About Serko

Darrin Grafton

Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder

Darrin has 25 years' experience in travel technology and is highly experienced in technology commercialisation. He previously held senior management positions with Gullivers Travel Group (listed on the Australian and New Zealand Stock Exchange 2004-2006) and Interactive Technologies.

Darrin was awarded the NZX Hi-Tech Entrepreneur Award and finalist for the NZ Hi-Tech Company Leader Award in 2007. In 2008 he was a finalist for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and in 2014 was named one of "25 most influential executives in the business travel industry" by American-based Business Travel News (BTN).

Darrin is a member of the Institute of IT Professionals NZ, the Institute of Directors NZ and NZCDP.

Bob Shaw

Chief Strategy Officer & Co-Founder

Bob has 30 years' experience creating and commercialising technology for the travel industry. He has held a number of directorships and senior management positions in various high-profile ventures including Gullivers Travel Group (listed on the Australian and New Zealand Stock Exchange between 2004 and 2006) and Interactive Technologies.

Bob's strengths lie in his ability to translate opportunities into successful commercial ventures and build the relationships necessary to see them through to fruition. In 2008, Bob was a finalist for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and is a member of the Institute of IT Professionals NZ, the Institute of Directors NZ and NZCDP.

Charlie Nowaczek

Chief Operating Officer

Charlie has over 25 years experience as an operations executive and management adviser, specialising in business transformation and operational excellence. Over the last decade he has been COO for a number of technology start-ups in the US and Canada. 

Sarah Miller

General Counsel

Sarah has over 20 years' experience leading in-house legal functions for dual-listed entities, consulting to a range of companies on capital markets and M&A transactions, providing governance advice, and working for major law firms in New Zealand the UK. She has been Serko’s Company Secretary since 2014.

Duanne O'Brien

Chief Technology Officer

Duanne is a technology leader with over 25 years experience, specialising in building global enterprise SaaS (software as a service) platforms. Duanne leads the largest of our global teams, designing, building and running Serko’s platforms and products.

Rachael Satherley

Chief People Officer

Rachael has more than 15 years in HR leadership roles across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, with much of her career at the Expedia Group. She brings a strong commercial focus and a deep passion for unlocking individual, team and organization potential. 

Nick Whitehead

Chief Marketing Officer

Nick is a technology marketing leader with a 20 year track record of commercialising technology through the development of effective go-to-market strategies and leads Serko's global marketing and communications function. 

Murray Warner

Head of Australasia

Murray has 20 years experience working with cloud software technology building new sales and revenue operations. He has previously held several senior management positions with Concur Technologies, an SAP company, across Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America.

Tony D'Astolfo

Senior VP, North America

Tony is a 35-year travel industry veteran, with rich expertise in business travel and technology and a passion for moving the industry forward. His career includes senior leadership positions at Deem, Phocuswright, GroundLink, Sabre / GetThere and United Airlines. 

Tony is a long-time member of GBTA and ACTE and a former member of the Board of Directors of both ACTE and WINiT for Women. 

Joanne Phipps

Head of Product

An integral member of the Serko product team for over 20 years, Jo has been responsible for the training, implementation and on-site support of Serko Online in its early days, through to her current role in leading the Zeno product team. With a focus on enhancing the definition and growth of Serko's Travel and Expense products in the marketplace, Jo oversees the development of the product’s roadmap, working closely with development, testing, marketing and sales teams within the business.

John Challis

Head of Global Client Services

John has 18 years' experience in the corporate travel technology sector across operations, implementations and sales. John has been with Serko for 11 years and until recently was responsible for managing the Australasian sales team, before shifting focus to help the organisation elevate it's global client service operation to support a truly world-class offering.. 

Jonathan Starkings

Head of SME Partnerships

Jonathan is an experienced travel technology executive who previously held senior roles at Groupon, Expedia Group (Orbitz) and Langham Hotels. He leads our global SME partnerships including Booking.com for Business. 

Philip Ball

Chief Information Security Officer

Philip has been a cornerstone of the Serko Technology story since 1999.  After graduating with a Bachelor of Information Systems he joined Serko as a Junior Developer and moved through the ranks, being appointed CTO in 2013.  Part of the CTO role included Security until Serko saw a need for a separate role of CISO.  When this role was created Philip was a natural appointment to this role as he had developed a passion for everything security in his time as CTO.

Philip has had a hand in most aspects of the code in all the product variations that Serko have had in the past.  Now with a new focus Philip is predominately focused on security within Serko; starting with a secure development approach, with secure / privacy by design.  Philip is involved in the security community within New Zealand, was a finalist for the title of New Zealand Software Developer of the year award in 2011 and was listed in New 

Fiona Rockel

Head of People Performance and Culture

Fiona has worked in organisation development and change, HR and talent management roles across a diverse range of industries for more than 20 years. Having spent her early career in consulting with KPMG, she then moved to the UK where she spent 5 years in professional services and charity sectors. Returning to New Zealand she’s led the people function in organisations in FMCG, technology and professional services sectors. She believes that whether you’re all about technology & travel, ice-cream or charity, high performing organisations are created by engaged and passionate employees with a clear view of where we’re all headed. Her job is to create that high performing organisation with our people.

Jason Hawthorne

Head of Content & Commercial

Jason is an experienced commercial leader who has held senior management and consultant roles at Expedia, Google and Spark.  He helps to set commercial strategy for our distribution and supply channels and align others to drive commercial success.