Boardroom Confidential
by Australian Institute of Company Directors
Latest episode
Cyber Security Starts with Culture: What Boards Need to Know About…
Cyber Security Starts with Culture: What Boards Need to Know About…
About this podcast
Produced by the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD)
Hosted by Bennett Mason, Boardroom Confidential brings you candid conversations with some of Australia's most influential company directors, business leaders, and experts. Together, we explore their paths to the boardroom, lessons from their careers, and the ideas shaping modern governance.
Whether you're an experienced director or just starting your governance journey, each episode offers practical insights into leadership, decision-making, culture, risk, and strategy—straight from those who sit at the board table.
Tune in for fresh perspectives on what it takes to lead with purpose in today's complex business environment.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 52 episodes
- Cyber Security Starts with Culture: What Boards Need to Know About AI, Risk and Resilience · 32 min · Season 3 Episode 16Presented by Okta Cyber security is much more than just a technology issue. As AI tools become increasingly powerful and cyber threats grow more sophisticated, boards are being…
- Dr Eileen Doyle & Tim Bednall Take Us Inside the First Wave of Climate Reporting · 26 min · Season 3 Episode 16This is an episode from the AICD's new weekly podcast series, Director Download. Each episode features conversations with policy experts and leading directors to unpack complex…
- A New Podcast From the AICD · 1 minThe AICD is proud to announce the launch of a brand new podcast offering - Director Download. Director Download is a weekly podcast series that keeps directors and senior leaders…
- Special Episode - Boards, AI Agents and the Next Wave of Cyber Risk · 28 min · Season 3 Episode 15Presented by Okta Artificial intelligence is transforming organisations at extraordinary speed. But as businesses adopt AI agents and autonomous systems, new governance and cyber…
- Skipp Williamson: Why Transformations Go Off Track · 39 min · Season 3 Episode 14Skipp Williamson has spent decades working with organisations on one of the most persistent challenges in business: execution. As founder of Partners in Performance, she has seen…
- Former MYOB boss Tim Reed on boards' potential AI blind spots, Australia's productivity puzzle, and what actually happens when private equity buys a business · 40 min · Season 3 Episode 13Tim Reed has led through growth, disruption and transition as CEO of MYOB for over a decade, President of the Business Council of Australia, and now as a director, investor and…
- Innovation with Intent: OzHarvest Chair Lawrence Goldstone on Boards and Change · 35 min · Season 3 Episode 12Lawrence Goldstone has built a career at the intersection of purpose, people and transformation. He spent decades advising major organisations on strategy, innovation and…
- S3E11 – Diane Smith-Gander on transitioning to the boardroom, effective chairs, and the role of AI in modern governance · 47 min · Season 11 Episode 3Diane Smith-Gander reflects on a career spanning executive leadership, global consulting and some of Australia's most complex boardrooms. In this conversation, Diane discusses…
- S3E10 - Visibility, Values and the Boardroom: Former David Jones CEO Paul Zahra on Inclusive Leadership · 41 min · Season 3 Episode 10Paul Zahra has spent his career leading through disruption - as CEO of David Jones, head of the Australian Retailers Association during Covid, board director and founder of the…
- S3E9 – Former Mirvac CEO Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz on Australia's housing challengers, gender diversity and transitioning to the boardroom · 41 min · Season 3 Episode 9Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz reflects on a career shaped by unexpected turns, major leadership challenges and a decade transforming Mirvac as CEO - and how those experiences now inform…
- S3E8 - Nothing About Us Without Us: Alastair McEwin on Disability, Leadership and the Boardroom · 39 min · Season 3 Episode 8Alastair McEwin has spent his career pushing for a more inclusive Australia — as a lawyer, board director, Disability Discrimination Commissioner and a commissioner on the…
- S3E7 – Polycrisis and Boards: Merriden Varrall on the geopolitical risk directors can't ignore · 37 min · Season 3 Episode 7Geopolitics is no longer just background noise — it's now central to how organisations plan, invest and manage risk. In this episode, foreign affairs expert Merriden Varrall…
- S3E6 – Brad Welsh: Career re-invention, curiosity in the boardroom, and unlocking First Nations talent · 39 min · Season 3 Episode 6Brad Welsh has built a career defined by reinvention — from child protection officer to political adviser, CEO of Energy Resources of Australia, board member at nib, and now…
- Holiday Archive - Audette Exel on social entrepreneurship in action, learning from mistakes, and the board's role in promoting philanthropy · 37 minOver the holidays, we'll be bringing you some earlier episodes of our Boardroom Confidential podcast. This time it's Audette Exel, the founder and chair of Adara Group. She's…
- Holiday Archive - David Kirk on investing in Australia's tech start-ups, what big companies can learn from small ones, and how to prepare for board meetings · 40 minOver the holidays, we'll be bringing you some earlier episodes of our Boardroom Confidential podcast. This time it's David Kirk, the co-founder of listed venture capital fund…
- Holiday Archive - Marina Go on how to be an effective chair, tips for starting your director career, and why diversity is critical for boards · 41 minOver the holidays, we'll be bringing you some earlier episodes of our Boardroom Confidential podcast. This time it's Marina Go, a board member with Metcash, Southern Cross Media…
- Holiday Archive - Andy Penn on preparing for cyber attacks, effective Chair-CEO relationships and governance at the National Gallery of Victoria · 33 minOver the holidays, we'll be bringing you some earlier episodes of our Boardroom Confidential podcast. This time, it's Andy Penn, a director with Coles and Trustee for the…
- S3E5 – Penny Bingham-Hall: Planning for cyber-attacks, climate governance in action, and building a boardroom portfolio · 35 min · Season 3 Episode 5Co-chair of Supply Nation and Fortescue director Penny Bingham-Hall joins Boardroom Confidential to unpack some of the major issues facing today's boards: harnessing AI's…
- Special Episode - From the Server Room to the Boardroom: AI, Identity and the Cyber Risks Directors Can't Ignore · 34 minPresented by Okta Cyber security has become a core governance issue, not just an IT problem. In this episode, Mathew Graham, Chief Security Officer for Asia–Pac at Okta…
- S3E4 – Tim Trumper: Building AI-ready boards, chair succession done right, and leading through volatility · 36 min · Season 3 Episode 4Former NRMA Chair Tim Trumper joins Boardroom Confidential to talk about AI in the boardroom, data-led transformations, and the craft of modern chairing. Drawing on his book AI…
