Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
As a seasoned leader in software development with over 20 years of experience, I’ve consistently driven innovation through strategic leadership and a deep understanding of technology. My career has centred on building AI-enabled applications that deliver real value to businesses—from pre-revenue startups to ASX-listed enterprises. In my role as Head of Strategy & AI at 4mation Technologies, I lead multidisciplinary teams across product, UX/UI, architecture and engineering to deliver AI-powered solutions that transform the way organisations operate. I specialise in blending Experience Design, Customer Experience, and Business Analytics with emerging AI capabilities to help businesses achieve their strategic goals. Beyond consulting and delivery, I also write regularly about AI, sharing hands-on builds, product experiments, and weekly AI industry digests on LinkedIn. My writing helps demystify the technology, offering practical insights for professionals exploring how AI can be used in real-world scenarios. One of my key strengths is navigating complex challenges and designing scalable solutions. I’ve led initiatives such as rapid prototyping with low/no-code tools to validate ideas quickly, reduce time-to-market, and unlock innovation. Throughout my career, I’ve taken on roles that required turning around underperforming teams, managing operations and finance, and driving sustainable growth. My approach is grounded in a commitment to quality and outcomes, always focused on delivering tangible business impact. I’m always keen to connect with others exploring how AI and strategic leadership can shape the next wave of business innovation.
Driving the global pre-sales engineering function to bridge commercial growth and account management with technology, shaping strategy, solution architecture and technical governance. Partnering with commercial leaders to design and deliver innovative, value-driven digital and cloud solutions that align with client goals, accelerate deal cycles and fuel revenue growth.
I specialise in developing AI-driven solutions and crafting strategies that help businesses innovate and remain competitive in a fast-paced market. By leveraging advanced AI technologies, including OpenAI's ChatGPT, I build automation tools that significantly reduce or eliminate manual processes, thereby increasing productivity, reducing errors, and minimizing rework. Key Responsibilities: * AI and Automation Strategy: Designing and implementing AI and automation strategies that streamline operations, enhance efficiency, and drive innovation. Utilising tools such as ChatGPT to help automate routine tasks and enable smarter decision-making processes. * Client Consulting: Collaborating with clients to understand their unique business challenges and developing strategies that address those needs. This includes leading workshops, conducting business analysis, and creating digital product roadmaps that integrate AI and automation. * AI-Driven Prototyping: Developing rapid prototypes using no-code and low-code platforms to test and validate AI concepts quickly. This approach reduces time-to-market and ensures that AI initiatives are both practical and scalable. Key Achievements: * Successfully integrated AI automation tools across multiple client projects, resulting in an average 60% reduction in manual work and a 30% increase in productivity. * Developed AI-powered prototypes that were instrumental in driving client growth, proving the viability of concepts, and leading to the creation of future projects.
My primary responsibility was to elevate team performance by streamlining processes and reducing red tape. By instilling an Agile mindset and simplifying workflows, I enabled the teams to focus on delivering high-quality work that provided significant value to our clients. Key Responsibilities: * Performance Enhancement: Led four software development teams, comprising Developers, Product Managers, Project Managers, and QA Engineers (~50 staff in total), with the goal of maximising their efficiency and effectiveness. * Agile Maturity: Reinforced Agile methodologies to foster a mindset of continuous improvement and collaboration within the teams. This shift allowed for more adaptive and responsive project delivery. * Process Simplification: Identified and eliminated unnecessary complexities in workflows, reducing red tape and enabling teams to focus on core tasks that directly contributed to client success. * Client Focus: Ensured that all teams maintained a strong focus on delivering value to clients, acting as the final point of escalation for any issues that could impact project outcomes. Key Achievements: * Successfully increased team performance by streamlining processes and reducing unnecessary barriers, resulting in more efficient project delivery. * Reinforced an Agile mindset across the teams, leading to enhanced collaboration, adaptability, and client satisfaction. * Improved overall client outcomes by ensuring that teams were focused on delivering high-value work.
My primary focus was to ensure that our Staff Augmentation Team and clients were working together seamlessly and effectively. My role involved overseeing the team’s performance at client sites, fostering strong relationships, and ensuring that both parties were aligned and satisfied with the outcomes. Key Responsibilities: * Team and Client Harmony: Managed and supported a diverse team of consultants working off-site at client locations, ensuring that they were well-integrated and effectively collaborating with client teams. * Client Relationship Management: Worked closely with clients to understand their needs and objectives, ensuring that our team members were delivering work that met or exceeded expectations. * Support and Mentorship: Provided ongoing support to off-site team members, resolving any issues that arose and serving as a point of escalation. Focused on mentoring and coaching the team to maintain high standards of performance and professionalism. * Culture Ambassador: Acted as a culture ambassador for 4mation Technologies, ensuring that our company values were upheld even when team members were working remotely at client sites. Key Achievements: * Successfully ensured that the Staff Augmentation Team and clients were working in harmony, resulting in high levels of satisfaction on both sides. * Strengthened client relationships through effective communication and by ensuring that our team’s work consistently met client needs and expectations. * Maintained a positive and productive work environment for off-site team members, leading to improved morale and performance.
I was responsible for overseeing the development and support of the company’s suite of online market research tools. My primary achievement in this role was leading the complete redevelopment of every tool in the business, transforming the technical infrastructure and significantly enhancing the company’s capabilities. Key Responsibilities: * Full Software Development Lifecycle: Led the design, development, and deployment of i-Link’s online market research platforms, managing the entire software development lifecycle from initial concept through to delivery and ongoing support. * Technical Leadership: Directed a small, geographically dispersed development team based in Sydney and Kuala Lumpur, ensuring cohesive and efficient collaboration across locations. Provided technical oversight and guidance to ensure the delivery of robust and scalable solutions. * Infrastructure Management: Managed the company’s server infrastructure, ensuring its stability and reliability to support the high-volume traffic generated by major clients like eBay. Key Achievements: * Complete Tool Redevelopment: Successfully redeveloped every market research tool in the company from the ground up, creating a more resilient and scalable infrastructure capable of handling high traffic loads. This overhaul significantly improved the efficiency and reliability of i-Link’s services. * Performance Optimization: Enhanced the platform’s ability to withstand upwards of 1,000 hits per minute, particularly from high-demand clients, ensuring seamless and reliable service delivery. * Cross-Location Team Management: Effectively led a distributed team across multiple locations, maintaining high standards of delivery and fostering a collaborative working environment despite the geographical challenges.
This was a contract role in which I helped maintain Twynam's intranet and related ASP.net web applications.
Zootech was a boutique software development agency. Unfortunately, the company wound up in 2008. In this role I was responsible for solution design, development and ongoing support. Key Clients: * Pillar Administration * Twynam Agricultural Group * FPC Magazines * MIMS (medical publication)