PsiQuantum has added the CEO of global computer chip manufacturer Intel to its board as it marks the second anniversary of its pledge to build an industrial-scale quantum computer in Brisbane.
Veteran global tech exec Lip-Bu Tan, who joined Intel as CEO last year, signed onto the California-based startup as an investor and advisor in 2021. PsiQuantum has almost doubled its market value to US$7 billion over the period.
Tan is the first high-profile appointment to PsiQuantum’s leadership under interim CEO Victor Peng, who took over the top job from company co-founder Jeremy O’Brien in February.
In a statement announcing his appointment, Mr Tan said PsiQuantum had “built one of the most compelling and differentiated approaches in quantum computing”.
“The technology they’ve developed is exceptional, and their focus on fault-tolerant systems that can be manufactured at scale using the semiconductor industry sets them apart,” Mr Tan said.
The University of Technology Sydney’s Professor Michael Bremner this week also revealed that he would press pause on his academic career for a senior director role at the quantum developer.
Professor Bremner will step aside as head of UTS’s computer science and quantum computing school, and director of its Centre for Quantum Software and Information (CQSI).
Professor Simon Devitt will succeed Professor Bremner as CQSI’s director.
PsiQuantum came under intense scrutiny after it received a combined $940 million investment from the Australian and Queensland governments in 2024, pledging a world-leading quantum computing facility in Brisbane in return.
But the company is yet to break ground on at the site more than two yeas on. A spokesperson for PsiQuantum this week told InnovationAus.com that work on the facility continues “at pace”.
AI juggernaut Anthropic on Tuesday continued its push into the Australian market, naming Theo Hourmouzis its first general manager ANZ.
Mr Hourmouzis joins the Claude developer after five years at cloud software firm Snowflake, where he was most recently senior vice president ANZ ASEAN.
Anthropic announced it would open its first Australian office in Sydney in March, at the time also inking an agreement with the federal government to cooperate on AI safety research and tipping $3 million into research collaboration across the health and tech sectors.
NAB continues to build out its AI executive, announcing this week it has appointed former CSIRO scientist George Mathews as its inaugural executive of AI science.
Mr Matthews, previously senior principal data scientist at consultancy McKinsey’s AI arm QuantumBlack, will lead the ‘big four’ bank’s inaugural AI science team to oversee development of its agentic AI infrastructure.
NAB labelled the science team “a tangible example of workforce transformation” and “AI creating new categories of work and career pathways that didn’t exist 5 years ago”.
The Prime Minister this week announced senior mandarin Meghan Quinn will be the next secretary of the Department of Defence.
Ms Quinn will step into the coveted role in May, following the departure of Greg Moriarty to be Australia’s next US ambassador, and is the first woman to do so on a permanent basis.
Ms Quinn has held the top bureaucrat role at the Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) for the past four years, and has worked long spells at
Treasury and the Bank of England.
Deputy secretary of DISR’s Industry and Commercialisation group Julia Pickworth will succeed Ms Quinn in the interim while recruitment efforts are underway.
Sydney-based venture capital firm Side Stage Ventures has announced a slate of team changes as its wraps up its $50 million Fund II raise.
The VC fund’s principal Elli Hanson will move up to partner, while investor Harrison Wright will step up to principal. Alice Williams will also join the firm as head of operations.
US software provider Databricks has appointed former Amazon Web Services and Adobe leader Davinia Simon as its public sector lead for Australia and New Zealand.
Ms Simon joins Databricks’ Sydney office on the heels of two years at consultancy Accenture.
The government cybersecurity services division of Macquarie Technology Group has appointed former Microsoft cyber lead Dr Chris Peiris as its new Microsoft security and Azure lead.
Dr Peiris’ career includes time at Microsoft, Australia’s Department of Defence, Amazon Web Services, and 14 years as an associate professor at the University of Canberra, where he helped establish a Cloud Computing Centre of Excellence.
Long-serving IBM board director Kaaren Koomen has joined Tigrah Consulting Services as a principal. Ms Koomen will retain her role as board member and AI committee chair with the Australian Council.
The Australian Computer Society has farewelled its national events manager Chris McGovern after six years.
ACS in March announced what CEO Prins Ralston said was a strategic “realignment”, including multiple executive redundancies in pursuit of “a leaner and more appropriately focused organisation”.
Veteran tech sector executive Barry Dietrich has joined business cloud firm TechnologyOne as its executive vice president sales and marketing.
The Space Industry Association of Australia’s head of membership Isobel Haddow has wrapped her time at the not-for-profit after four years.
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