Hilda Clune

Graduates, or should I say colleagues? Families and friends. It’s my great honour today to be here to help celebrate this magnificent event in your journey of life and learning. Congratulations. As a 16-year-old who never wanted to see the inside of a classroom again, I stand here before you as an alumni of this wonderful university that gave me the backbone to experience the incredible opportunities and challenges that come with a diverse career.

More often than not, when I’m asked to speak, it’s because of my experience as a leader in technology, and that illustrates the diversity that is key to delivering relevant and high value outcomes. And I don’t just mean gender diversity. I mean diversity in terms of our backgrounds, ideas, our ways of working, our ways of thinking. Diversity is the key to creating differentiating outcomes in a world of endless possibilities. Let’s look at that landscape. Gardner said at their symposium in 2013 that by 2020 every company will be a digital or technology company, and that every budget will be an IT budget. The business leaders of today no longer have a choice whether or not to embrace this change. It’s inevitable. We recognise that the world of traditional business will no longer be sustainable. Building a culture of innovation, agility and resilience will be necessary for growth and the cycle of constant disruption is the new norm. The choice for us to reinvent is inevitable or we will be left behind, and we need to choose to reinvent by riding the wave of technology and innovation, rather than resisting it.

Of the top four brands in the world, three are technology organisations. All you will be very familiar with: Apple, Microsoft, Google. Apple has a market cap of $773 billion dollars, Google $650 billion, and Microsoft $532 billion, and between them they employ 300,000 people around the world. In the course of becoming the world’s most recognised technology organisations, they have not lost sight of the need to contribute to solving the world’s problems through initiatives demonstrating societal relevance. These are in the areas of workplace, citizenship and the environment. Not surprisingly, the brand index of those three organisations was lifted this year.

In Australia, our country enables us to be agile and responsive. We have a ferocious appetite for innovation and technology, and we behave like a start-up in a global ecosystem. It’s not by accident that Australia is regularly the platform to experiment and launch new technologies. Wi-fi was invented in Australia by the CSIRO in 1992. Atlassian, an Australian start-up founded in 2002 with a $10,000 dollar credit card – it’s now got a market cap of $8.5 billion dollars. Lars Rasmussen and his brother Jens formed a mapping technology company in Sydney, which was required two years later, and Google Maps was born. STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths. It’s very often spoken of in terms of statistics to highlight the broad issue in the future of work; specifically, the mismatch between the pipeline of skills and the rapidly expanding needs of the global and local market. It’s often referred to as the war for talent. You are on the right side of the statistic – this is your advantage. You have a platform to create an impact and be part of a world that changes at an unfathomable pace. You have the opportunity to be part of positive change, and business leaders are looking at you for your ideas on how we move our organisations forward.

After 33 years of working across many industries and organisations, from small and medium family-owned businesses to some of the largest corporates in the world, I wanted to share some philosophies that have actually helped me in my journey. The first is that the only boundary that can be placed on your ambitions and career is the ones that you put in place. At 16, I left in year 10 and went to business college to learn typing and shorthand. My goal in life was to be the best receptionist I could ever be. Some would say I’ve lost my way on that journey. With a background like mine, it is challenging, and for many, I don’t fit any particular box. You would be surprised how many times I get asked, ‘can I write code?’, or, ‘do I know how to manage a mainframe?’ And the answer to those two questions is no. However, I have actually explored joining Kids’ Code Club – it looks like an enormous amount of fun. Throughout my career, most of my appointments have come from people who have taken the time to get to know me and my strengths, rather than my background presenting a hurdle. I recall when I received a phone call from the CIO of the third telco I worked for. And the conversation went a little like this: ‘I love what you bring to the table, in particular the eight years you spent in retail, working for a well-known Australian fashion designer, Carla Zampatti.’ No reference to my previous experience in telecommunications or technology. ‘I’m giving you the job,’ he said ‘but I have no idea what I want you to do.’ So my point here is, always keep an open mind. Don’t close those doors unless you’ve explored them.

My second main experience is that making mistakes and failing is a part of every element of life. It is how we learn. If we don’t own them, we never learn from them. There is a moment where I actually was learning to drive, and I felt wonderful. I went and passed my driver’s exam and came back to the driving teacher, and I was excited – I could rule the world; I knew how to drive. And she said to me, ‘Well done!’ She said, ‘But I’ve been in the car with you for the last three months, and I’ve been there to catch you when you make a mistake.’ She said, ‘You really won’t learn to drive until you’re out on the car on your own.’ And sure enough, I probably almost caused four accidents in the first month. The point is, life is a journey of learning. We learn in everything we do. I am 49, and I learn every day. I learn in every environment, I learn from my children, I learn from my parents, I learn from work. It’s a basic element of life. Perfection is not just unaffordable; it’s impossible. I’m a wife, mother, a daughter, I’m a CIO, a disruptor, today I’m a speaker, but most of all I’m a learner.

The third is, take the time to look outside in. In our passion and commitment in getting things done, we sometimes get lost in our own world, only to find when we do look up, the world has changed. Our experiences and perspectives are extremely important, but they can only be enhanced by the input and perspectives of others. Lastly, I really encourage you to speak up. I remember as a young professional attending a meeting with the then-executives of the company I was working for, and as the meeting ended, my manager leaned over and said, ‘You should contribute more. People listen when you speak.’ I’m not sure that she ever understood what she actually unleashed with that comment, but you have a point of view. Make sure you are heard.

In conclusion, your journey didn’t start today. It didn’t start at the end of last year. It began the moment you walked through these doors. Each one of you has something unique and individual to offer at a time more than any other time in history when technology is shaping the way we experience the world. The way we make and preserve memories, the way we solve environmental challenges, the way we cultivate our ideas and the way we improve the human condition in big ways and small. We, the current leaders, look forward to being amazed, inspired and enlightened by you, our future leaders, and what you will achieve. I have no doubt that you will absolutely exceed all our expectations. Congratulations again, and thank you.