Altis appoints Luke Best to spearhead South Australia expansion

State-wide growth in the mining and energy sector is fuelling demand for data modernisation and AI adoption.

Data and AI consultancy Altis is expanding into South Australia, appointing Luke Best to lead growth and partnerships across the state.

With previous roles at BHP and OZ Minerals, Best brings years of experience leading data modernisation initiatives in the sector.

“Having spent years on the customer side, I understand the real-world pressures organisations face when it comes to modernising data and adopting AI,” Best said.

It’s a strategic move for the local outfit, with South Australian copper and energy sectors experiencing strong growth that’s translating into investment in new technologies. Altis has seen 41 percent year-on-year revenue growth across Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

Organisations are looking at how to use data and analytics to improve safety, optimise costs and increase production outcomes.

In mining, the focus is on improving throughput in processing plants, increasing recovery and copper contained and reducing unplanned downtime. Whereas in energy and utilities, the goals are improved reliability, forecasting, asset performance and faster operational decision‑making.

“Across all of these environments, the same core questions keep coming up: what has happened, what is happening now, what is likely to happen next and how should teams respond safely and effectively in the field?” he said.

Altis is already working with a South Australian oil and gas client to connect data to platforms that support better, faster decision-making.

“We see significant opportunity to extend this work across mining and utilities as organisations look to move beyond isolated analytics and build scalable, enterprise-grade data and AI capability,” he said.

Demand for advisory-led consulting

As organisations struggle with rapid technology shifts, there’s uncertainty about which AI platforms to adopt and how AI will shift their workflows. This includes everything from governance and organisational design to workforce capability and decision ownership, Best explained.

As a result, Altis is finding that organisations are looking for strategic guidance, with demand for advisory-led, domain-specific consulting rather than strategy-only consulting.

Best said Altis’s approach is to start with clear use-cases anchored to operational constraints, establishing joint business and technology ownership and embedding governance and data guardrails from the outset. This requires strong data foundations and disciplined implementation.

“The AI pilots that succeed aren’t chasing perfection. They’re designed to create measurable impact, with a clear pathway to value,” he told CRN Australia.

To support its local expansion, Altis will be hiring across the state, including immediate senior hires to build capability, with further hires phased quarterly to align with client pipeline growth.

Its partner network includes data and AI providers and specialist niche partners with deep domain expertise.

“South Australian organisations want partners who are here with them and understand the nuances of the local business environment and the unique challenges facing each sector,” he ended.