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Get filing alertsSharonAI appoints David Burns as COO; co-founder Andrew Leece shifts to strategic partnerships
Filed August 27, 2026 · Period ending August 27, 2026 · ~1 min read
Key Changes
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David Burns, 60, appointed Chief Operating Officer effective September 7, 2026, with responsibility for end-to-end delivery and operation of SharonAI's expanding AI infrastructure estate.
Item 5.02 — Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Compensation verify on EDGAR → -
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Andrew Leece, co-founder and current COO, transitions to Head of Strategic Partnerships to provide founder-level sponsorship across key customer, data center, and strategic relationships.
Item 5.02 — Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Compensation verify on EDGAR → -
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Burns will receive AUD$550,000 base salary (~US$395,000), with eligibility for annual short-term incentive awards up to 150% of base (cash/RSUs) and long-term incentive awards up to 150% of base (RSUs).
Item 5.02 — Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Compensation verify on EDGAR → -
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Burns brings 35+ years of enterprise technology and telecommunications experience, most recently as Group Executive at Telstra Enterprise (2020-2024) leading Australian B2B business and international portfolio.
Item 5.02 — Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Compensation verify on EDGAR → -
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Leadership restructuring reflects increasing scale and complexity of operations, creating specialized executive roles with dedicated accountability for operational delivery and strategic partnerships.
Exhibit 99.1 view on EDGAR →
Summary
SharonAI Holdings is restructuring its executive leadership to address operational scaling needs as it expands its multi-site AI infrastructure platform. The company appointed David Burns as Chief Operating Officer effective September 7, 2026, with responsibility for end-to-end delivery and operation of the company's AI infrastructure estate.
Burns brings deep enterprise technology and telecommunications experience from senior roles at Telstra (2012-2024) and IBM (1990-2012). His compensation package includes a base salary of approximately US$395,000 with potential total compensation reaching ~US$1.2 million annually if both incentive awards are granted at maximum levels.
Co-founder Andrew Leece is transitioning from COO to Head of Strategic Partnerships, where he will focus on long-term relationship stewardship with priority customers, data center partners, and strategic relationships. This is not a departure — Leece remains with the company in a dedicated role that separates strategic relationship management from day-to-day operational delivery. The restructuring creates specialized executive roles with clear accountability while preserving institutional knowledge from founding leadership. For retail investors, this represents a normal scaling move as the company grows its infrastructure footprint, bringing in operational expertise while retaining founder-level engagement on strategic partnerships.
Section-by-Section Diff
Event · Item 1.01 — Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement
8-K filing appears incomplete or truncated; Item 1.01 material agreement disclosure is not provided in the available text.
The filing indicates Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement was triggered, but the disclosure text is incomplete or missing from the available portion of the 8-K.The Item body is a short pointer; substantive detail is in the attached Exhibit 99 (extracted and available in this report).
Event · Item 5.02 — Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Compensation
Item 5.02 — Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Compensation filed; see Key Changes for terms.
Added in current filing · verify on EDGAR →
On August 27, 2026, SharonAI Holdings Inc. (the “Company”) announced that its Board of Directors (the “Board”) appointed David Burns, age 60, as Chief Operating Officer of the Company, effective as of September 7, 2026 (the “Effective Date”). Mr. Burns will succeed Andrew Leece, who is transitioning into the role of Head of Strategic Partnerships in order to provide founder-level sponsorship across the Company’s most important customer, data center and strategic relationships.
The Board appointed David Burns, age 60, as Chief Operating Officer effective September 7, 2026. Andrew Leece, the prior COO, is transitioning to Head of Strategic Partnerships to focus on key customer, data center, and strategic relationships. Burns brings extensive enterprise technology and telecommunications leadership experience from Telstra and IBM.
Added in current filing · verify on EDGAR →
Prior to joining the Company, since 2024 Mr. Burns served as Principal of David Burns Advisory & Thinkingcubed, where he advised enterprise clients and private equity firms on acquisitions, organizational transformation, leadership and strategic customer priorities, and served as an active investor in Humanico, a workforce-intelligence software business. From 2020 to 2024, Mr. Burns served as Group Executive, Telstra Enterprise at Telstra Corporation Limited (“Telstra”), a telecommunications company, where he led Telstra’s Australian B2B business and international portfolio.
Burns brings deep enterprise technology and telecommunications experience. Since 2024, he advised on acquisitions and transformation as Principal of David Burns Advisory. From 2020-2024, he led Telstra's Australian B2B business and international portfolio as Group Executive. He held multiple senior roles at Telstra from 2012-2020 and spent over 20 years (1990-2012) in senior leadership at IBM across multiple countries.
Show 1 minor / wording change
Added in current filing · verify on EDGAR →
The Employment Agreement is for an indefinite term, subject to an initial probationary period of six months. Either party may terminate the Employment Agreement by providing three months’ written notice (or, in the case of the Company, payment in lieu of such notice). The Company may also terminate the Employment Agreement immediately without notice for cause, including for serious misconduct, material breach or other grounds specified therein. During the probationary period, either party may terminate the Employment Agreement by providing one week’s written notice (or, in the case of the Company, payment of one week’s wages in lieu of notice).
The employment agreement is indefinite with a six-month probationary period. After probation, either party may terminate with three months' notice (or payment in lieu). During probation, termination requires only one week's notice. The Company may terminate immediately for cause including serious misconduct or material breach.
Event · Exhibit 99.1
Added in current filing · view on EDGAR →
David Burns has been appointed Chief Operating Officer, with responsibility for the end-to-end delivery and operation of Sharon AI’s expanding AI infrastructure estate.
SharonAI appointed David Burns as Chief Operating Officer effective September 7, 2026. Burns brings over 35 years of experience in technology and telecommunications, most recently serving as Group Executive at Telstra Enterprise. He will lead operational delivery and execution of the company's multi-site AI infrastructure platform, with accountability for converting customer orders into live operational capacity.
Added in current filing · view on EDGAR →
Andrew Leece, Sharon AI’s current Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder, will move into the dedicated role of Head of Strategic Partnerships and Co-founder, providing founder-level sponsorship across the Company’s most important customer, data centre and strategic relationships.
Andrew Leece, co-founder and current COO, transitions to Head of Strategic Partnerships and Co-founder effective September 7, 2026. This is not a departure — Leece remains with the company in a dedicated role focused on long-term relationship stewardship with priority customers, data center partners, and strategic relationships, separating these responsibilities from day-to-day operational delivery now handled by the new COO.
Added in current filing · view on EDGAR →
The leadership changes reflect the increasing scale and complexity of Sharon AI’s operations. Responsibilities previously held within broader roles are being assigned to specialist executives, establishing clear accountability while retaining the experience and institutional knowledge of the leaders who have built the business.
The executive restructuring addresses operational scaling needs as SharonAI expands its multi-site, multi-country AI infrastructure platform. The company is creating specialized executive roles with dedicated accountability for operational delivery, infrastructure capacity, and strategic partnerships, while preserving institutional knowledge from founding leadership.
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Figures/quotes linked to EDGAR · Narrative written by AI · Aug 28, 2026 · How we verify