A people person changes the rules of war

There is a hint of pride in Oleg Vornik’s voice when he confides that, about six months ago, he was named on Russia’s sanctions list.

Fact file

Oleg Vornik

The former investment banker is now CEO of the warfare protection company DroneShield. Age 41. Lives in Sydney’s eastern suburbs

Self-professed nerd who now relishes working in a team. “You get better results in the end by having a few people put their heads together.” Moved from Russia to New Zealand at 15; had a boyhood love of chess.

The Sydney-based entrepreneur, who was born in Russia, sounds as if he couldn’t be happier. The Australian/US artificial intelligence company, DroneShield, of which he is chief executive, sells hi-tech systems to detect, track and take down attack drones, including those flying over Ukraine.

“We are in the business of stopping drone attacks,” he explains. “We are purely defensive. We don’t do anything offensive. None of our equipment, or anything we do, can harm a person or a drone. Our equipment safely lands them on the spot or sends them back. That’s the choice of the users of our equipment.”

DroneShield technology listens for connections between drones and their controllers and eavesdrops on them, even when swarms of them are in the air. Developed with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), the technology checks the skies for drones, cutting through any interference from false communication signals.

Vornik likens the system to a household fire alarm: it needs to ring when there’s danger but, just as importantly, it needs to stay quiet when there isn’t any.