The Business Of

So, you want to start a business.   

And no matter how big your ambitions are, chances are you’re going to start small as one of the 99.8% of businesses in Australia that operate as small-to-medium enterprises – or SMEs.     

Associate Professor Kristle Romero Cortés teaches people how to make confident financial decisions for themselves and their organisations every day at the University of New South Wales School of Banking and ...

Katrina McPhee is in the superannuation industry for the long haul now, but that wasn’t always the case.  

She’s currently the Chief of Staff at Aware Super, one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds, but when she first entered the industry, she wasn’t interested in sticking around in a field not exactly known for its desire to shake things up. 

But that all changed after a Royal Commission investigated misconduct in the ba...

Tech start-ups have been the darlings of business media in recent years, and for good reason: new technology is exciting and flashy, and tech entrepreneurs tend to share pithy catchphrases about grinding, hustling, or “moving fast and breaking things.”  

But what happens when a start-up needs to slow down?  

In the case of the investment app Pearler, speed was never the ultimate goal. Co-founder Hayden Smith thinks veering away f...

In their first few years of operation, Humanitix didn’t spend a cent on traditional marketing. Despite this, they managed to build up a client list that includes Google, TED, Red Bull, Canva and Facebook, and gave millions to charity in the process. How did they do it? 

Adam McCurdie is the co-founder and CEO of Humanitix, the new contender disrupting the fiercely competitive ticketing industry for all the right reasons. After mak...

How do you market your business when consumers pay not to see your ads? How do you make your name stand out when the internet is overrun with marketing? And how do you build trust and make your name sticks when everything’s moving so fast?  

Dee Madigan is an advertising expert, a founding panelist on ABC’s The Gruen Transfer and the creative director and owner of ad agency Campaign Edge. Dee breaks down one of branding’s most pow...

What makes a great marketer? Maybe a good eye for product design, a deep understanding of market dynamics, excellent communication skills and the ability to give customers what they want. But what about a fierce devotion to ethics?  

Wendy Mak is the Chief Marketing Officer at Link Group, a global financial services company driven by digital and data technology. Wendy’s excited about the potential productivity gains promised by br...

“In future, I expect that everybody will have climate resilience and climate mitigation as part of their roles.” 

Penny Joseph is the Head of Climate Resilience at major Australian electricity provider Ausgrid, but when she began her career, this type of role didn’t exist.  

As the climate heats up and more industries are feeling the effects of changing weather, Penny explains to The Business Of host Dr Juliet Bourke that roles l...

You might have come across the term black swan events – commonly used in the insurance space – they’re considered rare occurrences that are almost impossible to predict. 

As our climate and weather patterns continue to change at pace, the unexpected is really all we can expect now. How do businesses like insurers plan for risk and implement resilience strategies in the face of uncertainty?  

Leading with clarity during these high...

The battle to halt climate change is impacting most aspects of our day to day lives – right down to the cars we drive. But there’s a missing piece in motoring that could improve things – the electric vehicle industry.  

Manufacturers are making higher quality EVs than ever before, and more of them. At the same time, more Aussie drivers want their next car to be electric. So why is our country one of the slowest in the world in mak...

The way we do business originates in the minds of great leaders, thinkers and doers. And that’s what we’re in the business of. 

From the art world to the world of artificial intelligence, The Business Of brings real-world lessons from industry leaders together with cutting-edge research coming out of the University of New South Wales Business School.  

You’ll hear host Dr Juliet Bourke speaking with people at the top of their fie...

Over the last few years, Australia has seen its fair share of major data breaches, affecting more than 147 million individuals and shaking the trust people had in organisations responsible for safeguarding their data. There is no doubt that AI is now capable of performing tasks that were once considered science fiction just two decades ago. How can you know that your privacy and data is protected?

Learn about the innovative AI sol...

Imagine you're a radiologist with 500 scans awaiting your thorough review. Each scan demands your undivided attention, and the process is anticipated to span over a week. Now, consider the prospect of AI technology drastically shortening this time frame, potentially completing the same comprehensive assessments in a matter of just a few hours. What option would you choose?

Hear how a ground-breaking healthcare technology company, ...

AI and machine learning are transforming our world, but here's the catch: they can either enhance our best qualities or magnify our worst biases. Getting AI right is both exciting and scary and the big question is, can businesses just race ahead without considering the consequences?

Hear how research and industry come together to discuss the natural tensions between rapid AI advancements and the need for AI to be ethical as we wor...

If you’ve opened your energy bill with a sense of dread in the last 12 months, you’re not alone. With energy prices soaring around the world, individuals and organisations alike have been left asking: how long can it go on like this?

Reliable access to affordable, sustainable energy is nothing new. Whether it's future-proofing energy supply or calculating the impact of human-driven climate change, access to affordable and sustaina...

In wealthy countries, we tend to take for granted where our food comes from, taking comfort in the fact that our supermarket shelves will always be stocked – that is until potatoes become a scarce luxury and a head of lettuce nudges twenty dollars. Then, we might remember that political, environmental, social, and technological forces and disruptions to global supply chains all impact its supply.

So how can emerging technologies, ...

From seedless apples to Apple iPhones, complex global supply chains give us access to products we didn’t even know we needed. But are they ethical? For many organisations the list of reasons not to meaningfully track suppliers and prove their commitment to ethical practices is rapidly dwindling, with fresh regulations and incentives being introduced every year.

How do organisations stay committed to transparency when the social, h...

Technology is no longer a thing that happens as a segment of a business, or the sole domain of the IT Department. Core functions of how a business runs are technology-based and rely on people, processes and systems being interlinked.

But with rapidly evolving organisational needs and tech talent in high demand and short supply, how can today’s leaders prioritise skills development and innovation in a rapidly changing workforce?

L...

Since millions worked remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s become clear that not everyone needs to work face-to-face in an office environment to be successful.

Some companies – like global travel company Airbnb have gone as far as adopting a ‘work from anywhere policy’, piloting programs to attract digital nomads to their workforce. Is a work-from-anywhere approach a help or a hindrance when it comes to teamwork, talent and...

A few years ago an hour-long commute in crawling traffic or on a crowded bus seemed like an inevitable part of working life.

But today, lots of workplaces are spending millions setting up their workforce to complete their day to day from the comfort of their own homes. The benefits for workers are obvious - but does working from home actually work for business?

Hear how a company with over 1000 employees manages remote work and w...