South Melbourne, Victoria-based Spirit Technology has announced the appointment of former Tesserent boss Julian Challingsworth as its new Chief Executive and Managing Director, effective 11 July 2022. 

Challingsworth would be replacing Sol Lukatsky, who stepped down as MD earlier this week after close to three years in the top job. 

Spirit chairman James Joughin said, “The board is very pleased to appoint Julian Challingsworth as MD and CEO. Julian brings a broad range of skills and background to lead Spirit through its next phase, and we look forward to Julian’s leadership in the next stage of the company’s strategy.”

The cybersecurity firm lauds Challingsworth’s experience as well as his strong professional services and corporate finance background for his selection.

Prior to Spirit, Challingsworth was the CEO of Tesserent, who specialise in cybersecurity enterprises, from 2018 to 2021. He also briefly served as the chairman of Tesserent Innovation which serves as the company’s cyber technologies and products development business. He also counts The Litmus Group, PPB Advisory, Cordence Worldwide, Astus Edge, Clovis Capital Company and Red Rock consulting as his previous employers.