About Reuben Jacob

‍CEO, ARIIA (Aged Care Research & Industry Innovation Australia). With a background spanning genetics, biotechnology, and research commercialisation, Reuben leads ARIIA's national mission to improve aged care workforce capability through innovation, evidence-based practice, and technology. He is recognised for translating complex research into practical aged care outcomes, championing co-design, and building sector-wide collaboration models that support providers of all sizes.

About ARIIA

‍ARIIA (Aged Care Research & Industry Innovation Australia) is a national, not-for-profit organisation hosted by Flinders University. Established in response to the Aged Care Workforce Strategy and supported by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, ARIIA exists to improve care quality for older Australians by empowering the workforce through innovation, technology, and evidence. ARIIA works across residential, home care, regional, rural and remote settings, offering education, incubator programs, grant funding, and a national knowledge hub.

Episode Insights: From Research to Real Impact, Reuben Jacob on Innovation, AI and the Future of Aged Care

1. Career arc: from geneticist to aged care CEO

‍Reuben's path to ARIIA ran through laboratory science, research commercialisation, and clinical trial innovation before a job ad for a newly established organisation caught his attention. Joining as COO shortly after ARIIA's inception, he stepped into the CEO role when his interim CEO departed, and hasn't looked back.

💡 Insight: Non-linear careers bring fresh perspective, and aged care's complexity rewards leaders who can translate between research, technology, and human impact.

2. What ARIIA actually does: a sector resource, not a regulator

‍ARIIA offers education and training, an aged care incubator, grant funding, and a national knowledge and implementation hub, all designed to meet providers where they are. Programs range from fully online to face-to-face, and support everything from early-stage ideas through to market-ready technology.

💡 Insight: The most effective sector support lowers barriers rather than adding them, flexible, accessible, and built around real operational constraints.

3. Co-design as a non-negotiable: building what the sector actually needs

‍Every ARIIA program embeds co-design and co-development as a core principle. Older people and provider representatives are included from the outset, because fit-for-purpose solutions require the end user's voice before build, not after.

💡 Insight: Co-design isn't a box to tick. It's the difference between a solution that gets adopted and one that sits on a shelf.

4. The sector-wide scaling model: coopetition in action

‍Inspired by the cotton industry's collaborative pest response in the 1970s, ARIIA developed a coopetition model where providers collaborate and compete simultaneously. Fourteen organisations are currently scaling two flagship projects together: a leadership and retention model, and a data-enabled decision-making framework.

💡 Insight: Sector-wide challenges require sector-wide solutions. Shared investment and shared learning accelerate what no single provider could achieve alone.

5. AI in aged care: here, not coming

‍Reuben is clear, AI is not on the horizon, it's already in the room. From compliance dashboards to personalised home care visits informed by sensor data, AI is beginning to free up workers to focus on what matters most: direct care. The caveat is equally clear, setup, privacy, and human judgment remain essential.

💡 Insight: AI's greatest aged care dividend isn't automation, it's attention. When admin shrinks, care expands.

6. Advice for tech companies entering aged care

‍Reuben's three-part framework for technology companies: co-design properly, ground your solution in evidence, and connect with the ecosystem. The aged care sector is collaborative by nature, and organisations like ARIIA exist specifically to support companies navigating it.

💡 Insight: The fastest path to adoption in aged care runs through trust, and trust is built through genuine partnership with the people you're designing for.

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