Ken Maxwell is the CEO of xAmplify Group Pty Ltd, a fully integrated digital and end-to-end IT services company. Ken began his career as an Aeronautical Engineer at the Royal Australian Navy. While there, he achieved certified engineer status and sign-off responsibilities for Naval aviation assets and a formal Chartered status through Engineers Australia.
Afterwards, Ken worked as an independent contractor for the Federal Government, providing direct management support and experience which included project and programme management skills and advice in the delivery of transformational programs.
During his time at PwC, Ken was key to growing the government practice and spearheaded programs for the Department of Defence. He then moved to EY as a Partner where he led the growth of the firm servicing the Home Affairs Portfolio.
From a career specialising in organisational and capability reviews, complex capability & assets, and delivering transformation, Ken now leads xAmplify to partner with clients on their journeys of transformational change via enabling intelligent solutions.
How important is it for government agencies to start leaning towards the utilisation of digital and IT services?
Now more than ever, it has become important for government agencies to embrace digital services. As a society, digital services and artificial intelligence (AI) are already intrinsic components of everything we do, and that’s precisely why government and the private sector need to think about how they can better deliver services to their clients, and to our communities in the way they want to consume them.
Through the Digital Transformation Strategy, the Australian Government has committed to delivering better government services. At xAmplify, we want to support governments in becoming leaders in this space. We want our economy to be prosperous and, by leaning in now, there is a great opportunity for government to do more in embracing the possibilities that digital services offer.
This is where xAmplify comes in, we are helping our clients – including government – by understanding their journey, removing the complexity, and enabling them to carry the torch forward. For government, there is also significant wins in embracing digital, people are using digital more and more in their day-to-day life, from using their credit cards and ordering food on their phones. Governments that do not embrace the tilisation of government services take a significant risk in terms of relevancy and accessibility.
How has xAmplify expanded upon its capabilities since your appointment to the position of CEO?
Since taking over as CEO, my focus has been on positioning the company for future success and, working as a team, challenging how we can better help our clients navigate complexity by delivering the best technology to achieve outcomes.
I want to help our clients position for the future and, as a company, we’re doing exactly that – we’re investing in AI. Under construction right now are two new initiatives from xAmplify: the first is Scaile – Australia’s first purpose-built GPU as a Service offering that will be accredited under the Australian Government’s IRAP framework.
Secondly, our Traine facility is being built – a learning and collaboration space modelled on Nvidia’s Test Drive facilities in the northern hemisphere. A place for anyone that is interested in AI to come and learn, from people interested in increasing their awareness levels to deep training for data scientists and infrastructure engineers needing hardcore training utilising Nvidia’s global leading technology.
I am extremely proud to be leading the company as we bring both capabilities to market early in 2022.
What are the challenges you’ve faced and how were you able to overcome them?
Coming into a new role, there are the normal challenges that many may face when coming into a senior leadership position. Honestly, it’s a great privilege to be able to come in as the new leader of xAmplify at such an exciting time. I am very fortunate to lead a company that has invested so strongly in our people.
With such a strong team in place, I can genuinely say that the challenges that I have faced, we have been able to overcome as a team. I’m certainly proud of what I’ve achieved so far, even more so how much we’ve been able to achieve as a team and importantly, the fun that we’ve had along the way as our team grows!
At xAmplify, we’re on a journey with AI and it’s exciting. We’re investing in AI and we’re helping our clients with that exact challenge.
Since xAmplify has plans for further growth and to begin “a strategic transition”, how will you lead the company towards government?
Government is our most valued market. As an IT services company and as we think about our evolution, I will be leading the team to lean in more to help government tackle their most important technological challenges, to overcome them, and for the public service to continue to be increasingly enabled by technology.
The technology landscape is undoubtedly complex, but government is presented with a real opportunity over the coming years to embrace new technology (some of which we are bringing to market as a company) and harness the benefits innovation will bring their clients and citizens.
As consumers continue to increasingly utilise digital and AI in their everyday lives, governments inevitably seek the productivity and user experience benefits that digital and AI provide.
Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.
