independent innovation company IE has appointed John Chambers as managing partner for corporate innovation.

The appointment follows the acquisition of his boutique consulting firm, Fresh Ventures Advisory, as IE continues its growth trajectory.

John Chambers (featured image) brings 20 years of in-depth knowledge across product, strategy, operations, innovation and technology to IE, which counts Toyota, Australia Post, Bupa, World Vision and Lexus among its rapidly growing client roster.

In his new role, Chambers will oversee IE’s offerings to clients in developing their growth and innovation strategies, assessing their innovation capabilities, and developing new digital products and ventures.

He will be working alongside managing partner, Dean Flynn and founder, Rhys Hayes.

Most recently, Chambers was the founder and director of recently-acquired Fresh Ventures Advisory, working with a number of clients including NAB, Scentre Group, Lendlease and Accenture.

With Fresh Ventures Advisory, Chambers helped boards and executive teams define their growth strategy and develop their systematic innovation capability.

Chambers commented: “I am deeply convinced that over the next 10 years, corporates will move beyond their current challenges of overcoming complexity and building digital capability, driving stronger commitment towards growth and value creation.

“I am thrilled to be joining one of Australia’s largest digital innovators that has a proven track record of delivering digital capabilities and products for some of Australia’s most exciting companies.

“Each of us at IE is an entrepreneur and practitioner at heart.

“Innovation isn’t just something we do, it’s in our DNA and it’s this understanding of the ever-changing digital world that delivers the results for our clients.”

Founder of IE, Rhys Hayes, said of the new appointment: “We always work to develop and deliver new ideas to the market quickly and are excited to welcome John to our team to enhance our consulting capabilities.

“John is well known for delivering business-redefining projects and we’re looking forward to seeing John bring this knowledge and passion to IE.”

Prior to Fresh Ventures Advisory and IE, Chambers spent 18 years at Telstra, at different times leading the Mobile, Broadband and Product Innovation divisions.

At Telstra, Chambers spearheaded the development of key initiatives like Telstra Smart Home, Broadband Protect, Smart Cities and the commercialisation of Big Data and Analytics.

Chambers has also led the tech start up Tappl, which helps individuals and workplaces to thrive through feedback amongst colleagues, and continues to invest and support Melbourne’s start up ecosystem.

With offices in Melbourne, Sydney and New York, IE is also the brains and power behind Silicon Block, a series of events bringing together the minds behind companies such as Toyota, Telstra, Optimizely, Uber Eats and Slack to discuss the challenges facing corporates and start-ups alike, and how the two can learn from each other to promote growth.