Kate Long Biography
You can find Kate’s short biography here
Overview
Kate Carruthers is a distinguished leader in data analytics, AI, data governance, and cyber security with extensive experience across higher education, large enterprises, startups, and boards. Her career highlights include establishing innovative data governance, AI, and business intelligence functions at UNSW Sydney and the successful launch of the Westfield Australia gift card business.
Kate has extensive experience in senior executive roles, working for diverse organisations such as Citibank, General Electric, AMP, Westfield (now Scentre Group), Metcash, Genea, and NSW Treasury. She has extensive experience in the successful delivery of digital transformation, data, ICT, and change projects across organisations of diverse sizes. Previously Kate lectured in postgraduate information systems and accounting at Macquarie University. She also delivered TAFE level courses in business and management in the NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation.
Kate is currently working with the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) as the Head of Data, Analytics & AI. Previously she led the data function as Chief Data & Insights Officer at UNSW Sydney for many years, and she delivered UNSW’s first enterprise AI system into production in 2019 and in 2022 led the re-architecture of the cloud data platform to support AI and ML, BI and analytics, and low code applications from a single set of data pipelines. She also served as the Head of Business Intelligence for the UNSW AI Institute and served on the inaugural management board, and was an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the School of Computer Science & Engineering at UNSW Sydney. Kate was a foundation member of the NSW Government Data Analytics Centre Advisory Board and was a member of the Microsoft Regional Director* program for cybersecurity.
Education
Kate was certified in information security, was awarded a Graduate Diploma in Terrorism and Security Studies (Charles Sturt University), a Master of Tertiary Education Management (University of Melbourne), and a Master of Management (Macquarie University). She is currently a PhD candidate at UTS researching AI governance and entrepreneurship.
Startups & advocacy
She is co-founder of several startups, Internet of Things (IoT) startups (Moorescloud with Mark Pesce, and IoTM) and is currently an adviser to several startups. Kate was also co-founder of Social Innovation Sydney (with Selena Griffith) a group that helped change makers connect with one another and built-up networks to drive social innovation in Australia. She is currently serving on the board of directors for a blockchain startup called Amaroo and is an adviser to Sovereign Australia AI.
Kate has always been a strong advocate for women in STEM, having previously served on the management committee of Females in Information Technology and Telecommunications (FitT), and has been a mentor for young women in technology and engineering for many years.
Podcast
In 2023 she started the Data Revolution podcast. The Data Revolution podcast is about exploring the intersections between business intelligence, data analytics, AI, privacy, data protection, cyber and information security. In 2025 she started a podcast called Making Sense of Politics with her old friend Nancy Georges – it is just two women trying to get their heads around the political landscape.
Memberships & Boards
Kate is:
- a member of the Australian Information Security Association (AISA)
- a member of the Australian Women in Security Network
- a member of the Royal Society of New South Wales
- a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia
She has served as:
- a foundation member of the management board for the UNSW AI Research Institute
- a foundation member of the NSW Data Analytics Centre advisory board
- a member of the Advisory Board for the Faculty of Informatics at the University of Wollongong for several years before joining UNSW Sydney
- a member of the Telstra Industry Advisory Board
Awards and recognition
In 2014 Kate was named as one of Australia’s most powerful women in technology by Smart Company magazine. She was named among the 2021 Constellation Research Business Transformation 150 (BT150), which is an elite list that recognises the top global executives leading business transformation efforts in their organisations. Kate was also named on the:
- 2024 Global Top 100 Innovators in Data and Analytics
- Global Data Power Women List 2024
- Global Data Power Women List 2023
- Top Academic Data Leaders for 2022
- 2022 Global Top 100 Innovators in Data & Analytics
- CDO Magazine 2021 List of Academic Data Leaders.
- Global Top 100 Data Visionaries – 2020
- 2020 List of Global Data Power Women
- 2020 Business of Data Top 100 Innovators in Data and Analytics
In 2023 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by B&T at the Women Leading Tech awards.
Over the past few years Kate has been working on the front lines of the intersection between data analytics, AI, ML, privacy, data protection, cyber and information security.