their university schedules and they can come in as much or as little as they want.”
The students have learnt on the job at Aware Group and go on to full-time employment with the firm.
Brandon likes to hire interns who can offer more than just computer skills. “Technical skill is one thing, but we also need a very high level of personal skills, optimism but mostly creativity.”
It a competitive field, offering attractive work arrangements helps keen the talent local, and employees happy.
“We allow flexible working hours, everyone has their allocation, so clients that they work with, and they are flexible to work which ever hours they want during the week to enable that.”
We also do not believe in unpaid overtime, every minute that they work, everyone is compensated.
There is one more thing, “you can get carparks for all your staff in Hamilton while in Auckland it is not the easiest.”
In September, Aware Group celebrated a move into its new premises on 164 London St, in Hamilton’s CBD.