Transport for NSW lands two NBN Co data leaders

Transport for NSW has brought in its second former NBN Co data leader in as many months to fill roles created by a restructure of its technology division last year.

The transport agency has named Marc Ashworth as its chief data officer and Easwaren Sivagnanam as its executive director of architecture, strategy and partnering.

Both are new roles created by the restructure and report into group CTO Jason Tuendemann.

Ashworth revealed the appointment in a brief LinkedIn post, which was confirmed by iTnews.

He comes to TfNSW from NBN Co where he spent over six-and-a-half years in a number of data-oriented roles, most recently as general manager of data science and data product engineering.

Ashworth also has significant experience in data roles with CBA, notably as its head of data engineering.

A TfNSW spokesperson said that Ashworth will provide “strategic leadership across our data and information environment.”

“This role is accountable for guiding the teams that deliver secure, high‑quality and efficient technology solutions that elevate the experience of our customers, passengers and workforce,” the spokesperson said.

“The responsibilities include enterprise-wide data strategy, policy, engineering, architecture, platforms and operations, covering data management, data exchange, data storage and the oversight of artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning capabilities.”

Ashworth’s move comes a month after NBN Co’s general manager of architecture for data, AI, corporate and infrastructure Easwaren Sivagnanam also made the switch.

Sivagnanam wrote in a brief LinkedIn post that “it has been a great journey with NBN Co over the last three-and-a-half years, completing data and infrastructure transformation programs, and establishing its generative AI technology framework and capability.

“I am now looking forward to bringing my experience to TfNSW, serving and giving back to the state of NSW, whilst making it a better place to live, work and visit,” he wrote.