AustralianSuper hires its first head of AI and automation

AustralianSuper has appointed Microsoft A/NZ's current national chief technology officer Sarah Carney as its inaugural head of artificial intelligence and automation.

Carney will step into the newly created role in late July this year.

Chief technology officer Mike Backeberg said the hire is a major step in the fund's technology evolution.

A Microsoft veteran of nearly 11 years, Carney has held different technical and strategic roles at the company.

She also spent almost four years prior at Telstra, as part of the telco's enterprise and government operations team.

AustralianSuper said it has already embraced AI and automation across its business and is looking at aligning autonomous agents with human intent.

Carney said that she had had a front seat at Microsoft, seeing the development and growth of AI and automation globally, and was looking forward to applying the technologies to support AustralianSuper.

Last year, AustralianSuper said it had implemented Microsoft's Security Copilot AI, fearing threat actors are increasingly using AI to aid their attacks.

AustralianSuper uses Security Copilot not just to provide defence but also to understand how threat actors use AI, Backeberg said.

Backeberg labelled AI as the "single biggest global threat" at the time.

AustralianSuper manages over $410 miilion in funds on behalf of more than 3.6 million people.