Melbourne-based Pepperstone, a global online trading and fintech company with clients across more than 160 countries, has appointed Nigel Fernandes as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO), effective 1 October 2026. The move comes as the company strengthens its focus on developing and owning more of its technology, while expanding its fintech ecosystem into areas including cryptocurrency, AI-driven engineering and institutional-grade infrastructure.

Fernandes brings more than two decades of technology leadership experience spanning financial services, retail, media and enterprise software. He joins Pepperstone from Xero, where he is currently SVP and Executive General Manager of Engineering, overseeing a global engineering organisation responsible for cloud platforms, customer identity and data. Earlier in his career, he held senior technology positions at Publicis Sapient, Coles Group, SEEK and Envato.

Commenting on his appointment, Fernandes said he was looking forward to joining Pepperstone at an important stage in the company's growth. He said his priorities would include strengthening the technology behind the established global trading brand and developing an AI-native engineering platform capable of delivering faster, more dependable access to products and services for clients.

Pepperstone Group CEO Tamas Szabo said technology remains central to the company's client experience and future strategy. He highlighted the company's plans to broaden its fintech offering, including access to cryptocurrency and new markets, while using internally developed technology to create a more personalised experience for customers.

According to Szabo, Fernandes' experience in developing high-performing engineering teams at leading technology companies positions him well to support Pepperstone's next phase of technological growth.

In his new role, Fernandes will have global responsibility for engineering, architecture, cybersecurity and data. He will report directly to Group CEO Tamas Szabo and will be based at Pepperstone's global headquarters in Melbourne.

AIC, a leading provider of AI-driven storage and computing solutions, is pleased to confirm its participation in COMPUTEX 2026. The company will be exhibiting from June 2 to June 5 at TaiNEX 1, 4F, Booth N1106, where it will present its latest advancements aimed at strengthening the infrastructure foundation for the emerging Agentic AI era.

As the industry moves toward reasoning-based models and long-context inference, a key challenge has emerged around efficient data movement and management. To address this shift, AIC will also convene a high-level panel discussion examining how storage is transitioning from a passive data repository into an active enabler of AI intelligence delivery.

Panel Session Details

The discussion will bring together leaders shaping the foundational infrastructure layer of the AI ecosystem:

AIC Exhibition Highlights
At COMPUTEX, AIC will demonstrate how its hardware platforms, in collaboration with ecosystem partners, are designed to address the growing complexity of modern AI workloads:

“AI workloads are undergoing a fundamental transformation, making it essential to rethink and upgrade core infrastructure. We are proud to collaborate with NVIDIA and VAST Data in building highly scalable, high-performance platforms that define the next generation of AI systems. Our focus is to help customers stay ahead in this rapidly evolving landscape,” said Michael Liang, Chairman and CEO of AIC.

Event Information

Booth: N1106