CTO Trainer Spotlight – Stuart Mackay

The products or topics I currently train with CTO include…

Microsoft Project, Excel, Word, PowerPoint and VBA for Excel.

My favourite product or topic to train is…

Microsoft Project

What I enjoy most about helping clients learn is…

Seeing the “lightbulb moment” when a concept clicks and they can apply it immediately at work

One of the biggest challenges for learning in 2026 is…

Keeping pace with constant change (especially AI features) while still building strong fundamentals.

When I’m not training with CTO, I also…

Volunteer at the MacArthur Museum Brisbane as well as being on the Board as the Foundation Secretary – and I’m also a keen bike rider and have just completed the 320 km Alps to Ocean mountain bike ride in New Zealand along with a group of close mates I’ve known for over 40 years.

My greatest professional achievement is…

Transitioning from Project Management and executive leadership to helping thousands of professionals upskill over 16+ years of Microsoft training delivering practical outcomes they use every day.

When it comes to caffeine, I’m more of a… (coffee, tea, or something else entirely)

I’m more of a… tea man (Doctor’s orders! 😊)

I try to relax by…

Getting out on the bike and chasing a good long ride.

I don’t understand why…

People book meetings without an agenda or a clear outcome.

I’ve always wanted to travel to…

France – especially the countryside and historic regions. That’s where my wife and I are off to later this year!

For anyone needing to upskill in my area of expertise this year, one piece of advice I’d give would be…

Learn by doing, practice on real scenarios, build a repeatable workflow, and focus on outcomes – not just features.