Educators, not consultants
Human-centred AI education for real workplaces
Avocado AI is a New Zealand-based education company helping organisations build practical, safe AI capability through leadership alignment, team learning, and ongoing support. We work with organisations across New Zealand and Australia.
What we're here to do
We help people and organisations learn how to use AI well.
That means building practical capability, not just awareness. We focus on confidence, judgement, safe use, and the habits that help AI become genuinely useful in real work.
Our goal is not to create dependency. It is to help people and organisations become more capable over time.
We teach through live practice, real workflows, and reinforcement over time so capability sticks in real work.
The people behind Avocado AI
Melissa Tang
Facilitator
Melissa helps teams use AI in practical, human-centred ways that save time, streamline workflows, and support better decision-making. She is focused on making AI work for people, not the other way around.
When she’s not guiding teams through AI, she teaches at a local dance studio and works closely with young people and children.
Jimmy Rainey
Facilitator
Jimmy brings creativity and education together to help teams use AI with more clarity, confidence, and practical value in day-to-day work. He focuses on making AI accessible, useful, and grounded in real business needs.
Mark Chirnside
Facilitator
Mark is an educator at heart, helping people learn with confidence in real-world settings. Alongside his work with Avocado AI, he owns Crafted Coffee Company and is also a composer, bringing a practical and creative approach to the way he teaches.
Outside work, he is usually close to coffee, music, or creative projects that bring people together.
Will Payne
Business Development Manager
Will helps organisations explore the right starting point and understand how Avocado AI’s capability-building approach could fit their team.
He loves spinning tunes, playing any instrument, or catching a wave with his dog Rocko.
Tom Harris
Co-founder & AI adoption specialist
Tom brings a background in psychology, research, user experience, ethics, and philosophy to helping people adapt, think critically, and navigate change well.
In his spare time he’s playing music with Yurt Party and throwing tennis balls for his pooches.
Cowan Henderson
Co-founder & Partnerships lead
Cowan has spent more than a decade helping businesses adopt new technology, drive growth, and navigate change. With a background in business development, strategy, and digital adoption, he focuses on making AI practical and actionable.
Outside work, you’ll usually find him around music, the beach, or people.
What we believe
Good adoption is a people job
Most AI rollouts don't stall because of the technology. They stall because people aren't confident, the habits aren't there, and leaders haven't set clear expectations. That's the gap we work in.
Tech should serve people
We believe AI should help people think better, work better, and free up more time for the things that matter.
Capability is built over time
Real capability doesn't come from one workshop or one clever prompt. Most AI training fails because it stops too soon. Ours is designed to keep going - through practice, reinforcement, and continuous learning that fits around real work.
Want to see how this works in practice?