The iTnews Podcast

This episode is brought to you by the iTnews Cloud Covered Breakfast Summit powered by Microsoft and Dicker Data. Hosted at the Ivy Sunroom in Sydney on June 4th we are bringing together technology business decision makers to discuss building AI-ready data in the cloud. With panels on stage and audience discussion sessions, the summit will cover Australia's rapid shift to public cloud as a foundation for scalable AI. Register your interest in joining us now, on iTnews.com.auOur guest this fortnight is Telstra’s Group Executive of Product & Technology Kim Krogh Andersen.Telstra has reached a significant milestone in its multi-year IT estate transformation and simplification. The telco is exiting its 20-year-old Siebel CRM, alongside technology by Teradata, Veritas and Pivotal Cloud Foundry.Join us as we unpack the retirement of systems and discuss the composable architecture that now underpins Telstra’s IT estate, which, among other things, is de-risking the telco from vendor lock-in and associated price hikes.

This week’s episode is brought to you by Optus.Modern work happens everywhere, and businesses need to deliver seamless digital experiences without compromising security. Smart organisations are building security into the device and the connection. Giving employees frictionless access, wherever they’re working, while the business gains visibility, control, and resilience. Talk to Optus today about our Managed Mobility Solutions.Our guest this fortnight is the executive general manager of technology and data at carsales, Michelle Low.carsales has long been data driven. Increasingly they are seeking to connect with prospective car buyers from inside of AI chat apps and ecosystems, which are proving influential in the car buying experience.They’re also putting more data into the hands of car dealers and manufacturers to help them understand what is selling and why.

This week’s episode is brought to you by Optus. Modern work happens everywhere, and businesses need to deliver seamless digital experiences without compromising security. Smart organisations are building security into the device and the connection. Giving employees frictionless access, wherever they’re working, while the business gains visibility, control, and resilience. Talk to Optus today about our Managed Mobility Solutions.Hello and welcome to the iTnews PodcastOur guest on the podcast this fortnight is James Ng, the Chief Information Security Officer for Insignia Financial.Insignia Financial is perhaps better known by its component parts, which include the old IOOF, as well as the ANZ Wealth and MLC Wealth divisions that it acquired from ANZ and NAB respectively.It’s spent the past three years consolidating its security estate and removing duplicated effort and inefficiency from security operations processes. James starts by taking us through the current security strategy, as well as the next one under development.

This episode is brought to you by the iTnews Cloud Covered Breakfast Summit, powered by Microsoft and Dicker Data. Join senior technology leaders from across Western Australia on 31 March at QT Perth for a practical discussion on modernising workflows into public cloud, reducing architectural risk, and understanding where edge fits into long-term cloud strategy, with insights grounded in real-world experience.Hello and welcome to the iTnews Podcast. Our guest this week is Sallie Moore-Wood, the director of governance and information systems at Waratah-Wynyard Council and Circular Head Council in Tasmania’s north-west.The two councils share personnel and a digital transformation strategy and roadmap, which covers information systems, cybersecurity and other bodies of work.We asked Sallie to drill into particularly the cybersecurity aspects of the transformation,  into some of the challenges faced so far and how these have been addressed and overcome.

Hello and welcome to a new season of the iTnews Podcast. We begin this year by speaking to Aussie Broadband’s Head of Cloud and SRE Ben O’Shea.Eagle-eyed iTnews readers and listeners might remember Ben’s appearance at Cisco Live in 2024, when he revealed work that was underway to build a new cloud platform for Aussie Broadband’s own internal use, and to retire older virtualisation and containerisation platforms.In this episode, we hear where that cloud platform is at a year on, we discuss Ben’s role expansion to cover SRE, and we also hear about a recent change to the company’s backup tooling.

In this episode, iTnews host Jennifer O’Brien is joined by Stephanie Barnett, Vice President of Presales and Interim GM for Asia Pacific & Japan at Okta. Together they unpack why identity has moved from an authentication project to a board-level business layer, and why “attackers don’t break in – they log in”.You will hear how organisations across Australia, New Zealand and the wider APJ region are responding to Essential Eight-driven identity requirements, the rise of non-human identities and AI agents, and the growing challenge of fragmented identity estates. Stephanie also shares what CISOs should be telling their boards in 2026, including practical steps to reduce risk while enabling productivity and secure automation.

Discover how private 5G is reshaping data-driven mining. Ian Ross, Head of Enterprise, Australia and New Zealand at Ericsson explains why fast, stable onsite connectivity is now essential for safer, more productive operations, from teleremote dozers to real-time digital-twins powered by smart sensors. Learn how 5G overcomes the limits of Wi-Fi and 4G and unlocks the next wave of mining innovation.

This episode, from late last year, sees ANZ's chief information security officer Dr Maria Milosavljevic talk all things security. We'll be back with a new episode soon.

Our guest this fortnight is Rob Ison, the chief information officer of Vocus. Rob takes us through the telco’s IT strategy, as well as its agile ways of working program. He also discusses infrastructure modernisation and an ongoing simplification effort that aims to optimise how customers experience and interact with Vocus’ services.

Our guest this week is Trent Dawson, the Chief information officer of Civil construction firm Symal.Trent walks us through the past four years of IT transformation at Symal, which debuted on the ASX at the end of 2024. He also discusses the company’s burgeoning DevOps practice and AI capabilities, which tap into services and tools from Microsoft Azure.

NetSuite’s MCP connector enables organisations to harness Agentic AI to automate complex processes and improve decision-making. Operating within defined guardrails, Agentic AI manages tasks such as financial reporting while maintaining accountability. The MCP connector’s flexible API integrates with multiple AI platforms, supported by Fusion5’s tools for custom applications. For more information on  NetSuite's MCP Connector, delivered by Fusion5 please visit www.fusion5.com/netsuite or click the link(s) in the description below.Talk to a NetSuite expert in AustraliaTalk to a NetSuite expert in New Zealand

Insignia Financial is consolidating its technology systems following a series of mergers and acquisitions, while also setting itself up to become an AI-enabled organisation.Damien O'Donnell, who stepped into the CTO role at Insignia Financial in January, told the iTnews Podcast that “data and technology” system consolidation is key to realising its ambitions.  This episode is brought to you by Digital Nation. Don’t miss the Digital As Usual: Cyber Security Breakfast on October 9 at the Sofitel Brisbane. The event will unpack three of the biggest cyber risks facing organisations today: human behaviour, financial risk, and supply chain vulnerabilities. Explore the findings in the full Digital As Usual: Cyber Security 2025 Report and find practical advice on how to stay secure. Head to the Special Reports section now at itnews.com.au and register for our Brisbane event today.

In this episode iTnews speaks with Stevie-Ann Dovico, CIO and Group Executive of Technology at Beyond Bank, about her first year in the role and the technology strategy she’s building to support the organisation’s ambition of becoming Australia’s best relationship bank.

Anthony Caruana speaks with Stephan Kaiser, Genetec’s general manager for AutoVu, about Community Connect — a framework that empowers communities to collaborate with police by securely sharing video infrastructure. This initiative is helping neighbourhoods, councils, and businesses work together with law enforcement to improve safety and response times.From reducing violent crime in Detroit to virtually eliminating car theft at a Canadian airport, Community Connect is already proving its impact. It’s not a product to buy, but a new way of connecting communities and police, fostering safer streets and stronger neighbourhoods.

Melbourne-based not-for-profit DPV Health has replaced its annual penetration tests with bimonthly automated attack simulations, aiming to strengthen its vulnerability management through more frequent and proactive threat assessments.Former chief information officer of DPV Health, Noel Toal, began exploring simulations after becoming disenchanted with traditional annual tests conducted by an external organisation.

Sponsored by Ericsson — In this episode, we explore how 5G connectivity is transforming the way Australian businesses innovate, compete, and grow. Drawing on insights from Ericsson’s Australia’s Enterprise State of Connectivity 2025 survey, we uncover why over 87% of enterprises see 5G as key to positioning Australia as a global technology leader — yet misconceptions around cost, complexity, and integration still hold many back. From enabling AI, machine learning, and edge computing to reducing downtime and unlocking faster, more reliable operations, we break down how 5G Wireless Wide Area Networks (WWANs) are opening doors to boundless business potential.We also tackle the common roadblocks: perceived high costs, hardware complexity, and a lack of in-house skills. Discover how managed 5G solutions simplify deployment, integrate seamlessly with existing IT and OT systems, and work alongside satellite to deliver resilient, high-performance connectivity anywhere in the country. Whether you’re a business leader, IT decision-maker, or tech innovator, this conversation will help you separate the myths from the facts and see why the real risk is in not investing in 5G.

The Northern Territory Police Force has adopted a top-down change management strategy to oversee the delivery of technology and transformation programs, following setbacks during the rollout of its new core policing system.Commander of digital transformation and reform John Atkin led the effort to implement SerPro, the force’s long-overdue case management system, and modernise police operations across Australia’s most remote jurisdiction.This episode is brought to you by Logicalis and the iTnews State of Security 2025 report.

This episode is brought to you by Brennan and the 2025 iTnews state of security report. Our first guest this fortnight is Rob Walter, the Director of the Agriculture Statistics Program at the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The ABS is increasingly aggregating government and third party data sources to build out its understanding of agriculture.This is important not just for Australia’s national accounts but increasingly as intelligence for farmers to tap into to optimise what they are doing based on what is working in other parts of the country.Then, hear from Peter Soulsby, the head of cyber security at Brennan, on how to protect information and system assets by strengthening endpoint security.

Our guest this fortnight is SA Power Networks’ Head of Cyber Security and IT Resilience Nathan Morelli. Our conversation is broad ranging but is anchored in a five-year cyber security strategy prepared and published by the organisation a couple of months ago, with a roadmap that is set to be updated annually.****iTnews is launching the 2025 State of Data and AI report this Thursday 10th of July at a breakfast event for senior IT leaders at the NEXTDC S3 data centre in Artarmon, Sydney. We have a strong speaker line up with panel discussions on scaling AI, model and service selection, and data & ai security and privacy. If you are interested in joining the event, register now via our events tab on iTnews. Thanks to NEXTDC, Brennan and Airia for sponsoring our 2025 State of Data & AI report and event.

Sponsored by Brennan.A recent five-state listening tour of Australian boardrooms revealed a strong interest in artificial intelligence, but few tangible outcomes. Brennan’s Head of Digital Solutions, Steve Anderton, observed that while executives are eager to harness AI’s potential, adoption remains limited due to vague goals, misaligned stakeholders, and weak business cases. Only five percent of AI pilots are making it to production—often because of poor infrastructure, governance gaps, or unrealistic expectations. Sixty percent of CFOs surveyed lacked confidence in their organisation’s ability to write effective AI use cases worth funding.Anderton encourages organisations to adopt a “micro-innovation” approach—small, low-risk pilots driven by cross-functional teams that quickly demonstrate value. He also stresses the importance of modern cloud infrastructure, strong data governance, and addressing cultural challenges, such as fear of job loss. Shadow AI use, where employees adopt tools like ChatGPT without oversight, adds further risk. To hear more insights from Anderton and explore how Australian enterprises can close the gap between AI aspiration and execution, listen to the full podcast. It’s a valuable resource for leaders looking to build a practical, scalable AI strategy grounded in business outcomes.

The Australian Red Cross is in the final stages of developing a data mesh approach using Microsoft Fabric following an earlier attempt at a more traditional centralised data lake. Now former chief information officer Brett Wilson discusses the project.

The iTnews Podcast is having a break this fortnight and will return with a new episode shortly. We relive one of our top episodes from 2024 with NBN Co talking security.

We speak with episode, Jamie Rossato, Chief Information Security Officer at CSIRO. Jamie discusses his initial steps at the agency, core cybersecurity pillars, handling technological transformations, AI's role, and strategic resourcing. He also offers career advice for aspiring cybersecurity professionals, emphasizing governance, operational experience, and the critical nature of cybersecurity leadership.This episode is brought to you by Fusion5. Stay tuned to the end to hear from Fusion5's Technical Director for Modern Work and Security, Mark Montgomery, about how organisations can ensure continuous cybersecurity compliance without slowing down innovation or business agility.For more information on how you can level-up your Cybersecurity protection, download Fusion5's cyber threats guide today.

Melbourne Airport is building up its cyber detection and response capabilities in order to secure 30 million annual passenger journeys, which are enabled by multiple technology systems.Speaking on the iTnews Podcast, head of cyber security Cheuk Wong said he is heavily focused on having visibility across the airport’s technology ecosystem, from its internal IT to baggage handling systems and even its wi-fi networks.This episode is brought to you by Fusion5. Stay tuned at the end to hear from Jayden Liddelow, security consultant at Fusion 5, how organisations can mature their security posture from reactive vulnerability management towards proactive assurance.  For more information on how you can level-up your Cybersecurity protection, download Fusion5's cyber threats guide today.

Hello and welcome to the iTnews Podcast. This episode is brought to you by Salesforce. Stay tuned to the end to hear from Kevin Doyle, regional vice president of agentforce and data cloud at Salesforce, about the immense interest in agentic AI and use case opportunities for Australian organisationsOur first guest this fortnight is Prospa’s head of data and analytics Jin Foo. An online lender for small business, Prospa has used hackathons and graph database technology to map out complex relationships between directors and entities applying for loans. It is also already experimenting with Agentic AI as a way to automatically assess and flag issues in large amounts of documentation that often accompany a loan application.

Hello and welcome to the iTnews Podcast.Our guest this week is Matt Bright, the senior manager of emerging technology and efficiency at UniSuper.UniSuper is moving into the next stage of its AI journey, exploring its first agentic AI use cases as a tool to assist financial advisors in the first instance.It comes about six months after the superannuation fund gave all 1200 of its staff access to Microsoft 365 Copilot, with both initiatives part of a broader push to harness AI technology to improve member experience. 

Hello and welcome to the iTnews Podcast. Our guest this week is Mark Potter, the chief information officer at Optus. Optus has stood up a unified data platform that brings data from across a number of repositories into an Azure-based ‘lakehouse’ environment. Mark walks us through this large program of work, which is continuing, but he starts where the iTnews Podcast often does - discussing key priorities of the telco’s IT strategy.This episode is brought to you by techpartner.news. Our sister channel publication CRN Australia is rebranding to techpartner.news on the first of April. Make sure you book mark techpartner.news in your browser, subscribe to the newsletter and register for our line up of events including Pipeline, the Impact Awards, Channel Meets, the MSP Index program and FAST 50.

Hello and Welcome to a brand new season of the iTnews Podcast. This week's episode is brought to you by Arctic Wolf and the State of Security Report. Stick around until the end to catch insights from Arctic Wolf’s Director of Engineering Steve Hunter on how AI is transforming cyber security—helping analysts cut through the noise, detect threats faster, and strengthen defences against evolving attacks.But first, we have Endeavour Energy’s Information Security Manager Gijo Varghese. At the end of last year, Endeavour achieved ISO 27001:2022 certification for its Information Security Management System (ISMS) - a milestone in its ongoing execution of a 2024-2029 cyber security strategy. We start the episode with Gijo describing his domain function and the strategic pillars that the organisation is working to.

A boot camp run ahead of CyberCon this week aims to build future CISOs’ peer networks and business communication - skills that could help them make the transition into a security executive role.It’s the second year the RSA Conference CISO Boot Camp has been held in Australia, in conjunction with the Australian Information Security Association (AISA), the organiser of CyberCon.This year the boot camp’s co-chairs are longtime Thales Australia and New Zealand CISO Ben Doyle and Cyber Resilience Group founding partner and former Endeavour Drinks CISO Grant McKechnie.Speaking to the iTnews Podcast, Doyle said Australia was the first country outside of the United States that the boot camp had been run.

This week we speak with Chris Crozier, CIO at Defence.

This week we're revisiting a discussion from last season — we'll be back on schedule with on October 14!Senior Manager of Technology, Jeff CampbellHorizon Power has completed a large-scale migration of applications and workloads from its data centres to a private cloud run by Macquarie Cloud Services. The shift to private cloud was for several reasons. The WA government wants agencies and owned companies to have more of a cloud mindset. In parallel, the government has set ambitious targets to reduce whole-of-government carbon emissions, and exiting its data centre was seen as a key way for Horizon Power’s Technology team to do its part. The private cloud choice was also partially for security reasons - Horizon Power has obligations under the Security of Critical Infrastructure or SOCI Act to contend with. Horizon Power is now set up to achieve some future-facing and data-driven ambitions, leveraging other cloud-based services.

Vote Now for the iTnews Podcast in the Listeners' Choice Award at the Australian Podcast Awards! VOTE HEREThe latest episode of the iTnews Podcast hear from ANZ Banking Group’s CISO, Dr. Maria Milosavljevic, as she discusses ANZ's security strategy, focusing on embedding security, building resilience, and driving business transformation.  The iTnews Podcast is brought to you by Fortinet and the 2024 State Of Security Report. We love to hear from our readers and advertisers, so please get in touch and let the friendly iTnews team help with your enquiry.

Vote Now for the iTnews Podcast in the Listeners' Choice Award at the Australian Podcast Awards! VOTE HEREThis week's episode brought to you by Stellar Cyber and the  2024 State of Security report. NBN Co has launched a new five-year security strategy to align with the Australian government's cyber security initiatives, while reinforcing the role of security as a business enabler. Chief Security Officer Darren Kane, in a recent iTnews Podcast interview, discussed how NBN Co’s strategy integrates physical and cyber security into a unified model. The strategy emphasises the quantification of security risks in financial terms to enhance communication with executives and the board. We love to hear from our readers and advertisers, so please get in touch and let the friendly iTnews team help with your enquiry.

As part of the 2024 iTnews State of Data report, iTnews speaks with Ashley Taylor, Global Voice of Customer Lead at Flight Centre. This week's episode brought to you by NRICheckout the inaugural State of Data report. We explore the trends that are driving data analytics through to the latest strategies for how data is stored and secured, and focus on the rapidly maturing disciplines of data governance and AI governance.We love to hear from our readers and advertisers, so please get in touch and let the friendly iTnews team help with your enquiry.

iTnews Associate Editor Eleanor Dickinson interviews David Griffiths, the Chief Information Security Officer of Northern Beaches Council. Griffiths shares insights on developing and implementing a cohesive security strategy for the council, emphasizing the importance of understanding information control, applying appropriate security measures, and building a roadmap for the future. He also discusses his transition from state to local government, highlighting the unique challenges of managing security across a diverse range of services and the importance of leveraging external partners and tools to enhance cybersecurity capabilities.iTnews Podcast sponsored by Lacework and the 2024 State of Security ReportStay tuned until the end to hear Anthony Rees, Field CTO at Lacework, discuss the importance of security hygiene, cloud posture, and code security, along with the need for visibility and prioritizing internet-facing assets to protect critical data and infrastructure.

In our latest iTnews podcast episode, we dive into the transformativejourney of Torrens University, a digital-first institution that has grownfrom zero to nearly 20,000 students in just a decade.Eoghan Hogan, former transformation director of Torrens University,discusses the university’s commitment to online education, their innovativedigital learning model, and the significant transformation initiativesundertaken to stay ahead in the competitive higher education sector.Discover the Fusion5 approach to cloud migration with insights from Kris Jackson, General Manager for Cloud Infrastructure and Security, on achieving reduced costs, improved security, and stronger governance through strategic planning and effective management.To learn more about maximising the value of your cloud migration. Please go to https://www.fusion5.com.au/We love to hear from our readers and advertisers, so please get in touch and let the friendly iTnews team help with your enquiry.

As part of the 2024 iTnews State of Security report, iTnews speaks with Jeroen Buwalda, Group Executive, Transformation, Technology & Operations at Colonial First State.      This episode of the iTnews podcast brought to you by Brennan.We love to hear from our readers and advertisers, so please get in touch and let the friendly iTnews team help with your enquiry.

As part of the 2024 iTnews State of Security report, iTnews speaks with Paul Russell, CTO at Gumtree Group .  This episode of the iTnews podcast brought to you by Interactive.We love to hear from our readers and advertisers, so please get in touch and let the friendly iTnews team help with your enquiry.

As part of the 2024 iTnews State of Data report, iTnews speaks with Jared Woodruff,  Head of AI Engineering at Lander & Rogers.iTnews is excited to announce the launch of the inaugural State of Data report on Thursday, June 20th, at a special Data Forum Breakfast at the NextDC Sydney Data Centre.Readers are invited to register their interest here:iTnews will host panel discussions with CIOs, CDOs, Data Analysts, and Data Scientists, covering topics from the report, such as Data Security, Data Analytics/AI, Data Storage, and Data Governance.We love to hear from our readers and advertisers, so please get in touch and let the friendly iTnews team help with your enquiry.

As part of the 2024 iTnews State of Security report, iTnews speaks with Marcelo Dantas, Chief Information Officer at Automic Group. This episode of the iTnews podcast brought to you by Jamf.We love to hear from our readers and advertisers, so please get in touch and let the friendly iTnews team help with your enquiry.

 As part of the 2024 iTnews State of Security report, iTnews speaks with  Sandro Bucchianeri, Group Chief Security Officer at NAB.This episode of the iTnews podcast brought to you by Mimecast.We love to hear from our readers and advertisers, so please get in touch and let the friendly iTnews team help with your enquiry.

This week iTnews speaks with Robert Lopez, Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer at Norths Collective.

iTnews speaks with Sherrie Killiby, Executive Director, Strategy & Engagement at Transport for NSW.

This week we speak with Sandip Kumar, who’s the Executive Director of Transformation, about what digital transformation looks like in Australian healthcare, and his direct operations.

iTnews speaks with SBS CTO Darren Farnham about the media organisation's tech strategy, strategic pillars, and a recent CMS overhaul.