Optus brings in ex-NBN Co CIO to run technology

Optus’ chief information officer of four years Mark Potter will leave the telco in March of next year to make way for NBN Co’s veteran IT chief, John McInerney.

The telco, which described the leadership as “planned” said Potter “has chosen to depart Optus” after “having established strong technology foundations to support Optus’ multi-year transformation”.

His replacement, McInerney is currently CIO at OneNZ, but is better known for the seven years he spent as NBN Co’s group CIO and his eight-year stint in similar IT leadership roles at Telstra.

McInerney will join Optus from next month, providing for a four-month transition period.

“Following long-term and open discussions, Mark has decided that early next year is the right time to leave Optus after four productive years,” Optus CEO Stephen Rue said in a statement, adding “I wish him all the best with his next chapter”. 

“Incoming CIO John McInerney brings a wealth of experience and a proven ability to lead complex transformation programs. 

“I look forward to working with him as we work to evolve our IT capabilities to better serve our customers”.

McInerney is no stranger to Rue – the pair’s careers at NBN Co overlapped by five years. McInerny was NBN Co’s Group CIO when Rue joined in 2014 as CFO. He spent six months working under Rue when his tenure as CEO began in September 2018.

McInerney left in March the following year.

NBN Co’s current media release archive for March 2019 – which is the date at which McInerney says his tenure finished at the network builder on his LinkedIn bio page – does not record his departure.

He was replaced by Debbie Taylor who, according to NBN Co’s blog, “performed the role of Chief Information Officer from January 2019 to June 2022”.

Optus said that McInerney’s “expertise in digital transformation and operational resilience will be instrumental as Optus continues to simplify products, processes, data, and systems.”

The appointment is the carrier’s second major technology leadership change in three months. Woolworths' CSO Pieter van der Merwe was tapped to become Optus' chief security and risk officer in June, with a start date set for December.

While Optus described its leadership transition as planned, it appears to have caught at least one rival on-the-hop.

McInerney exits alongside CFO Michael Venter who is being replaced by Aussie Broadband’s head bean counter, Andy Giles Knopp. In statement released to the market today, Aussie said that Knopp would stay on to help the telco prepare its 2026 half-year results and help complete “in-progress strategic projects”, but said his “exact finishing date” was “unconfirmed”.

Knopp will join Optus next April.

Optus has frequently been in the news of late and not for the best of reasons. It attracted wide condemnation in September when it botched a firewall upgrade that led to emergency call failures on its mobile network. The triple zero call failures were soon linked to at least three fatalities.