RESUME

Steve Waddington

Technology Executive · AI Adoption & Strategy · Network Architecture

Perth, Western Australia · stevew@onet.com.au · +61 409 088 236 · linkedin.com/in/stevewaddington

Technology executive with 30+ years across telecommunications, networking, e-commerce, and management consulting — including CEO, CIO/CTO, and Director roles, and a turnaround of a national ISP from a $400K monthly loss to a $300K monthly profit. A rare combination of board-level leadership and current, hands-on AI practice: I initiated and funded applied AI research in 2009, and today I design, deploy, and operate LLM-based systems myself — self-hosted inference platforms, API-based agentic workflows, and multi-assistant production pipelines. I help organisations cut through AI hype with practical, commercially grounded adoption strategies.

AI EXPERIENCE

2023 – Present

Independent AI Practitioner & Consultant ONLINE NETWORKS Perth, WA — hands-on research, development, and advisory in applied AI

·Designed, deployed, and operate a self-hosted AI platform on Linux (Open WebUI, vector databases, agentic coding tools), integrating frontier-model APIs including the Anthropic Claude platform.

·Built and run a multi-assistant AI production workflow — persona-based specialist assistants for songwriting, visual design, writing, and promotion — delivering complete creative projects including a published AI concept album.

·Evaluate and benchmark AI models and tooling hands-on, from hosted frontier models to open-weight image-generation models, with a focus on commercial viability rather than novelty.

·Publish ongoing analysis on AI value, persona-based collaboration frameworks, and practical adoption at onet.com.au.

·Advise businesses on pragmatic AI integration: where it creates measurable productivity gains, where it doesn't, and how to implement it safely.

2009 – 2012

Founder & Sponsor, Applied AI Research Program EXETEL / SRI LANKA INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY A commercial AI program more than a decade before the LLM era

·Initiated and funded SLIIT's Chair of AI Studies to develop an AI chatbot for first-line customer technical support, trained on years of Exetel helpdesk resolution data.

·Started the preceding in-house development using the AIML framework (then state of the art), recruiting and mentoring intern talent to carry it forward.

·Negotiated the research partnership directly with SLIIT's Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor, building on a paid internship and scholarship program I had established.

EXECUTIVE & CONSULTING EXPERIENCE

2014 – Present

Council Member GLG (GERSON LEHRMAN GROUP)

·Provide telecommunications, media, technology, and AI consulting to organisations and investors in Australia and internationally, supporting strategic and investment decision-making.

2013 – Present

Founder & Director SJW GEMS

·Founded and ran a global e-commerce business in gemstones and gemmology, building the web platform, digital marketing, and social media strategy while operating internationally from Bangkok.

·GIA Graduate Gemologist (2019); member, Gemmological Association of Australia.

2012 – 2013

CEO EXETEL PTY LTD

·Led a national ISP through a critical turnaround: from a negative $20M balance sheet and $400K monthly loss to a positive balance sheet and $300K monthly profit within the year.

2004 – 2012

Co-Founder & Director EXETEL PTY LTD — SYDNEY, NSW

·Co-founded one of Australia's leading independent ISPs; Network Architect for the national ISP network and enterprise solutions.

·Oversaw network deployment and operations, integrated business systems, and the recruitment, development, and mentoring of the technical team.

2002 – 2004

CIO / CTO SWIFTEL LTD

·Led IT infrastructure and technology strategy as Chief Information/Technology Officer.

EARLIER CAREER

2001 – 2002 Senior Manager — Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, Melbourne

1999 – 2001 Engineering Manager — Paradox Digital, Perth

1996 – 1999 Network Architect — One.Tel, Sydney

1992 – 1996 National Engineering Manager — TPG, Sydney

SKILLS

AI & Emerging Technology LLM deployment and integration (Anthropic Claude API, Open WebUI, agentic tools), self-hosted AI infrastructure, prompt and workflow design, model evaluation, AI adoption strategy.

Leadership & Strategy Strategic planning, P&L management and turnaround, business development, management consulting, supplier negotiation, staff recruitment, development and mentoring.

Network Engineering Network design and architecture (LAN to national/global scale), Cisco hardware and IOS, MPLS, BGP and all routing protocols, voice/data/video integration, network security and management, Linux server administration.

Digital Business E-commerce, digital marketing, digital strategy, international business operations.

AFFILIATIONS & COMMUNITY

2019 Graduate Gemologist — Gemological Institute of America

2020 – Present Member — Gemmological Association of Australia

2020 – 2022 Volunteer SME Mentor — Belmont Business Enterprise Centre

2013 – 2015 Treasurer — Friends of the Western Ground Parrot