Asciano CIO quits to build a start-up

Asciano chief information officer Kelvin McGrath will leave the freight giant in February to focus on building a global market for his software start-up.

Kelvin McGrath

McGrath told the company he didn’t plan on sticking around after it was carved up by corporate buyers Qube, Brookfield and the Global Infrastructure Partners investment consortium in August this year, for a bit over $9 billion.

Asciano is now in the process of being split three ways between its new owners.

McGrath has promised to stay on board for a six-month transition period, which will end in February.

“Asciano is an important part of Australia’s infrastructure. I felt a responsibility to the people I worked with and the company to hand over the technology in the best condition I can,” he told iTnews.

He ends six years with the freight business, after joining in 2010 following nearly a decade heading up the technology team at Boral.

Discovering a neglected IT environment struggling from years of underinvestment, McGrath led a large-scale cloud push that delivered the organisation mobility and flexibility, allowing him to rationalise applications by half and reduce his staffing headcount.

The transformation earnt him a finalist spot in the 2016 iTnews Benchmark Awards.

Asciano’s use of IT was one of its biggest selling points during this year’s buyout.

“It’s a pretty good validation of our work in the technology team,” he said.

The break-up gives the New Zealander an opportunity to dedicate his time to his three-year-old software start-up, MeetingQuality, which calculates a version of a net promoter score to track the relative contribution of different staff members and stakeholders at meetings.

McGrath said the project management tool has been designed to catch dysfunction before it can derail an initiative, and is already being used by customers in the US, New Zealand and Australia.

“I’m very excited,” he said. “This is a new chapter in my life.”