Movers and shakers: Sarah Thirlwall now chief digital officer at MinterEllisonRuddWatts

Sarah Thirlwall is the new chief digital officer at law firm MinterEllisonRuddWatts. She came from the health sector, where her latest role was director, strategic ICT transformation at Counties Manukau Health. Thirlwall is part of the2018 CIO100, the annual report on New Zealand most transformative and innovative ICT leaders. Before this, she held business technology executive roles at healthAlliance and South Auckland Health.

Former MinterEllisonRuddWatts chief digital officer Nick Whitehouse is now acting chief executive at McCarthyFinch, an artificial intelligence firm that is a joint venture between the law firm and Goat Ventures.

Nick Whitehouse

Simon Pomeroy takes on the regional head digital and customer experience – Asia Pacific EMEA at Citi, based in Singapore. His previous role include chief transformation officer at Westpac New Zealand, and head of loyalty at Air New Zealand.

Simon Pomeroy

Simon Burson moves to IAG as national manager cybersecurity, following more than three years as security manager at Paymark. Before Paymark, Burson was security manager at Spark NZ.

Simon Burson

Wayne Broekhals is now a vCIO at Moonlite IT Consultancy, based in Christchurch. His previous roles include IS manager at Arrow International and IT manager at Acland Holdings.

Wayne Broekhals

Jisu Lee is named the 2018 University of Auckland Potentia Undergraduate Scholar in Computer Science.

She is the fifth recipient of the scholarship, which provides financial assistance of $5,000 to a bachelor of science student enrolled in software development, and a graduate-in-residence platform for the recipient to leverage the Potentia community to better prepare themselves for a working life.

University of Auckland’s Kiri-Ann Olney and Robert Amor, with Jisu Lee and Nathan Bryant-Taukiri.

“The scholarship attracted significant interest and all the seven shortlisted candidates would have been worthy of selection,” says Nathan Bryant-Taukiri, managing director of Potentia Limited.

“The onerous selection process had all candidates present compelling cases with Jisu articulating a curiosity and zeal for programming that set her apart from her peers. Having worked in a Dunedin tech startup and currently on the executive of the Auckland University Computer Science Society, Jisu is well credentialled to progress her exciting journey through this award.”

Jisu Lee with Abinesh Krishan and Nathan Bryant-Taukiri of Potentia.

Sean Kopelke joins Riverbed as vice president, solutions engineering, Asia Pacific and Japan. He came from ZScaler where he served as country manager for Australia and New Zealand. Prior to this he worked with intelligence-led security company FireEye, and at Symantec.

Sean Kopelke

Studio7 aims to help Kiwi brands grow in the digital space with the use of the CRUX digital marketing insight and strategy tool.

Studio7’s digital marketing insight and strategy tool CRUX produces a scorecard for each brand to better identify strengths and shortcomings.

CRUX was designed by Studio7 creative director Gianni Russo and the agency’s client service director Josh Heares, who operate on the basis that a brand strategy derived from robust insights results in more effective creative communication. This approach enables brands to better connect with people, says Russo, who was previously creative director/director at Riot Riot, where Heares was his 2IC.

Studio7 client service director Josh Heares (left) and creative director Gianni Russo (right)