Canberra co-founders win Pearcey award for sovereign AI

Rachel Gately and Michael Gately have received the 2026 ACT Chief Minister's Pearcey Entrepreneur Award. The Pearcey Foundation recognised the Trellis Data co-founders for their contribution to the Australian ICT industry.

Presented in Canberra by ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, the award cited the pair's role in building what supporters describe as Australia's sovereign artificial intelligence sector.

Rachel and Michael Gately founded Trellis Data in Canberra in 2016 to address concerns among government, defence and business customers about relying on offshore, cloud-based AI systems for sensitive data and operations.

Since then, Trellis Data has focused on building its own AI software and machine learning systems for secure environments. The company says its technology is designed to work across a range of data sources and model types while keeping processing and storage within Australia.

The business has targeted some of the hardest parts of the market for newer technology suppliers. Public sector and defence buyers often require strict security controls, long procurement cycles and compliance with accreditation requirements, while specialist AI engineering talent remains in short supply.

Those commercial and technical hurdles were especially pronounced because Trellis Data sought to compete with much larger international technology groups, including Microsoft, Google and Amazon. It also had to fund sustained research and development while building software for high-security users.

Dr Tim Turner, ACT Pearcey Foundation Chair, said the award recognised that effort and the company's approach to product development.

"Rachel and Michael staked their personal and financial capital on building a sovereign AI platform to challenge the global tech giants. They chose to fund independent proprietary development rather than building wrappers around international AI models, so that public sector agencies can safely leverage AI without compromising security," said Dr Tim Turner, ACT Pearcey Foundation Chair at the Pearcey Foundation.

Trellis Data says one result of that work is a speech-to-text and translation system that can operate in air-gapped and other tightly controlled settings. Such environments are commonly used in defence, intelligence and other areas where systems are isolated from the public internet.

The company says its annual revenue growth has exceeded 100% and that it has expanded into overseas markets, including the United States. It also says its platforms have been deployed across Australian federal departments, law enforcement agencies and defence programs.

Sovereign focus

The award comes amid broader scrutiny in Australia over where AI systems are hosted, how data is handled and whether public bodies should depend on foreign platforms for critical workloads. Sovereign AI has become a recurring theme in policy and procurement discussions as agencies weigh security, privacy and operational control against the scale and reach of global vendors.

Trellis Data has sought to position itself within that debate by offering software intended to keep sensitive information on Australian infrastructure. Earlier this year, the company launched Agentaus, which it described as a publicly accessible secure AI platform, with model inference, data storage and processing handled in Australian data centres.

The Pearcey Foundation's ACT Chief Minister's Entrepreneur Award is part of a wider awards program highlighting Australian figures in technology and entrepreneurship. In the ACT, it is intended to recognise leadership, innovation and commercial success in the information and communications technology sector.

For Canberra, the recognition also points to the city's role as a centre for specialist technology companies serving government and national security customers. Businesses in that market often grow around local demand for secure systems, data analysis and compliance-heavy software.

Turner said the Gatelys' work had significance beyond one company.

"Most importantly, Rachel and Michael have shown us that world-class AI software can be conceptualised, built, and commercially scaled out of Canberra. Their success offers a powerful example for other Australian technology founders pursuing high-growth deep-tech models," he said.