Professor Cori Stewart wins AI leadership scholarship

Professor Cori Stewart has won the Actuaries Institute Women Leaders in AI and Data Science Scholarship, an award run jointly by the Actuaries Institute and Chief Executive Women.

Stewart is founder and chief executive officer of ARM Hub, a not-for-profit industrial innovation centre focused on robotics, artificial intelligence and manufacturing. The scholarship will fund her attendance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Program in Leadership in the United States.

The award places Stewart among a small but growing group of senior women recognised for leadership in artificial intelligence across Australia. It is now in its fourth year.

Her work has focused on practical uses of AI in industry rather than consumer applications. Through ARM Hub, Stewart has worked with hundreds of companies on projects involving AI, robotics and manufacturing scale-up, with an emphasis on lifting productivity and supporting domestic industrial output.

That work has also led to roles in national policy and industry bodies. Stewart was appointed by the Prime Minister to the board of Industry Innovation and Science Australia and also sits on the board of the Queensland Manufacturing Institute.

Industry focus

Stewart has argued that the economic value of AI in Australia will depend on how widely it is adopted in established sectors. Her comments point to manufacturing and other areas of existing industrial strength as key testing grounds for whether AI can move from technical experimentation to everyday commercial use.

"AI matters when it stops being a technology conversation and starts changing how work gets done. The material opportunity for the Australian economy is rapid widespread adoption of AI. It is in applying AI to the industries we are already good at and using it to make high-value production viable here," said Professor Cori Stewart, founder and chief executive officer of ARM Hub.

ARM Hub has been presented as part of a broader effort to increase manufacturing's share of the economy. Stewart has set a goal for Australian manufacturing to reach 8% of GDP, which she described as a 40% increase.

Her advocacy has also covered responsible AI and the use of embodied AI in robotics. In that context, Stewart has linked automation to a broader industrial strategy rather than treating it as a stand-alone technology agenda.

Leadership pipeline

The scholarship reflects a broader push by professional and executive networks to back women in senior technology and data roles. Here, the focus is not on early-career entrants but on leaders already shaping business decisions, policy settings and investment priorities.

For the Actuaries Institute, the rationale is tied to the pace at which AI is changing economic decision-making. The organisation framed the award as support for women already directing that shift in industry and public life.

"We are at an inflection point. AI is fundamentally changing how economies grow, how industries compete and how leaders make decisions. Australia's AI potential is only as strong as the leaders driving it which is why we support senior women who are at the forefront of that transformation. It is not just good for diversity - it is good for Australia," said Scott Reeves, president of the Actuaries Institute.

Stewart said the Stanford course would sharpen her approach to the next phase of her work. She described it as a chance to step back from the demands of day-to-day execution and think more deliberately about scale and partnership.

"Attending the Stanford program will make me a little more dangerous - in the best possible way. Less constrained by the habit of running hard, clearer about the scale of need and opportunity ahead, and more deliberate in my actions to bring people and partners with me. What a remarkable opportunity," said Stewart.