Executive Team

Ed Harrison

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer

Ed Harrison has over 25 years experience across many types of media including print, outdoor and digital in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Ed came to Australia in 2001 to set up JC Decaux’s business in Victoria and South Australia. From 2003 to 2008, he was General Manager (Australia) of JC Decaux, the world’s largest out-of-home advertising company, as it established a dominant position in Australian street furniture.

Ed then joined Fairfax Digital, a leading provider of online news, information and classified websites. As Group Sales Director at Fairfax Media, Ed was responsible for sales operations across 300 newspaper, magazine and digital brands with a diverse customer base and combined revenue of $500m.

From 2014 to June 2018, Ed was the CEO of Yahoo7, a joint venture between Seven West Media and Verizon, which delivered digital media products and original content to over nine million monthly users. Ed joined Isentia as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director on 6 August 2018. 

James Orlando

Chief Financial Officer

Over the past 25 years James Orlando has held senior finance positions driving growth and shareholder value in the United States, Asia and Australia.

Most recently he was Chief Financial Officer of Veda Group Ltd (VED.ASX) leading the company through its successful $1.05 billion IPO in December 2013. James subsequently managed the highly successful takeover offer of Veda by a US purchaser for $2.6 billion in February 2016.

Before joining Veda, James was the CFO of AAPT where he focused on improving the company's earning, as well as divesting its non-core businesses. He also served as the CFO of PowerTel Ltd, an ASX-listed telecommunications service provider which was sold to Telecom New Zealand in 2007.  James also held various international treasury positions at AT&T and Lucent Technologies in the US and Hong Kong including running Lucent's international project and export finance organisation.

James holds the position of Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Catapult Group International Ltd. (CAT.ASX). James holds a BS degree from Cornell University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. He also served on the Advisory Board of the US Export-Import Bank.

Sean Smith

Chief Commercial Officer

As Chief Commercial Officer, Sean Smith is responsible for the commercial performance and long-term health of Isentia, including overseeing the delivery of services and growth across client and market portfolios.

With over fifteen years’ experience in the media intelligence industry, Sean is a well-respected leader in the industry and has extensive client knowledge across corporate, government and public relations sectors. Having previously held roles as Chief Executive for ANZ and Chief Executive for Media Intelligence at a global level, Sean brings a wealth of experience to further drive sales excellence and share best practices across all markets as CCO.

Prior to working in the media intelligence industry Sean worked for the Australian Sports Commission and Sydney Olympic Games Organising Committee (SOCOG). Sean is the current Vice President and Board Member for FIBEP (global association for media intelligence) and has completed Executive Education in International Business Management with Stanford University.

David Liu

Chief Executive, Asia

David Liu has over 28 years of experience in the media sector having worked at agencies including McCann-Erickson, Bozell and Saatchi & Saatchi. He was Non-Executive Vice-Chairman of QJY Media Group, a HK public listed company, as well as a Director of CBSO China, the outdoor division of CBS Viacom Group. Prior to that he was the Asia Pacific CEO of Aegis Media Group, where he built the Aegis Media network from one office to 14 offices in the region and was appointed a member of the Aegis Global Executive Board in 2001.David was subsequently responsible for building and managing the Engine group network in Asia before coming to Isentia to lead its growth across Asia.

Khali Sakkas

Chief Insights Officer

Khali Sakkas directs our Insights service across Australia, New Zealand and Asia. With over 12 years’ experience in communications research, Khali has a deep understanding of our clients and the media intelligence industry. She is passionate about Insights, and has presented at a range of conferences, providing strategic advice on demonstrating success, reputation management and the impact of integration.

Khali holds a Bachelor of Communications from Charles Sturt University, has previously worked as an academic researcher for Monash University and also as a researcher for Indonesia’s national newspaper, Kompas. She is a member of the AMEC Asia Pacific Chapter Leadership team. 

Tom Gerstmyer

Chief Operations Officer

Tom Gerstmyer is an Operations Leader with over 18 years of experience in the media industry and a diverse background with roles across sales, business development, supply chain, IT and program management in the US and Australia.

Before joining Isentia he held a number of senior operations roles at Fairfax Media leading large-scale transformation across technology, people, culture, sales, distribution and logistics to deliver multi-million dollar improvements in margins and cost bases. Tom is a former Non-Executive Director of the Audited Media Association of Australia and holds a Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration (Marketing) from Towson University.

Lisa Sheehan

Chief People Officer

Lisa Sheehan strongly believes companies can only be truly successful with the right people and the right environment. After nearly 20 years as a human resources executive, Lisa founded Incite Consulting. In addition to being Managing Director, Incite Consulting, Lisa is also the acting Chief People Officer at Isentia.

Lisa's experience spans businesses of all sizes and categories, from ASX-listed leaders through to start-ups and not-for-profits. Incite Consulting has particular expertise in providing HR consulting services in the digital space. Clients such as Isentia, Sensis and Dan Murphy's choose Lisa and Incite Consulting for strategic HR insights, commercial acumen, and a demonstrated ability to engage leadership and employees in the development and successful implementation of business strategies.

Lisa holds a Bachelor of Business degree from RMIT University, with a major in human resources and industrial relations. Lisa started her career in a graduate position at ABB before moving to Penguin Books. Lisa then joined the publishing giant’s parent company, Pearson, where she was Director of HR for Australasia at just 28 years of age. Lisa moved to New York with Pearson before leaving the company to join US-based digital start-up Everyday Health. Having worked in the print media industry for over seven years, Lisa’s move was driven by a passion to expand her publishing media knowledge into the digital space. Since returning to Melbourne in 2010, Lisa has built her career and knowledge of HR working for a number of high-profile Australian companies including Fosters, Coles, Pacific Brands, Carsales Limited, where she was named in Australia's HRD Hot List 2017.

Paul Russell

Chief Technology Officer

Paul Russell has spent the last 15 years leading technology teams and building consumer and business-facing digital products. His experience spans small start-ups, scale ups, and larger enterprises in fast-moving, high-change businesses; encompassing marketplaces, software as a service, and media.

Most recently he was the CTO of Yahoo7, a joint venture between Yahoo Inc and Seven West Media. Here, he led a technology transformation that delivered a highly productive web delivery platform, while reducing costs and delivering market-leading products. Prior to Yahoo7, he was the Managing Director of SoftwareSeni, a blended onshore/offshore software development business, Executive GM of Technology and Delivery at Salmat Marketing Services, and CIO at Fairfax Digital.

Jacquie Shanahan

General Counsel and Company Secretary

Jacquie Shanahan joined the group in August 2015 and brings many years of company secretarial, corporate governance and commercial law experience to the group. She has had company secretarial and legal roles with subsidiaries of United Parcel Service of America, ASX listed Roc Oil Company Limited and RGA Reinsurance Company of Australia Limited (continuing). In addition to these roles,

Jacquie has been involved in the regulation of corporate governance reporting at the ASX and was a senior associate in corporate commercial practice at Corrs Chambers Westgarth. Jacquie holds Bachelor of Arts and Laws for the University of Queensland and is a member of the Law Society of New South Wales and the Association of Corporate Counsel Australia.