Deborah Hadwen
Non-Executive Director | Former CEO
Growth • Transformation • Governance
Deborah Hadwen is an experienced Non-Executive Director and former CEO with a track record of leading and governing complex organisations through growth, transformation and significant change.As Chief Executive Officer of Tata Consultancy Services Australia & New Zealand, Deborah led and scaled the business from approximately A$300 million to more than A$800 million in revenue and from approximately 3,000 to 12,500 people. She held end-to-end responsibility for strategy, growth, commercial performance, major customer relationships, delivery, people and risk across a large and complex business serving many of Australia and New Zealand's leading organisations.Her executive career provided extensive exposure to banking and financial services, insurance, government, utilities, telecommunications, retail and resources, and to the strategic and operational challenges facing large organisations undergoing technology-enabled business transformation.Over the past decade, Deborah has brought that operating perspective into the boardroom across listed, private and complex institutional organisations.She currently serves on the Council of Macquarie University and as a Non-Executive Director of Ambition Group, and previously served as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of Audit & Risk at ASX-listed CPT Global.Her governance experience encompasses strategy and transformation, audit and risk, capital allocation, technology and AI governance, cybersecurity, executive remuneration and succession, organisational restructuring and international growth. At Macquarie University, this has included governance of major infrastructure, technology and campus investment exceeding A$1 billion, together with oversight of financial sustainability, digital transformation, AI, cyber risk and an integrated health and hospital environment.Deborah brings a commercially pragmatic perspective to the boardroom, combining an understanding of the complexity management faces with a willingness to ask the questions that matter. She is particularly interested in how organisations translate strategy into execution, how major investments create sustainable value, and how technology, digital and AI are reshaping business models, customer expectations and organisational performance.
Key Board Contribution Areas
Business transformation and growth • Strategy and execution • Technology, digital and AI • Audit and risk • Cybersecurity • Capital allocation • CEO succession and remuneration • Customer and market insight • International business • Complex and regulated environmentsDeborah also undertakes a small number of selective strategic advisory engagements with CEOs and senior leadership teams, primarily helping leaders identify the strategic, customer and organisational issues that can unlock high growth and improved business performance.She is the author of The Board Committee Handbook: Best Practices and Governance Strategies for Audit, Risk and Oversight.GAICD | Master of Arts, Sydney University | Master of Commercial Law, Macquarie University | General Management Program, Harvard Business School
Board Roles
Macquarie University — Council Member
Audit & Risk Committee | Information Management & Technology Committee
Governance across strategy, financial sustainability, risk, major capital investment, technology and digital transformation, AI, cybersecurity, organisational change and executive succession within a large, complex institution incorporating an integrated health and hospital environment.Ambition Group Limited — Non-Executive Director
Chair, Remuneration & Nomination Committee | Audit & Risk Committee
Governance across listed and private ownership, international operations, growth, restructuring, executive remuneration and succession, and business-model evolution.CPT Global Limited (ASX) — Former Non-Executive Director
Chair, Audit & Risk Committee
Governance through a challenging trading and strategic transition, encompassing financial sustainability, restructuring, risk, cybersecurity and board renewal.Watermark Search International — Advisory Board