It says much of Catherine Livingstone’s accomplishments in both technology and mainstream business that she simultaneously holds the positions of chair of Australia’s largest technology company – Telstra – and president of the peak business advocacy body, the Business Council of Australia. She took the latter role in March this year and has already used it as a platform to call for Australia to put aside its complacency and confront the forces of digital technology, demographic change and globalisation.
Certainly Livingstone’s background puts her in a strong position to know what she is talking about, having driven Telstra’s own transformation program. Few can match her credentials in either technology or business, having been chief executive of successful biotech company Cochlear from 1994 until 2000, chair of the CSIRO from 2001 to 2006, and a director of Macquarie Bank from 2007 to 2013.
Something of a blast from the past, Ted Pretty is well known for driving the digital strategy at Telstra through the dotcom boom. Pretty has successfully taken what he learned about technology and innovation in the fires of the tech wreck and is using that knowledge to reshape Hills, the iconic maker of the Hills Hoist, as a technology company focused on delivering solutions in healthcare, security, communications and mobility, audio-visual and smart home automation.
Pretty has presided over the acquisition of six new businesses into Hills and opened a research and development hub within the company. Pretty also holds a post as non-executive director at data centre company NEXTDC Limited and is the Australian and New Zealand advisory chairman for the massive Indian technology services companies Tech Mahindra and Mahindra Satyam.
As the man leading one of Australia’s largest home-grown software makers, Tim Reed’s decisions help shape the working lives of more than 1.2 million Australian small business owners. Reed has helped steer MYOB’s transition to cloud-based software against fierce competition from the fast-growing New Zealand rival Xero, driving an internal cultural change and focusing the business on ‘making life easier’ for its customers. His passion for small business has also seen him forge multiple relationships with professional bodies and business associations, including providing advice for federal Minister for Small Business Bruce Billson.
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