Advanced AI for Marketers (NZ)

Advanced AI Training for New Zealand Marketers

This advanced course takes you from a casual user to a strategic orchestrator—teaching you to build autonomous AI systems, manage multi-agent workflows, and navigate New Zealand’s unique regulatory landscape. It is designed to develop a new breed of professional: the Comb-shaped marketer. Rather than having just one area of deep expertise, you will build multiple deep “verticals” in Strategic Architecture, Operational Engineering, and Cognitive Synthesis, all connected by a broad understanding of the modern marketing mix. This ensures you have the technical depth to build your own tools while maintaining the strategic vision to lead an AI-first marketing department in 2026.

Mapping to the NZ AI Marketing Capability Framework

This course has been specifically engineered to align with the NZ AI Marketing Capability Framework. This objective benchmark ensures that your learning is not just about using tools, but about mastering the three pillars of modern marketing excellence: establishing a secure and ethical foundation (Strategic Architecture), building the autonomous systems that drive growth (Operational Engineering), and turning complex AI outputs into actionable wisdom (Cognitive Synthesis).

Who should take this course?

This advanced programme is specifically designed for experienced marketing professionals, digital leads, and brand managers who are ready to transition from being a tool “user” to an “orchestrator” of autonomous AI systems.

  • Prerequisite Knowledge: Participants should possess working knowledge of generative AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Midjourney), basic prompt engineering, and AI applications across content and social media.

  • Strategic Leaders: Ideal for marketers tasked with leading AI transformation, building ROI cases for AI investments, and managing organisational change.

  • Career-Driven Professionals: Designed for those looking to secure the “AI Premium” in their salaries and position themselves for emerging leadership roles.

  • NZ-Based Practitioners: Essential for those who must operate responsibly within the NZ regulatory and cultural context, specifically regarding the Privacy Act and Māori Data Sovereignty.

COURSE CONTENTS

Lesson 1 — The Shift from GenAI to Agentic AI (The Orchestrator Mindset)

This lesson explores the shift toward AI systems that don’t just respond to prompts, but perceive, reason, and take action independently.

  • The Orchestrator’s Mindset: Moving from “making” to “managing” PhD-level AI interns.

  • Service as Software: Understanding the shift from buying tools to building AI agents that perform the work.

  • Guardrails: Designing “human approval” and safety protocols into autonomous workflows.

  • Practical Lab: Audit tasks to identify 5 high-volume activities suitable for agent automation.

NZAIMC Framework Alignment: Addresses Strategic Architecture by establishing the foundational mindset and governance for autonomous systems.

Lesson 2 — Context Engineering & Advanced Prompt Systems

Move beyond simple prompts into “Context Engineering”—providing the AI with the brand memory and environmental variables required for accuracy.

  • Reasoning Frameworks: Using Chain-of-Thought, Tree-of-Thought, and ReAct patterns to improve AI problem-solving.

  • Structured Outputs: Designing JSON-style layouts and data tables for machine readability.

  • Brand Voice “Locks”: Creating immutable context files that prevent “hallucinations”.

  • Practical Lab: Build a reusable Campaign Prompt Pack with a fixed “Context Vault” for your brand.

NZAIMC Framework Alignment: Addresses Strategic Architecture through guardrail design and the engineering of brand-safe contexts.

Lesson 3 — Personal Software & Vibe Coding

Learn to develop your own personal software and “speak code” using natural language.

  • Vibe Coding Fundamentals: Using plain English to instruct AI to write functional Python or JavaScript scripts.

  • Computational Thinking: Decomposing marketing problems into logic steps (Perceive → Reason → Act).

  • Building “Mini-Apps”: Creating scripts that solve specific workflow annoyances (e.g., data scrapers).

  • Practical Lab: Build a web scraper script that monitors a competitor’s pricing page and alerts you to changes.

NZAIMC Framework Alignment: Addresses Operational Engineering by teaching the creation of “Personal Software” for workflow efficiency.

Lesson 4 — AI Engine Optimisation (AEO)

Learn how to ensure your brand is cited and recommended by AI assistants (Perplexity, ChatGPT, Gemini) as they replace traditional search engines.

  • From SEO to AEO: How LLMs index brand information differently than traditional search.

  • Brand Visibility in AI: Strategies to ensure your brand is part of the AI’s training data and retrieval context.

  • Optimising for Citations: Technical tactics to become a “preferred source” for AI responses.

  • Practical Lab: Conduct an “AI Audit” to see how major LLMs describe your brand and identify gaps.

NZAIMC Framework Alignment: Addresses Operational Engineering through Discovery Optimisation for the next generation of search.

Lesson 5 — Competitive Intelligence & Market Research

Deploy AI agents to monitor competitors and synthesize intelligence into actionable insights.

  • Ethics & Legality: What you can and cannot monitor in the NZ context.

  • Competitive Monitoring Agents: Automated tracking of pricing, messaging, and product launches.

  • Synthesis & Reporting: Moving from raw data to executive briefings.

  • Practical Lab: Build a system that monitors 3-5 competitor websites and generates a weekly summary.

NZAIMC Framework Alignment: Addresses Operational Engineering by deploying autonomous agents for high-value research.

Lesson 6 — Data Literacy: Quantitative Reasoning, Not Vibes

Data literacy is no longer optional; learn to ensure your AI is fed high-quality data.

  • Data Hygiene: What “clean” marketing data actually means in practice.

  • Interrogating AI Insights: Avoiding false conclusions and invented causality by providing real-world context.

  • Practical Lab: Create a Measurement-to-Actions Map (KPI → data sources → checks → decisions).

NZAIMC Framework Alignment: Addresses Cognitive Synthesis by training the human ability to interrogate AI insights with quantitative reasoning.

Lesson 7 — Agentic Performance Marketing

Automate campaign iteration and creative testing with strict budget guardrails.

  • Budget Control: Stop-loss rules, anomaly alerts, and “no surprise spend” protocols.

  • Human-in-the-Loop: Designing experiments where AI assists but humans still govern spend.

  • Practical Lab: Develop a Performance Optimisation Playbook with automated budget guardrails.

NZAIMC Framework Alignment: Addresses Cognitive Synthesis through dynamic optimisation and human-governed budget systems.

Lesson 8 — NZ Data Sovereignty, Privacy & Ethics

Master critical NZ legal and cultural competencies for AI practitioners.

  • The Privacy Act (IPP3A): Understanding rules around “indirect collection” by agents.

  • Māori Data Sovereignty: Principles of Te Mana Raraunga and the ethics of sensitive iwi data.

  • Sovereign AI: When to use local/private models vs. global public models.

  • Practical Lab: Audit an AI workflow for IPP3A compliance and draft a Data Governance Protocol.

NZAIMC Framework Alignment: Addresses Strategic Architecture through ethical stewardship and regulatory compliance.

Lesson 9 — Advanced Strategy & Hyper-Personalisation

Move from segments to individuals at scale using AI decisioning engines.

  • Hyper-Personalisation Architecture: Real-time data → AI decision → dynamic content.

  • Local Discovery: Using AI tools to vet NZ-specific creators and influencers at scale.

  • Practical Lab: Design a “Hyper-Local” strategy using agents to personalise assets for NZ regions.

NZAIMC Framework Alignment: Addresses Cognitive Synthesis by managing complex 1:1 customer journeys at scale.

Lesson 10 — Strategic Implementation & The Future

Learn to lead AI transformation and position yourself for the evolving landscape.

  • ROI Modelling: Building the business case for AI investments beyond simple “time saved”.

  • Change Management: Overcoming resistance and building AI literacy in teams.

  • The 90-Day Plan: Moving from audit to pilot to scale.

  • Practical Lab: Draft a 90-day implementation plan for an AI-first marketing initiative.

NZAIMC Framework Alignment: Addresses Strategic Architecture through value modelling and change management strategy.

Lesson 11 — The Future of the Interface

As agents navigate the web for us, learn how the marketing interface changes.

  • Conversational AI: Building intelligent chatbots that qualify leads and drive conversions.

  • Agent-to-Agent Marketing: Preparing for a future where brand agents sell to consumer agents.

  • Practical Lab: Build an AI-powered chatbot designed to solve a specific customer friction point.

NZAIMC Framework Alignment: Addresses Operational Engineering through the creation of autonomous customer-facing interfaces.

Capstone Project

Design and implement a complete AI system for your business that demonstrates strategic thinking, technical execution (multi-agent system), and compliance with NZ privacy and Māori Data Sovereignty.

Expected Proficiency Level at Completion

Upon successful completion of the course and Capstone Project, students will have moved from NZAIMC Framework Level 2 (Practitioner) to Level 4 (Orchestrator). You will possess the skills to architect autonomous systems, govern them within the NZ legal framework, and lead high-level AI transformation within any organisation.

WHAT CUSTOMERS ARE SAYING ABOUT OUR COURSES & WORKSHOPS

Feedback from previous digital marketing training course and workshop participants:

  • It is great that we have managed to get an external perspective on marketing in the digital space – your expertise in this area is greatly appreciated. – Hazel T.
  • I really enjoyed the [Digital Marketing Workshop] today and got a lot out of it  – Nikki H.
  • Thanks for a great [Digital Marketing] session yesterday, really enjoyed it and learnt lots – Izi W
  • “this was the best professional development course I have done in many years” – Mark R, senior Agency Exec responsible for social media
  • “thought the information within was outstanding” – Ed P, General Manager
  • “What I loved was that I started with a fairly rudimentary understanding of social media but have learned a lot – including where to find more information as I need it.” – Fiona W, Marketing Manager
  • “I found it relevant, informative, topical, insightful and a bloody good read. It’s never evangelical, too techy, patronising, assumes that you know too much or too little about digital and has a warm sense of humour in the communication throughout which helped faciliate the learning process for me.” — Adrienne B, new media senior executive
  • “Thanks for pointing me in the direction of this course! It’s been extremely enlightening” — Shayne P, design agency director
  • “Rapt with what I have seen of the course” — Julia R, fashion editor
  • “I’m really enjoying the course – learning a lot – and I know the two friends I persuaded to join us are also loving it.” — Lavinia C, designer
  • “Am thoroughly enjoying the content!” – Kara B, magazine co-ordinator
  • “I was already engaging with social media and have been doing so for about 6 years or so. But, did I know how to use social media in a marketing and business sense? No, I simply did not. This course was a great way to show me how to do that.” — Sheryl K, online marketer

 

Your instructor for this course is Michael Carney, one of New Zealand’s most experienced digital marketing practitioners and educators. As the founder and director of Netmarketing Courses, Michael has dedicated the last fifteen years to researching, creating, and delivering practical, relevant online training designed specifically for the Aotearoa market. His mission is to empower Kiwi organisations and marketers with the skills they need to thrive in a competitive digital landscape. To date, he has trained over 3,000 students through partnerships with leading industry bodies including the NZ Marketing Association, NZ Retailers Association, Tourism Industry Association NZ, and Hospitality NZ.

Course participants range from absolute beginners just starting to come to grips with digital marketing through to senior marketing professionals looking for Continuing Professional Development and seeking to stay up-to-date with the latest changes in the ever-evolving digital environment. Specific courses are offered for organisations of all sizes, from solopreneurs and small businesses through to local and central government bodies and large corporate businesses.

Michael has practical, hands-on experience with all aspects of digital marketing, from website creation to social media advertising, from strategic guidance and trend analysis to thought leadership. He has been online since 1987 and involved with digital marketing in all its aspects since the mid-1990s. He was an early adopter of Generative AI when ChatGPT launched in late 2022, and now has extensive experience with using AI for research, brainstorming, content creation, design, video creation and editing and what’s become known as “vibe coding”, using AI to develop web applications.

Michael’s expertise is built on a career spanning more than four decades, during which he has developed marketing and advertising strategies for many of New Zealand’s most iconic brands. His extensive client list includes The Warehouse, ANZ Bank, Lion Breweries, Griffins Foods, Sony New Zealand, Honda New Zealand, and Heinz Wattie. This deep, hands-on experience at the highest levels of the industry ensures that every course is grounded in real-world application, not just academic theory. He has held senior strategic roles in major advertising agencies, including National Media Director at HKM Advertising and Strategic Planning Director for The Media Counsel. He currently also is Digital and Strategic Director of the creative agency Good Gravy. 

Beyond his client work, Michael is a respected thought leader, published author, and industry contributor. He wrote the bestselling book “Trade Me Success Secrets,” which sold out its first printing in just six weeks, and has ghost-written several other business books on topics like digital transformation. For years, he chaired the Network of Digital Marketers for the NZ Marketing Association and he has been a regular magazine columnist for Marketing Magazine and other titles. This unique combination of in-the-trenches experience, proven teaching ability, and strategic insight makes him the ideal guide to help you master digital marketing.

 

HOW THE COURSE WORKS

This course is browser-based and can be accessed through Chrome, Firefox or other web browsers.

The course is a blend of text, images and videos.

Each section includes recommended Action Steps and Exercises to help you implement what you have learned.

Individual advice and assistance is available if required from the course tutor, Michael Carney, typically in the first instance via email.

 

OUTCOMES

Once you complete the course, we provide you with a certificate of Level 4 NZAIMC Framework achievement. We can also provide certified CPD hours if required.

We also invite you to join our ongoing Continuing Professional Development program, which provides continuing weekly training to keep up to date with the latest developments in digital marketing.

 

TIMING

The next course begins on Thursday 22 January, 2026.

We release course lessons every week, on Thursdays (we operate on a timed-release timetable so that we can ensure the content is as up-to-date as possible, since AI marketing changes so much).

We typically recommend that you allow an average of 2-3 hours per lesson — less in the early stages of the course, more in latter stages as we explore more detailed topics.

Once you have access to a course lesson, you can take it whenever you wish, anytime 24/7. There is no requirement to complete the course over any particular timeframe.

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INVESTMENT

This eleven-part online training course is available for $1297+GST. However we offer an EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT of $100 — pay just $1197+GST for bookings received by the end of Thursday 15 January, 2026. Bookings are confirmed on receipt of payment. We can raise an invoice in advance if you need it.

To reserve your place in this course, please click to enrol:

Enrol Now

If you need more information, or require an invoice in advance, please send an email to info@netmarketingcourses.co.nz with your requirements.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

You’ll receive our emailed confirmation of your booking. Then on the first day of the course we’ll follow up with details of your Login and Password, along with an Enrolment Key for the Advanced AI for Marketers online training course.