Dr Kelvin Ross Named ACS QLD Industry Leader of the Year
KJR Founder and Chairman Dr Kelvin Ross has been named Industry Leader of the Year at the inaugural 2026 ACS Queensland Tech Awards, recognising nearly three decades of leadership, innovation and impact across Queensland’s technology sector.
The award, presented by the Australian Computer Society (ACS) Queensland, celebrates individuals who have shaped the state’s technology industry through leadership, innovation and community contribution. KJR was also recognised as a finalist for the Business Excellence Award on the night.
A journey from a Gold Coast garage to a national consultancy
Kelvin founded KJR in a Gold Coast garage in 1997. What began as a software testing practice has grown, 30 years, into a national Software Quality Engineering (SQE) and AI consltancy of more than 100 experts, helping organisations across Australia’s public and private sectors reduce technology risk and adopt emerging technology responsibly.
That long-term focus on trust and technical credibility shows up in KJR’s own numbers: the company’s very first client still works with the business today, and its first three employees remain part of the team nearly three decades later.
This award is a reflection of the team we've built at KJR. Our first client is still with us, our first employees are still here, and that says more about our culture than any award can.
Under his leadership, KJR has continued to evolve alongside the technology landscape, expanding software testing and assurance into AI assurance, data quality, AI governance, computer vision and drone technology. Kelvin has also co-developed KJR’s own AI Assurance methodology, Validation-Driven Machine Learning (VDML), giving clients a practical framework to validate AI performance and manage risk before real-world deployment.
Building Queensland's technology and AI ecosystem
Beyond KJR, Kelvin has played a significant hands-on role in shaping Queensland’s wider technology ecosystem.
In 2020, KJR became a Founding Shareholder of the Queensland AI Hub, established to grow local AI and big data capability and strengthen the state’s position in the field. Kelvin served as a Director of the AI Hub for its first four years.
His support for startup innovation includes being named a LuminaX Coach in Residence in 2022, where he mentored healthtech founders through a 14-week accelerator program, a role he continues in today. Kelvin is also a founder and director of Datarwe, a healthtech platform designed to improve how critical care data is collected, governed and used for AI-enabled research and clinical innovation.
Kelvin also helped found the Indigenous Australian Datathon (IAD) in Cairns in 2021 and remains actively involved in the event today. Now attracting 200 participants, IAD continues to bring Traditional Owners, Indigenous communities, data professionals and technologists together to solve real-world community challenges using data. A related initiative he initiated and drove, the Cultural-Techno-Tours with Jarramali Rock Art Tours, uses drone and AI technology to help identify, map and preserve ancient Aboriginal rock art on Country.
Mentoring the next generation of tech talent
The Industry Leader of the Year award also recognised Kelvin’s long record of developing and mentoring future tech talent.
KJR was a founding sponsor of the Young Women Leaders in AI program, launched in 2019 to address gender disparity and bias in artificial intelligence. Kelvin has also backed student communities including Code Network, the UQ Computing Society and Women in Technology at QUT, giving students mentoring and industry connections as they prepare to enter the sector. That commitment shows up in KJR’s own workforce today, where the proportion of women remains higher than the industry average.
Through Griffith University’s Work Integrated Learning program, students working under Kelvin’s direction designed, built and tested a working prototype integrating live drone telemetry, AI object detection and ATAK for real-time situational awareness.
The work that's meant the most to me often has nothing to do with clients. It's watching a student bring their first prototype to life, or seeing the energy in the room when data professionals and Indigenous communities connect at the Datathon. That's some of the impact I care about.
Recognising the people behind the milestone
The Industry Leader of the Year award reflects not just Kelvin’s individual contribution, but the culture he has built at KJR over 29 years: one grounded in technical rigour, long-term relationships and using technology to create real value for clients, industry and community. This latest recognition builds on KJR’s growing list of industry accolades, including the 2023 AIIA Diversity Award, 2026 Great Place to Work Certification and Best Workplace in Technology and Best Workplace in Technology recognition, each reflecting the same culture of trust, inclusion and people-first leadership that Kelvin has instilled from the company’s earliest days.
Congratulations to all of the 2026 ACS Queensland Tech Awards winners and finalists and thank you to ACS Queensland for bringing together the people and organisations shaping the state’s technology sector.
Learn more about KJR's leadership team.
