Andrew Lark

Chair; Author of Augmented: Life in the Smart Lane
Group Lark

Andy Lark is a globally awarded marketing leader and entrepreneur. He has built one of the most successful SaaS start-ups into a global software powerhouse, launched apps used by millions daily, led the transformation of Australia's most vibrant financial services brand, and built one of the largest eCommerce sites in the world.

During his tenure as chief marketing and revenue officer of Xero – the cloud accounting software leader and one of the world’s fastest-growing software as a service (SAAS) companies, Xero was named the world’s most innovative growth company by Forbes. Andy has held senior executive roles at Dell, Dubber, Sun Microsystems, Nortel, Commonwealth Bank, and Foxtel.

Today Andy is the chief business officer of Liven - one of the World’s most prominent Web 3 companies whose platform enables loyalty to be created and customer engagement to be radically reimagined. Used by over 5,000 businesses and millions of users, Liven is scaling rapidly across Australia, Sth East Asia and the USA.

He has held over 10 director roles, including Mercury Energy, SLI Systems, Fronde and Number 8 Ventures – New Zealand’s leading technology venture capital firm. He holds advisory board roles with Jiko - a Silicon Valley-based neo bank; OCX Cognition, revolutionising how NPS is measured using AI; Functionland - an innovative Blockchain-based storage start-up; and, Serko - an ASX-listed global leader in travel management. He advises Outlier Ventures - the world's leading Web 3.0 accelerator and venture firm. In his current side hustle, he is an honorary professor at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.

As founder and chair of Group Lark – a global consultancy driving brand, digital and Web 3.0 transformations for the world’s leading countries and enterprises, his work as an investor, advisor and entrepreneur lead him to raise hundreds of millions resulting in multiple public listings.

His most recent book, Augmented: Life in the Smart Lane, was an international bestseller, top 10 in North America and China, and the book remained in the top 10 on Amazon for two years.

A native of Auckland, New Zealand, Andrew holds a bachelor’s degree from Auckland University. A passionate supporter of NZ and Australian entrepreneurs, his work was recognised with the NZ Government’s prestigious World Class New Zealander Award -- and most recently, the Flying Kiwi Award on behalf of the NZ Hi-tech sector.

He is a competitive sailor, a very non-competitive cyclist, and writer when he is not immersed in work.