Russell Morris

Russell Morris is Chief Information Officer of TransGrid, owner and operator of the major high voltage electricity transmission network in NSW and the ACT. The company employs more than 1,000 people and generates over $650mn of annual EBITDA. In this role he is driving technology transformation, and is currently replacing a legacy ERP system, enabling a modern digital core for the business. He is also overseeing a complex modernisation programme of the industrial SCADA system, including introducing world-class cybersecurity.

Morris is an IT executive whose career with large, well-known brands, spans over 20 years. He has delivered technology-enabled business change on a global scale, and was successively recognised as one of the top 100 CIO’s in the UK before moving to Australia. He is currently listed as one the 50 most innovative CIO’s in Australia, and is the only CIO from the energy sector to be featured in that list. Having significant international experience within multiple engineering or manufacturing organisations in the UK, Europe, the US and Australia, Morris brings a future facing, global outlook and has an established reputation across multiple countries and cultures, with budget management experience in excess of $250mn.

His experience in the electricity distribution and transmission sector is noteworthy. Formerly, as part of a six year role within Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Morris successfully led large-scale, IT enabled business change at a UK electricity distribution company. In this role he was accountable for all aspects of IT, including cybersecurity, and telecommunications. The changes implemented had a business wide impact, delivering significant cost efficiencies and securing ISO27001 certification, as well as delivering IT/OT convergence for critical system operations.

His passion for innovation stretches beyond the confines of IT. As a long term advocate of a more diverse and representative IT industry, Morris acts as a women in technology mentor, following previous work as a STEM ambassador in the UK, where he supported workshops in schools, to encourage uptake of STEM subjects in higher education.