Meet the people driving BAI Australia’s growth and strategy for our telecommunications business. In this blog series, hear from our team as they share what they envision for the future and how growth will be achieved.

Shaun Newton, Head of Product at BAI Communications Australia first joined BAI as a graduate engineer in 2005. He was drawn to the company’s innovative approach, network solutions and growth prospects. 

Over the past 17 years, Shaun has played an important role in various projects and business ventures both in Australia and overseas.  

Shaun’s breadth of knowledge and experience across our products and solutions make him an integral part of our team and growth strategy. He leads the design and pre-sales team and together they bring a holistic, multi-technology layered approach to realise a multitude of use cases to meet business, customer, and community needs.

Learn more about Shaun:

What are you responsible for in your current role at BAI?

My current role at BAI is leading the design and presales team for our telecommunications business. We work closely with our customers and consider how best to apply our problem-solving prowess to their unique business goals. The solutions we develop are composable, optimised for each customer and their unique commercial and technical needs leveraging our extensive experience delivering projects across the world for network infrastructure, private and public wireless, critical communications services, and smart precincts.

What attracted you to the role with BAI? (opportunity for growth, culture etc)

I joined BAI in 2005 as a graduate engineer. At the time, I was looking for a challenging role in the telecommunications industry. What attracted me to BAI was their use of the latest digital technologies to upgrade radio and television networks across Australia. The company was also looking to expand in other

markets and diversify its offering which today has proven very successful and has given me many great opportunities for career development.

What’s the most exciting part of your job?

For me, enabling our customers to explore, scale, and foresee connectivity solutions that unlock emerging services and fresh revenue opportunities, supporting them to deliver better connected and enhanced experiences.   

Together with our partners and customers we deliver tangible outcomes to improve public safety, increase business productivity, and provide better connectivity for Australian communities. 

What’s something you find challenging about your work?

Evolving digital technologies have been and are continuing to transform how we live work and play. This change and the pace of change will continue to accelerate and certainly keeps me and my team on our toes.

What motivates you at work? 

Helping our customers uncover connectivity solutions that create new opportunities and contribute towards the development of smart communities.  

BAI’s engineering capabilities are great credentials for us to help our partners harness 5G, IoT, AI, and cutting-edge data analytics to build private networks, stations, and cities of the future. 

What’s something you’re proud of?

During my time at BAI, I’ve had the opportunity to work across different parts of the business and in different markets. I was part of the team responsible for building our critical communications business in Australia, which ensures that emergency services can communicate with each other during times of disaster. I also helped to scale up the Transit Wireless business in New York which is now a major partner of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and connects millions of daily riders to Wi-Fi and high-speed data. It is extremely rewarding to look at a thriving business and know that you contributed to its success.   

How do you collaborate with your team?

The workplace culture at BAI encourages us to be proactive, do things that matter and be our authentic selves. My team and I have catch ups and brainstorming sessions to workshop new ideas and discuss upcoming projects. We also get together for social activities and lunches as often as we can.

Who inspires you?

Looking at the line-up of current successful entrepreneurs, I really admire Elon Musk. He has enabled amazing progress with the development of many products and services, empowering entirely new industries to grow and succeed. His approach of rapid prototyping and using a fail-fast methodology should be an inspiration to all industries.

What’s your most-used productivity hack?

I read a lot and like learning about ways to be more productive. I use technology and apps as part of my day-to-day routine to help improve my efficiency and learn new skills. Through BAI’s subscription offering I was able to complete several LinkedIn Learning courses on project management and increasing productivity.

Want to join the BAI team in Australia? Head over to our careers page