Optus Chief Technology Officer and Head of the Networks Division, Tony Baird, is set to leave the company, roughly a month after an independent review into the Sept. 18. 2025, triple-zero outage linked to at least two deaths.
Baird, who joined Optus as managing director of the networks division in January 2025, is the third C-suite executive to depart since the incident.
He will be succeeded by Telstra executive Sri Amirthalingam, who will join in January 2026 and work alongside Baird during a transition period.
The independent review identified at least ten errors involving Optus Networks and contractor Nokia during a routine network upgrade in South Australia, highlighting gaps in risk management and recommending a series of reforms for the division.
At the review's release, Optus chair John Arthur stated the board was "taking further action in relation to individual accountabilities flowing from the incident, which will extend from financial penalties through to termination in appropriate cases."
An Optus spokesperson declined to comment on personnel changes.
Earlier departures include chief financial officer Michael Venter, who will retire in early 2026, and chief information officer Mark Potter, who is leaving in March.
These moves occur amid a broader reform and cost-cutting program initiated by CEO Stephen Rue in November 2024.