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    Adrian Turner (headshot)

    ADRIAN TURNER

     Adrian Turner is a technology entrepreneur and board director with a career spanning Silicon Valley, national government, and globally significant industry-building.

    Educated at Stanford University and the University of Technology Sydney, he brings deep expertise across cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, biosecurity, and ESG, with a strong record of translating emerging technologies into national capability. Adrian is currently focused on helping Australian companies adopt and effectively use artificial intelligence to drive productivity and competitive advantage.

    Adrian co-founded and led ExoFlare from 2021, a fast-growing biosecurity company whose mission is to protect the global food supply. Having served as CEO until 2023, he remains on the Board as Director and Advisor. ExoFlare is now deployed across Australia's pork, sheep, cattle, goat, poultry, and egg sectors, protecting approximately 85% of Australia's poultry production, 40% of pork, and 30% of egg production. He also serves as an Industrial Advisor to EQT Group, one of Europe's largest private equity firms, advising on deal sourcing, investment strategy, and portfolio governance across its EUR 269 billion in assets under management.
     
    From 2015 to 2020, Adrian served as CEO of CSIRO's Data61 — Australia's national applied data science agency — which he created through the merger of CSIRO Digital Productivity and NICTA. Under his leadership, Data61 grew to approximately 1,100 staff and affiliates, including around one-third of Australia's ICT PhD researchers, and delivered nationally significant programs including Australia's AI roadmap and ethics framework, the ICT stream for the National Genomics Mission, cybersecurity curriculum for company directors in partnership with the AICD, and digital strategy partnerships with the governments of Vietnam and Singapore. Data61 was recognised by the OECD as global best practice for digital innovation.
     
    Earlier in his career, Adrian co-founded and led Mocana — now part of DigiCert — in Silicon Valley, building it over eleven years into a leading cybersecurity platform protecting more than 100 million devices globally, including medical devices, industrial control systems, military equipment, and critical infrastructure. He held a regular column in the Australian Financial Review and has authored publications on the Industrial Internet of Things, precision medicine, and the future of Australian industry. Adrian is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, an advisor to the Sports Australia Hall of Fame, a lifetime Global Australians Ambassador, and a UTS Luminary.