Dawid Naude
Chief AI Officer
Affinda
Dawid Naude is Affinda’s inaugural Chief AI Officer and one of Australia’s leading AI educators and implementers. He helps organisations make every employee more productive, rethink what’s possible, and turn AI curiosity into AI confidence.
A prominent AI speaker, Dawid is known for keynotes that move audiences to action. With infectious energy and a knack for making the complex feel simple, he has a reputation for turning cautious AI onlookers into confident champions.
For Dawid, technology matters because of the difference it makes to people’s lives. He believes AI’s real strength isn’t just making the status quo more efficient, but opening up entirely new and better ways of thinking, working and creating.
His career spans consulting, leadership and founder roles across digital, technology and innovation. He was a key player in Cloud Sherpas’ fast-growing startup years and was instrumental in its acquisition by Accenture in 2015. He joined Accenture’s technology innovation division, became a Partner within three years, and led work for organisations including Qantas, NAB, AMP, Foxtel and government.
Dawid went on to found Pathfindr, which is now part of Affinda’s dedicated AI deployment business. Under his leadership, Pathfindr was named one of AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies in 2024 and 2025, won the Customer Impact Award at OpenAI’s inaugural Partner Summit in San Francisco, and became an Official Services Partner to OpenAI for Australia and New Zealand. Dawid and his team have worked with organisations including Coles, Woolworths Group, the Victorian Government, Honey Insurance, Standards Australia, Engie and Australia Post, helping thousands of people build real confidence with AI.
As Chief AI Officer, Dawid now helps Affinda’s clients go from upskilling their people through to engineering and deploying AI at scale, with one goal in mind: helping leaders and their teams do the best work of their lives with AI.
A prominent AI speaker, Dawid is known for keynotes that move audiences to action. With infectious energy and a knack for making the complex feel simple, he has a reputation for turning cautious AI onlookers into confident champions.
For Dawid, technology matters because of the difference it makes to people’s lives. He believes AI’s real strength isn’t just making the status quo more efficient, but opening up entirely new and better ways of thinking, working and creating.
His career spans consulting, leadership and founder roles across digital, technology and innovation. He was a key player in Cloud Sherpas’ fast-growing startup years and was instrumental in its acquisition by Accenture in 2015. He joined Accenture’s technology innovation division, became a Partner within three years, and led work for organisations including Qantas, NAB, AMP, Foxtel and government.
Dawid went on to found Pathfindr, which is now part of Affinda’s dedicated AI deployment business. Under his leadership, Pathfindr was named one of AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies in 2024 and 2025, won the Customer Impact Award at OpenAI’s inaugural Partner Summit in San Francisco, and became an Official Services Partner to OpenAI for Australia and New Zealand. Dawid and his team have worked with organisations including Coles, Woolworths Group, the Victorian Government, Honey Insurance, Standards Australia, Engie and Australia Post, helping thousands of people build real confidence with AI.
As Chief AI Officer, Dawid now helps Affinda’s clients go from upskilling their people through to engineering and deploying AI at scale, with one goal in mind: helping leaders and their teams do the best work of their lives with AI.
