What you need to know:

• Digital consultant Lucio Ribeiro has been appointed as Director of Innovation at Optus' 5G division.
• He will lead the growth and development for the unit and aim to strengthen partnerships.

Digital consultant Lucio Ribeiro has been appointed by Optus to lead innovation for its growing 5G division.

Ribeiro had most recently been running his own consulting firm and invested in a TikTok advertising consultancy alongside strategy executive Sergio Brodsky.

Taking on the full-time position, effective immediately Ribeiro will pause involvement in TikMyDay business, despite early success with brands such as Mini.

In discussions about the role over the last six months with the telco, Ribeiro told Mi3 that 5G is vital to the growth of key media platforms and will enable other technologies like artificial intelligence, IoT, VR and AR.

"5G is set to transform advertising, marketing and publishers with options never seen before. Optus has been powering these options with a series of innovative 5G concepts. In my role, I will be looking to further strengthen links with different ecosystems – the local start-up community, agencies, publishers – anyone with innovative concepts," said Ribeiro.

Ribeiro is no stranger to evolving technologies, previously running his own social media consultancy, Online Circle Digital, in the early days of advertising across Facebook and Instagram. He is also one of the most awarded marketers in Australia in Artificial Intelligence and is a part-time lecturer in AI and in digital marketing at RMIT University.