Two people.
One rare combination.
Dcoded was built on a simple observation: most technology projects fail because of people, not technology. So we brought together the two disciplines that solve for that.
Meet Alesha & Daniel
We're a married couple based in beautiful Tauranga, though it took us a while to get here. We made the move from Hamilton about two and a half years ago and haven't looked back. Alesha is originally from Taranaki; Daniel is originally from Murcia in the south east of Spain and has called New Zealand home for twelve years. We share our house with Corra, our very energetic border collie.
Between us, we've worked across a huge range of industries, farming, production, technology, finance, healthcare, mining, health and safety, in businesses of every size from early-stage startups to global tech companies. That breadth is part of what makes Dcoded useful. We've seen a lot of different businesses, a lot of different problems, and a lot of different ways technology can help or hinder.
Alesha & Daniel
Photo goes here
Alesha
Behaviour & Learning Specialist
Alesha
Behaviour & Learning Specialist
Alesha has spent her career figuring out why people do (and don't) change the way they work. She specialises in learning experience design, instructional strategy, and the human side of technology adoption, and she's been genuinely obsessed with AI since practically the day it became accessible, pushing every boundary she could find to eliminate the boring, repetitive work and get back to the stuff she actually enjoys.
In October 2025 she delivered a webinar for the New Zealand Association of Training and Development (NZATD) on AI for Learning Design, sharing practical approaches with L&D professionals across the country.
When a business rolls out new software and nobody uses it six months later, that's Alesha's problem to solve. She understands how people learn, how habits form, and what it actually takes to get a team genuinely on board with something new.
Daniel
Software Engineer
Daniel is an experienced software engineer who has built apps and software across a wide range of industries, agriculture, security, healthcare, and banking among them. He's spent years working across complex digital projects, which means he can look at what a vendor is promising and tell you, pretty quickly, whether it's realistic, and whether the approach they're recommending is genuinely the best fit for you or just the most convenient option for them.
He's also the reason Dcoded's recommendations are actually implementable. We don't suggest things that sound good in theory but fall apart when someone has to build or run them.
Daniel's been in the engine room of enough technology projects to know exactly where the gaps between sales pitch and reality tend to appear.
Daniel
Software Engineer
We cover both sides of the problem.
Daniel can evaluate the technology. Alesha can evaluate whether your team is ready for it and how to make it actually land. That combination is what makes Dcoded different, and it's why our clients keep us around long after the first engagement.
Why we started Dcoded
Honestly? We'd been talking about it for over a year.
Between us we kept seeing the same thing, businesses investing in technology that wasn't right for them, implementations that failed not because the tech was bad but because nobody had addressed the human side, and vendors selling confidently to people who didn't have the technical knowledge to push back.
We knew we had an unusual combination of skills to do something about it. But it took attending the 2026 AI Roadshow here in Tauranga to see just how acute the need was locally. Watching vendors pitch AI solutions with claims that didn't stack up, to business owners who had no independent advisor in the room, that was the final push we needed.
Dcoded exists because that gap is real, it's costing businesses real money, and we're in a genuinely unusual position to fill it. And just to be clear, this isn't only a small business problem. We've seen global companies make exactly the same mistakes. The difference is they have the money to fall back on. Most SMBs don't have that luxury.
Three things that don't change, no matter the engagement.
01
We're on your side
We have no financial relationship with any technology vendor. No referral fees, no reseller arrangements, no commissions. If we recommend something, it's because it's right for your business, full stop.
02
We keep it real
We won't tell you AI will transform your business if we don't believe it. We won't recommend a tool you don't need. And we won't dress up a simple answer in complicated language to justify a bigger fee.
03
We stay local
We're based in the Bay of Plenty and we work face-to-face wherever we can. We know the local business community, we understand the regional market, and we're available in the room, not just on a Zoom call from Auckland.
Want to know if we're the right fit for what you need?
Start with a free 30-minute chat. No obligation, no pitch, just an honest conversation about where your business is at and whether we can help.
Book a Free Chat