taiao
kawiti
I help good ideas become really good, and then make them happen
I help good ideas become really good, and then make them happen
What I do
Kia ora, I'm Taiao (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine), based in Wellington. I started out behind a camera, got into software, and these days I'm leading project delivery. I’m all about the warm fuzzies and want to use my skills to make the world a better place – for Māori, disadvantaged communities, and humans everywhere. Right now that looks like building tech literacy and delivering kaupapa centred tools with Āhau.
Right now I'm contracting as the delivery lead for Āhau, a kaupapa Māori whakapapa app. I'm the main developer on new features and maintenance, and I also look after milestones and mentor our junior dev.
When I came on we had a mountain of legacy code to understand and no one who already did. So I did a technical audit and worked out what we actually needed before we built anything else. That gave everyone the same starting point.
I proposed and stepped into a delivery lead role, with a clear plan and decision points so the team always knows what's next and why.
I pair, review and coach our junior dev, and hand over more as their skills grow. The goal is a team that doesn't need me in every decision.
I'm planning our work around milestones we can actually show and funding goals, rather than progress buried in tickets.
Three years as a software developer and a nerd about it for much longer. I've shipped Rails features in the energy sector, kept payments running on a mainframe, and I build my own tools on Linux for fun.
Before software, I spent years shooting and editing for iwi organisations and small businesses. A lot of how I deliver projects now I learned there.
You get the best footage when everyone's comfortable. So I turn up, listen, and understand before deciding what to make. I start every project that way, whether it's a video or an app.
The little things matter (and bother me) the most in the final stretch – framing, sound, border radius – and I’ve got a keen eye for them.
The story needs to be coherent. Every endeavour needs a beginning, a turn and an end – and a way to get there.
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