We Built the Teams Behind Australia’s Biggest Tech Outcomes
Big Wave Digital does not collect case studies for the sake of a carousel. These are the stories of companies we helped build, often from their earliest days, by finding the people who made the difference. In AI, digital marketing and technology, the right hire at the right moment changes everything. Here is what that looks like in practice.
From First Hire to a Hundreds-of-Millions-Dollar Canva Acquisition
The Beginning
A Phone Call That Changed Everything
In December 2022, generative AI was still a conversation most people were having in the abstract. ChatGPT had just launched. Stable Diffusion was months old. The world was waking up to what AI image generation could become, but very few companies in Australia were actually building it.
Leonardo.ai was one of those rare exceptions. Founded by JJ Fiasson and Chris Cooper, the co-founders of Raini.ai, Leonardo emerged from a bold conviction: that generative AI image creation would fundamentally reshape how people create visual content. JJ and Chris had identified an extraordinary opportunity to build a platform that would put the power of AI image generation into the hands of millions.
When they called Big Wave Digital, the company was at its most formative stage. There was no team yet. No engineering department. No ML pipeline. What there was: a compelling vision, serious technical ambition, and an urgent need to hire the first people who would turn that vision into a product.
We were not brought in as one recruitment partner among several. We were the recruitment partner. Big Wave Digital placed the very first hire at Leonardo.ai, and then the next, and then the next twenty.
The Challenge
Building a World-Class Team at Start-up Speed
The brief was as thrilling as it was demanding. Leonardo.ai needed to go from zero to a functioning, high-calibre engineering and ML team in a matter of weeks, not months. The generative AI space was moving at a pace that made conventional hiring timelines irrelevant. Every week without the right ML engineer or frontend developer was a week competitors could gain ground.
The roles were deeply specialist. JJ and Chris needed Machine Learning Engineers with hands-on PyTorch experience building and fine-tuning generative models. They needed Full-Stack Developers who could build a product interface worthy of a platform that would soon serve millions of users. They needed Frontend Engineers who understood performance at scale. And they needed all of them immediately.
Finding ML engineers with genuine PyTorch production experience in Australia at the end of 2022 was extraordinarily difficult. The talent pool was small. The competition for that talent, from both local companies and global tech giants offering Silicon Valley salaries, was fierce. Most recruitment firms would not have known where to begin. This is exactly the kind of search Big Wave Digital was built for.
How We Did It
Late Nights, Weekend Calls, and 16 Years of Networks
We are not going to pretend this was a textbook process. It was not. Scaling a generative AI start-up at the speed JJ and Chris demanded required a recruitment partner willing to match their intensity. That meant working weekends. It meant late-night calls with candidates across different time zones. It meant reviewing portfolios of PyTorch model architectures at 10pm on a Saturday because the right candidate had just responded and waiting until Monday could mean losing them.
That relentlessness is in Big Wave Digital’s DNA. Keiran Hathorn and the team leaned on 29 years of specialist networks across AI, machine learning, and software engineering to identify candidates that simply do not surface through job boards or LinkedIn InMails. These were engineers embedded in research labs, working on proprietary models at other companies, or building side projects with diffusion models before most people knew what a diffusion model was.
We did not just fill roles. We helped JJ and Chris build the foundational team that would define Leonardo.ai’s technical DNA. Every hire mattered enormously, because at this stage, each person shaped the architecture, the culture, and the trajectory of the entire company.
The relationship was deeply collaborative. We were in constant dialogue with the founders, refining briefs in real time, adjusting search strategies as the product evolved, and moving with the kind of urgency that only comes when you genuinely care about the outcome. This was not transactional recruitment. It was partnership in the truest sense.
The Roles We Placed
Building Leonardo.ai’s Technical Core
Across the first wave of hiring, Big Wave Digital placed over 20 of Leonardo.ai’s earliest team members. The roles spanned the full spectrum of what a generative AI platform requires to go from concept to production:
Every one of these people was personally sourced, vetted, and presented by our team. In a start-up context, there is no room for a poor hire. One wrong placement can set an early-stage company back by months. We understood that, and we delivered accordingly.
The Journey
From Zero to Canva Acquisition
The Outcome
Hundreds of Millions of Reasons This Mattered
In 2025, Canva acquired Leonardo.ai for hundreds of millions of Australian dollars. It was one of the most significant Australian tech acquisitions of the year, and a landmark moment for the country’s AI ecosystem.
Behind every acquisition of this magnitude is a team. Not just the founders (though JJ and Chris were exceptional), but the engineers who built the models, the developers who crafted the product experience, and the specialists who made the infrastructure scale. Many of those people were hired through Big Wave Digital, starting from that very first placement in December 2022.
We take immense pride in the role we played. Not because we built the product (that credit belongs entirely to the Leonardo.ai team), but because we understood what was needed, when it was needed, and we delivered at a speed and quality that matched the moment. When a generative AI start-up needs to hire twenty specialist engineers in a matter of weeks, there is no margin for error. We did not miss.
Why This Matters
What the Leonardo.ai Story Says About Big Wave Digital
The Leonardo.ai engagement represents everything Big Wave Digital stands for. It demonstrates what happens when deep specialist networks, genuine AI and technology expertise, and a willingness to work at founder-pace converge on a single mission.
Most recruitment agencies could not have serviced this brief. The roles were too specialist. The timeline was too aggressive. The stakes were too high. It required a partner who already had relationships with PyTorch engineers, who could evaluate the difference between a competent ML developer and one who would thrive in a fast-moving generative AI environment, and who was prepared to sacrifice weekends and evenings to make it happen.
That is what we do. It is what we have done for 29 years, across hundreds of companies, from ASX-listed enterprises to pre-seed start-ups. The Leonardo.ai story is the most dramatic illustration of our impact, but it reflects the same approach we bring to every engagement: bespoke, specialist, relentless.
Building the Middleware and Product Team Behind 1 Million Paid Subscribers
The Partnership
Embedded in FetchTV’s Growth Story
FetchTV is one of Australia’s most compelling technology success stories: a streaming and set-top-box platform that has grown to over one million paid subscribers. Behind that milestone is a deeply talented technical team, and Big Wave Digital played a significant role in building it.
Our partnership with FetchTV spanned three years of sustained, hands-on recruitment. We worked closely with Louise, Luke, Kyle, and Paul across the business to understand not just what roles needed filling, but what kind of people would thrive in FetchTV’s culture. This was not a transactional relationship. We became an extension of their hiring capability, trusted to deliver across multiple disciplines and seniority levels.
The Challenge
Specialist Talent Across the Full Product Stack
FetchTV’s technology platform is complex. The middleware layer, built primarily in Python and Django, is the engine that connects content delivery, user interfaces, and backend infrastructure. Finding engineers who understood this intersection of streaming architecture, middleware development, and consumer-grade reliability was a genuine challenge.
But the brief extended well beyond middleware. FetchTV needed SUI (System UI) developers who could craft the interface experience across their set-top-box platform. They needed UX and Product Designers who understood the nuances of designing for living room screens. They needed firmware developers who could work at the hardware-software boundary. Each of these disciplines required specialist knowledge that generic recruitment agencies simply could not source.
How We Delivered
20 Placements Across 5 Disciplines Over 3 Years
Over the course of our partnership, Big Wave Digital placed more than 20 staff across FetchTV’s organisation. The roles spanned the full breadth of what a modern streaming platform demands:
What set this engagement apart was the depth of the relationship. Louise, Luke, Kyle, and Paul genuinely valued and respected our input. We were not just filling requisitions; we were advising on market conditions, salary benchmarking, and candidate availability in real time. When a critical middleware role needed filling urgently, they knew they could call us and we would deliver.
The real measure of success at FetchTV is retention. The people we placed are happy. They stay. That speaks to the quality of our vetting process and our understanding of what makes FetchTV a genuinely great place to work.
The Outcome
A Team That Powers a Million Households
FetchTV now serves over one million paid subscribers across Australia. The middleware team we helped build processes content delivery for those households every single day. The UI developers we placed shaped the experience subscribers interact with on their screens. The firmware engineers we sourced ensured the hardware performed reliably at scale.
We take particular pride in the fact that FetchTV’s team retention has been exceptional. When you place people who genuinely fit the culture, who are excited by the technology, and who feel valued by their colleagues, they stay. That is the Big Wave Digital difference: we do not just find people who can do the job. We find people who belong.
Powering the SpaceTalk 2.0 Launch with a Complete Digital Marketing Team
The Mission
Building a Digital Marketing Engine for SpaceTalk 2.0
SpaceTalk is an ASX-listed company that builds wearable technology designed to keep families connected and children safe. Their smartwatch products combine GPS tracking, communication features, and safety functionality in a device built specifically for young people. It is meaningful technology that genuinely improves lives.
When SpaceTalk approached Big Wave Digital, they were preparing for a pivotal moment: the launch of SpaceTalk 2.0. This was not a minor product update. It was a comprehensive reimagining of their platform, and it needed a digital marketing team capable of driving awareness, acquisition, and growth at the pace the launch demanded.
Working closely with the SpaceTalk leadership team was both exciting and a privilege. They had a clear vision for what SpaceTalk 2.0 could achieve, and they understood that the right digital marketing talent would be the difference between a good launch and an exceptional one.
The Brief
Seven Specialist Digital Marketing Hires in Six Months
SpaceTalk needed to build an entire digital marketing function, essentially from the ground up, in time for the 2.0 launch. The roles were specialist and varied: they needed people who could drive organic visibility through SEO, capture high-intent traffic through SEM, and build the growth marketing strategies that would take SpaceTalk to its next audience milestone.
The timeline was six months. In digital marketing recruitment, that is tight for seven specialist hires, particularly when you need people who understand the nuances of marketing a consumer hardware product to parents. This is not a standard e-commerce play. The messaging, the channels, and the customer journey are all distinct.
How We Delivered
Precision Hiring for a Product Launch
Big Wave Digital’s 29 years of specialist digital marketing recruitment made this engagement possible. We have spent over a decade building relationships with the best digital marketing talent in Australia. When SpaceTalk needed an SEO specialist who understood consumer tech, we did not need to start from scratch. We already knew who to call.
Every candidate was personally vetted against SpaceTalk’s specific requirements. We assessed not just technical capability (can they run a Google Ads campaign?) but strategic thinking (can they build a performance marketing framework for a hardware launch?) and cultural alignment (will they thrive in a fast-moving, mission-driven company?).
All seven digital marketing roles were filled within the six-month window. Each hire was in place and contributing before the SpaceTalk 2.0 launch. That is the kind of precision and speed that product launches demand, and it is exactly what Big Wave Digital delivers.
The Outcome
A Digital Marketing Team Ready for Launch Day
By the time SpaceTalk 2.0 went to market, the digital marketing team was fully operational. SEO foundations had been laid. Paid search campaigns were running. Growth strategies were in motion. The marketing function went from near-zero to fully staffed and executing in six months, an outcome that gave the leadership team the confidence to launch aggressively.
What made this engagement particularly rewarding was the nature of the product. SpaceTalk builds technology that keeps children safe. Helping them find the marketing talent to reach more families felt meaningful beyond the usual recruitment brief. That is something Big Wave Digital values deeply: doing work that matters, with people who care about what they are building.
16 Years of Specialist Recruitment
Big Wave Digital’s Approach to Building Extraordinary Teams
With an 89% repeat client rate, our results speak louder than any case study. Founded by Keiran Hathorn in 2010, Big Wave Digital is the specialist recruitment partner trusted by hundreds of decision-makers across Australia and New Zealand for AI, digital marketing, and technology hiring.
Every search is tailored. Every candidate is personally vetted. Every placement is backed by 29 years of bespoke expertise in the roles that are shaping the future of Australian business.
Ready to Build Your Team?
Talk to Keiran Hathorn and the Specialist Team at Big Wave Digital
Whether you are scaling a start-up at speed or strengthening an enterprise team, we bring 29 years of specialist expertise to every search.
“Perhaps it’s time to lay some bricks in 26′”
Keiran Hathorn, Founder & Director
