Forget rhetoric and grand statements - show up and do the mahi, says tech boss

Wednesday, 28 January 2026

Sheehan says like many of his generation, offshore opportunities beckoned, but he and his family decided to commit to New Zealand.

Ben Sheehan is New Zealand country manager for TechnologyOne, a software-as-a-service technology firm.

What was your most formative life experience?

Growing up as the youngest of three boys, I saw firsthand what real sacrifice looks like. When my dad lost his business in the early nineties, our family had to leave Auckland to Whangārei and start again from scratch. I remember my parents working relentlessly, often 50 to 60 hours a week, just to put food on the table and give us a normal upbringing. They fed a family of five on less than $100 week and never complained. Watching that level of grit, resilience, and commitment to family at such a young age shaped how I view work, responsibility, and success. Those values still sit with me today.

Who is your most inspirational figure, and why?

Mum and Dad - as a unit. I value resilience, personal responsibility, and seeing things through, often more than rhetoric or grand statements. I’ve always had a lot of respect for people who quietly build things, solve real problems, and keep showing up when the work is hard. I think that comes directly from watching my parents do whatever was needed, year after year, to provide for our family, without complaint or excuses.

Favourite book?

Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential. I’ve always loved Bourdain’s storytelling, and his passing was a real loss to both the culinary and literary worlds. I have a bit of an obsession with food, cooking, wine and hospitality, and the honesty and edge in his writing really resonates with me.

As a leader, how would you address a toxic work culture?

Chef, entrepreneur and author Anthony Bourdain’s passing was “a real loss to both the culinary and literary worlds,” says Sheehan.

You have to deal with toxic culture early and fairly head on. It often starts with a small number of behaviours that, if ignored, can spread quickly and affect the whole team. My approach is to be clear about expectations, have honest conversations, and give people the chance to change. If that doesn’t happen, I’m comfortable making tough calls for the good of the wider team. In my experience, acting sooner rather than later leads to a much healthier culture overall.

Hardest decision ever?

Like many people in my generation, it was whether to stay in New Zealand or head offshore. The opportunities in Australia or even Singapore are always tempting, but we’ve chosen to build our life here. We have a real village around us to raise our two kids, close friends just down the road, and the beach nearby. It’s an incredibly special lifestyle, and one that we don’t take for granted.

Should billionaires exist?

Yes. If someone’s taken real risk, built something meaningful, and done the mahi, it’s fair that they’re rewarded for that. In New Zealand, many of our wealthiest families have built businesses that employ thousands of people and contribute significantly to the economy and their communities. The focus, for me, is less on the number itself and more on how that wealth is created and the responsibility that comes with it.

If I was a billionaire, I would…

Build and develop the housing we desperately need. Invest heavily into STEM education. Take chances on life-changing technology startups and lean more into AI. At TechnologyOne, we’re working closely with local and central government to operationalise AI safely within core enterprise resource planning, finance, asset management, and regulatory workflows. It’s not about experimentation at the edges but embedding intelligence into the systems that run the country.

What is the one thing that could happen in New Zealand tomorrow that would make life better for the most people?

Extend our local and central government election cycle to four or five years. A three-year term makes it incredibly hard to deliver anything truly meaningful. It drives short-term thinking across financial policy, infrastructure investment, service delivery, and even how we plan as a country. Longer terms would enable genuine long-term strategy, better capital allocation, and more disciplined execution. Also, when it comes to responsible adoption of AI across the public-sector, longer-term governance will improve productivity, forecasting, regulatory compliance, and citizen outcomes, particularly in asset-intensive and service-heavy environments like councils and central agencies. But AI impact is cumulative. It requires clean data, trusted platforms, strong governance, and time to embed into day-to-day decision-making