Mary O’Kane AC

… is the company’s Executive Chairman, and leads all projects undertaken by the company. As a computer engineer undertaking pioneering research in artificial intelligence, a former university vice-chancellor, a member or chair of many Government and private sector boards and committees, an active consultant and public speaker, Chief Scientist and Engineer for the State of New South Wales 2008-2018, Chair of the NSW Independent Planning Commission 2018-2024, and current Chair of the board of the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), Professor O’Kane has an extraordinary breadth and depth of experience in the innovation, research, higher education, energy, ICT, public policy and development spheres. She also has extensive national and international networks reflecting this expertise.

In the innovation sphere, Professor O’Kane has been a reviewer for several innovation agencies in Europe, New Zealand and Asia, including the FFG, the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, and VINNOVA, the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems. She is frequently invited to give keynote speeches on productivity and innovation.

Professor O’Kane has a history of carrying out major reviews of government and scientific agencies and programs in Australia. She co-led two of the recent disaster inquiries – the NSW Bushfire Inquiry in 2020 and the NSW Flood Inquiry in 2022.

In the higher education sphere, Professor O’Kane was Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Adelaide from 1996-2001 and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) from 1994-96. Before that, she was Dean of the Faculty of Information Sciences and Engineering at the University of Canberra. Through O’Kane Associates she advises many universities in Australia and the region. In 2022 she was appointed chair of the Accord Review Panel which reviewed the Australian higher education system recommending a major expansion of the
system to meet critical skills needs. The final report of the Review was released in February 2024.

In the energy sphere, Professor O’Kane was Chair of the Board of the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy, led the NSW Coal Seam Gas Inquiry in 2013, was a member of the Independent Review into the Future Security of the National Electricity Market (Finkel Review), and chair of the NSW Energy Security Taskforce (2017). She chaired the board of Aurora Energy (2018-2024) and currently chairs the board of AEMO and serves on the board of AEMO Services Ltd.