Speaker kit
Everything event organisers, podcast hosts and journalists need: a current, accurate bio to copy, high-resolution headshots to download, talk topics and a way to book us. ORCA Opti was a two-time winner at the AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies 2026, taking gold in Health services and the national Micro company category.
About the company
Approved company bios to drop into a programme, an event listing or a show description. Australian English, ready to paste.
Boilerplate
about 40 words
ORCA Opti is the Australian AI governance company that lets organisations use the AI tools they want without their data walking out the door. Founded in Brisbane in 2024, it won two categories at the AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies 2026: Health services and the national Micro company award.
Standard
about 90 words
ORCA Opti is an Australian sovereign AI governance company. It lets teams use the AI tools they want inside a Safe Zone, hosted in the customer's nominated sovereign region, with an audit trail behind every answer.
Its platform spans Opti Assist, an AI assistant trained on your business; Opti Core, a compliance system of record; AI Guardian, which governs how your organisation uses AI; and Opti Cyber, which continuously checks your cloud security. Founded in Brisbane in 2024, ORCA Opti won two categories at the AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies 2026: gold in Health services and the national Micro company category.
BOSS Most Innovative Companies 2026
Winner, Health services (gold), and Winner, Micro company (organisations of 20 or fewer employees), judged across every sector of the economy.
Speaker
Founder & CEO, ORCA Opti · former ASX-listed company director · MAICD
Kathryn helps organisations let their people use AI without client, patient or member data walking out the door. She has sat on both sides of the table: as a director asking how risk is controlled, and as the founder now building the controls.
Two-time winner at the BOSS Most Innovative Companies 2026: gold in Health services and the national Micro company category. ORCA Opti was featured in the Financial Review on 22 October 2026.
For podcast hosts and MCs to read aloud, about 30 seconds.
Introducing Kathryn
Kathryn Giudes is the founder and CEO of ORCA Opti, the Australian AI governance company that just won the Health services and Micro company categories of the AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies awards. She spent 16 years at Microsoft and Amazon in Seattle, has sat on ASX-listed and government-owned boards, and today helps businesses use AI safely, without their data walking out the door. Welcome, Kathryn.
Three lengths, ready to paste into programmes and show notes.
Short
about 50 words
Kathryn Giudes is Founder and CEO of ORCA Opti, Health services and Micro company winner in the AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies 2026. A former Microsoft and Amazon senior director and ASX-listed company director, she helps organisations let their people use AI without their data walking out the door.
Medium
about 100 words
Kathryn Giudes is Founder and CEO of ORCA Opti, the Australian sovereign AI governance company named Health services and Micro company winner in the AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies 2026. She spent 16 years at Microsoft and Amazon in Seattle, rising from software engineer to Senior Director and leading Microsoft Store online as it grew from US$800 million to US$1.4 billion. She then spent a decade as a professional non-executive director, including on ASX-listed boards, as Chair of Queensland Government-owned Transmax and as a specialist member of the QSuper Audit and Risk Committee. She is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Long
about 180 words
Kathryn Giudes is Founder and CEO of ORCA Opti, an Australian AI governance platform that lets teams use the AI tools they want inside a safe zone, with an audit trail behind every answer. ORCA Opti was named Health services and Micro company winner in the AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies 2026.
Kathryn began her career as a software engineer at Microsoft in Seattle and spent 16 years at Microsoft and Amazon, leading program management for Xbox Marketplace and serving as Senior Director and P&L leader for Microsoft Store online, which grew from US$800 million to US$1.4 billion under her leadership.
Since moving to Australia she has served on ASX-listed boards including Class Ltd, Nuheara and Locality Planning Energy, chairing remuneration and nomination committees and sitting on audit and risk committees. She chaired Transmax Pty Ltd, owned by the State of Queensland, and was a specialist member of the QSuper Audit and Risk Committee. She currently chairs Viridis Green Data Centres, New Energy Opportunities, TalkVia and Silicon Coast. Kathryn is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a 2026 Women Leading Tech finalist.
Full-resolution files, 1429 × 2000 px.
Main headshot
For programmes, websites and podcast artwork.
Plain background
Easy to cut out or place on your own event tile.
Each can run as a keynote, panel contribution, workshop or podcast conversation.
Business owners & leaders
Staff pasting client data into free AI tools is a cost nobody has budgeted for, touching client contracts, insurance renewals and the new privacy rules on automated decisions. Kathryn shows how getting AI governance right does the opposite: it wins work, shortens security questionnaires and, in one clinic's case, found tens of thousands of dollars in unclaimed billing.
All audiences
Most knowledge workers now use AI at work, many on personal accounts their employer can't see. Using the Samsung and McKinsey cases and a simple traffic-light test, Kathryn explains how sensitive data quietly leaves the business and gives audiences a one-page AI policy they can put in place within a month.
Boards, risk & compliance in financial services
APRA's April 2026 letter says AI controls rely too much on policy and too little on enforceable technical restrictions. Drawing on her years in the boardroom, Kathryn translates the letter's findings on governance, suppliers, cyber and assurance into what directors should ask for and what evidence should look like.
Security & technology leaders
AI agents are now the most privileged identities in many organisations. After an agent climbed over a Services Australia block in 2026, Kathryn makes the case for guardrails that sit outside the model, checking what goes in, what comes out and every action an agent proposes, with a log that tells you in minutes rather than months.
Selected coverage.
More coverage in Press & Media.
Governance and operating record.
Current
| Now | Founder & CEO, ORCA Opti |
| 2025 to now | Non-Executive Chair, Viridis Green Data Centres |
| 2024 to now | Non-Executive Chair, New Energy Opportunitiesformerly United H2 |
| 2023 to now | Chair, Silicon Coast |
| 2017 to now | Non-Executive Chair, TalkViawhose technology now powers ORCA Opti |
Previous
| 2019 to 2023 | Chair, Transmax Pty Ltdowned by the State of Queensland; member, Risk and Audit Committee |
| 2015 to 2021 | Non-Executive Director, Class LtdASX:CL1Chair, Nomination, Remuneration and HR Committee |
| 2018 to 2024 | Non-Executive Director, NuhearaASX:NUHChair, Remuneration and Nomination Committee; member, Audit and Risk Committee |
| 2022 to 2024 | Non-Executive Director, Locality Planning EnergyASX:LPEmember, Audit and Risk Committee |
| From 2017 | Specialist member, QSuper Audit and Risk Committee |
| 2011 | Senior Manager, Amazon, Seattleweb services platform strategy |
| 1995 to 2011 | Microsoft, Seattlesoftware engineer to Senior Director; program management for Xbox Marketplace; Senior Director and P&L leader, Microsoft Store online |
Recognition: AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies 2026, Health services winner and Micro company winner (ORCA Opti) · Australian AI Awards 2026 finalist, Best Use of Agentic AI (ORCA Opti) · Women Leading Tech Awards 2026 finalist, Entrepreneur/Founder.
Speaker
Chief Operating Officer, ORCA Opti · 20+ years in media, brand and conversational AI
Paige builds ORCA Opti around the people who have to use it. Her focus: let AI take the mundane so teams can spend their time on the judgment and care that only people can give.
For podcast hosts and MCs to read aloud, about 30 seconds.
Introducing Paige
Paige Harkness is the Chief Operating Officer of ORCA Opti, the Australian AI governance company that just won the Health services and Micro company categories of the AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies awards. She spent more than 20 years in media, advertising and branding, including senior roles at NewsCorp and at the conversational AI company TalkVia, leading work for Amazon Studios, iHeart Radio and The Walking Dead. Today she runs the business day to day and shapes the product around the people who use it. Welcome, Paige.
Three lengths, ready to paste into programmes and show notes.
Short
about 50 words
Paige Harkness is Chief Operating Officer of ORCA Opti, Health services and Micro company winner in the AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies 2026. With more than 20 years across media, advertising, branding and conversational AI, she runs the business day to day and shapes the product around the people who use it.
Medium
about 100 words
Paige Harkness is Chief Operating Officer of ORCA Opti, the Australian sovereign AI governance company named Health services and Micro company winner in the AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies 2026. She brings more than 20 years across media, advertising, sales, branding and conversational AI, with senior roles at NewsCorp and at TalkVia, where she led notable work for Amazon Studios, iHeart Radio and The Walking Dead. At ORCA Opti she runs the company day to day and shapes the product from the user's point of view. Her conviction: AI should handle the mundane so people can do the heartfelt, compassionate work only people can do.
Long
about 160 words
Paige Harkness is Chief Operating Officer of ORCA Opti, an Australian sovereign AI governance company named Health services and Micro company winner in the AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies 2026. She runs the business day to day and owns how the product meets the people who use it.
Paige brings more than 20 years across media, advertising, sales, branding and conversational AI. She held senior positions at NewsCorp and at TalkVia, the conversational AI company whose technology now powers ORCA Opti, where she led notable work for Amazon Studios, iHeart Radio and The Walking Dead.
At ORCA Opti she shapes the platform from the user's point of view, so that compliance and AI governance feel less like a burden and more like something a team can actually use. Her conviction runs through the product: AI should handle the mundane so people can do the heartfelt, compassionate work that only people can do.
Full-resolution files, 1500 × 2000 px.
Main headshot
For programmes, websites and podcast artwork.
Alternate
A relaxed, over-the-shoulder option.
Topics Paige speaks to, as a keynote, panel, workshop or podcast guest.
All audiences
The fear is that AI replaces people. Paige makes the opposite case: used well, AI takes the mundane off a team's plate so they can spend their time on the judgment, care and relationships that only people can give. A practical look at where to draw that line.
Founders & operators
Paige shapes ORCA Opti from the user's point of view, in a category where trust is everything. She shares what it takes to build an AI product that regulated teams will adopt, from the operator's seat rather than the lab.
Marketing & brand leaders
Two decades in media, advertising and branding, now applied to a sovereign AI company. Paige on what brand teams get right and wrong about AI, and how to tell a trust story without overclaiming.
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