James Corbett

Fighting back against retail crime is proving to be a growth industry for a top entrepreneur with software smarts.

When James Corbett describes himself as a tech enthusiast, that shouldn’t be taken to mean he’s a gadget freak.

Rather, he sees the potential for information systems to improve people’s lives.

“I avidly believe we can use software to make our world better,” says James, who was finishing a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and computer science at the University of Auckland when this insight struck him.

It was during an internship at Deloitte that he met two like-minded people with whom doing good with technology would go from aspiration to reality. Struck by the level of retail crime in the country, the trio decided to found crime-fighting company Auror.

“At the time New Zealand retailers were losing $2 million a day to shoplifting,” says James. Talking to retailers and police, the Auror co-founders saw that was just the tip of the iceberg.

“We started Auror with the goal of supporting retailers and law enforcement to stop crime in our communities.”

It’s an endeavour that has swiftly grown and gained recognition, with the trio scooping the EY Entrepreneur of The Year award in 2022. That put them in the running for the 2023 EY World Entrepreneur of the Year award presented in Monaco.

For James, who led the building of the crime-intelligence system on which the company is based, the national award ranks as a personal highlight.

“It still feels like we are just getting started. In the first five years it was all about developing the platform that retailers and police used to stop crime in the community.

“But as the company has grown and become truly global my role has changed significantly.”

As a tech co-founder, he still writes code but his main focus is on what comes next: understanding how new technology can help Auror do more for customers.

As was recounted in Monaco, Auror set out to try to stem retail crime, which has been on the rise worldwide and is now a $150 billion problem.

It formed a partnership with New Zealand Police in 2014, eventually rolling out its platform to the national force.

Police also use intelligence from the platform to help solve other crimes, including gun and drug trafficking, kidnapping, assault and homicide, saving investigators hundreds of thousands of hours a year and millions of dollars.

Worldwide the system is relied upon by more than 75,000 retail staff and has an even greater number of users across 2,000 law enforcement agencies.

It’s been a marathon rather than a sprint, James says, with a $30 million capital injection in 2021 giving a burst of acceleration to product development and marketing.

He has realised along the way that life is not all about work.

“You have to take care of yourself first. If I’m running on an empty tank, I’m not going to be showing up at work when it counts and giving my team the focus, energy and care to support them in doing their best work either.”

To strike a balance he tries to prioritise family life with his wife and their two kids, a preschooler and a toddler.

“I’ve always been bad at shutting off from work and now that the world has embraced hybrid work it’s even more challenging.”

However he credits his wife – they began dating before university – with keeping him on track.

“She’s been my rock throughout, encouraging me to push myself and aim high.

“When I saw the impact technology, and in particular software, was having on society I wanted to be a part of something that was doing good.

“Knowing the work I’m doing is making the world a safer place is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it’s hugely rewarding.”