Our team

Edward Podolski is Professor of Finance and Head of the Finance Department at RMIT University. His research focuses on how organisational design, leadership behaviour, and capital market forces shape firm performance and long-term value creation, with particular emphasis on the drivers of breakthrough innovation. Edward examines how governance structures, managerial incentives, and investor expectations influence the trajectory of technological innovation — including the conditions under which firms pursue transformative discoveries versus incremental improvements. His work has been widely cited and featured in international media. Through his research and leadership roles, Edward works at the intersection of finance, strategy, and innovation, seeking to better understand how breakthrough ideas emerge, scale, and create sustained economic impact.

My Nguyen is Associate Professor of Finance and Deputy Head of the Finance Department at RMIT University. Her research spans banking, corporate finance, and entrepreneurial finance, with a focus on how financial systems interact with organisational behaviour, innovation, and social outcomes. Beyond academic contribution, her research informs policy and industry dialogue on financial resilience, governance, and inclusive economic growth. She has secured over $600,000 in competitive research funding from academic and industry sources. She co-leads the Multicultural Inclusion & Organisations theme at RMIT's Centre for Organisations and Social Change, where she collaborates with colleagues and external partners to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in organisational and financial contexts.

Philip Naylor is an Adjunct Senior Industry Fellow at RMIT University and Industry Chair of the Finance and Frontier Innovation Cluster. Philip is an investment leader in the superannuation sector, and has held a number of investment leadership roles, including Head of Portfolio Construction at CareSuper, Deputy Chief Investment Officer at Spirit Super, and Head of Capital Markets and Asset Allocation at Frontier Advisors. Philip also has extensive experience in global and domestic macroeconomic public policy, including as an Economic Advisor to the Treasurer of the Northern Territory, as an economic consultant to the World Bank in Washington D.C., and in various roles with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) in both Sydney and New York, including as the RBA's representative on the G20 Investment and Infrastructure Working Group. Philip holds a Bachelor of Business (Honours) in Economics and Finance from RMIT University along with a Master of Public Administration (MPA) in Economic Policy Management from Columbia University in New York. He is also a CFA Charterholder.

Stamatios Tsigos is Data Specialist in the School of Economics, Finance, and Marketing at RMIT University and holds a PhD in financial economics. He specialises in building novel datasets and applying advanced analytics, including econometrics, machine learning, and natural language processing, to address complex problems in finance and corporate settings.