Veteran STEM leader Anna-Maria Arabia will step down as chief executive of the Australian Academy of Science (AAS) in April after almost ten years in the role.
Academy president Professor Chennupati Jagadish thanked Ms Arabia for “her service and for the energy and commitment she brought to the role”, noting her crucial advisory role on nutrition during the pandemic, and her leadership establishing the Pacific Academy of Sciences.
Posting about her departure on LinkedIn, Ms Arabia described her time at the AAS as “the honour of my professional life”.
“The Academy is a remarkable institution, deeply respected at home and abroad, and it is in excellent hands,” Ms Arabia said.
The Academy is yet to make an announcement about the recruitment of a successor and Ms Arabia has not said what her next role will be.
Ms Arabia also holds positions at the Australian National University and the University of Canberra and is a board member at the Australian Science Media Centre.
OpenAI has poached leading tech sector executive Brent Thomas to be its new head of public policy for Australia and New Zealand as it continues the expansion of its Australian footprint.
Mr Thomas will depart New Zealand agritech unicorn Halter after less than a year to join the artificial intelligence giant on March 30. The solicitor turned public policy advisor has previously held senior roles at eBay, Airbnb and TikTok.
OpenAI began searching for executives for its first Australian office in August last year, and in December launched a $7 billion data centre deal with NEXTDC alongside plans for a OpenAI for Australia initiative.
Launching the initiative in December, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said “Australia is well placed to be a global leader in AI, with deep technical talent, strong institutions and a clear ambition to use new technology to lift productivity.”
Cybersecurity expert Alastair MacGibbon has departed CyberCX after six and a half years, exiting the chief strategy officer role this month.
Mr MacGibbon began his career in the Australian Federal Police, eventually rising to director the national high tech crime centre, before moving on to senior roles with eBay, the eSafety Commissioner, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Department of Home Affairs.
Mr MacGibbon said his departure followed the finalisation of CyberCX’s acquisition by Accenture in February, calling the global professional services company “a truly fitting home for the CyberCX team”.
In a post announcing his departure on LinkedIn, Mr MacGibbon said he was considering his next career move and was “excited to turn my mind to how I can further [cybersecurity’s] cause into the future”.
“The need for building a resilient region for Australia and Australians is more critical than ever before,” he said.
Sydney-based semiconductor company Morse Micro has appointed former Intel executive Joe Bedewi its chief financial officer.
Mr Bedewi has held the CFO role for six companies over the past two decades, most recently serving in the role for Texas chip manufacturer Uhnder.
The appointment is a significant expansion of Morse’s financial operations, which till now have been overseen by finance and operations vice president Sal Terranova.
Morse are expected to launch a Series D fundraising round this year ahead of a long-touted IPO.
The board of Accounting consultancy KPMG has named Gary Wingrove, its current global chief operating officer and former head of its Australian arm, as its next global chair and CEO.
Mr Wingrove joined KPMG Australia in 2000, going on to lead the firm between 2013 and 2021. He will start his new role in October, succeeding KPMG’s global chair of more than eight years Bill Thomas.
Posting about his appointment on LinkedIn, Mr Wingrove touted KPMG’s AI-enabled solutions as central to its future client responses.
Leading data scientist Mahsa Salehi has been appointed inaugural director of Monash University’s Temporal Analytics Lab, announcing her appointment on Friday.
Ms Salehi in a LinkedIn post said the lab’s work focused on “understanding patterns, making predictions, and detecting unusual behaviour in data that changes over time, with applications in areas such as health, climate, and human behaviour,” Ms Salehi said.
The lab was founded in June 2025 off the back off $3.9 million in funding secured by Monash University professor Geoff Webb.
Snapchat parent company Snap Inc has appointed Georgie Wilson its communications lead Australia and New Zealand as it continues to navigate the federal government’s social media age ban.
Ms Wilson departs comms agency History Will be Kind after three years as an accounts executive, and succeeds Claire Robinson, who departed in September last year for gaming platform Roblox.
Snap this week said it had blocked over 450,000 accounts enforcing the social media age ban and is in the midst of a new age verification crackdown.
The eSafety Commissioner’s office said it would give updates on the impact of the ban next week.
Fintech executive Dylan Carter will join global freelancing and crowdsourcing platform Freelancer.com as CFO from May, with current financial officer Neil Katz to remain until August to ensure a smooth transition.
Mr Carter departs a CFO advisory role at AI financial services firm Optiii for the role, having previously been head of commercial analysis at payments company Tyro.
Conveyancing giant PEXA has announced the departure of board member and chair of its remuneration, nomination and people committee Helen Silver.
Ms Silver is also currently president of the State Library of Victoria, chair of the Australian Children’s Television Foundation, and the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority, and a board member of casino giant Crown.
Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.