Penten, has appointed senior defence industry executive Mr Greg Barsby as its new Chief Executive Officer as part of a leadership restructure to support a rapidly expanding product portfolio and customer base.

Penten’s current CEO and co-founder, Mr Matthew Wilson, will step into the role of Executive Chair, while Dr Marcus Thompson AM will continue to serve the company as a board director having been Chair of Penten since October 2021.

Penten is embarking on leadership renewal in 2024 to support the increased adoption of key products among Australian government customers including in defence, intelligence and security agencies. The company’s annual revenue has more than doubled over the past three years.

Greg Barsby is a former Managing Director of the Australian arm of UK defence technology and test and evaluation specialist, QinetiQ. A former Army Officer, he brings over 20 years of defence industry experience to Penten, including close to a decade at the helm of QinetiQ Australia.

Outgoing Chair, Dr Thompson said: “Following an extensive search process, we are delighted to welcome Greg to lead Penten’s team and day-to-day operations. He is a highly-regarded senior executive with lengthy experience delivering services and technology solutions for military and government customers. The Board looks forward to supporting Greg to realise Penten’s full potential.”

“Penten is strong, profitable and well-positioned to support the AUKUS partnership with our best-in-class proprietary cyber and security technologies. Greg’s international defence industry experience will enable us to scale-up across multiple jurisdictions while we continue developing our IP-led cyber technology portfolio in Australia and further commercialise our applied AI and technical services”, current CEO Mr Wilson said.

“The Board also pays tribute to Dr Marcus Thompson for his invaluable leadership and personal commitment to Penten, which has been pivotal to our recent success which includes rapid increase in the adoption of Penten’s AltoCrypt products and data breach detection solutions. We look forward to Marcus’ continued guidance and support through his ongoing role on the Penten Board,” he said.

Penten’s senior leadership transition will be effective 29 January 2024.