Chris Goodall is turning physical security into a digital utility

For Goodall, who oversees operations across Australia, New Zealand, and Asia, the objective is to make architecture responsive. Whether it is optimizing staff levels at the Melbourne Cricket Ground or enabling seamless passenger transit at the Western Sydney International Airport, the goal remains the same: using technology to ensure that security measures never impede the flow of people. This requires moving beyond traditional locks toward sophisticated, rechargeable digital keys capable of granting granular, time-sensitive access across entire infrastructure networks.

This transition requires a departure from independent regional operations toward a collaborative, borderless model. While dormakaba invests over A$120 million annually in innovation, Goodall identifies the recruitment and retention of talent as the company’s primary hurdle. By fostering a culture that balances high-level strategy with the human element of leadership, he is positioning the firm to capitalize on rapid development in markets like Indonesia and Vietnam. Ultimately, Goodall views the company’s 1,800 global patents not as a product catalog, but as tools to simplify everyday life at every place that matters.