Don’t Trust, Still Verify: Adelaide’s Defence Chief on the Realities of AI and Compliance

Bruce Northcote, Chief Compliance and Chief Security Officer at University of Adelaide, discusses the evolving landscape of governance, compliance and AI. With more than two decades at the university, Bruce leads the defence research security program, which requires meeting strict Defence Industry Security Program standards. He notes that while frameworks and governance are essential, implementing uniform compliance across a large, heterogeneous university environment is nearly impossible, particularly given the academic freedom of researchers and students. Within the defence program, however, high maturity and rigorous controls are non-negotiable due to the sensitivity of research and the potential impact of breaches.

Discussing AI, Bruce explains that the university’s Australian Institute of Machine Learning is among the world’s leading centres for AI research. However, he stresses that within business operations, Adelaide primarily relies on trusted vendor tools with embedded AI features rather than developing its own. AI is used in areas such as…