Company Interview / TechOne CEO wants an "if not, why not” approach to keeping AI on home soil

Key points:

Call for “buy Australian” AI procurement to strengthen data sovereignty View that local providers with long-term data sets offer superior AI capability Focus on AI to accelerate housing approvals and other government workflows

TechnologyOne CEO Ed Chung urges Canberra to adopt a “buy Australian” approach to artificial intelligence, arguing government agencies should prioritise local software providers when managing critical data. Chung states that sovereignty over data, not just data centre infrastructure, is central to Australia’s AI future, warning that reliance on foreign platforms could expose essential services such as universities, councils and departments to external political risk.

Chung points to TechnologyOne’s 40 years of data and embedded business processes across local government, education and federal agencies as a competitive advantage in building powerful, secure AI capabilities. He says procurement rules should include explicit “if not, why not” criteria when choosing overseas vendors, giving Australian companies a modest scoring edge while still requiring them to compete on merit. In his view, this would fuel domestic IP, jobs and tax revenue, while keeping accountability under Australian law.

Chung highlights opportunities for generative AI to speed up housing approvals from months to minutes, helping unlock supply. He also stresses TechnologyOne’s “defence in depth” security and notes the company is now building a fifth-generation AI-enabled platform, reshaping structures and leadership roles to support its next phase of growth and government-focused expansion.