![Nuix chief executive Eddie Sheehy has resigned, and the company is searching for a new leader with a "global IPO skill set".](/content/dam/images/g/t/q/b/5/z/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gtpvlc.png/1484210331532.jpg)
Forensic software firm Nuix has begun a search for a new chief executive with a "global IPO skill set", all but confirming plans to pursue a public listing in 2017 that may deliver the ASX a new $1 billion-plus technology company.
The move comes at the same time as the company has appointed cyber security expert and former US ambassador to Australia, Jeffrey Bleich, to its board, signalling a greater focus on its cyber products.
The company, which was founded in 2000 by a team of computer scientists and last year was instrumental in the Panama Papers investigation by providing the technology that was used to analyse the documents, is expected to be worth more than $1 billion when it lists.
Eddie Sheehy had been chief executive of the company since 2006 and had overseen its global expansion to more than 1800 customers in 65 countries, but resigned this week. The Nuix board is now embarking on an international search, expected to take a few months, to find a new chief to lead the company through "its next phase of growth and development", the company said in a statement.
![Former US ambassador to Australia and newly appointed Nuix board member Jeff Bleich.](/content/dam/images/g/s/i/z/z/c/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1484199512849.jpg)
In the meantime, Nuix chairman Tony Castagna will take on many of the CEO duties.
"Nuix is undergoing transformational change as we welcome Jeffrey Bleich on our board," Mr Castagna said. "This is a significant development in Nuix's US and global reach given Jeff's international experience with cyber security and his considerable insights into governments around the world."
Nuix has developed software for solving complex data challenges for investigations, cyber security, insider threats, intelligence, litigation, regulation, privacy and risk management.
Its technology platforms can digest huge amounts of data quickly, from multiple sources, letting people discover critical information quickly. In the Panama Papers investigation Nuix's electronic discovery software was used to index the 11.5 million files and 2.6 terabytes of data in only 1½ days.
Its potential IPO plans first came to light in 2016 when Mr Sheehy said it could happen as early as 2017, and that it would look to the ASX rather than the US or British exchanges.
In Nuix's latest financial information lodged with the corporate regulator, it showed that the company had recorded $22 million of revenue in the full year to June 30, 2015, up 108 per cent on the previous year.
In the same year its profits rose to almost $6 million, up 899 per cent from just under $600,000 in the prior year.
According to a company statement, 2016 marked five years of 60 per cent annual compound growth and 95 per cent of its income is recurring.
Mr Bleich joins the Nuix board at the same time as being the group chief executive and partner at Dentons, the world's largest law firm, where he is an expert in cyber security and international disputes.
Prior to this Mr Bleich was the US ambassador to Australia from 2009 to 2013 and was a special counsel to President Barack Obama during the first year of his administration. He is also a long-time friend of Mr Obama.
Selling it right
Mr Bleich said he first came across Nuix in his work as a lawyer because of the business' discovery software, and then developed a greater interest in the company when it expanded into cyber security – an area he is passionate about, having spent 25 years around tech companies in Silicon Valley.
"What I'm hoping to do is help the company grow and there are a number of ways that I can do that. I have spent 25 years in technology and cyber security, as well as having an intense focus on both Australia and the US, where Nuix is having tremendous success," he said.
"Australia is very sophisticated in its cyber operations and it's one of the reasons why the US and Australia are such close partners on security matters."
IBRS cyber security adviser James Turner said Nuix's biggest challenge going forward would be communicating to the market what it does.
"I think Nuix may be the first to admit this, they've been going to the market trying to sell their sashimi as cold raw fish. This is a really common story among great tech companies. They have an awesome product, built by smart engineers, but they suck at selling it to people that don't speak their jargon," he said.
Mr Turner likened the company to US giant Palantir, but said Nuix's big advantage over it was that Palantir had become renowned for being "wildly expensive".
"The Nuix information sharing and parsing capabilities mean that there will be a pretty wide range of organisations that are prospective customers," he said.
Former Telstra chief information security officer Mike Burgess, who is now an independent strategic cyber security adviser, said Nuix was not a traditional cyber security firm but had a lot of potential to grow this area of its business.
"Thinking about its roots in search and discovery software, I'm a big believer in one of the most effective means of managing cyber risk being asking questions of the data you have in the business," he said.
"Applications to machine learning and data analytics will be a hot topic in cyber for a few years. Many are trying to do this, but not many are succeeding. Nuix, however, has a few runs on the board for data and search indexing, so it is well placed."