AirTrunk founder and CEO Robin Khuda has been tapped to join the federal government’s Centre for Australia-India Relations advisory board. Mr Khuda was one of three new appointments to the expert advisory panel announced by Foreign Affairs minister Penny Wong this week.
Starting his executive career in 2007 with tech giant Fujitsu, Mr Khuda went on to found what is now Australia’s largest data centre company AirTrunk in 2015, before selling it nine years later to Black Rock for $24 billion.
Joining Mr Khuda on the board are Faz Pollard – director of design and advanced manufacturing firm Adarsh Australia, and UNSW materials scientist Professor Veena Sahajwalla.
Senator Wong said panel members were “chosen for their expertise in specific areas of interest to the Australia-India economic relationship and brings with them rich experience in their relevant sectors.”
The National Australia Bank is set to farewell Sandro Bucchianeri, its chief security officer of five years, who will move to ANZ in November to take on the role of chief information security officer.
Tech sector veteran Maria Milosavljevic held that role until April this year, when she retired from full time work.
Mr Bucchianeri has previously held security leadership roles at US telco giant AT&T, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi and wealth management funds Absa Group and Investec.
“Sandro is an outstanding and globally respected security leader, with a proven track record of uplifting cyber maturity across large, complex organisations,” ANZ Group CIO Donald Patra said.
Australia’s $290 billion sovereign wealth fund is on the hunt for a new CEO, following the announcement earlier this week long serving executive Dr Raphael Arndt will depart at the end of the year.
Dr Arndt joined the Future Fund in 2008 as head of infrastructure and timberland (forestry and carbon storage), going on to be its chief investment officer for six years through 2020, then its CEO.
Brushing aside rumours of a poor culture at the Fund – it has lost four senior investment officials in four years – Dr Arndt said his departure would coincide with the delivery its next three-year plan in June next year.
Fund chair Greg Combet hailed Dr Arndt for driving advancements to its data, technological and investment capabilities, and for overseeing its response to a string of global economic shocks.
Former Aussie diplomat and Microsoft executive Kate Seward has been promoted, taking on the role of director strategic initiatives at Microsoft Global Affairs HQ.
Beginning her career at the Pacific division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ms Seward went on to serve at Australian embassies in China and the US, before joining Microsoft as corporate affairs manager in 2022.
Ms Seward in a LinkedIn post said her work on Microsoft’s agreement with the Australian Council of Trade Unions to give workers a voice in AI development had been a highlight of her time in its Australia.
Anthropic’s top lawyer Jeffrey Bleich has stepped into a new role as the AI developer’s international special envoy, to engage globally with governments on AI policy.
Formerly special counsel to then US President Barack Obama and a US ambassador to Australia, Mr Bleich was part of negotiations with Australian government officials earlier this year for access to Claude Mythos. Elena Leichty succeeds him as Anthropic’s general counsel.
Cybersecurity and cloud company Akamai has appointed Louis Tague as regional vice-president and managing director for Australia and New Zealand.
A veteran of Fuji Xerox, IBM, Veritas, Symantec and Google Cloud, Mr Tague joins Akamai after a six-month career break, following just over a year as VP and MD at CrowdStrike.
Startup sector leader Piers Grove has announced he will step down as chair of climate tech accelerator EnergyLab Australia after over seven years in the role.
EnergyLab co-founder and former CEO James Tilbury will succeed him.
Mr Grove said the accelerator had boomed in ten years to support more than 350 startups, raising $348 million in climate tech venture funding in 2025 alone.
“The organisation is in capable hands, and I cannot wait to see what James, the board, [CEO and director] Megan Fisher and the staff achieve from here,” Mr Grove said.
The Australian Stock Exchange has expanded its cybersecurity operations, welcoming veteran tech leader Hanlie Botha to a new deputy CISO role.
Ms Botha most recently was CISO at Ticketek, having previously served as general manager cyber strategy at the Woolworths Group.
Former Australian ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos has joined deep tech consulting firm Noosa Partners as strategic advisor and executive chair.
Mr Sinodinos will over see the firms’ efforts to connect clients with US market opportunities. He is also currently chair of rocket developer Hypersonix Launch Systems and the US Studies Centre.
Simon Mitchell and Ralph Goninan have been appointed co-heads of Australian data centre developer and operator DigiCo Infrastructure REIT.
The duo succeeds Michael Juniper, who stepped down as DigiCo’s chief executive for unknown reasons in June after just six months in the role.
Mr Mitchell and Mr Goninan will also retain their current roles as CFO and CDO respectively.
Thomas Kovacevic has announced he will join the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation as associate director investments.
Federal government green bank the Australian Renewable Energy Agency has promoted James Broughton to general counsel.
Alicia Sylvester has been named deputy chief of staff for New South Wales minister for Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology Anoulack Chanthivong.
The University of Melbourne has welcomed expert defence scientist Professor Mike Webb as inaugural executive director of its new Melbourne National Security and Defence initiative.
The general manager of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia’s NSW arm, Doug Grant, has announced he will step down in September after more than seven years in the role.
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