The CEO of industry lobby group the Tech Council of Australia, Damian Kassabgi, is tossing in his job after less than two years in the role to focus on his young family, based in Northern NSW.
Kassagbi, a former Afterpay, Google and Uber executive who took over from inaugural CEO Kate Pounder, now at OpenAI, in June 2024, will stay at the helm into at least first half of 2026 while the hunt for a new boss gets underway.
Tech Council members were informed of the his decision to quit via Wednesday, with Kassabgi telling them “the reality for me being in regional Australia with a young family means that I am looking to find a better and healthier balance (than being on planes all the time).”
Kassagbi, who was also an adviser to prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, married fashion industry exec Courtney Miller, now a director of family foundation Next Generation, in 2016. Their outdoors wedding in Byron Bay’s hinterland featured in Vogue.
He told members that he saw the Tech Council role “as giving back to an industry that has been good to me and my career” and he’ll remain “to ensure a smooth transition,”
“With you, I am excited that we’ve been able to build the TCA, expand the membership and to have set it up in a stronger financial position for the future,” Kassagbi said.
“I’ll always be one to promote and support the TCA in any capacity, especially as we change the conversation on AI, and ensure we take our piece of the innovation pie. I’ve never been more confident about the future of Australian Tech, especially with the growth of emerging companies in climate and health.”
The Tech Council, founded in 2021 by tech giants Afterpay, Canva, and Microsoft, is chaired by Atlassian cofounder Scott Farquhar. Its board includes unicorn founders Cliff Obrecht, Anthony Eisen and Didier Elzinga, as well as Tesla chair Robyn Denholm.
Kassagbi made is fortune when Afterpay floated and then was acquired by Block and was running a VC from his home in Byron. He grew up in a household where English was a second language and went to public schools.
The Tech Council has been under pressure over the last 12 months after lurid allegations involving the personal life of WiseTech billionaire Richard White, a board member at the time, emerged. He resigned as a Tech Council director several days later.
More recently, the TCA’s push for “digital embassies” for foreign tech giants, as well as Farquhar’s advocacy for changing Australia’s copyright laws to favour AI companies have been met with criticism amid concerns that the group only favours the big end of town.
Under Kassagbi, the industry body has formed the Consumer Energy Tech Alliance and National Security Tech Alliance, as well as taking part in the federal government’s Economic Reform Roundtable , as well as lobbying for the R&D review currently underway and chaired by TCA director Robyn Denholm.
The TCA also organised the 2nd annual National Tech Summit in Sydney last month.
TCA chair Scott Farquhar said “Damian has been a valued contributor and asset to the TCA and Australia’s tech sector. We will continue working together through the leadership transition.”
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