Career

Dr Milica Ng is an innovative AI and data science executive with extensive leadership experience across biotechnology, life sciences and emerging technology. She currently serves as Senior Director and Global Head of Data Science at CSL, where she has led the development of advanced data and analytics capabilities spanning bioinformatics, biostatistics, image analytics, molecular systems modelling and artificial intelligence. Her work combines deep technical expertise with enterprise strategy, governance and organisational leadership.

Milica has built data and AI capabilities from the ground up, including developing technical infrastructure and scaling data science environments from early-stage capability through to large-scale, cloud-based platforms. Her leadership experience spans Asia-Pacific, the United States and Europe and includes work across defence, utilities, management consulting, retail entrepreneurship and pharmaceuticals. She holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne and a Master’s in Engineering from the University of Adelaide.

Her career sits at the intersection of scientific research, technology and enterprise leadership. Alongside her corporate leadership, Milica has contributed to the broader research and innovation ecosystem through roles including Visiting Scientist at WEHI, membership of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute Advisory Panel and Board Observer at the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Role at Factor

Milica brings a distinctive combination of technical depth, enterprise AI leadership and life sciences expertise to Factor’s Expert Advisor Network. She can help senior executives understand not simply what AI can do, but how organisations can deploy it responsibly, create measurable value and build the organisational conditions required to scale it.

A central theme of Milica’s advisory perspective is the gap between AI experimentation and enterprise-scale impact. She sees many organisations as being early in a much longer AI journey, with the technology increasingly available but the harder questions centred on deployment, value creation, adoption and scale. Her experience can help leaders move beyond isolated pilots towards AI capabilities that are embedded into how the organisation operates.

Milica is particularly well suited to executive discussions around the balance between AI enablement and organisational control. She brings a practical perspective on how organisations can empower people to experiment and adopt AI while protecting business data, managing risk and establishing the governance required for responsible scale.

Key roles Milica works with include: CEOs, CIOs, CTOs, Chief Data & Analytics Officers, Chief AI Officers, Chief Digital Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Scientific Officers, Life Sciences & R&D Leaders, and Board & Executive Leaders.

Previous Roles

At CSL, Milica has held senior global data science leadership responsibility within one of Australia's largest biotechnology organisations. Her remit has encompassed data management and analytics capabilities across bioinformatics, biostatistics, image analytics, molecular systems modelling and AI, working across complex scientific and business environments.

Earlier in her CSL career, Milica led data science and bioinformatics capabilities supporting research and development, including interdisciplinary work connecting computational science with scientific and therapeutic programs. Her work has included the application of machine learning and computational methods to complex biomedical datasets and research challenges.

Milica's earlier career included biomedical research, entrepreneurship, software engineering and international IT management consulting. Before joining CSL in 2013, she completed her PhD at the University of Melbourne, developing mathematical models in metabolic engineering, building a strong scientific foundation that has continued to inform her approach to AI and data leadership.

Alongside her executive career, Milica has maintained strong connections to the research and scientific community. Her experience includes a long-standing association with WEHI as a Visiting Scientist, advisory work with the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute and Board Observer responsibilities with the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Media Presence and Industry Contributions

Milica is an active contributor to the AI, data science and life sciences communities, regularly speaking at industry, scientific and executive forums. She has presented on AI, data science, bioinformatics and the application of emerging technologies in healthcare and life sciences, including keynote and conference appearances across Australia.

She has been recognised as one of Corinium's 2025 Global Top 100 Innovators in Data, Analytics and AI, reflecting her contribution to the development and application of data and AI capabilities at enterprise scale.

Milica's perspective is particularly valuable because it bridges disciplines that are often treated separately: scientific research, technology, data, AI, governance and executive decision-making. Her work across biotechnology and broader technology environments provides insight into how organisations can use advanced AI capabilities while maintaining scientific rigour, security, ethics and commercial focus.

Leadership Philosophy

Milica believes the challenge with AI is increasingly less about whether the technology exists and more about how organisations deploy it, create value from it and scale it responsibly. She sees the transition from experimentation to enterprise impact as a long-term organisational journey requiring more than technical capability.

She places strong emphasis on creating the right balance between empowerment and control. Organisations need to give people the ability to experiment and innovate while maintaining appropriate security, governance and protection of organisational data. For Milica, effective AI leadership requires both sides of that equation to work together.

As a leader, Milica combines scientific curiosity with strategic foresight, practical execution and a strong focus on people and capability. Her approach is grounded in collaboration, inclusive leadership and the belief that organisations create greater value when technical expertise, business priorities and responsible governance are brought together.