Cyara Solutions, a Melbourne-founded, Texas-based AI customer experience software firm, is suing former ANZ sales manager Stephen Mitchell and rival company Hypertech Solutions over an alleged breach of confidentiality obligations. Cyara claims Mitchell misused confidential information he obtained during his employment to benefit Hypertech, which was competing for a contract worth around AU$3.5 million connected to work for the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Hypertech denies the allegations, and the case, filed in the Supreme Court in June 2024, centres on whether Mitchell's conduct after learning he had been overlooked for promotion amounted to a deliberate leak to a competitor.

According to Cyara's statement of claim, Mitchell managed the company's relationship with Optus, which subcontracted Cyara to service the ATO, and had been renegotiating a three-year contract renewal in mid-2023. After learning in late 2023 that he would miss out on a new "Vice President of International Sales" role and would not attend the firm's annual US sales event, Mitchell allegedly downloaded roughly 11,000 work files to a personal drive around 8 December, more than 3,500 of which reportedly contained sensitive pricing, product and contract information. Mitchell disputes this account, saying the files were saved for remote work purposes unrelated to any employment concerns, while a tense Christmas Eve phone call with Cyara chief executive Alok Kulkarni reportedly heightened fears his job was at risk before his eventual dismissal.