Stuart MacDonald appointed Chief Executive Officer; Andrew Hansen to become Executive Chair; David Trude to retire as Chair
August 19, 2026 – Hansen Technologies Limited (ASX: HSN) (“Hansen” or “the Company”) today announced a well-planned leadership succession designed to support the Company’s next phase of growth. Stuart MacDonald has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, commencing 19 November 2026, and Andrew Hansen, the Company’s current Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, will transition to the role of Executive Chair. As a result of these leadership changes, current Chair David Trude will also retire on this date.
The Board considers that the Executive Chair structure provides the optimal transition framework given Hansen’s global operations, significant customer relationships and active acquisition strategy. The appointment is intended to support an orderly transfer of executive responsibilities to Mr MacDonald while maintaining continuity in strategic oversight and stakeholder engagement.
Incoming Chief Executive Officer – Stuart MacDonald
Mr MacDonald joins Hansen from TechnologyOne, where he has served as Chief Operating Officer for the past nine years. In that role, he has had direct responsibility for Sales, Marketing, Consulting, R&D and International Operations, giving him broad executive accountability across customer, product, go-to-market and growth functions.
During his time as COO, Mr MacDonald played a key role in TechnologyOne’s successful transition of customers from a traditional licence model to SaaS, while continuing to deliver record profit results and sustained growth.
More recently, Mr MacDonald has been instrumental in building TechnologyOne’s UK operations as a long-term growth platform and has been a key architect of their AI strategy. That strategy focused on leveraging their moat in mission-critical enterprise applications across highly regulated markets, and more recently using AI to deliver significant efficiency, automation and operational insights for customers.
Andrew Hansen’s Leadership
Andrew Hansen has led Hansen as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director for more than three decades. Having joined the business in 1990, he has transformed a domestically focused data-management company into one of Australia’s enduring technology success stories.
Under Mr Hansen’s leadership, Hansen transformed from a privately held business into a publicly listed company through a highly successful IPO on the ASX in 2000. The business has grown, both organically and through a disciplined program of strategic acquisitions, into a diversified, global software business serving more than 600 customers across over 80 countries in the energy, utilities, communications and media industries.
Over his tenure as CEO and Managing Director, Mr Hansen has delivered a consistent track record of revenue growth, strong profitability and cash generation, establishing Hansen as a trusted, market-leading provider to some of the world’s largest energy and communications brands.
Having built Hansen into the global business it is today, Mr Hansen will hand over the day-to-day leadership to Mr MacDonald. The Board believes Mr Hansen’s ongoing involvement as Executive Chair, commencing 19 November, will support a seamless leadership transition while providing continuity in the oversight and execution of the Company’s long-term strategy, including its growth through mergers and acquisitions.
Retirement of Chair David Trude
The Company also announces that David Trude, Hansen’s longstanding Chair, will retire from the Board effective 19 November, bringing to a close more than 15 years of distinguished service to the Company.
Mr Trude joined the Hansen Board as a non-executive Director in May 2011 and was appointed Chair later that year. Over the period since, he has chaired the Board through a transformational era for Hansen, one defined by sustained international expansion.
The Board extends its sincere thanks to Mr Trude for his outstanding contribution and wishes him well in his retirement. Andrew Hansen will assume the role of Executive Chair upon Mr Trude’s retirement.
Comment from Andrew Hansen, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director
“This has been a very thorough and considered succession planning process, led by the Board and supported by our executive leadership team and I am delighted to be bringing Stuart on board. Stuart is a proven enterprise software leader with deep experience in scaling software businesses, building high-performance teams, strengthening customer outcomes and creating clear market narratives.
His experience at TechnologyOne is highly relevant to Hansen’s next chapter. The Board believes Stuart brings the right combination of sales and marketing capability, product understanding, customer focus, commercial discipline and leadership to build on our foundations and accelerate sustainable growth. In my new role as Executive Chair, I will focus on Hansen’s strategy and our M&A agenda as we continue to build the Company for the future.
On behalf of the Board and everyone at Hansen, I also want to sincerely thank David Trude for his outstanding service and dedication to the Company over many years. David’s leadership, counsel and stewardship as Chair have been instrumental to Hansen’s success over the journey, and we wish him all the very best in his retirement.”
Comment from David Trude, Chair
“It has been a great privilege to serve as Chair of Hansen over the past 15 years. In that time, I have watched Hansen grow into a truly global business, and I am immensely proud of what the Company, its people and its leadership have achieved. This is the right time for a planned and orderly succession, and I am delighted to be leaving the Company in such capable hands. Stuart is an outstanding appointment and, with Andrew continuing to guide the business as Executive Chair, I have every confidence in Hansen’s future. I want to thank the Board, Andrew, and the entire Hansen team, together with our shareholders, for their support over many years.”
Comment from Stuart MacDonald, incoming Chief Executive Officer
“Hansen is a company with a proud history, customer partnerships and a rare position in essential global markets.
I am excited by the opportunity to work with Andrew, the Board, the executive team and Hansen’s team around the world to build on that history and help shape the next phase of growth.
What attracted me to Hansen is the combination of mission-critical software, long-standing customers, global reach and the opportunity to further strengthen the company’s product, customer and market focus.
My leadership philosophy has always been grounded in customer outcomes, team pride, commercial discipline and clear execution. I look forward to working with the team to create long-term value for customers, employees and shareholders.”
This announcement was authorised for release by the Board of Hansen Technologies Limited.
For further information: Investor and analyst enquiries
- Peter Beamsley. Head of Investor Relations
- +61 438 799 631 or Investor.Relations@hansencx.com