Optus’ chief information officer of four years Mark Potter is set to leave the telco in March of next year, with a long-time former NBN Co IT chief brought in as a replacement.
The telco said today that current CIO Mark Potter “has chosen to depart Optus”, after “having established strong technology foundations to support Optus’ multi-year transformation.”
His replacement is John McInerney, currently with OneNZ but perhaps better known for the seven years he spent as NBN Co’s group CIO, and eight years in similar IT leadership roles at Telstra.
McInerney will join Optus from next month, providing a four-month transition period.
“Following long-term and open discussions, Mark has decided that early next year is the right time to leave Optus after four productive years,” Optus CEO Stephen Rue said in a statement.
“I wish him all the best with his next chapter.
“Incoming CIO John McInerney brings a wealth of experience and a proven ability to lead complex transformation programs.
“I look forward to working with him as we work to evolve our IT capabilities to better serve our customers.”
Rue is also a former executive of NBN Co.
Optus said that McInerney’s “expertise in digital transformation and operational resilience will be instrumental as Optus continues to simplify products, processes, data, and systems.”
It’s the second major technology leadership change, after Woolworths’ Pieter van der Merwe was tapped to become Optus’ chief security and risk officer, starting in December.
The telco has been in the news of late after an issue with emergency calling, resulting in at least three deaths.
