Head of Google NZ Caroline Rainsford/ / Dean Purcell
Down a bland corridor on the 27th floor of downtown Auckland's PwC tower is the door to Google New Zealand.
It's an unassuming entry for such a high-profile company — one that would go unnoticed if you didn't know it was there. And for many New Zealanders, the fact that Google even has a local office might come as a surprise.
Only a few years ago, Google New Zealand consisted of three people based in Sydney, who flew back and forth to manage sales.
Today, the internet giant's New Zealand headquarters houses 28 people, and that is expected to reach 36 by the end of the year.
The global tech company is widely regarded as having some of the best offices in the world, whether it's secret rooms in an Ontario building, an indoor basketball court in Zurich, slides and games rooms, rooftop mini-golf or in-house masseuses.
The New Zealand office may be small, but it's no different.
The boardroom is bright green with one wall covered in blown-up New Zealand postage stamps adorned with images such as the buzzy bee. Another wall features floor to ceiling windows with an enviable view across Auckland and the harbour.
The main office has beach umbrellas, a bach-style side room for meetings, and the zany decor typical of the company's offices.
Google's new country manager Caroline Rainsford fits right into the non-corporate setting.
She was on maternity leave when she was head-hunted for the job but says the opportunities Google offered were too good to turn down.
Looking much younger than her 36 years, she is enthusiastic, passionate and, for a business that has attracted a lot of negative coverage lately, surprisingly candid.
Last month Google reported losses of almost $1 million in New Zealand, despite revenue of almost $14m, up 10 per cent on the year before.
Multinationals which don't pay a lot of tax have been in the media spotlight recently and Google is no exception. Rainsford agrees that is something that needs to change and is open about the company's stance.
In February, in a statement to Parliament, Google said it would no longer funnel New Zealand revenue into low-tax jurisdictions such as Singapore.
"We obviously do abide by the tax laws in New Zealand and all the other markets," Rainsford says.
"But I think New Zealanders need to know that in February we made the submission to Parliament around our intention to either by January 1, 2019 or before, move to a [new] model. And this is a change in the right direction."
Like other internet companies, Google's parent Alphabet structures its affairs so contracts with customers in territories such as New Zealand are settled in low-tax jurisdictions such as Singapore or Ireland, meaning the customer's government has no claim on any income tax revenue.
Under the new model, Google's revenue from New Zealand will be recorded in this country and its tax will be based on that.
Estimates of Google's sales revenue from New Zealand are in the hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Rainsford was appointed late last year to take over from former country manager Stephanie Davis, who left for a job at Google Singapore. Her predecessor may have moved on to a larger role, but Rainsford says she is focused on New Zealand.
"I think there was a realisation that having a local Kiwi who had empathy for New Zealand business and the challenges they have was a good thing for the company," she says.
"There is huge benefit in knowing lots of the businesses and people."
Historically, Google in New Zealand has been an advertising and sales-oriented business, but the global company is increasingly seeing greater opportunities in this country and Rainsford says the role she has been given is much broader.
"We're in a great growth phase at the moment and our role is shifting to be more partnership managers where we're working with clients on everything from ads and advertising and marketing strategies and how they reach audiences, but also more around data and analytics," she says.
"My role now is to really work with New Zealand business on their digital transformation and helping them into the digital future and that's really exciting."
Google has had a presence in New Zealand since 2007, but Rainsford says her goal is to lift its profile and be more engaged with businesses and the public. "I want to be a much more accessible face of Google New Zealand," she says.
Google may have a low profile in this country, but some of the projects it is working on here are anything but.
New Zealand is a testing ground for projects such as Kitty Hawk, testing autonomous flying taxis, and Project Loon — balloons which are launched into the stratosphere, to beam internet signals down to earth.
Named in recognition of how wacky the idea sounds, Project Loon was developed in the secretive lab that also spawned driverless cars, web surfing eyeglasses and other new-age projects — some more successful than others. The giant balloons have been launched from the Tekapo area in the South Island.
In comparison, Kitty Hawk was kept under wraps until earlier this year, when it was revealed that Cora, the autonomous flying vehicle, had been tested in Canterbury.
The Kitty Hawk project has tested its self-flying cars in Canterbury. Photo / Handout
Although it's not a Google project, Kitty Hawk is supported by company founder Larry Page, who has visited New Zealand several times.
In comparison to some of these projects, Rainsford says her day-to-day work is a bit less exciting.
"It's not quite autonomous flying taxis but we are doing some really meaningful projects around education, for example, so there's so much we do that Kiwis probably aren't aware of," she says.
Google is introducing collaboration and sharing tools in 1000 New Zealand schools as well as working with teaching academies, where graduate teachers can spend a year in a fully immersive digital teaching environment to help build capability in fields such as computer science.
As well as heading the local branch of one of the largest companies in the world, Rainsford is a mother to two children under four. Asked how she juggles work and home, she quotes our Prime Minister.
"Jacinda was asked, how are you going to do this and she said, 'well, I'm not the first woman to have a career and children and I certainly won't be the last', and that's kind of how I look at it," she says.
"So yes, there are days where it's hard but I think I have managed to work out how to integrate the two." She says personal rules around making time for the kids and mostly leaving work at the office are a help, as is a very supportive husband.
Although she plans to be in the job for a while, she is happy to talk about legacy.
"I'm really passionate about Google and what we can do particularly in the education space. I would like that to be part of my legacy but I'd also like, long after I'm gone, to leave a team here that will continue to grow ... and who are passionate about continuing to grow this vision as well."
Caroline Rainsford
• Job: Google NZ country manager. • Age: 36. • Education: Bachelor of Commerce in marketing and management from Auckland University and a postgraduate honours degree. • Career: Five years in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa as regional marketing director with Royal Philips Electronics, before becoming marketing and product director at Latitude NZ. • Family: Married to Ash, with two children — Olivia, aged three, William, 17 months old. • Last book you read? "The Originals (actually for the 2nd time) — a great book about the age of disruption and how to challenge conventional wisdom." • Favourite holiday destination? "Anywhere with snow or sunshine. I love skiing but also relaxing with family at Pukehina Beach in the Bay of Plenty." • Best advice you have ever received? "Always strive to be uncomfortably excited and love what you do."
