Innovation hub operator Stone & Chalk has pulled off a recruitment coup de gras with the appointment of nationally prominent artificial intelligence leader and tech expert Stela Solar as its new chief executive.
Ms Solar’s storied career includes leadership stints at Accenture, Lenovo, Microsoft, the Monash Data Futures Institute and the National AI Institute, which she led for just shy of three years through November 2024.
Stone & Chalk in a statement said Ms Solar’s appointment was a doubling down on its role as an enabler of AI within Australia’s innovation community, and follows deepening ties with OpenAI, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services.
Posting about her new role on LinkedIn, Ms Solar paid tribute to outgoing Stone & Chalk CEO Christopher Kirk, and said her priorities beyond AI uptake would include building startup maturity and founder wellbeing initiatives.
“With 550 startup and scaleup members across the nation, we are a key engine for sovereign tech capability. Can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and help Australia’s tech community towards greater successes,” Ms Solar said.
Mr Kirk announced his departure from Stone in early February, and will remain to support the leadership transition into April. He is yet to announce his next role.
Australia’s former chief scientist Dr Cathy Foley will step further into Australia’s quantum computing fray, taking on the voluntary role of executive chair at the Sydney Quantum Academy (SQA).
A collaboration between the New South Wales government and Sydney’s four largest universities, SQA backs in research at three federal government-funded Centres of Excellence, and commercial work at some of Australia’s leading quantum firms.
Dr Foley, who is also president of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and a board member of the CSIRO, has long been vocal about the benefits of a quantum sector for Australian innovation.
SQA director Professor Peter Turner said “Dr Cathy Foley’s impressive record in not only quantum research but also science advocacy will help enrich SQA’s ambitious agenda as we set the benchmark for preparing the next generation of quantum innovators”.
Dr Foley was Australia’s chief scientist for four years till December 2024.
Swinburne University of Technology’s vice chancellor and president of six years Professor Pascale Quester has announced she will step down in July to spend more time with family.
Ms Quester joined Swinburne in 2020 after two decades at the University of Adelaide, and has since overseen a campus-wide renewal and co-created and launched its Ad Astra_2030 strategy, which aspires to make the university a global leader in technology-driven education and research.
“With Ad Astra_2030 now underway and a strong team in place, the time is right for me to step away from full-time work and make contributions to the sector I have devoted my life to, in a different way,” Ms Quester said.
Swinburne’s current senior deputy vice-chancellor and chief academic officer, Professor Simon Ridings will step us as interim vice-chancellor from July.
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has appointed cybersecurity academic and CEO of identity theft support not-for-profit IDCARE, David Lacey, as its inaugural chief scams officer.
AFCA chief executive and chief ombudsman David Locke said Mr Lacey would lead expansion of the Authority’s work considering the role of banks, telcos and digital platforms in scam complaints.
“David has spent years working directly with scam victims, and that perspective will be critical in shaping a scams ombudsman service that is accessible, fair and can effectively resolve complex issues involving multiple parties,” Mr Locke said.
The federal government controversially passed laws creating a Scams Prevention Framework early last year, over the complaints of crossbench MPs who said the legislation “looked like it had been drafted” by the banking lobby.
AI-factory mega scale-up Firmus Technologies has appointed Christine Bartlett, Lee Hatton and Julie Shuttleworth to its board.
Ms Bartlett will chair its remuneration and nomination committee, while Ms Hatton will chair its audit and risk committee.
Firmus last month locked in a long-term, multi-billion-dollar contract to host a hyperscaler client at its Project Southgate facility in Melbourne.
Fintech giant AirWallex has announced former New Zealand Prime Minister and finance minister Sir Bill English as chair of its New Zealand board.
Mr English had a three-decade New Zealand parliamentary career as a member of the National Party, and was finance minister during the global financial crisis, and prime minister until the party’s election defeat by Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party in 2017.
AirWallex entered the New Zealand market in 2022.
The top public servant at Australia’s intellectual property authority has stepped into a new role as chief operating officer of the Australian National University.
Veteran public servant Michael Schwager departed IP Australia last week; he has previously been chief operating officer at the CSIRO and the federal Department of Industry.
IP Australia has appointed Margaret Tregurtha acting director general while a recruitment process is underway. Ms Tregurtha has been the agency’s deputy director for the past six years.
Software engineer and AI-startup founder Richard Watts-Seale has been named interim head of AI at Macquarie University following the departure of Phil Laufenberg earlier this month.
Mr Watts Seale is also technical lead for Macquarie’s AI transformation program, and previously co-founded Makerversity, an AI-enabled education platform.
Peak ICT body the Australian Information Industry Association has appointed veteran consultant Georgina Gates the chair of its Workforce Strategy and Skills Policy Advisory Network (PAN).
The PAN aims to shape policy on workforce capability in the face of ongoing digital disruptions to skills and the economy. Ms Gates spent the past two decades in leaderships roles at EY and KPMG UK.
Former Australian Communications Minister Paul Fletcher will join the board of Fiji’s largest telco Amalgamated Telecom Holdings Limited as a non executive director.
Mr Fletcher was also shadow minister for science until last year, and retired from parliament in May.
This article was updated to identify Margaret Tregurtha as acting director general of IP Australia.
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