AI giant Anthropic is hiring an Australian boss as it opens a local office

US artificial intelligence giant Anthropic has appointed long-time enterprise software executive Theo Hourmouzis as its first general manager for Australia and New Zealand, as the Claude maker officially opens its Sydney office this week.

Hourmouzis comes from data cloud company Snowflake, where he was most recently senior vice president for Australia, New Zealand and ASEAN. The Swinburne University graduate has spent almost three decades in enterprise technology and previously held leadership roles at Silicon Valley technology companies Cohesity and Sysdig.

He will lead a growing local team and meet clients and partners in Sydney this week, alongside seniors from Anthropic’s global leadership. The appointment comes at a crucial time for the company, which is in an arms race with the likes of…