Ian Smith’s time at Orica may have ended in largely self-inflicted ignominy, but the foundations of a technological revolution he laid through his excessive, robust reign increasingly underpin the exploding Australian’s differentiated digital, big data future.

The man who replaced Smith, former BHP chief commercial officer Alberto Calderon, inherited a business struggling to make the most of its manufacturing legacy and fulfil the potential of Smith’s pioneering investments in a vast array of new technologies.