Jonny Shannon

Jonny Shannon's Biography

Jonny Shannon co-founded Pushpay, which listed on the NZX and ASX and sold for over $1 billion. He went on to found Gamify (featured on Shark Tank) and PostHarvest Technologies. He is an operator, not a commentator: what he says about AI and cyber security comes from work he is doing this quarter.

Jonny builds technology companies — and then explains, in plain language, what that technology is doing to the people who use it.

It did not start that way. Born in South Auckland with undiagnosed dyslexia and ADHD, Jonny was bullied relentlessly and expelled at fifteen for fighting. A school counsellor who refused to give up on him changed the trajectory — through the New Zealand Army, into youth work, and eventually into technology.

Since 2013 he has delivered more than 3,300 presentations — over 500,000 students, plus corporate and conference audiences. For corporate rooms he speaks on practical AI adoption, the human side of cyber security, and resilience built through failure. For schools he covers online safety, mental health and resilience — work that made him Australian Youth Speaker of the Year and led him to found Cyber Safe Australia (cybersafe.com.au), which delivers cyber safety programs into schools nationally.

Audiences book Jonny because he has actually done the thing he is talking about, and because he can hold a room — whether that room is a boardroom or six thousand people in a conference hall.

AT A GLANCE

• Co-founded Pushpay — dual-listed on the NZX and ASX, sold for over $1 billion
• Still building: founder of Gamify (featured on Shark Tank) and PostHarvest Technologies
• Founder of Cyber Safe Australia (cybersafe.com.au), delivering cyber safety programs into Australian schools
• 3,300+ presentations — over 500,000 students, plus corporate and conference audiences
• Makes AI and cyber security land without jargon: humour, live demos, immediately usable
• Australian Youth Speaker of the Year 2025

Contact Helene Greenham directly to enquire about Jonny Shannon for your next event – helene@platinumspeakers.com.au

Speaking Topics Include

AI in the Real World: What’s Actually Working

Jonny has founded three technology companies and uses AI daily across all of them. This session cuts past the hype to what teams are genuinely doing with AI right now — where it creates real leverage, where it quietly creates risk, and how to tell the difference. Live demonstrations, no jargon.

Recently delivered: a two-hour AI session for the team at Oceanbridge Shipping, booked by their CEO.

Takeaways: a clear view of where AI fits your workflow, the three questions to ask before adopting any tool, and the governance traps to avoid.

Cyber Safe At Work

Most breaches don’t start with code — they start with a person. Drawing on his work as founder of Cyber Safe Australia (cybersafe.com.au), Jonny runs a practical, story-driven session for staff and leadership teams covering the 8 ways employees get caught out online: oversharing, phishing, deepfakes, weak passwords, dodgy wifi and physical attacks. Humour and live demos keep non-technical teams with him.

Recently delivered: to an audience of over 6,000 at Okta, and to the information security team at Pepper Money — who rebooked for the following year.

Takeaways: staff who can name all 8 attack routes, a personal security routine that sticks, and habits that make the team and their families safer.

From Expelled to Exit: Grit, Resilience and Building Through Failure

Expelled at fifteen, Jonny co-founded a company that sold for over $1 billion. This keynote is the honest version — the failures, the near-misses, and the PERMA-based framework he used to keep going. Suited to conferences, leadership offsites and teams under sustained pressure.

Takeaways: a practical model for team resilience, how to reframe setbacks without toxic positivity, and a method for setting vision when the path isn’t clear.

EDUCATION & SCHOOLS

Connected: Cyber Safety, Social Skills & Bullying

Delivered through Cyber Safe Australia (cybersafe.com.au), which Jonny founded. Using fun, memorable stories, he helps students navigate the online world in positive, solutions-based ways. Covers respectful online communication, digital footprint, protecting personal information, scams and catfishing, cyberbullying and bystander strategies, screen and gaming addiction, and sexting laws for high school.

Takeaways: students can name the common online risks, know the three ways through bullying, and know exactly where to get help.

Mental Health: 5 Ways To Being Strong

With over 30% of young Australians experiencing a mental health issue, this session normalises the conversation and gives students practical tools. Jonny draws on personal experience to explore the link between thoughts, actions and emotions, how to recognise and manage anxiety and depression, and the role of healthy routines.

Takeaways: every student leaves with a personalised coping plan and knows where to seek help for themselves or a friend.

Grit & Resilience: 5 Steps To Moving Forward

From living in a caravan with undiagnosed learning disabilities to co-founding a billion-dollar company, Jonny shares how he moved from surviving to thriving using the PERMA model. Covers learned optimism, growth versus fixed mindset, turning disempowering thoughts around, and setting a clear vision with SMART goals.

Takeaways: students leave with a written goal, a reframing technique they can use immediately, and the belief that where they start doesn’t decide where they finish.

Drugs, Alcohol, Vaping & Addiction

Moving beyond scare tactics, Jonny explores the real reasons young people turn to substances — acceptance, self-esteem, boredom and emotional pain — and addresses smoking, vaping, alcohol, marijuana and designer drugs through their physical, mental and social impacts.

Takeaways: students can name their own triggers, understand the real effects on a developing brain, and leave knowing they are not defined by their upbringing or their friends.

Sex, Relationships & Safe Choices

A mature, honest look at relationships and sexual health that cuts through media and peer pressure — reminding students that fewer than 50% of Year 12s have had sex, and that this is completely normal. Covers consent and the law, protection and its limits, healthy communication and setting boundaries.

Takeaways: students understand consent law, can set and voice a boundary, and know how to tell love from attraction.

All sessions are tailored to the audience and the brief. Formats: keynote, half-day and full-day workshops, panel and in-conversation.