2025 Henry Sutton Oration - Presented by John Ieraci, Telstra Enterprise Executive

The Presentation

Telstra’s Connected Future 30: Lessons from the Past, Vision for the Future

The telco industry is entering a new era—one defined by rapid technological change and evolving customer expectations. Over the past century, our industry has navigated through many waves of disruption, transforming Australia’s connectivity time and again. Now, we’re at the start of something we have not seen. The rise of AI. A super cycle of digital infrastructure investment. Rapidly changing competitor set. And many, many unknowns. The pace and scale of change ahead will be extraordinary. 

To stay ahead, we must rethink how we deliver value in a shifting landscape. The challenges are real—but the opportunities are even greater. There are three questions we need to ask. What must telcos do to thrive in this next wave? What is our path forward. And what can we learn from the missed opportunities at previous industry inflection points.

The Event

Join us for excellent lunch served with drinks at the Angliss Restaurant. John will speak for 30 minutes and take questions during the lunch service.

About Henry Sutton

Henry Sutton was born in Ballarat, Victoria in 1855. He was an Australian designer, engineer and inventor credited with contributions to early developments in electricity, aviation, wireless communication, printing, photography and telecommunications. A contemporary of Nikolai Tesla and Alexander Graham Bell he met each of them to discuss relative discoveries and inventions.

About the Presenter - John Ieraci

John Ieraci has spent the best part of three decades at Telstra across two stints dating back to 1990, rejoining the telco in Melbourne in 2007 after spending time as global business development manager at Ericsson. Since then, he has held a number of senior leadership and executive positions, including running Telstra’s Data and IP product portfolio, establishing Telstra’s security services practice, chief customer officer for Telstra Enterprise, and most recently running Telstra Enterprise’s technology services portfolio which includes Telstra Purple and Versent.