Simon Kriss, Co-Founder and CEO of Sovereign Australia AI, is regarded as one of Asia Pacific’s leading voices on AI adoption and policy. With more than 35 years of experience working alongside some of the world’s largest brands, Simon has advised corporates, government bodies, and even the United Nations on aligning AI technology with commercial and policy objectives.
Simon co-founded Sovereign Australia AI alongside Dr Troy Neilson, who holds a PhD in AI and Machine Learning and brings more than 20 years of startup experience. The company’s core mission is to build foundational AI models that are designed, trained, and hosted entirely within Australia, ensuring data sovereignty and compliance with local privacy standards.
Sovereign Australia AI has placed the nation’s largest-ever order for sovereign AI infrastructure, comprising 256 Nvidia Blackwell B200 GPUs, to be hosted in Brisbane-based NEXTDC data centres. The company has also committed to open-sourcing its Ginan research model to promote transparency, with Simon emphasizing that users should know exactly what data their AI is trained on — and that copyright holders whose material is used should be fairly compensated.
The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Australian Computer Society (ACS) to develop a bespoke AI capability for the nation’s peak ICT body. Simon is also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and serves on several commercial and not-for-profit boards. His broader goal is for Australia to emerge not merely as a consumer of AI, but as a genuine leader — building AI systems that reflect the country’s own voice and values
