I’ve worked across the full range of enterprise technology leadership for over 15 years: cloud security architecture at AWS for Australian and New Zealand enterprises, platform architecture for BHP, and now AI and cloud strategy for West Australian Government agencies at Microsoft. Along the way I’ve shaped the AWS Well-Architected Framework, sat in C-level strategy conversations, and built teams from scratch.
I work best at the intersection of technology and strategy. I help leadership teams cut through the noise, set a direction that holds up under scrutiny, and build the engineering culture to deliver on it.
Shaped the standard#
- Contributing author to the security pillar of the AWS Well-Architected Framework
- Represented AWS nationally at Australian AWS Summits and globally at AWS re:Inforce conferences. Developed net-new thought leadership including a serverless security operations bot and automated supply chain security within a DevOps CI/CD pipeline
- Ajilon’s Technical Lead for Mines at BHP during transition and ongoing support of inventory management system from existing supplier. Trained team members on both the technical and business context. System build in Java on Oracle WebLogic.
Built the capability#
- Led a five-city workshop series for small and medium engineering teams resulting in start up and scaling customers across the country establishing secure landing zones; related content and case studies published on the AWS Security Blog
- Taught threat modelling to over 170 engineers at Australian customers, building security champions programs that cut implementation cost and accelerated time to market
- Solutions architect on Woodside (May 2021 to December 2021), one of Australia’s largest energy companies and a flagship AWS strategic account, delivering tailored cloud and digital initiatives directly to their senior technology leadership
Made the call#
- Led an APJ region security engagement program at AWS, equipping account teams to run informed, data-driven security conversations with their customers
- Served as acting team lead (October 2020 to March 2021) scaling from a team of one account manager and one solutions architect to two account managers and three solutions architects.
- Secured two years of platform funding through executive-level presentation of a manufacturing execution systems blueprint. Delivered detailed architecture for a suite of business systems to manage planning, execution, and automation across production operations.
- Revived a cancelled project for Ajilon at BHP by building a high-impact prototype and making the case for a simplified solution for a simplified, lower-cost solution. Delivered on time and under the initial fallback budget.
Where I’ve worked#
Nearly nine years inside the two companies that build the cloud everyone else runs on.
Eight of those at AWS, most recently as a senior security architect for Australia and New Zealand, working with C-level executives on security strategy and with the platform teams on what got built next. Now at Microsoft, where I own technology strategy for West Australian Government agencies. Different platform, same job: work out which technology actually solves the problem, then make the case for it.
Before big tech: platform architect at BHP, product strategy for a supply chain modelling platform. Enterprise software at Water Corporation, BHP Iron Ore and at Ajilon.
As a Solutions Architect at AWS I worked with it all. Mining, energy, government, healthcare, fintech. Startups through to Fortune 500. The sectors change more than the problems do. Every one of these organisations had capable engineers and a shortage of people whose job was to decide what to build. The technology was rarely the hard part. The real complexity isn’t in the code, it’s in the people.
Image credit @joshnh on Unsplash