A trailblazing businessman will receive one of the most prestigious awards from the University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka at this weekend's graduation ceremony.
Uluomato'otua Saulaulu Aiono will be presented an Honorary Doctor of Commerce and give the graduation address on Saturday.
Mr Aiono was New Zealand's first Pasifika person to earn a Master of Business Administration (MBA), graduating from Otago in 1986, and is now a leader in the Pacific Island community.
He is the founder of COGITA®, a software technologies company that initially specialised in resource planning software for blue-chip manufacturing and distribution companies. These days, COGITA is an investment and holding company. It is the angel investor for a Kiwi biotech startup in the field of continuous non-invasive blood glucose measurement which if solved would help millions of diabetics.
Mr Aiono was shocked to learn about his honorary degree and kept thinking "but I haven't done anything".
"Another thought that crossed my mind was 'I hope they've got the right person'," he says.
Mr Aiono says his time at Otago was happy and formative for both him and his wife, Margaret Brown. Four of their granddaughters – Margi, Avi, Eli and Sia – will be at the graduation ceremony with their parents Tisi and Loligi, and a special Aunt Pou.
"Margaret and I learned a lot and made lifelong friends in the people we met in business and my fellow students; undergraduate and postgraduate," he says.
"Despite my early scepticism about the value of tertiary education, it has made an incredible difference to me in entrepreneurship and community service."
Otago Vice-Chancellor Grant Robertson says Mr Aiono has created an impressive legacy in both business and philanthropy.
"Not only has he founded and run an internationally successful business, but he continues to use his knowledge for the betterment of the community. He has paved the way for so many people."
Mr Aiono is a Samoan-Kiwi Christian born in Samoa's capital, Apia. As the eldest child, with his brother Punipuniolo Mulinu'u, and baby sister Vinepa Silupevaelei, Mr Aiono was brought to New Zealand by his parents, Mr Fatu Aiono and Mrs Faifuaina Seumanutafa Aiono.
His passion for entrepreneurship started as a boy, when he and his brother would climb the gates into the Alexandra Park racecourse in Epsom before church to collect empty Coca Cola and Fanta bottles to sell to the local dairy.
He graduated from Otago with a Bachelor of Science in 1981, becoming New Zealand's first Pasifika Computer Science graduate.
He returned in 1984 to begin his MBA studies, during which time he founded COGITA, making him New Zealand's first Pasifika person to start a high technology enterprise. He, Margaret, and their executives grew the COGITA business internationally until its 2012 sale to Silicon Valley company Epicor.
Throughout his career, Mr Aiono has contributed, directly and indirectly, to the New Zealand community, its organisations, and boards.
This includes roles in the Pacific Island Chamber of Commerce, Alliance Health Plus, the Auckland Regional Economic Development Forum, and Auckland University of Technology, Habitat for Humanity Northern Region, Rise Up Academy, The Cause Collective, and the Salvation Army.
Mr Aiono was ministerially appointed as Chairman of the National Pacific Radio Trust, Board Member of the Pacific Business Trust, and Council Member of the Manukau Institute of Technology.
To honour and recognise his community service and business achievement, he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2012, inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame in 2022, and became an Auckland Grammar School Distinguished Alumnus Augusta Award recipient in 2023.
Mr Aiono says his MBA opened business doors and gave people a "legitimate reason" to take him seriously.
"Forty-seven years ago, Otago University changed the future for my wife and me – and the lives of thousands of people over that time in the fields of manufacturing, distribution, health, housing, education, biotechnology, and social welfare."
For example, in March, the Government chose The Cause Collective to create the new Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency for Pasifika families in New Zealand. It is now incorporated and has begun work.
"The Otago MBA is the original key to my know-how and confidence, subsequently grown over many years, leading to the formation of different organisations including The Cause Collective. As a result, in the next six to twelve years up to 238,000 Pasifika lives will be changed by this new Commissioning Agency.
"So, thank you, thank you, University of Otago."
