CTO Trainer Spotlight – Russ Norton

The products or topics I currently train with CTO include…

Anything Microsoft 365! I specialise in the cloud-specific apps such as SharePoint, Copilot, Power Automate, Power Apps and Teams, however I do enjoy the odd Excel or Project course now and again.

My favourite product or topic to train is…

SharePoint. It’s the backbone of almost everything which happens in Microsoft 365, so I really enjoy opening participants’ eyes to how it actually should be used in order to get the most out of it, rather than treating it as a cloud-based network drive, which it absolutely isn’t! Having said that, I’m thoroughly enjoying showcasing the amazing benefits of Microsoft 365 Copilot, which are improving every day.

What I enjoy most about helping clients learn is…

Seeing the looks on their faces when I demonstrate a feature which is genuinely going to have a huge positive impact on them, their team or even their entire organisation. That’s what training’s all about for me.

One of the biggest challenges for learning in 2026 is…

Many customers’ preference for online training. The technology has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years – a huge improvement on the tools I was using to deliver online training back in 2009! And although we’re able to mimic classroom training to a fantastic degree, you just can’t beat the level of interaction you experience during an in-person course.

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

Playing golf, hockey or football (proper football – with a round ball 😉), camping, 4WDing or fishing.

My greatest professional achievement is…

Making it as a trainer for over 23 years and still loving it! The travel and constant upskilling deters people after a while, but I thrive off both of those aspects.

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

Coffee, any day of the week… you don’t live in Melbourne and not become addicted to a strong flat white.

I try to relax by…

Sitting by a body of water, watching my fishing rods do nothing… fishing isn’t about the fish you catch, but the places it takes you. Or at least that’s what some fool once told me 😉

I don’t understand why…

Organisations are still using paper-based forms and manual approvals, when there’s so many electronic forms and automation tools available!

I’ve always wanted to travel to…

Latin America. Hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu has been on my bucket list for about 20 years. Hopefully I manage to get there before my knees give up on me!

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

To get you and other “champions” on a SharePoint course. If SharePoint is set up well, it’s an absolute game-changer for efficiency and accuracy and availability of vital business-critical information. The added benefit is that working with tools such as Copilot, PowerApps and Power Automate is vastly improved by having your SharePoint content in good order!