August 29th 2025
ENTECH ANNOUNCES LEADERSHIP TRANSITION AS ROADSHOW EXPANDS
ENTECH founder Julius Grafton has stepped aside, with Kate McKenzie appointed CEO. McKenzie, who joined in 2017, has managed and delivered every ENTECH event across Australia and New Zealand since then.
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Founded by Grafton in 1993, ENTECH grew into a major tradeshow occupying more than 10,000 square metres at the Sydney and Melbourne exhibition centres. The event was sold to Kerry Packer in 2003 and later repurchased by Grafton, who transformed it into the ENTECH Roadshow — a streamlined touring format now running annually each May across Australia and biennially in New Zealand.​​
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The roadshow format was an immediate success and has since been replicated in another industry, with further adaptations in development. Built with a sharp focus on return on investment, ENTECH limits stand sizes to ensure visitors can see all major distributor exhibitors within a single-day format in each key city.
Looking ahead, ENTECH 2026 will expand its scope further into professional vision, with a strong emphasis on PTZ cameras and video production. This reflects a post-Covid shift, with half of all attendees now identifying video as a core technology of interest.
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Separately, Grafton has acquired Sydney PA Hire, a long-established corporate AV rental firm, where he has significant plans for growth.
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“Kate has assumed more and more control of ENTECH each year, and with our new business, it makes sense to split our interests so we can both maintain laser focus on deliverables,” said Grafton.
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“I’ve worked closely with industry stakeholders for the past eight years, growing from event manager to leading the entire operation. I’m ready to take this legendary brand forward — and proud to bring a fresh female perspective to what has too often been a male-dominated ‘wall of black t-shirts’ industry,” said McKenzie.