ASX-listed communications workflow platform Whispir (ASX: WSP) has added key personnel to its senior leadership team, appointing a new Chief Financial Officer and a Head of AI and Data.
Highly experienced international finance executive Justin Owen has been appointed Chief Financial Officer, replacing Gareth Roberts, who has resigned from the role for personal reasons.
Mr Owen brings more than 30 years’ finance experience to Whispir with previous CFO and Company Secretary positions at ASX-listed companies, including PayGroup and Tesserent Limited. He has extensive experience managing international finance teams and leading operational transformation in Australia, Singapore, China, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
Mr Roberts has served as the Whispir CFO for five years and will support the company on an ongoing basis for a further 16-months.
Commenting on the appointment, Whispir CEO Jeromy Wells said, “We’re delighted to have a CFO of Justin’s calibre join our leadership team. Justin’s international finance and business performance management expertise will be a significant asset as we execute our next growth stage with increased market presence across all our markets. He is the ideal candidate to lead our finance and risk functions with demonstrated success improving the financial performance of listed companies in the technology sector.”
“On behalf of the Board and senior management team, I would like to thank Gareth for his significant contribution to Whispir during a pivotal period for the company. To ensure a seamless transition, Gareth will support Justin on a full-time basis for the next four months and then continue to consult to the Company for a further 12 months.”
In an update to the ASX, Whispir also announced the appointment of Fiona Milne to the newly created role of Head of AI and Data. Ms Milne has a background in astrophysics and mathematics and will lead AI and machine learning initiatives at Whispir.
With more than 10 years’ experience in data science, Ms Milne has worked on machine learning projects for NAB, Odds.com.au, MYOB and the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission). She joins Whispir from Eliiza, one of Australia’s most prestigious machine learning and AI organisations.
Mr Wells said, “Fiona is a perfect fit for this exciting new role and Whispir’s ambition to build the world’s best communications intelligence platform. It demonstrates to our customers and the market that we’re approaching this discipline with real authenticity.
“With Fiona’s appointment our artificial intelligence and machine learning functionality will ramp up, ensuring our communication workflow platform continues to provide industry-leading data innovation, intelligence and insights for our customers.”
Brad Dunn, Whispir’s Chief Product Officer, said “Once a company starts hiring physicists, you know they are taking AI seriously. We aren’t just planning to put a few small widgets into the market to make Whispir sound clever – we’re taking this sincerely and really making this a part of how we think of everything and how we build software.”
The latest leadership appointments follow Matt Lambie and Ben Erskine joining the team in April, as Chief Technology Officer and Head of Marketing respectively.
