David Thodey is a thought leader who has over 30 years of business experience in the areas of technology, innovation and telecommunications.

David is currently Chairman of Tyro, Australia’s only independent EFTPOS banking institution and Xero, a cloud-based accounting software provider for small and medium-sized businesses. Mr Thodey is also a non-executive Board director of Ramsay Health Care, a global hospital group. Until recently he was Chair of the Commonwealth Science, Industry & Research Organisation (CSIRO), the national research organisation for Australia.

Previously David was Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Telstra, appointed in May 2009, retiring from this position on 30 April 2015. Before joining Telstra, David was Chief Executive Officer, Australia and New Zealand at IBM. During his 22 years at IBM, David held several senior executive positions across Asia Pacific.

In January 2013, David joined the Board of the GSM Association, the global body made up of carriers and related companies that supports the standardisation and deployment of mobile technology around the world. He was also co-chair of the Infrastructure and Investment Taskforce of the B20 leadership group.

David has a keen interest in basketball and was previously Chairman of Basketball Australia. He is a technologist and interested in customer centred transformation of businesses.