Hugh Williams is the principal of Via Alto Advisors, a technology advisory practice. He currently advises Ocado Technology (UK), ASOS (UK) and AmazingCo as well as investment firms Rampersand and BGH Capital. He is also a non-executive director of Pet Circle.

Hugh is a co-founder and the chair of Australian charity CS in Schools. In 2023, CS in Schools supported 220 schools and around 600 teachers to deliver world-class coding classes to over 53,000 students across Australia.

Hugh is also an honorary Enterprise Professor at the Melbourne Business School at The University of Melbourne, an Adjunct Professor at RMIT University, a member of the board the State Library Victoria, a board member of Toorak College, and a council member of Janet Clarke Hall. He is a Director of the Hugh and Selina Williams Foundation.

Prior to becoming an advisor, he was a Vice President at Google and eBay, a Senior Vice President at Pivotal, and a Partner at Microsoft. Early in his career, he spent over 10 years researching and developing search technologies, and 5 years running his own startup and consultancy.

He is one of the inventors of Infinite Scroll and he holds 38 US patents with another 41 US patents pending. He has published 115 works, mostly in the field of Information Retrieval. He is the author of two books, including a best-seller on programming that sold over 100,000 copies. He has a PhD in Computer Science from RMIT University in Australia.

Outside of work, Hugh is an obsessive fan of the Seattle Mariners, a 28-year Richmond Tigers member, and a Queens Park Rangers supporter. He was once the drummer in Snout.

If you’re interested in Hugh’s background, visit his linkedin profile.