Greg Cross

Greg Cross is a New Zealand serial technology entrepreneur best known as co-founder of Soul Machines, the Auckland-founded artificial intelligence company that pioneered lifelike, emotionally responsive digital humans.

One of New Zealand’s original technology nomads, Cross has spent decades building businesses that compete on the international stage. He was managing director of Microsoft New Zealand, launching Windows 95 locally and went on to co-found Auckland wireless charging company PowerbyProxi alongside Fady Mishriki, a business later acquired by Apple in 2017. He has also chaired companies including SLI Systems and served as entrepreneur in residence at a Silicon Valley venture capital firm.

Soul Machines grew out of research at the University of Auckland and was founded in 2016 by Cross and Dr Mark Sagar. The company brought together artificial intelligence, digital characters and biologically inspired modelling to create AI-powered digital humans for enterprise use, raising approximately NZ$225 million from investors including Horizons Ventures, Salesforce Ventures and Temasek. Cross served as chief executive and chief business officer, driving the company from research roots into global markets. He departed Soul Machines in September 2023; the company later entered voluntary receivership in February 2026.

Cross was inducted into the New Zealand Hi-Tech Hall of Fame in 2019 and named that year’s Flying Kiwi. He has since founded Eighty20 AI, building an AI-powered customer engagement platform.

Cross’s career sits across entrepreneurship, commercialisation and frontier technology, spanning software, hardware, AI and human-computer interaction. His trajectory, including the highs of PowerbyProxi’s Apple acquisition and the ambition of Soul Machines, represents the role of the repeat founder in New Zealand’s deep-tech ecosystem: someone who has consistently translated ambitious technical ideas into companies with genuine global reach.

Sources: NZ Herald · BusinessDesk · Idealog