Tony Barnes

With several decades of growth leadership, finance, governance and technology experience in both entrepreneurial hyper-growth organisations and complex regulated businesses, I thrive on guiding companies through complex challenges at the intersection of governance, technology risk, and strategic transformation, as a NED and expert advisor.After decades building and shaping businesses, including as CEO spearheading a company through hyper-growth and Top10 Deloitte Fast50 recognition after public listing, I bring both operational and governance perspectives to companies striving for growth in fast-evolving landscapes. My work centres on guiding confident decisions about technology, cybersecurity, digital transformation, developing people in tandem with AI, and above all governance, which underpin successful business strategies. Whether it's assessing acquisition targets for technology and cyber risks, cost and capability gaps, advising on AI implementation and governance, guiding audit and risk committees through critical challenges, or shaping capability and skills in tandem with AI, I translate complexity into strategic clarity. My formal postgraduate qualifications in enterprise governance (LLM), law (MBLaw) and business administration (MBA) complement this practical experience, but it's the synthesis of operational leadership and governance discipline that creates value. My technical foundations run deep. As a qualified cybersecurity practitioner (CISSP, Master of Information Systems Security) who has built software companies, created security operations businesses, led enterprise cyber maturity programs, and battled international hacking groups, I bring genuine fluency to tech conversations, essential when AI risk, digital transformation, and cyber threats dominate board agendas. This technical credibility means I can help navigate technology decisions that increasingly determine strategic success or failure. I'm comfortable with ambiguity and getting under the hood where technology is the essential driver of business strategy. I'm building a portfolio career around non-executive directorships, strategic advisory work, M&A DD, and leadership with organisations grappling with technology risk and applying a governance lens.If your organisation needs to bridge the ever-growing gap between technical reality and strategic governance, needs someone who understands both the boardroom and the server room, software, AI and algorithms, risk and financial return, then I'd welcome a conversation about how I might contribute to your success.