SaaSpocalypse Now is live — plus what’s next for Saas?
TL;DR: This month is all about what’s changing in SaaS — and what to do about it. Register for SaaSpocalypse Now 2026 in Wellington, read our new Manifesto for Digital Exports, and get across a strong run of practical GTM and AI events: compounding growth channels, GTM Engineering, and AI-assisted selling workflows.
🎉SaaSpocalypse Now is Live!
On Thursday 24 September, KiwiSaaS is bringing 300 SaaS people to Hnry Stadium in Wellington for SaaSpocalypse Now 2026 — one big, practical community-run day on what it takes to move to the new SaaS.
This won’t be a sit-and-nod conference. We’ll be sharing what we’re seeing across the market: new strategies, new operating models, what leading vs lagging looks like and what’s changing across AI, GTM, product, engineering, people and ops. You’ll then have space to chew it over with your peers.
You’ll spend most of the day in functional streams (Marketing, Sales & GTM, Product & Engineering, and People, Ops & Leadership) so you’re learning alongside people who share your context and your constraints.
Plus: Nicole Retter from PAM as MC, drinks and nibbles, stadium tours, your slides on the big screen, a giant inflatable football charity match (H&S permitting) and the first ever Wellington Total Bad SaaS Awards.
There are 40 launch-special tickets at $299, then prices climb. Don’t muck about. Will you and your team come?
Register here
Digital exports are working. Let’s back them!
New Zealand’s digital export sector is growing faster than expected and the opportunity is already bigger than current projections suggest.
KiwiSaaS’s A Manifesto for Digital Exports, developed by our Digital Exporters Working Group, calls for practical, non-partisan policy support to help proven companies scale from Aotearoa, not away from it.
Our manifesto focuses on three practical priorities:
Recognising digital exports as a priority export sector
Unlocking growth capital so more of the upside stays onshore
Aligning R&D tax incentives with international benchmarks, recognising software product development as a core export engine.
This is not a call for subsidies. It’s a call to back what’s already working — with better recognition, smarter policy settings, and stronger coordination to help globally ambitious software companies grow from here.
Read manifesto
Compounding growth through GTM channels
Members workshop
Many scaling SaaS companies hit the same GTM ceiling: paid search still works, but CAC rises, outbound gets harder, and channels run in parallel instead of compounding. In this private workshop for large KiwiSaaS members, Adrian Cordiner from Digital Rhinos, joined by Tim Nichols from Proxi, will unpack the Compounding Growth System — a practical framework for designing GTM channels that feed each other over time.
Designed for CEOs, founders and CMOs at B2B SaaS companies with $5M+ ARR, this in-person working session will explore why growth gets stuck, how demand creation and demand capture connect, and where AI and human judgement can sharpen the system. Attendees will leave with a practical structural change to make in their own GTM engine.
Thursday 30 July | 9:00am - 12:00pm | Auckland | In-person | Free
Register
GTM Engineering: automate, scale + win
Public workshop
GTM Engineering is reshaping how the world’s fastest-growing companies go to market — Canva, Stripe, Ramp and OpenAI are already doing it. Silicon Valley can’t stop talking about it… and here in Aotearoa, it’s barely on the radar (yet).
Join Paul Zaruchevsky (Wedge GTM) for a public, in-person workshop in Wellington where we’ll unpack what GTM Engineering is, why it’s emerging now, what the stack looks like, and real GTM plays you can implement to generate more pipeline without scaling headcount.
Friday 14 August | 9:30–11:30am | Taiawa Wellington Tech Hub (Vic Uni), Rutherford House, 33 Bunny St, Wellington | Free
Register here
AI-assisted selling show & tell
Public webinar
Join us for a practical 45-minute AI show-and-tell for SaaS GTM teams, featuring live demos from Glen Jones (Carepatron) and Dulan Perera (Re-Leased). They’ll share real workflows being used in production across prospecting, outbound personalisation, qualification, discovery prep and follow-up — with time for Q&A on what’s working, what’s been dropped, and what’s worth testing.
Wednesday 19 August | 1:00-1:45pm | Online | Free
Register
Now hiring: fresh roles at KiwiSaaS companies
Currently, two open jobs at AoFrio, 10 at EROAD, 30 at Gallagher, 7 at Serko, 19 roles at Tracksuit, 4 at Kindo and 9 at Kami.
From bolt-on to backbone: SaaStr on AI in SaaS
At SaaStr, the message was clear: AI is no longer something SaaS companies can tack on as an extra feature. It’s becoming the backbone of how products are built, sold and operated.
Charlie Haddrell, NZTE’s Trade Commissioner in San Francisco, was on the ground with a group of Kiwi SaaS companies and shares what he heard from teams already operationalising AI across GTM, workflows and infrastructure. From AI-powered prospecting stacks to call intelligence, CRM loops and the growing pressure from US buyers for faster ROI, his read is practical and timely for any NZ SaaS company selling offshore.
The takeaway? AI won’t fix a broken go-to-market motion — but for teams with clear ICPs, strong data and a willingness to rebuild around speed-to-value, it can change the shape of the whole machine.
Read the full blog
Auckland-based brothers Toby Cox (Geodde) and Seb Cox (Good Authority) have launched a new video series, Token Consumption, exploring what’s really happening inside the AI ecosystem.
Ngā mihi nui,
David Clearwater
Executive Director, KiwiSaaS