Boardroom Passions and Challenges

At the cutting edge of change and competition, David Thodey AO is a global business leader focused on innovation, technology and telecommunications with more than forty years of experience creating brand and shareholder value. He is interested in customer centred transformation of businesses.

“The best organisations put the customer first,” he says. When thinking of the big issues facing boards, re-imagining the business and digital transformation are key and “…the customer is a strong driver because if [an organisation] is truly customer centric, it never stands still – it is always innovating.” 

A long-time advocate of women in leadership roles, he also believes focusing on customers and creating an inclusive culture is the key to cultural diversity in boardrooms and senior management. “I try to come at bringing diversity into the boardroom and the management team by talking about the customers we serve and the culture we create.”

David is currently Chairman of Xero, a cloud-based accounting software provider, and a non-executive Board director of Ramsay Health Care, a global hospital group. He is co-chair of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and also co-chair of the Climate Leaders Coalition.

He has been called on to head a panel of experts overseeing an expansive user audit of myGov (2022) and lead a decadal review of the Australian Public Service for the Government (2019).

Until recently David was Chair of Tyro, Australia’s only independent EFTPOS banking institution and the CSIRO, the national research organisation for Australia. He has been a co-chair of the Infrastructure and Investment Taskforce of the B20 leadership group and a director of GSM Association. A prior appointment as chair of Basketball Australia reflects his keen interest in basketball.

Significant executive leadership roles have included Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Telstra and before that, Chief Executive Officer, Australia and New Zealand at IBM.

David was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia in January 2017 for distinguished service to business, notably to the telecommunications and information technology sectors, to the promotion of ethical leadership and workplace diversity, and to basketball.

This highly anticipated Melbourne Forum Signature Dinner could not be more relevant or thought-provoking. Join us in conversation with David Thodey AO – it will be a special evening!