What Happened
Professor Simon Lucey has left his role as director of the Australian Institute for Machine Learning, the country's largest university-based machine learning research institute, after six years at the helm of the 200-member body.
Lucey grew the AIML into a nationally recognised research centre and an early champion for local AI capabilities. His next move is an AI venture that has not yet been publicly disclosed. He will retain a fractional appointment at Adelaide University to continue teaching and administer existing grants, according to reporting by InnovationAus.com.
Adelaide University pro vice-chancellor research performance Professor Mark Hutchinson described Lucey as a "trailblazer." Lucey, for his part, said: "Being part of this community has been a career highlight in every sense of the word."
Why It Matters
The AIML sits at the centre of South Australia's publicly funded AI research effort, established in 2018 as a joint initiative of the University of Adelaide and the South Australian government. Lucey's departure after six years removes a founding figure from its leadership at a time when Australian AI research institutions are navigating growing commercial interest in their work.
The emergence of Metacognition, a new neolab backed with $10 million by others at the AIML, signals that the institute's research community is actively spinning out commercial ventures, separate from whatever Lucey is planning.
Key Details
Lucey became AIML director in 2020, two years after the institute launched. Under his leadership it grew to 200 members, making it Australia's largest university-based machine learning research institute.
His undisclosed new venture will be pursued independently of the AIML, though his fractional Adelaide University appointment keeps him connected to the institution's teaching and grant programmes.
The separately announced Metacognition neolab has received $10 million in backing. It was revealed by AIML members rather than by Lucey himself.
Background and Context
The AIML was established as a deliberate policy effort to build domestic AI and machine learning capability, with the South Australian government as a founding partner alongside the University of Adelaide. Lucey's tenure spanned the period in which large-scale machine learning moved from specialist research into mainstream commercial and government use across Australia.
Separately, the Gig Guide item in InnovationAus.com also noted that a new CFO appointment involved an executive who joins from MYOB and was previously CFO at Afterpay before its $39 billion acquisition by Block.
What Comes Next
Lucey's new venture remains under wraps. His fractional appointment at Adelaide University suggests a continued, if reduced, presence in the academic research community. The AIML has not yet announced a permanent successor to the director role.
The Metacognition neolab, backed with $10 million, represents a separate commercial thread emerging from the AIML's research base.