Helping businesses work smarter not harder with AI.
Harkness AI at a glance
- Harkness AI is a Christchurch-based AI consultancy and fractional AI engineering service working with small and medium businesses across New Zealand and Australia.
- Services cover hands-on AI training for teams, AI strategy consulting, custom AI development and automation, and ongoing fractional AI support.
- Founded and led by AI engineer Blake Harkness, who has helped 25+ businesses and built 50+ automations.
- Blake has published 150+ educational AI videos and runs AI workshops and events across New Zealand.
Trusted by SMBs across New Zealand and Australia
Contributing to AI governance & industry standards
Three phases to AI implementation.
Most businesses know they need AI but don’t know where to start. We take you from zero to implemented with a proven three-phase approach.
- Get your staff trained on AI tools and thinking
- Identify high-impact use cases in your business
- We develop and implement them as your fractional AI team
How we help businesses go from exploring to implementing
Results from the last 12 months
Setup & TrainingSite Safety - Claude Setup & TrainingCase Study
Set Claude up and trained them to run it - drafting invoices in Xero, scheduling the calendar, managing email, and researching new leads.
Team TrainingTrap and Trigger - Team AI 101 WorkshopCase Study
Ran a full-day AI 101 workshop for the whole team at their Upper Hutt office - practical AI foundations, hands-on with the tools, and use cases mapped to their day-to-day work.
Platform BuildPaagaa - Referral ToolCase Study
Built a referral network platform for financial advisers across NZ and Australia. No more scattered emails and not knowing if a referral has been actioned - full tracking, real-time messaging, and visibility over every handoff.
Training & SetupClaude AI Brain WorkshopCase Study
Set up four business owners with their own Claude AI brain - a 24/7 employee with full context of their business - then trained them to automate tasks and keep building on it themselves.
Organising & speaking at AI events across New Zealand
All across New Zealand - running workshops, meetups, and educational events to help Kiwis get ahead with AI.
Claude MCP Event - Christchurch
Graduating into AI - Hamilton
Young Kiwis in AI - Auckland
150+ AI Educational Videos
AI & Engineering - ChristchurchWhat Our Clients Say
Blake has become our go-to for everything AI in our business. He started by helping us set up Claude across the business and training our team to actually use it well, then built out a range of connections between our AI systems and the apps we run day to day, both native integrations and custom ones like our PayHero setup that we had struggled to get working ourselves.
Beyond the technical builds, Blake has been a genuine sounding board. He talks through our ideas with us, gives honest advice on what is worth doing, and steers us away from things that will not pay off. He has built us AI tools for reporting and project tracking that have made a real difference to how we operate.
What stands out is how easy he is to deal with. He keeps us in the loop, hits his timelines, and hands over tools that work along with clear instructions so we can run with them. He knows his stuff and gets things done.
We would happily recommend Blake and Harkness AI to any business looking to get real value out of AI.
Blake is an outstanding collaborator.
He is exceptionally well-suited to work with businesses of any size - whether small startups or large organisations. Blake has a unique ability to identify core challenges and ideas within a company and transform them into effective solutions. His expertise in AI, combined with his excellent people skills, enables him to deliver results that are both highly functional and cost-effective.
I highly recommend working with Blake.
Comments people have left
Recently completed a half day course with Blake building my Claude Brain. The course was insightful & practical. Running 2 companies I know this is going to help me claw back some time on a lot of the repetitive tasks. Thank you Blake, excellent value and advice.
Blake has become our go-to for everything AI in our business - from setting up Claude and training our team, to building integrations like our PayHero setup that we had struggled with ourselves. He is a genuine sounding board, hits his timelines, and hands over tools that work with clear instructions. We would happily recommend Blake and Harkness AI to any business looking to get real value out of AI.
Blake brought a solid technology & AI perspective to our engagement at BMC. He clearly knows his space and was easy to work with, the conversations he sparked were useful in helping us get clearer on what we actually needed from a systems / AI standpoint. Thanks again.
Blake took the time to understand our vision and explained the technical side in a way that was easy to follow, making the whole process simple and stress-free. He took a complex idea and turned it into something practical, clear and user-friendly. Great work, great communication, and a great experience from start to finish.
Nice work Blake. A great demo of how simple it is these days to get underway with chatbots.
Blake is an absolute gem to work with! When I was drowning in the deep end trying to implement our Podcast Portal, Blake threw me a lifeline. He became an A+ collaborator who made the whole experience actually enjoyable.
Finding alternative products with Glow4Less has helped me save money. It was easy as to use.
Blake is an outstanding collaborator. He is exceptionally well-suited to work with businesses of any size - whether small startups or large organisations. Blake has a unique ability to identify core challenges and transform them into effective solutions.
Super cool demo, Blake - I love how you broke this down so fast and clean.
Hey Blake, thanks for sharing this, really helpful for my son doing NCEA1.
Blake exemplifies what makes a great tech-sector professional: the ability to combine strong technical expertise with excellent soft skills. He pairs high-level technical competence and sharp critical thinking with outstanding collaboration and communication abilities.
Amazing man I love these kind of tutorials
You are so good at what you do and so generous with your time and findings!
You are an truly inspirational young guy, and you've got a lot ahead of you! Can't wait to see you transform NZ!!!
Firstly it was lovely collaborating with Blake through my podcast initiative 'The Tech'o'Space Podcast', he surely has set the standard high when it comes to innovation in the IT field.
Recently completed a half day course with Blake building my Claude Brain. The course was insightful & practical. Running 2 companies I know this is going to help me claw back some time on a lot of the repetitive tasks. Thank you Blake, excellent value and advice.
Blake has become our go-to for everything AI in our business - from setting up Claude and training our team, to building integrations like our PayHero setup that we had struggled with ourselves. He is a genuine sounding board, hits his timelines, and hands over tools that work with clear instructions. We would happily recommend Blake and Harkness AI to any business looking to get real value out of AI.
Blake brought a solid technology & AI perspective to our engagement at BMC. He clearly knows his space and was easy to work with, the conversations he sparked were useful in helping us get clearer on what we actually needed from a systems / AI standpoint. Thanks again.
Blake took the time to understand our vision and explained the technical side in a way that was easy to follow, making the whole process simple and stress-free. He took a complex idea and turned it into something practical, clear and user-friendly. Great work, great communication, and a great experience from start to finish.
Nice work Blake. A great demo of how simple it is these days to get underway with chatbots.
Blake is an absolute gem to work with! When I was drowning in the deep end trying to implement our Podcast Portal, Blake threw me a lifeline. He became an A+ collaborator who made the whole experience actually enjoyable.
Finding alternative products with Glow4Less has helped me save money. It was easy as to use.
Blake is an outstanding collaborator. He is exceptionally well-suited to work with businesses of any size - whether small startups or large organisations. Blake has a unique ability to identify core challenges and transform them into effective solutions.
Super cool demo, Blake - I love how you broke this down so fast and clean.
Hey Blake, thanks for sharing this, really helpful for my son doing NCEA1.
Blake exemplifies what makes a great tech-sector professional: the ability to combine strong technical expertise with excellent soft skills. He pairs high-level technical competence and sharp critical thinking with outstanding collaboration and communication abilities.
Amazing man I love these kind of tutorials
You are so good at what you do and so generous with your time and findings!
You are an truly inspirational young guy, and you've got a lot ahead of you! Can't wait to see you transform NZ!!!
Firstly it was lovely collaborating with Blake through my podcast initiative 'The Tech'o'Space Podcast', he surely has set the standard high when it comes to innovation in the IT field.
Latest Insights
Stop falling behind. Start implementing.
Whether you need consulting, development, or training - I’ll help you find the right path. Businesses across Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington, and all of New Zealand are already using AI to get ahead.
Last updated 17 June 2026