Episode #255 features Andrew Fraser, Chair of Bank of Queensland, Chancellor of Griffith University, President of Motorsport Australia, and former Deputy Premier and Treasurer of Queensland.

In conversation with Vidit Agarwal, Andrew shares his journey — from entering politics young and rising rapidly to the top of Queensland Government, to the very bitter public loss that ended his political career, becoming a stay-at-home dad in the aftermath, and the reinvention that led him to some of Australia’s most significant boardrooms.

He breaks down what that period of collapse taught him about ego, judgment and sustainable leadership, how he now thinks through complex strategic decisions, why he uses sport constantly as a metaphor for teams and performance, the importance of “keeping up the chatter” as a leader, and the revealing question he asks every new hire to test for self-awareness and honesty.

Andrew also unpacks the realities of chairing major institutions, transitioning from operator to governance, and how Australia should think about leadership, sovereignty and long-term competitiveness.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [https://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-255-andrew-fraser-boq-griffith-motorsportaus]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter, [https://twitter.com/vidags10]Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], or YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths),  David Haber (GP, a16z), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, US Tennis), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep), Vivek Bhatia (CEO, MUFG), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and more. 

#255 Deputy Premier at 30, Political Has-Been at 35, Now Chairing Australia’s Top Institutions | Andrew Fraser

Episode #254 features Jeanne DeWitt Grosser, COO at Vercel, and former Chief Business Officer at Stripe, and one of the most respected go-to-market leaders in tech.

In conversation with Vidit Agarwal, Jeanne shares her journey — from growing up in California with a psychologist mother and tech sales father, to joining Google as an early employee in 2004, to navigating an unplanned career that led her to leadership roles at Stripe and now Vercel.

She breaks down how to manage your energy at work and at home, how she learned to influence effectively in engineering-led environments, why “perfect” careers rarely feel that way, and how those lessons shaped her approach to leadership, decision-making, and company building.

Jeanne also unpacks how to build credibility with engineers, design modern go-to-market systems, transition from founder-led sales, and rethink sales and marketing in an AI-native world.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [https://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-254-jeanne-dewitt-grosser-coo-vercel]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter, [https://twitter.com/vidags10]Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], or YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths),  David Haber (GP, a16z), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, US Tennis), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep), Vivek Bhatia (CEO, MUFG), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and more. 

#254 Jeanne Grosser: How I became COO of Vercel and CBO of Stripe by influencing in engineering led companies

Episode #253 features Andrew Fraser, President at Halter, the fast-scaling agritech company using smart collars, virtual fencing and AI to transform livestock farming. Founded in 2016, Halter has raised over US$400 million, with their most recent Series E led by Founders Fund.

In conversation with Vidit Agarwal, Andrew shares his journey — from growing up in Auckland with just his mum, to an unexpected detour as a uranium explorer in Ethiopia that nearly cost him his health and his savings, to becoming one of New Zealand's most respected go-to-market leaders.

He breaks down how Halter rebuilt its sales motion from the ground up, why he abolished the customer success function in favour of account managers with targets, the revenue operations secret behind his success across Vend, Lightspeed and Halter, and how a tight-territory outbound model beat inbound every time.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [http://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-253-andrew-fraser-president-halter]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter, [https://twitter.com/vidags10]Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], or YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths),  David Haber (GP, a16z), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, US Tennis), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep), Vivek Bhatia (CEO, MUFG), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and more. 

#253 Andrew Fraser: Uranium mines, malaria, broke in Africa — now President of $2B Halter, backed by Founders Fund

Episode #252 features Ethan Choi, Partner at Khosla Ventures (KV), where he leads their Growth Fund.

In conversation with Vidit Agarwal, Ethan shares his own journey— from growing up in Australia with Korean heritage and often acting as the “mum and dad” in his family, to taking a non-traditional path into investing and earning a seat at one of the world’s most respected firms, Khosla Ventures.

He breaks down how KV actually makes decisions, how Vinod Khosla operates, his learnings from each of the KV partners, why conviction beats consensus, and what it takes to build a growth investing strategy inside a firm known for backing ideas early — including the early bet on OpenAI, and why it didn’t look obvious at the time.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [http://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-252-ethan-choi-partner-khosla-ventures]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter, [https://twitter.com/vidags10]Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], or YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths),  David Haber (GP, a16z), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, US Tennis), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep), Vivek Bhatia (CEO, MUFG), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and more. 

#252 Ethan Choi: Meet Vinod Khosla's pick to run the Khosla Ventures Growth Fund | First in-depth interview

Episode #251 features a LIVE conversation recorded on stage recently at EvokeAG (one of the world’s leading agrifood and innovation gatherings) with Ruth Leary (Head of Strategy & Engagement, AgriZeroNZ) and Andi Lucas (Founder, X-Hemp).

In discussion with Vidit Agarwal, they unpack the realities of raising capital in ag and climate tech — from the limits of venture capital and the role of grants, to long timelines, regulatory challenges, and what it takes to move innovation into real-world adoption.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

This episode is brought to you in commercial partnership with EvokeAG. Find out more at: https://www.evokeag.com

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [https://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-251-live-from-evokeag-accessing-alternative-capital]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter, [https://twitter.com/vidags10]Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], and YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries, 250+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths),  David Haber (GP, a16z), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, US Tennis), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep), Vivek Bhatia (CEO, MUFG), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and more. 

#251 LIVE from EvokeAG: Accessing alternative capital, and what it takes to move innovation into real-world adoption

Episode #250 features a rare in-depth conversation with Rob Giglio, Chief Customer Officer at Canva, the world’s leading visual AI platform serving 200M+ users globally. Previously, he held senior leadership roles at Adobe, DocuSign, and HubSpot and more.

In conversation with Vidit Agarwal, Rob shares the real story behind his career, including growing up in a military family, navigating setbacks like being laid off, and redefining success beyond titles.

He unpacks what it takes to build high-performing teams - hiring top 1–3% talent and balancing performance with genuine care for people, how he’s stayed relevant across decades of change from CPG to SaaS to AI, and how he’s now scaling Canva’s enterprise growth as a visual AI platform. He also shares why he’s intentionally chosen impact, customers, and craft over becoming a CEO.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

This episode is sponsored by:

→ Allens: Trusted advisors to leading companies including Canva. Visit allens.com.au

→ This episode is part of a special limited series on innovation, supported by the City of Sydney. Explore more at: https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [http://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-250-rob-giglio-chief-customer-officer-canva]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter, [https://twitter.com/vidags10]Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], or YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths),  David Haber (GP, a16z), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, US Tennis), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep), Vivek Bhatia (CEO, MUFG), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and more. 

#250 Rob Giglio: Canva’s Chief Customer Officer on Staying Relevant as a Leader and What Companies Get Wrong

Episode #249 features a rare in-depth conversation with David Haber, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, one of the world’s leading venture capital firms (managing $40B+), where he focuses on technology investments in B2B software and financial services. Before that, he founded Bond Street, a fintech startup acquired by Goldman Sachs, where he later worked on strategy, partnerships and new ventures.

In discussion with Vidit Agarwal, David reflects on his journey from growing up in a Mexican-Jewish family, sharing deeply personal and professional insights on identity, ambition and belonging. He unpacks what it really takes to build and sell a company from his own lived experience, the emotional comedown after an acquisition, and the shift from founder to operating inside institutions like Goldman Sachs.

Hear David's perspective on how to spot competitive compounding advantages in people and businesses, recognising talent early, and whether he'd pick Marc Andreessen or Ben Horowitz for his 5 person learning room. David also compares NYC to SF, and the pros and cons of each city.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [https://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-249-david-haber-general-partner-a16z]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter, [https://twitter.com/vidags10]Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], or YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, US Tennis), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep), Vivek Bhatia (CEO, MUFG), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and more. 

#249 David Haber: a16z General Partner on Living in the Grey, Goldman Sachs Acquisition and Building Compounding Advantage

This episode #248 features a rare and candid conversation with Vivek Bhatia, Global CEO of MUFG Pension & Market Services, a global provider of shareholder and retirement services with 7,000+ employees serving millions of investors across Australia, the UK, Japan and India. He previously served as CEO & Managing Director of Link Group, CEO of QBE Insurance, and CEO of icare NSW.

In discussion with Vidit Agarwal, Vivek reflects on his journey from growing up in India to arriving in Australia as a young migrant working in call centres, before rising to lead some of the country’s most complex financial institutions. Along the way, he shares the cultural lessons that shaped him — including his belief that India taught him ambition, while Australia taught him balance.

Vivek also reflects on the defining moments that shaped his leadership philosophy, from consulting at McKinsey & Company to leading large-scale transformations at Link Group, QBE and icare. He discusses what the CEO job actually involves day-to-day, how to transform legacy organisations without losing the people inside them, navigating global businesses across cultures and markets, and the opportunity for deeper economic and leadership ties between Australia and India.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [http://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-248-vivek-bhatia-global-ceo-mufg-pension-market-services]

Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter [https://twitter.com/vidags10]or YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

This is the ninth episode in our special series with the Australian Government and their Centre for Australia–India Relations, spotlighting the growing Australia–India relationship across technology, business, media, culture and sport. Previous guests include Renowned Music Composer Tushar Apte, Australia's High Commissioner to India Philip Green, MUFG's CEO Vivek Bhatia, Ex Secretary of Foreign Affairs Peter Varghese, NAB's EGM Sweta Mehra, Deputy Secretary of Australia's Home Affairs Brendan Dowling, Sports Journalist Bharat Sundaresan, Cricket Legend Lisa Sthalekar and Orica's CEO Sanjeev Gandhi, reflecting the breadth of Indian-Australian leaders at the most senior levels.

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Jean

#248 Vivek Bhatia: From Bollywood Dreams to CEO of MUFG and the Lessons from Leading QBE and Wesfarmers Insurance

Episode #247 features a LIVE conversation recorded on stage recently at EvokeAG (one of the world’s leading agrifood and innovation gatherings) featuring Tina Funder, Founder & CEO of Alt Leather, and Lucie Semenec, Co-Founder & CEO of Newera Bio — building next-generation bio-materials to replace some of fashion’s most polluting materials.

In discussion with Vidit Agarwal, they explore the realities of scaling deep-tech climate companies, turning lab breakthroughs into global supply chains, and why fashion, automotive and consumer brands are searching for fossil-free alternatives to leather and textile dyes. They also reflect on the long timelines of scientific innovation, the capital required to scale bio-materials, and the opportunity to reinvent global material supply chains.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

This episode is brought to you in partnership with EvokeAG. Find out more at: https://www.evokeag.com/

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here

Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers],  Twitter   [https://twitter.com/vidags10]or YouTube [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eygpQLuQ98o&pp=0gcJCa4KAYcqIYzv]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, Tennis Australia), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep) and more.

#247 LIVE from EvokeAG: Tina Funder & Lucie Semenec on Building Fossil-Free Materials and Reinventing Fashion Supply Chains

Episode #246 features a rare and candid conversation with David Neal, CEO of IFM Investors, a global asset manager overseeing more than A$240 billion. He previously served as inaugural CIO and later CEO of Future Fund, Australia’s sovereign wealth fund managing more than $200 billion in assets globally on behalf of the Australian Government.

In discussion with Vidit Agarwal, David reflects on his journey from a small English town to leading one of the world’s largest infrastructure investors, unpacking values in finance, trust and professionalism, building Australia’s $200B sovereign wealth fund through the Global Financial Crisis, the operational realities of the CIO job, the tension between purpose and price, and the future of infrastructure in an AI-driven world.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [https://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-246-david-neal-ceo-ifm-investors-260b-infra-fund]

Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers] or Twitter [https://twitter.com/vidags10]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, Tennis Australia), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep) and more.

#246 David Neal: Oxford Engineer to $240B Global Investor, Building a Sovereign Wealth Fund and Financing AI Infrastructure

Thanks to you, we rank in the top 10% most shared podcasts globally, with listeners in 27 countries. With host Vidit Agarwal, re-imagine the traditional high flyer and celebrate relatable role models, and their journeys from their sunrise to today, across 40+ walks of life around the world! Contact us anytime via: Website: www.curiositycenter.xyz/podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/vidags10 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/viditag/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast/

Vidit Agarwal

Shows