Brisbane · Australia

Brad Ferris

Director · Investor · AI Strategy & Governance

Auditor turned operator turned director. Board-level AI and cyber governance for Australian companies at a regulatory moment that demands operator depth and technical literacy, not just oversight.

Currently considering board appointments.Get in touch Read The Director's Lens

The Director's Lens · Signature series

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Edition 01Capital Allocation23 August 2026

The Denominator Your AI Board Pack Is Missing

Commonwealth Bank booked $200 million of gross AI benefit in FY26 against $13.6 billion of operating expenses, and grew headcount. That is 2.9 per cent, it is the only board-testable AI number the ASX produced this profit season, and the honesty of the framing is the part directors should be copying.

One boardroom question
What is our AI benefit as a percentage of our operating cost base, gross and net of AI spend, and if management cannot state that today, what exactly have we been approving?

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About

The short version.

Twelve years at EY across Brisbane and Sydney — Big Four audit, then transactions: financial and operational due diligence. In 2018 I co-founded REDD Digital, where I served as CEO and Managing Director, building a managed IT and managed security services business delivering to Queensland government agencies and departments. We sold to a US private equity acquirer in 2025.

Today I run Orange AI —an AI consultancy focused on strategy, operating model redesign, automation, and development—and serve as principal of a multi-entity family investment office. I completed the AICD Company Directors Course in 2026 (GAICD) and remain a registered Chartered Accountant through Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand.

I'm currently seeking independent board positions where operator-depth technology experience and active capital-allocation are load-bearing — NFP, medium private, major private, and ASX boards alike.

The credential chain

2005 — 2017

EY · Audit & Transactions

Big Four audit and financial and operational due diligence. Brisbane and Sydney.

2018 — 2025

REDD Digital

Co-Founder, CEO and Managing Director. Built, ran, and exited a managed IT and managed security services business. Sold to a US PE acquirer.

Current

Orange AI

Active AI consultancy. Strategy, automation, and development.

Current

Family Investment Office

Principal of a multi-entity family investment office. Active capital allocation.

2026

GAICD

AICD Company Directors Course. Formal director credential.

Current

Chartered Accountant

Registered member of Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand. Current professional-body credential.

Signature series

The Director's Lens.

A director's perspective on AI, technology, cyber security, capital, and the boardroom. Each edition takes a real-world governance moment and reads it through a director's lens.

Researched and drafted by Brad's agentic AI team. Edited and published by Brad Ferris.

10 August 2026Cyber Risk6 min read

The Question Your Vendor Register Cannot Answer

The Australian Signals Directorate and the AICD have told directors to treat foreign ownership and control of their AI providers as a cyber risk in its own right. Most vendor registers record who the organisation pays. Almost none record who controls the capability, and a data residency clause answers neither question.

2 August 2026AI Governance5 min read

The Machine Cannot Be Referred to a Regulator

An Australian judge asked ChatGPT about a judgment he had written himself, and it invented one that never existed. The line worth a board's attention is not the fabrication, but his observation that there is nobody to refer to a regulator when a machine is the author.

24 July 2026Automated Decisions5 min read

The Delegation Nobody Approved

From 10 December, Australian organisations must publish which of their decisions are made substantially by machine. Most boards have filed this as a privacy matter. It is a delegations question, and the inventory it forces is a bigger finding than the deadline.

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Contact

Get in touch.

For board opportunities, advisory engagements, or AI strategy conversations. Email is the fastest path; my AI agents help me triage, but every reply is mine.

brad@ferriscorp.com.au

Brad Ferris

Consultancy

Orange AI