Simon Kriss

CEO

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia32 yrs 6 mos experience
Most Likely To SwitchAI Enabled

Key Highlights

  • Expert in AI literacy and adoption strategies.
  • Co-Founder advocating for responsible AI in Australia.
  • Author of a notable book on AI customer experience.
Stackforce AI infers this person is a seasoned leader in AI adoption and management consulting across various industries.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Artificial Intelligence (ai)Business Strategy

Other Skills

Strategic PlanningBankingManagement ConsultingSalesBusiness TransformationStakeholder Management'C' Level presentationProgram ExecutionContact CentersCall CentersContact Center ManagementContact Center StrategyContact Center OptimizationContact Center ConsultingContact Center Operations

About

I help company boards and executives build AI literacy and develop adoption strategies that deliver real business outcomes. My approach is practical and non-technical, helping leaders navigate AI with confidence and accountability. As Co-Founder of Sovereign AI, I advocate for responsible, transparent, and locally developed AI that drives innovation and strengthens Australia’s digital resilience. With more than 35 years of corporate experience, I combine futurist thinking with commercial pragmatism to make complex technologies accessible and actionable. Author of The AI Empowered Customer Experience (Amazon, 2023) and Australian representative at the 2025 AIFOD Forum held at the UN in Geneva.

Experience

Sovereign australia ai

Chief Executive Officer

Sep 2025Present · 6 mos · Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Mindpearl

Chief AI Officer (fractional)

Jan 2025Jan 2026 · 1 yr · Melbourne, Victoria, Australia · Remote

Ai for developing countries forum

Senior Fellow

Dec 2024Present · 1 yr 3 mos · Remote

Adapt

AI & Data Advisor

Sep 2024Present · 1 yr 6 mos · Melbourne, Victoria, Australia · Remote

Simonkriss.ai

Chief AI Officer

Apr 2023Present · 2 yrs 11 mos · Melbourne, Victoria, Australia · Remote

Business StrategyStrategic PlanningArtificial Intelligence (AI)

Auscontact association

Non Executive Director

Jun 2022Sep 2024 · 2 yrs 3 mos · Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Trentham and districts community bank

Non Executive Director

Jan 2021Feb 2023 · 2 yrs 1 mo · Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Serco

Director, Innovation & Growth

Dec 2020Apr 2023 · 2 yrs 4 mos · Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Green distillation technologies p/l

GM, Corporate Development

Nov 2019Apr 2020 · 5 mos · Melbourne, Australia

  • GDT is a world-first approach to reclaiming end of life tyres. As a shareholder in his green-tech startup, I helped out for a few months with attracting investment and opening up international markets.

Homeward bound properties

Managing Director

Apr 2019Apr 2023 · 4 yrs · Melbourne, Australia

  • I have leveraged my ongoing love/fascination with the property industry to create a business that flips homes. Strategically buying, planning the level of renovation, organising and contracting trades and then placing the product in the market.

Expedia group

Director, Non Voice Channels

Mar 2018Apr 2019 · 1 yr 1 mo · Hong Kong

  • After 18 months in my prior role (and based upon success with non voice for the Hotels.com brand). I was asked to step into a global role managing all new non-voice customer channels which covers Social (Facebook, Twitter, etc), Chatapps (Messenger, Line, Wechat, etc) and webchat. This role encompassed all of the Expedia brands across the globe.
  • The first step of the role was to conduct a full analysis of our current capability and then create a unified global strategy of where we wanted to go and how we would get there. This strategy was then ratified and a significant business case developed and approved. 2019 is the year of execution for this strategy.

Hotels.com

Director New Customer Channels & Products

Jun 2016Mar 2018 · 1 yr 9 mos · Hong Kong

  • Brought in to the Expedia Customer Operations Group to run customer operations across all of APAC with operational responsibility for all points of sale. This involved managing a large P&L and ensuring quality standards in our outsourced partners across the region. This role had a very matrix reporting structure that included leadership in London, Dallas an Seattle as well as peers in Sao Paulo, Japan and more.

Cathay pacific airways

Global Head of Contact Centres (2yr contract role)

Sep 2013Mar 2016 · 2 yrs 6 mos · Cathay City, Hong Kong

  • I was brought into Cathay to examine the current contact centre infrastructure across the globe and create a strategy for enhancement with a view to supporting a growing airline through 2020 and beyond.
  • In particular the strategy had to not only address locational, language and time-of-day, it must also support all media and customer preferences whilst balancing potential reward with capital required to execute.
  • Once the strategy was complete I moved to building out the Business Case and then on to implementation. The result is the creation of 4 primary hubs across the world including a new one in Krakow, Poland (after extensive due diligence).
  • Simultaneously I stepped into lead the management of these centres resulting in Call Abandon rates dropping from in excess of 50% down to just 3%. Revenues were significantly increased (by almost 50% in two of the major centres), Staff attrition rates dropped (in one centre from 24% per annum to just 14%) and Cust Satisfaction scores increased as well.

Hsbc

Head of Contact Centre Sales, Asia Pacific

Apr 2012Aug 2013 · 1 yr 4 mos · Hong Kong

  • I was brought in to HSBC to lead the design of sales models / tools / practices to enhance and extend retail banking sales made via the telephony channel - working alongside other sales channel heads.
  • I was involved in the implementation of the global Target Operating Model (TOM) for inbound contact centres in Asia, and was instrumental in the creation of the outbound TOM.
  • I developed detailed channel level reporting of sales activity across inbound, outbound and outsourced activity across all countries (at a product by product level).

Ulster bank

Head of Telephone Banking

Sep 2011Apr 2012 · 7 mos · Belfast, United Kingdom

  • I was brought in from Hong Kong to set the bank-wide strategy for Telephone banking across all departments.
  • This strategy then identified a number of initiatives which are currently being implemented, including the amalgamation of service & sales, removing excess call traffic from branches, rework how collections & recoveries handle call traffic and more.

Royal bank of scotland group

2 roles

Programme Director - Asian Assets Divestiture

Aug 2009Aug 2011 · 2 yrs

  • As well as leading the overall Execution Programme Office for this key divestiture, I was heavily involved in the Management presentations, Information memorandums and deal meetings.
  • One of the largest divestitures in recent history, the programme covers all of the RBS Asian Retail and Commercial businesses as well as several of the Global Markets and Global Trade businesses, and involves multiple acquirers.
  • The dimensions of the programme are:
  • 10 separate countries (Pakistan, India, Malaysia, China, Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia & Taiwan)
  • 4.5 million clients and 190 branches
  • In excess of 13,000
  • ~€8 billion in AUA.

Head of Strategy & Planning - Contact Centres Asia

Jun 2008Jul 2009 · 1 yr 1 mo

  • In this role I was responsible for setting the overall strategy for contact centres across Asia. This resulted in a full plan of strategic and tactical programs which were validated by executve management.
  • Some of the projects completed included the implementation of a 500 seat predictive dialler in Pakistan, the implementation of call recording for 400 seats in India and the complete build of a 30 seat contact centre (in 45 days) in China to comply with local regulator conditions aligned to the Olympics.
  • This role was demised when the Group decided to divest the Asian retail assets.

Sagatori

Owner

Jul 2003Jun 2008 · 4 yrs 11 mos

  • Sagatori is a specialised Management Consulting firm based in Hong Kong and working across Asia.
  • I conceptualised and launched Sagatori, building a stable of blue chip clients across the region and employing several senior consultants.
  • I also developed most of the Intellectual Property of Sagatori including consulting-based business rating models, etc. The very popular THEM model is still used by several clients in China.

Novell

Head of CRM, Asia

Sep 1999Jul 2003 · 3 yrs 10 mos

  • This role started with Cambridge Technology Partners prior to its acquisition by Novell.

Of eagles and gesse

Owner

Jan 1995Sep 1999 · 4 yrs 8 mos

  • My own call centre training and consulting company based in Melbourne, Australia.

Telstra

Multiple positions within the NTC

Jan 1992Jan 1995 · 3 yrs

  • I held multiple roles with the National Telemarketing Centre. Starting out as a telemarketer I rose quickly through Team Leader and Manager before branching off into Stats & Reporting, Campign Management, and more.

Education

Australian Institute of Company Directors

Role of the Chair

Mar 2023Mar 2023

Harvard Business School

Disruptive Innovation and Strategy

Jul 2022Sep 2022

Australian Institute of Company Directors

Company Directors Course

Jan 2019Jan 2019

Oake Media Hong Kong

Advanced Media & Crisis Communications

Jan 2016Jan 2016

Australian Wine Research Institute

Advanced Wine Appreciation Course (invitation only)

Aug 2015Aug 2015

University of Melbourne

Masters — Wine Technology & Viticulture

Jan 2009Jan 2015

Adrenaline Consulting

PRINCE2

Jan 2005Jan 2005

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