Complex decisions should be safer, clearer and more honest.
Pūtake Labs is a 50/50 Māori-Pākehā decision intelligence consultancy in New Zealand. We specialise in the hard work between strategy and implementation, where real people, processes, power dynamics, constraints and consequences determine whether decisions survive. Decision Visibility runs through every engagement.
Strategy is only real when it survives contact with reality.
A strategy that looks good in a presentation but collapses under operational load is not a strategy. Pūtake Labs tests ideas against evidence, people, process, power dynamics, stakeholder conditions and implementation reality before they become commitments.
That is why the work connects directly with the Insights Lab for operational reality, Engage Lab for stakeholder alignment, Change Lab for adoption realism, Retrospective Lab for decisions already made, and Decision Assurance Lab for pre-commitment review.
See the full Lab system →Principles that govern decision intelligence consultancy work.
These are not aspirations on a wall. They shape how each Pūtake Labs engagement is designed, delivered and explained.
Pūtake Labs tests plans against operating conditions, constraints, workarounds, capacity and behavioural reality.
Simulation exists so learning happens before consequences fall on staff, communities, customers or service users.
Evidence without judgement creates paralysis. Judgement without evidence creates confident mistakes. Both are required.
AI accelerates synthesis, pattern detection and scenario testing. It does not own accountability or final commitment.
Every recommendation should be traceable back to evidence, assumptions, reasoning and decision conditions.
Pūtake Labs works from New Zealand and Australia realities, including civic relationships, Te Tiriti obligations, delivery constraints and local operating conditions.
A disciplined sequence, regardless of which Labs are involved.
Every Pūtake Labs engagement starts with context and pressure. Both principals are involved from the first conversation. The Lab system is selected after the decision environment is understood, not before. Once scope is agreed, tasks are divided based on where each principal’s expertise delivers the most value.
Understand the decision, pressures, constraints, stakeholders and what would actually help. Both principals. No cost. No commitment.
Establish what is happening in the organisation and environment, replacing assumption with operational and civic truth. Decision Visibility surfaces power, people and cultural conditions alongside the structured evidence work.
Use AI-supported simulation and the Forecast Lab to test how options may land before consequences become real. The Risk Trajectory Engine traces how risks will evolve under each scenario.
Return with structured options, explicit trade-offs, risks, evidence gaps and decision conditions. Integrated findings from both practice systems in a single set of recommendations.
Where required, Pūtake Labs works alongside Changeable so reasoning stays connected to delivery.
This is not a technology story. It is a decision quality story.
Pūtake Labs uses AI to give people making decisions a clearer, more honest view of what they are deciding and what may happen next. Human judgement governs what gets tested, interprets what results mean and remains accountable for every recommendation.
AI helps compare evidence, surface patterns, test assumptions and model consequence at a pace not possible through manual review alone.
Human judgement defines the decision question, understands consequences and decides what to do with the insight.
The work is governed by the Pūtake Labs Responsible AI Policy and Privacy Policy.
A 50/50 Māori-Pākehā partnership.
Pūtake Labs is built on two equal practice systems. The Lab system provides structured pathways for decision assurance, evidence mapping, simulation and implementation. Decision Visibility provides the kaupapa Māori, Indigenous and sociological lens that runs through every engagement, revealing where decision-making power sits, how people are affected and where accountability may shift.
Both principals are involved from the first conversation. Once scope is agreed, tasks are divided based on where each principal’s expertise delivers the most value. There are no juniors, no subcontractors and no account managers.
Equal 50/50 partnership between Steve Wilson and Danielle Hodson (Decision Visibility Ltd).
Business analyst and AI strategist. 20+ years across digital transformation, process improvement, AI strategy and governance. Master of Applied Science. NZ AI Ambassador. BABOK, BPM CBOK, Lean Six Sigma, ADKAR.
Māori researcher bringing kaupapa Māori, Indigenous and sociological perspectives to decision visibility, system assurance, risk trajectory and human impact.
Changeable supports AI implementation and delivery, while Zero to AI supports individual AI capability building.
The Pūtake Labs framework draws on business analysis discipline, including the IIBA BABOK, governance discipline and iterative learning under uncertainty.
Business analyst and AI strategist. The Lab system, decision assurance, simulation, organisational analysis and implementation pathway design.
Māori researcher. Decision Visibility. Kaupapa Māori, Indigenous and sociological analysis of power, people, risk and system behaviour.
Based in the Taranaki/Whanganui region. Working across New Zealand and Australia.
Pūtake Labs works wherever the decision warrants structured analysis, simulation and assurance. Sector does not determine fit. The stakes, complexity and consequence of the decision do.
About this decision intelligence consultancy
Common questions about how Pūtake Labs works.
How is the partnership structured?
Pūtake Labs is a 50/50 Māori-Pākehā partnership. Eight Labs examine decisions from different angles of risk. Decision Visibility provides the cultural, sociological and human-impact lens across every engagement. Three methodology engines govern evidence integrity, risk tracking and recommendation quality. Both practice systems produce integrated findings and a single set of recommendations.
Who does the work?
Both principals are involved from the first conversation. Once scope and proposal are agreed, tasks are divided based on where each principal’s expertise delivers the most value. There are no juniors, no subcontractors and no account managers.
What is the Risk Trajectory Engine?
Conventional risk assessment captures risk at a point in time. The Risk Trajectory Engine tracks how risks evolve from pre-decision conditions through implementation and into long-term operation. It maps where risk transfers, identifies where multiple risks compound into systemic exposure, and detects where organisations have silently drifted from their stated risk tolerance.
Does AI make the decisions?
No. AI supports analysis, synthesis and simulation. Human leaders remain accountable for judgement, context and final commitment.
How does Pūtake Labs relate to Changeable?
Changeable is the delivery and implementation partner. Pūtake Labs focuses on decision quality and assurance before commitment. Changeable helps turn decisions into practical AI, process, automation and implementation work.
How is kaupapa Māori reflected in the work?
It affects how questions are framed, who participates, what is recognised as evidence, how relationships and obligations are understood and how successful outcomes are assessed. Decision Visibility is part of the method from the beginning, not a cultural review added at the end.
Where should we start?
Start with the decision that needs to withstand scrutiny. The first conversation costs nothing and commits nothing. Both principals. That conversation will tell everyone whether the fit is right.
Working through a decision that needs to be defensible?
If you are working through a decision that matters and need it to be defensible, implementable and grounded in reality, the Pūtake Labs system is designed for that.