Connect Tasmania

Michael Patterson is a Regional Leader at Telstra, overseeing business performance across Tasmania and South Australia while working closely with industry and government to drive meaningful outcomes. He brings a strong track record of building high-performing teams, fostering positive cultural change, and delivering exceptional sales, service and partnership results across regional markets. With deep expertise in government relations, public affairs and large-scale program delivery, Michael has successfully led projects of state significance and secured major multi‑million‑dollar agreements. At Connect Tasmania, Michael will share insights on the investment, capacity and key changes shaping the state's future.

Stuart Mitchell is the Chief Executive Officer of Intuit Technologies, responsible for the strategic and operational direction of the business. He works closely with executive clients across government and enterprise to understand operating pressures and structure decision-making that holds under complexity. His focus is on aligning infrastructure, connectivity and platform decisions to real business outcomes. At Connect Tasmania, Stuart will speak to how Telstra and Intuit Technologies are working together across Tasmania and host the client panel discussion.

Russell Keys is a Modern Work Presales Specialist at Telstra, passionate about helping organisations rethink how work gets done through Modern Work, Enterprise Calling and AI. At Telstra, he plays a key role in enabling the partner ecosystem—bringing together Microsoft technologies like Teams and Copilot with real‑world use cases to deliver meaningful, everyday outcomes. At Connect Tasmania, Russell will share practical insights into how organisations are structuring Microsoft environments to support strong security and governance foundations, while enabling scalable and sustainable AI growth.

Marty McGrath is a Fixed Connectivity expert at Telstra, focused on helping organisations modernise their network strategies in line with growing data demands and evolving digital expectations. With a strong understanding of infrastructure, capacity planning and future network design, he supports organisations to build scalable, high‑performance connectivity environments. At Connect Tasmania, Marty will explore how organisations are preparing for increasing demand, data growth and the next generation of connectivity requirements.

Andrew Johns is Head of Service for Tasmania's Government Radio Network (TasGRN), responsible for the performance and delivery of one of the state's most critical communications platforms. With a focus on reliability, scale and operational excellence, he oversees infrastructure that supports essential services and public safety across Tasmania. At Connect Tasmania, Andrew will offer an inside view into TasGRN, exploring the realities of delivering and operating critical communications infrastructure at scale alongside Tim Rutherford.

Tim Rutherford is Chief Information & Technology Officer at the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management, responsible for technology strategy, program execution and the performance of critical operational systems. His career spans senior leadership roles across global organisations including KPMG, PwC, IBM and Rio Tinto, where he has led complex transformation programs across strategy, operations, customer experience and organisational change. Tim led the $600M transformation of Tasmania's Government Radio Network (TasGRN), a nationally recognised platform supporting essential services across the state. At Connect Tasmania, he will offer a practical perspective on delivering and operating large‑scale, mission‑critical communications infrastructure alongside Andrew Johns.

Alex leads the Technology Services and Cyber Security practice at Intuit Technologies, working across government, critical infrastructure and enterprise environments. He focuses on identity-aligned, resilient architectures grounded in recognised frameworks and commercial discipline. His work supports organisations to reduce risk, improve control and operate securely across complex environments. At Connect Tasmania, Alex will cover how organisations are approaching security and operations in real-world conditions.

Tom is an Enterprise Solutions Executive at Intuit Technologies, specialising in enterprise platform strategy across cloud, applications and AI-enabled environments. He works with organisations to apply AI and automation in ways that align with infrastructure capability, governance and cost control. His focus is on building modern platforms that support growth without compromising architectural clarity. At Connect Tasmania, Tom will contribute to the Microsoft session, focusing on platform, AI and real-world application.

Andrew is the Cyber Lead within the Business Advisory practice at Intuit Technologies, working across critical infrastructure, government and enterprise environments. With extensive experience in security operations, risk management and cyber resilience, he focuses on helping organisations strengthen visibility, reduce exposure and respond effectively to evolving threats. His work centres on practical security outcomes that align operational requirements with long-term resilience. At Connect Tasmania, Andrew will contribute practical insights into operating and securing modern environments under real-world conditions.