Alex Hiramatsu

Senior Technology Project Manager, AI Acceleration Centre

After two decades in corporate and consulting, Alex Hiramatsu made a deliberate move to something with more purpose. Now at AUT's AI Acceleration Centre, he works on projects that touch thousands of people daily and finds the impact impossible to miss.

What's your role and how long have you been at AUT?

I'm a senior project manager at the AI Acceleration Centre. I've been at AUT since February 2025.

What made you choose AUT, and what made you stay?

It was a deliberate move out of corporate and consulting. After roughly two decades in that world, working for an institution whose purpose is to serve the community pulled me across. The work itself is what's kept me: interesting AI projects at the AI Acceleration Centre, meeting and working with new people all the time.

What has surprised you most about working here?

How decentralised decision-making is compared with corporate. The pace is different, decisions are more considered, and each faculty has a real level of autonomy and empowerment you wouldn't see in most large organisations.

When did you last think: this is why I do this job?

Just recently, thinking about the imminent launch of an internal AI tool we've been piloting for almost a year. It will land in front of all our 4,000 staff. Being part of something that touches that many people's daily work is exactly why I made the move.

What does working here let you do that you couldn't do anywhere else?

I can see the immediate impact our work has on university students' lives, which I never really got in corporate consulting. AUT also actively supports me to study other subjects alongside the role, in a way that’s actually sustainable. That combination is rare.