Building job-ready graduates: Monash Faculty of IT welcomes four distinguished Professors of Practice
The Faculty of Information Technology has appointed four Professors of Practice – Professor Abbi Sharma, Professor Amy Shi-Nash, Professor Ange Ferguson and Professor Santosh Kulkarni – to bring deeper industry and entrepreneurial expertise into its teaching and course design.
Further, Professors Sharma, Ferguson and Kulkarni are faculty alumni, reinforcing the career pathways enabled by a Monash IT education.
Professors of Practice are senior industry leaders who work alongside academic staff to strengthen applied teaching and curriculum development. Their expertise helps ensure students gain industry-relevant skills and can contribute effectively from the start of their careers.
With decades of experience across digital transformation and entrepreneurship, the new appointees will also support academic colleagues to create translational pathways for deep-technology innovation, including through strategic partnerships with industry and community.
‘Our Professors of Practice support the Faculty’s ongoing efforts to offer students an education grounded in real-world application,’ said Professor Shonali Krishnaswamy, Monash University’s Academic Director for AI Innovation.
‘They also strengthen our deep tech entrepreneurship pipeline and help accelerate translation and impact by connecting our teaching and research with industry and community partners.’
The appointments build on recent Faculty initiatives to embed innovation practices across research and education. This includes the launch of FIT3195 Deep Tech Entrepreneurship last year, with students from the inaugural cohort securing funding through Antler to progress their AI product.
‘Having three Faculty alumni among the new appointments also means we have role models who demonstrate how an IT education from Monash can be a launchpad for influential careers – including entrepreneurship and creating deep-tech ventures and start-ups,’ said Professor Krishnaswamy.
‘Together, the four appointments strengthen the Faculty’s capacity to connect students with real-world challenges and opportunities.’
Meet the new Professors of Practice
Professor Sharma is a global CIO, Business Transformation Executive and Non-Executive Director with more than 20 years of experience leading enterprise-scale digital and data transformation across government and industry in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the Middle East and North America.
He currently serves as Chief Digital and Transformation Officer within the Victorian Government, where he leads strategic technology modernisation, cybersecurity uplift and enterprise-wide transformation aligned to public value and long-term resilience.
He has governed portfolios exceeding $100M and delivered measurable outcomes in data and AI ecosystem development, enterprise architecture and digital operating models.
Previously, he has led major transformation programs at the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Brimbank City Council and PwC.
He holds degrees in Business and Information Systems from Monash University, an Executive MBA from Melbourne Business School, and a PhD in Deep Technology from the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and contributes to executive education, applied research and board-level advisory on digital governance and responsible AI.
Professor Shi-Nash is a purpose-driven data and AI executive with 25 years’ experience building scalable, data-driven products across banking, gaming, telecommunications, retail and technology in Australia, Asia and Europe.
She has held senior leadership roles including Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Tabcorp, Chief Data Scientist at NAB and Global Head of Data Analytics at HSBC.
Professor Shi-Nash is also the CEO and co-founder of Australian FinTech startup Occubuy, focused on accelerating the homeownership journey, and previously co-founded DataSpark, a pioneering data monetisation venture scaled into five countries.
She holds a PhD in Data Mining, a Master’s in AI, a Bachelor’s in Computer Science and a Master of Business Administration.
Professor Ferguson is a digital transformation executive with more than 20 years’ experience delivering consulting, program and change initiatives that help organisations build software with real-world impact.
She has held senior leadership roles at ThoughtWorks, including Managing Director of Digital Transformation for Australia and later the APAC region, and Director of Strategic Investment, leading the alignment and execution of high-impact initiatives. She has also served as an Advisory Board Member for Hitnet, supporting access to health-related information and services in hard-to-reach communities.
A Monash alumna, she graduated with a Bachelor of Computing in 1998 from and was recognised in 2025 with the Monash Distinguished Alumni Award.
Professor Kulkarni is a serial technopreneur and research scientist with more than 25 years’ experience in product leadership, scaling technology ventures and translating research into real-world outcomes.
He is the founder and CEO of Tradie Pal, a 24/7 smart receptionist platform. Previously, he spent four years at Five9 working on conversational AI, following its acquisition of Melbourne-based Inference Solutions, where he served for five years as Head of Product and Senior Vice President. Earlier, he was a Program Leader at National ICT Australia for eight years, prior to its merger into what is now CSIRO’s Data61.
A Faculty alumnus, Professor Kulkarni completed a Masters (Research) and PhD in Computer Science at Monash, graduating in 2000.