Andrew Penn appointed as chairman of Sharon AI

Australian neocloud Sharon AI has appointed Andrew Penn AO as non-executive chair of its board of directors.

Penn is best known as the former Telstra chief executive, a role he held between 2015 and 2022.

He also currently holds roles as non-executive director and chair of Coles Group’s audit and risk committee, chair of Visit Victoria and as a senior advisor with McKinsey & Company.

“I am excited to join the board at such a pivotal and exciting time,” Penn said.

“I look forward to leveraging my experience to help Sharon AI shape its strategic goals and expand its impact in the coming years.”

“We are delighted that Mr Penn has joined the Sharon AI board of directors as chairman as we enter our next phase of growth,” said James Manning, Sharon AI cofounder and chief executive.

“His expertise across technology, telecommunications, digital and physical infrastructure, in addition to his proven track record of successfully guiding technology businesses through periods of rapid growth will add significant value to our business."

Earlier this year, Sharon AI partnered with Cisco to build a secure high-performance data processing platform that operates entirely in Australia.