Career

Sanja Marais is a technology, cyber and AI executive with more than 25 years of experience leading digital and security transformation across healthcare, government and defence. Since migrating from South Africa to Australia in 2010, she has progressed from technology project delivery into C-suite leadership, spending the last 16 years within Australian healthcare organisations building the systems, teams and governance required to deliver large-scale transformation.

Sanja combines hands-on technology delivery with executive leadership and a Master of Commerce in Organisational Psychology, giving her a distinctive perspective on the intersection of technology, people, culture and governance. She helps organisations understand not only what a technology or cyber initiative should achieve, but whether the organisation is ready to adopt, govern and sustain it.

Role at Factor

As an Expert Advisor at Factor, Sanja brings practical C-suite experience across technology, cybersecurity, AI and organisational transformation to executive discussions on the future of digital leadership.

Her expertise is particularly relevant as organisations move from technology experimentation toward enterprise-wide AI adoption, increasingly complex cyber environments and transformation programs that require meaningful organisational change. Sanja helps executives examine the governance, resilience, operating model, cultural and leadership implications of these shifts, while identifying where technology can deliver genuine business value.

She works closely with senior executives and boards to challenge assumptions, translate complex technology and cyber issues into practical business decisions, and ensure transformation is supported by the people, culture and governance required to make it sustainable.

Key roles Sanja works with include: Chief Information Officers (CIOs), Chief Technology Officers (CTOs), Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), Chief Digital Officers (CDOs), Chief Data & AI Officers (CDAOs), Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Board & Risk Leaders, and Technology & Transformation Leaders.

Previous Roles

Sanja is the Founder of Marais Consulting, a specialist technology advisory practice based in Brisbane, working with executive leaders and boards on digital transformation, cyber governance and AI enablement.

Previously, Sanja spent close to a decade at Aspen Medical, rising from technology project delivery to Chief Technology & Security Officer. During her tenure, she led the organisation through IRAP assessment and global ISO 27001:2022 certification, defined its AI and automation roadmap, and founded Aspen Medical Technology, serving as CEO from concept through to market launch.

During Australia's COVID response, Sanja led national medical software platforms supporting more than 6.8 million patient visits. Earlier in her career, she spent five years at Medibank Health Solutions across national reporting, contract performance and infrastructure capability roles supporting major Defence and government health contracts.

Before relocating to Australia, Sanja co-founded and helped scale a private security company in South Africa from a small team to 750 personnel, managing operations, finance, HR and training.

Media Presence and Industry Contributions

Sanja is a regular conference speaker and executive facilitator, having hosted the CIO Summit Australia for four consecutive years and previously co-hosted CISO Brisbane. She has facilitated executive discussions across cyber resilience, digital transformation, AI adoption and emerging technology, and has appeared on multiple podcasts discussing technology leadership and cyber governance.

Her career across technology, cybersecurity, healthcare, defence and organisational psychology gives her a practical perspective on the realities of transformation. Sanja brings particular insight into the human and organisational factors that determine whether technology initiatives are successfully adopted, governed and sustained.

Leadership Philosophy

Sanja believes successful technology transformation is ultimately about more than technology. The strongest organisations are those that align technology capability with the people, culture, governance and leadership required to make change work.

Her advisory approach challenges executives to look beyond implementation and consider whether their organisations are genuinely ready for transformation. She helps leaders balance innovation with resilience, technology opportunity with cyber risk, and ambitious transformation with the organisational capability required to deliver it.