Aidan Smith
on Making the Sustainable Commute the Easy Choice
For Aidan Smith, sustainability looks like a well-engineered ecosystem where nothing goes to waste. As co-founder of Workride - New Zealand's first IRD-approved pre-tax salary sacrifice bike benefit programme - his approach is less about grand gestures and more about removing friction. If riding to work is easier, more people will do it. That's the whole idea.
Aidan's path to Workride was not a linear. It began with Shutl, a hardware-based e-bike subscription service that taught him an early and important lesson: customers wanted to own bikes, not rent them. Rather than push on, Aidan and his team wound down the fleet, spent months campaigning for changes to FBT legislation, and when that change was confirmed, pivoted entirely. Workride was built from that moment - a software-enabled company designed to make cycling to work a genuine financial benefit for employees and a seamless experience for employers.
That transition shaped everything. His advice to rising change-makers reflects it directly: test in small steps, stay honest when something isn't working, and adjust quickly. "Most startups don't make it," he says, "and keeping that statistic in mind motivates us to embrace change when it's needed."
Today, the biggest challenge Workride faces is awareness. With over 1,500 employers onboarded across New Zealand, many HR teams still don't know a programme like this exists. Aidan's approach to changing that is to make the value impossible to ignore - framing commute benefits not just as a sustainability win, but as a tool for employee wellbeing, cost-of-living relief, and talent retention all at once.
A partnership with Kaieke has deepened Workride's understanding of what a bike benefit really means. Through that relationship, Aidan learned that building a genuine bike culture requires showing up, building trust, and nurturing connection - a principle that mirrors the value of whanaungatanga.
Looking ahead, Aidan believes Aotearoa's superpower is its ability to move fast, collaborate across sectors, and build entirely new frameworks. Workride is proof of that. His hope is simple: that employee benefits stop feeling complex and start feeling like an everyday tool for healthier, happier commutes across the country.
Read Aidan's answers to Blooming Sustainability to explore how Workride is reshaping the way Kiwis get to work.
BLOOMING Sustainability Questionnaire
Name: Aidan Smith
Company & Title: Co-founder, Workride
Website & LinkedIn Profile: workride.co.nz / linkedin.com/in/aidansmith
* Guiding Values | Kaupapa
If sustainability were a flower blooming in your life, what would it look like? What nurtures it?
It would look like a highly functional, well engineered ecosystem where nothing goes to waste, basically everything is efficient. My vision for the future is shaped mostly through innovative solutions and technology. It is also paired with some practical action and removing the friction for everyday Kiwis so that making the sustainable choice where possible, like riding to work, becomes a easy choice.
A quote, personal motto or whakataukī that reflects your vision:
"Stay true to your vision and focus relentlessly on solving a real problem for your customers."
If you could mentor a rising change-maker in Aotearoa, what advice would you share?
I’d tell them to start by testing their ideas with lots of small, iterative steps, what we call 'small shots', before committing massive resources to one big launch or big swing. Don't be afraid to admit when something isn't working; just adjust it slightly and test again. Most startups don't make it, and keeping that statistic in mind motivates us to embrace change when it's needed.
* Leading Change | Arataki
A key moment in your journey that shaped your path:
Definitely the transition from one of our earlier ventures, Shutl, to Workride. Shutl was a hardware-based e-bike subscription service that we launched with the best intentions, but we quickly realised customers just wanted to own the bike no just rent it. We spent months testing and validating this business model but then wound down the bike fleet while simultaneously campaigning for changes in FBT rules with Ministers.
Once we were notified that this tax legislation that we campaigned on was going to changed, we started Workride and began building the software and business needed for Workride. Shifting from hardware to a software-enabled, tax-benefit company was a massive learning curve, but it fundamentally shaped where we are today.
What’s the main challenge you face in driving sustainability within your sector?
Navigating the complexities of businesses and building scalable processes that actually work for enterprise HR and payroll teams. Providing an epic benefit and program is one thing, but if the admin burden is too heavy, employers won't adopt it. Our challenge has been creating a system that ensures a cost-neutral provision and handles the Fringe Benefit Tax complexities entirely on the employer's behalf. Basically remove all the hassle, and make it a win win and easy for all involved.
An area you need more support with:
Awareness. We’ve successfully onboarded over 1,500 employers across New Zealand, but there are still so many Kiwis, and HR teams, who are totally unaware that Workride, NZ’s IRD-approved, pre-tax salary sacrifice bike benefit program like this exists to support employee commutes.
An Indigenous perspective you admire and want people to be mindful of:
Whanaungatanga (building relationships and a sense of connection). We recently partnered with Kaieke to activate healthier commutes for Māori & Pasifika businesses. They taught us that a bike benefit is about more than just a bike; it's about trust, showing up on-site, and building a genuine, supportive relationship with your people to build a true bike culture from the ground up.
Your best approach for engaging stakeholders in meaningful dialogue about ESG:
Make it a win-win that hits multiple pressure points at once. When we talk to employers, we don't just talk about emissions. We talk about how commute benefits ease the cost of living, promote physical wellbeing, and act as a powerful tool to attract and retain great people, all while hitting sustainability targets.
What do you think is Aotearoa’s superpower in creating a sustainable future?
Our pioneering spirit and ability to adapt. Being a smaller nation, we can iterate quickly, collaborate across industries, and build totally new frameworks, like the country's first-ever approved pre-tax salary sacrifice program.
* Surfing the Green Wave | Kakariki
Books, podcasts, courses or other resources that profoundly shaped your approach to sustainability:
My time studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Canterbury, particularly working on the UC Motorsport project. That environment taught me how to look at the world through a systems and product design lens. It showed me that to create lasting change, you need a strong foundation of technical understanding and the ability to build scalable systems.
A sustainable initiative or project in Aotearoa that deserves more attention:
The work being done by platforms like Extraordinary Pay. They've built New Zealand's only IRD-approved pre-tax transport benefit platform, helping employees save money on public transport. We’ve partnered with them because combining our strengths means employees get meaningful commute choices, whether they ride, bus, train, or ferry, from one streamlined platform.
If your work could plant one seed of change for the future, what would it be?
For employee benefits to no longer be seen as complex or burdensome, but as an accessible, everyday mechanism that empowers thousands of Kiwis to build healthy, and happy commuting habits. Workride created New Zealand’s first ever salary sacrifice program for employees, so it is going to be so impactful for so many kiwis for years to come.
* One actionable takeaway for our readers to make a change today for a brighter tomorrow:
Reach out to your HR team or leadership and ask them to look into implementing Workride! It takes just a few quick steps to get going, it's completely free / cost-neutral for the business, and it genuinely transforms how your team gets to work every day.
