joseph gabriel ragoncin
news editor
Professor Cori Stewart has been awarded the Actuaries Association Women Leaders in AI and Data Science Scholarship, an award jointly run by the Actuaries Association and Women Chief Executive Officers.
Stewart is the founder and CEO of ARM Hub, a nonprofit industrial innovation center focused on robotics, artificial intelligence, and manufacturing. This scholarship will fund her attendance at the Leadership in Executive Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Management in the United States.
The award places Ms Stewart among a small but growing group of senior women recognized as leaders in artificial intelligence across Australia. I am currently in my 4th year.
Her research has focused on practical uses of AI in industry rather than consumer applications. Through ARM Hub, Mr. Stewart has worked with hundreds of companies on projects involving AI, robotics, and scaling manufacturing, with a focus on improving productivity and supporting domestic industrial manufacturing.
That work has also led to roles in national policy and industry associations. Mr Stewart was appointed by the Prime Minister to the Australian Industry Innovation Science Board and is a director of the Queensland Manufacturing Association.
industry focus
Mr Stewart argued that the economic value of AI in Australia will depend on how widely it is adopted in established sectors. Her comments point to the strengths of manufacturing and other existing industries as important testing grounds for whether AI can move from technical experimentation to everyday commercial use.
“AI becomes important when it stops being about technology and starts to change the way we work. The big opportunity for the Australian economy is the rapid uptake of AI. It’s about applying it to the industries we’re already good at and using it to enable high-value production here,” said Professor Cori Stewart, founder and chief executive of ARM Hub.
ARM Hub was introduced as part of a broader effort to increase manufacturing’s share of the economy. Ms Stewart has set a target for Australian manufacturing to reach 8 per cent of GDP, which she said was an increase of 40 per cent.
Her advocacy also addresses responsible AI and the use of embodied AI in robotics. In that context, Stewart linked automation to a broader industrial strategy, rather than treating it as a separate technology issue.
leadership pipeline
This scholarship reflects a broader push by a network of professionals and executives to support women in senior roles in technology and data. Here, we focus on leaders who are already shaping business decisions, policy settings, and investment priorities, rather than early career entrants.
For the Society of Actuaries, that rationale is tied to the pace at which AI is changing economic decision-making. The organization positioned the award as a support for women who are already leading change in industry and public life.
“We are at a tipping point. AI is fundamentally changing the way economies grow, industries compete and leaders make decisions. Australia’s AI potential is only as strong as the leaders driving it forward. That’s why we’re supporting senior women at the forefront of that transformation. This isn’t just good for diversity, it’s good for Australia,” said Society of Actuaries President Scott Reeves.
Stewart said the Stanford course will sharpen her approach to the next stage of her career. She described this as an opportunity to step back from day-to-day operational demands and think more carefully about scale and partnerships.
“Joining Stanford’s program will allow me to be a little more dangerous, but in the best way possible. I will be less constrained by the habit of running hard, I will have more clarity on the magnitude of the needs and opportunities ahead, and I will be able to act more deliberately to bring people and partners to me. What an opportunity,” Stewart said.
