Westcon-Comstor's IMAGINE Series 2026: Reimagining possibilities with AI
More than 320 industry leaders come together to explore how organisations can turn AI ambition into business outcomes
Celebrating its 19th year, Westcon-Comstor's IMAGINE Series has become one of New Zealand's leading technology industry events.
This year's event brought together more than 320 channel partners, technology vendors, and industry leaders to explore how organisations can harness AI while addressing the growing challenges of cybersecurity, data management, infrastructure modernisation, and digital transformation. Hosted in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, and livestreamed nationwide, IMAGINE 2026 featured technology leaders, industry experts, and customer practitioners from leading New Zealand organisations alongside global vendors and channel partners.
Across the event, discussions focused on a common theme: turning AI ambition into measurable business outcomes through strong governance, secure foundations, and ecosystem collaboration.
Opening the event, Dave Rosenberg, Managing Director, Westcon-Comstor New Zealand, highlighted four interconnected challenges facing organisations today. As AI adoption accelerates, organisations must establish clear governance frameworks to manage risks such as data leakage, compliance issues, and unintended business outcomes. Every AI initiative also introduces new considerations around cybersecurity, identity, and governance, reinforcing the need for security to be embedded into transformation programmes from the outset.
Dave also noted that competitive advantage increasingly comes from an organisation's ability to transform data into actionable insights, while ongoing supply chain and infrastructure shifts continue to reshape technology economics and create opportunities for businesses that can adapt quickly.
Industry perspectives
Reflecting on the evolving technology landscape, Dave said:
"One of the biggest risks in AI adoption is not the technology itself, but organisations launching AI initiatives without clear governance. Technology alone doesn't create value. Combining technology with expertise, adoption, and execution creates value. There has never been a more critical time for collaboration and the importance of the channel. We sit at the centre of the technology ecosystem, connecting world-class vendors and trusted partners to deliver exceptional outcomes to customers."
As Diamond Sponsor of IMAGINE 2026, Cisco reinforced the importance of secure and resilient infrastructure in enabling successful AI deployments.
Jessica McFadden, Cisco's leader for East New South Wales, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, said:
"At Cisco, we believe that AI's true potential isn't found in the models themselves, but in the secure, resilient infrastructure that powers them. As organisations move from AI experimentation to production, our partnership with Westcon-Comstor is critical in helping New Zealand organisations achieve the digital resilience they need to confidently turn AI ambition into measurable business outcomes."
Fireside chat: Moving from experimentation to outcomes
Sponsored by Cisco, the fireside chat brought together leading New Zealand technology leaders to discuss how organisations are moving beyond AI experimentation and towards tangible business value.
Featuring Thiagu Anandakrishna, Head of Technology at Woolworths New Zealand, and Ankit Gupta, Group Chief Data & AI Officer at The Warehouse Group, the discussion focused on the practical realities of scaling AI, establishing governance frameworks, improving data readiness, and delivering measurable outcomes from AI investments.
The conversation reflected one of the key themes that emerged throughout IMAGINE 2026: organisations are increasingly shifting their focus from proof-of-concept projects to operationalising AI at scale.
Key takeaways from IMAGINE 2026
AI success depends on governance and deployment
Across sessions, speakers emphasised that AI’s value comes not from access to models, but from the ability to deploy them securely, responsibly, and at scale. Organisations are moving beyond experimentation and focusing increasingly on business outcomes, operational models, and governance frameworks for agentic AI.
Security must keep pace with AI
Industry experts highlighted how AI is accelerating both innovation and cyber threats. Attackers are increasingly leveraging AI capabilities, requiring organisations to strengthen fundamentals such as identity security, vulnerability management, monitoring, resilience and incident response. Security hygiene remains the foundation of cyber defence, even in an AI-driven world.
Infrastructure is being reshaped by AI
AI is driving significant change across compute, networking, storage, and SaaS environments. Organisations are facing new demands around GPUs, cloud adoption, governance, specialist skills, and hybrid AI architectures. Success will require balancing technology investments, talent, and operational efficiency.
Partners accelerate AI outcomes
A recurring theme throughout the event was the critical role of the channel ecosystem. Research shared during the event showed that customers working with partners are more likely to deploy AI solutions into production and do so faster, reinforcing the value technology partners bring in helping organisations move from pilots to measurable business outcomes.
Curiosity remains a competitive advantage
Keynote speaker Dr Michelle Dickinson challenged attendees to look beyond the AI hype cycle and focus on practical deployment. Her message centred on identifying real business challenges, running focused experiments, and ensuring human curiosity remains at the heart of innovation.
Looking ahead: Trends shaping 2027
Several themes emerged from IMAGINE 2026 that are expected to influence technology investment and business strategy over the coming year.
AI governance becomes a boardroom priority. As AI adoption accelerates, governance discussions are moving beyond IT teams and into executive leadership and boardrooms. Managing risk, compliance, accountability, and responsible AI practices is increasingly becoming a business imperative.
Organisations move from AI pilots to production. The conversation has evolved from proving AI concepts to scaling them. Businesses are increasingly focused on embedding AI into operational processes, delivering measurable outcomes, and establishing repeatable deployment frameworks.
Identity and security emerge as critical AI foundations. As AI expands organisational attack surfaces, identity security, access management, and cyber resilience are becoming essential enablers of successful AI adoption rather than standalone security considerations.
Data readiness determines AI success. Many organisations are discovering that the quality, accessibility, and governance of their data remain among the biggest barriers to unlocking AI value. As a result, data strategies are increasingly becoming AI strategies.
Ecosystem collaboration drives faster outcomes. The pace of innovation means organisations can no longer navigate technological change alone. The role of technology partners, distributors, and vendor ecosystems continues to grow as businesses seek specialised expertise to accelerate transformation and reduce risk.
While AI is transforming every aspect of the technology landscape, IMAGINE 2026 reinforced a clear message: sustainable success requires more than technology alone. Organisations must combine governance, cybersecurity, data readiness, talent, and ecosystem collaboration to unlock meaningful business outcomes.
As one of New Zealand's leading technology distributors, Westcon-Comstor continues to play a pivotal role in connecting world-class vendors, trusted partners, and customers, helping organisations navigate emerging technologies, accelerate innovation, and turn opportunity into measurable business value. Through events such as IMAGINE, Westcon-Comstor remains committed to fostering industry collaboration and driving conversations that will help shape New Zealand's technology landscape in the years ahead.
