Paul Russell, joined iSentia as Chief Technology Officer on 7 November 2018.
Past experience:
- 8 years & 7 months at
Fairfax Digital (Technology Director, Chief Information Officer)
- 3 years at Yahoo!7 (Chief Technology Officer)
Paul Russell
CTO | CIO | Advisor - Marketplaces | SaaS | Innovation | Transformation
Sydney, Australia
Information Technology and Services
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Isentia
November 2018 – Present 1 month
Sydney, Australia
Isentia (ASX:ISD) is APAC’s leading integrated Media Intelligence and Insights business with operations in 11 countries. Isentia blends market-leading monitoring experience with analytics to help the world’s biggest brands uncover the whole picture – and act on it. Powered by cutting-edge technology and a team of world class experts, the company's mission is to help businesses leap-forward where only genuine insight can take them.
www.isentia.com
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Yahoo7
August 2015 – July 2018 3 years
Sydney, Australia
Yahoo7 is a joint venture between Yahoo Inc and Seven West Media, combining Yahoo and local technology with Seven content. Reaching over 9 million Australians each month through mobile and desktop websites, plus smartphone apps. The “Catchup TV” app for iOS, Android and 12 other connected TV platforms was consistently #1 in the market.
Reporting to the CEO and leading a team of 45, I have transformed the Technology function at Yahoo7, delivering an increased flow of innovative products through a highly engaged team with low turnover, while reducing costs.
Key achievements:
- Increased revenue-driving audience engagement metrics on websites: sessions per person up 22%, time spent on site up 14%.
- Enabled new revenue growth through the implementation and optimisation of a new product: native advertising. This grew from zero to 25% of revenue within 2 years.
- Increased developer productivity 75% through reduced operational complexity. Deployed a new technology stack using modern software and modern software engineering practices (using node.js, Docker containers, continuous delivery, automated tests).
- Reduced annualised turnover from ~45% to ~15% through significant cultural change. Reconnected the technology and product teams through shared goals, driving up ownership, quality and output from the technology team.
- Produced over 30% annualised Opex savings (non-workforce), while delivering greater value, through contract negotiations and innovative solutions.
- Significant involvement in shaping the strategy for the business, particularly through stages of business transition.
- Delivered a technology strategy within the first 90 days. The subsequent execution delivered the results above.
Fairfax Digital
8 years 7 months
- Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Fairfax Digital
November 2007 – May 2009 1 year 7 months
Sydney, Australia
Fairfax Digital contained marketplace business such as Domain, RSVP and Stayz, and news websites such as The Sydney Morning Herald, all used by millions of Australians each month.
I modernise the web delivery infrastructure to provide a foundation for the future growth of the business, while continuing to deliver market leading businesses. I was leading a team of 120 across software development and infrastructure.
Key achievements:
- Enabled more efficient data management and backup through the purchase of a multi-million-dollar storage and backup solution.
- Reduced the cost of server ownership through the purchase and deployment of server virtualisation and management technology.
- Enabled disaster recovery capability by remediating the previous solution that was untested and had insufficient capacity.
- Improved network operations service levels and removed a key resource risk by outsourcing network operations.
- Product and Technology Director, News and Information
Fairfax Digital
January 2007 – November 2007 11 months
- Technology Director: News, Information & Entertainment
Fairfax Digital
November 2000 – December 2006 6 years 2 months
