Founders Unfiltered: Dawid Naude

Founders Unfiltered: Dawid Naude, Founder & CEO of Pathfindr

Founders Unfiltered is Stone & Chalk's flagship fireside chat series. This is a long-form, live conversation for founders, by founders. Each month, one founder pulls back the curtain on the decisions, trade-offs, failures, and what they'd do differently, so the founders in the room can go further, faster.

This month, we sit down with Dawid Naude, Founder & CEO of Pathfindr, Australia's leading, AFR award-winning AI accelerator on a mission to make AI exciting, accessible, and impossible to ignore.

Across two decades, Dawid has held consulting, leadership, and founder roles in digital, technology, and innovation, including leading Cloud Sherpas' data & AI division through its acquisition by Accenture in 2015, where he progressed to Partner and led projects for Qantas, NAB, AMP, Foxtel, and Government.

Through Pathfindr, named one of AFR BOSS' Most Innovative Companies in its founding year (2024), he now leads a fast-growing team of AI specialists working with clients including Woolworths Group, Victoria Government, Honey Insurance, and Australia Post.

No polished narrative. No pitch. Just an honest, founder-to-founder conversation about how decisions were really made, what worked, what didn't, and what he'd change.

Format:1.00pm – 1.30pm: Arrival, lunch & networking1.30pm – 2.15pm: Fireside chat2.15pm – 2.30pm: Audience Q&A

This series prioritises founder voices only, curated speakers with real, lived experience from the Stone & Chalk community and alumni network. Come ready to learn, compare notes, and leave with something you couldn't get anywhere else.