Lee Timutimu

Lee Timutimu (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Te Rangi, Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou) is a candidate in the Doctor of Indigenous Development and Advancement at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, where his research focuses on global Indigenous leadership in AI. As Founder and CEO of Awa Digital he leads AI governance and enterprise architecture work in commercial settings, including agentic AI systems operating over regulated workflows with human oversight, audit trails and Māori data sovereignty designed in rather than added later. He is a member of the Kāhui Māori AI Forum NZ, and founder of the Māori AI Wānanga kaupapa, which takes AI capability directly to whānau, hapū and marae. He is also the claimant on Wai 3311, the Māori digital equity claim before the Waitangi Tribunal.