Bonnie Shaw - Co-Founder & Chief Strategy & Impact Officer at Placeintelligence.ai

Big data at a human scale.

Place Intelligence delivers data driven insights and predictive modelling about how places function over time. Our work empowers built environment professionals and place focused organisations with an evidence-base for design and decision making that results in more engaged communities and more sustainable, liveable and celebrated places for people.

As Chief Strategy & Impact Officer at Place Intelligence, Bonnie champions a deep focus on evidence-based design outcomes. She works closely with customers and partners to ensure that the work is consistently translating into real world impact that supports better outcomes for people and places.

Bonnie trained as a Landscape Architect and Urban Designer. But early in her career (when a popular game she created resulted in fellowships at the Institute for the Creative Arts in London and the Senseable Cities Lab at MIT) she was diverted onto a more unconventional path.

Since then, Bonnie has spent almost two decades delivering impact through advanced technology projects with some of the worlds most respected research and innovation labs around the world. On returning to Australia, she led Digital and Community at the Foundation for Young Australians, then helped to establish and lead Australia’s first Smart City team at the City of Melbourne. As Practice Lead, she was responsible for leading the Smart City Strategy and Urban Technologies, Startups, The Melbourne Innovation District, and the Melbourne Knowledge Week Festival.

In 2019, Bonnie’s research into the impacts of stress on health, cognitive function and decision-making led her to re-train as a Human Potential Coach. Her practice leverages the latest research in biohacking and behaviour change to support data driven stress management for optimal health, cognition and resilience in times of increasing complexity, uncertainty and change. (Something that has been invaluable in the last few years juggling a growing business and two small children during Covid!)

Bonnie is faculty at the Australian & New Zealand School of Government and has been appointed Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University and the Melbourne Business School.

In 2021 Place Intelligence was awarded the YBF Proptech startup of the year, and Bonnie was recognised as a finalist in the prestigious Australia & New Zealand Women in AI Awards. She is a seasoned board advisor and mentor and is often called on to speak and write about data for better decision making, smart cities and community powered innovation.