Ukraine has shown that modern war is increasingly software-defined, data-dependent and commercially entangled. Salt Typhoon reveals what this means in peacetime: adversaries are mapping telecommunications, infrastructure and digital ecosystems long before a crisis begins.
Most cyber breaches aren’t driven by advanced AI - they’re caused by basic failures like exposed cloud storage and poor data governance. It’s time to refocus on cybersecurity fundamentals.
AI and data teams are heading into a period where hardware scarcity, longer lead times, and rising costs are no longer edge cases but operating conditions.
AI is changing the risk profile of cybersecurity, turning data minimisation from a privacy nicety into a frontline defence. The less data you hold, the less there is for AI‑enabled attackers to exploit.
The story we tell ourselves about technology and jobs has almost always been wrong, at least in the short term.
Organisations that treat AI as a series of disconnected experiments will end up with expensive demos, shadow IT and AI, and mounting risk rather than real business value.
Artificial intelligence is now a first‑order cyber risk driver, as well as a productivity tool. AI‑accelerated threats, fragile model “harnesses,” and concentrated dependence on a few vendors demand urgent uplift in governance, resilience, and incident response.
Generative AI has hit the peak of inflated expectations. The Gartner Hype Cycle reminds us we've been here before - and shows why governance, not hype, and doing the work still matters.
AI isn’t magic. It’s change management (and people). Ignore that at your peril.
On ANZAC Day 2026 I remember the ordinary diggers behind the legend and reflect on Australia’s place in an emerging multipolar world, from Gallipoli to today’s conflicts.
Software and AI are never neutral; they can quietly lock in existing systems of control and power. To avoid surrendering autonomy to a few proprietary platforms, we need open, community‑governed institutions that keep AI accountable and share its benefits more fairly.
In history I saw how the English working class responded to upheaval of the industrial revolution by building new institutions Today’s AI disruption raises a similar question: what new institutions do we need for the AI age?