Professor Toby Walsh, AI ‘rock star’, Chief Scientist at UNSW.ai, Scientia Professor at UNSW Sydney and Adjunct Science Fellow at CSIRO Data61
Toby is a world-renowned professor on artificial intelligence and is Scientia professor at the University of New South Wales and Digital Think-tank Data61. He was named by the media as a “rock star” of the digital revolution and included on the list of the 100 most important digital innovators in Australia. He is a fellow of the Australia Academy of Science and of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, a Humboldt award winner and recipient of the NSW Premier’s Prize for excellence in engineering and ICT.
He has played a leading role at the UN and elsewhere on the campaign to ban lethal autonomous weapons (aka “killer robots”). Toby is a sought-after keynote speaker on how artificial intelligence influences business, education, warfare, personal development, and finance, among others. He regularly appears in the media talking about the impact of AI and robotics on society.
Toby is the author of the books ‘IT’S ALIVE’, ‘Android Dreams’, ‘Machines That Think’ and ‘2062: The Year that AI Made’.
Dr Olivier Salvado, AI for Missions Lead, CSIRO’s Data61
Olivier is managing the AI for Missions program at CSIRO. The CSIRO Missions are large scale, major scientific and collaborative research initiatives, aimed at solving some of Australia’s greatest challenges, focused on outcomes that lead to positive impact, new jobs, and economic growth.
With 25+ years of experience in AI technology and leadership, Olivier is passionate about how AI and Data Science can help organisations create value and transform entire industries.
Dr Sue Keay, Robotics Technology Lead, BHP and Chair, Robotics Australia Group
Dr Sue Keay is one of Australia’s most influential leaders in artificial intelligence and robotics. She led the development of Australia’s first robotics roadmap, highlighting how advances in robotics impact on every sector of the Australian economy. Adjunct Professor at QUT, Sue is the Founder and Chair of Robotics Australia Group, representing the robotics industry in Australia. She is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE).
Sue was inaugural CEO of Queensland AI Hub, successfully setting up the hub and its capability programs, following her role leading cyber-physical systems research for CSIRO’s Data61. Sue set-up the world’s first robotic vision research centre (the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision), and led the development of Australia’s first and seconds robotics roadmap, the stepping stone to a national robotics strategy.
Antony Stinziani, Chief Information Officer, City of Gold Coast
Antony is a mentor and coach of women in ICT leadership, a regular speaker at conferences and events, an experienced CIO and a non-executive board director. Antony holds a degree in public sector management and ICT and has worked in senior executive ICT roles for over 25 years across numerous government agencies including the CSIRO, Geoscience Australia, the Australian Parliament and the ACT Government.
Sanja Marais, Chief Technology and Security Officer, Aspen Medical
At Aspen Media, Sanja built a responsive IT environment that consistently delivers results by aligning technology and innovation with business goals. She recently lead the company through an IRAP assessment and successful ISO 27001 certification. Her career includes multiple leadership roles including Board Memberships. Sanja currently lead a highly skilled IT team in implementing complex systems and application development projects for prominent private and public sector clients.
Tim Johnson, Head of Automation, Suncorp Group
Tim firmly believes that most businesses share a common DNA and he loves applying lessons learnt across industries and markets to generate different thinking and exciting opportunities. Tim’s current journey is heavily weighted to harnessing the power available from emerging Intelligent Automation technologies to solve legacy problems in the Financial Services Sector and unlock value for our customers.
Paul Murphy, Chief Information Officer, GHD
As an Executive Leader in the professional services enterprise GHD, Paul is driven by the possibilities technology creates to shape how people work, how projects are delivered, and the services available to clients.
He began his career as an Army Officer, became a Civil Engineer, and then moved into private enterprise as a project director, security advisor, operational and technical leader – a purposeful path that has led him to Information Technology. With an eye firmly fixed on what’s around the corner, Paul appreciates the speed of technological developments and the challenges and incredible opportunities this creates. And with that, he can translate the future into what it means for us today.
Emma Liversidge, General Manager, Analytics, RACQ
Emma finds her role in data and analytics endlessly rewarding, as it combines her curiosity for the big picture of an organisation and her passion for people. She has enjoyed just over a decade in education, establishing a leading end-to-end data and analytics practice that has supported the organisation to respond to a dynamically changing environment.
Leigh Williams, Chief Information Officer & Head of IT Services, Brisbane Catholic Education
Leigh is an experienced executive leader, currently CIO at Brisbane Catholic Education, overseeing all digital, information and IT infrastructure for 146 schools and 9 offices. Leigh’s career started as a IT teacher, and since held positions in both public and private organisations as CEO, Executive Director, Director, Assistant Director and COO. As a passionate, published researcher and advocator in digital technologies and education, Leigh has led keynotes and workshops around the world on digital transformation. She holds multiple post-graduate qualifications in Education, IT, Leadership, Management, Business and has completed study with the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Alon Ellis, Partner, Consulting, Deloitte
Alon is a Partner in the Monitor Deloitte Strategy Consulting business, and has over 17 years’ experience across the USA, UK and Australia, in roles within Consulting, Startup and Industry. He has a strong focus on the use of AI & Cloud technology to develop new business models, particularly in the Financial Services industry. He’s recently co-authored a book with The University of Melbourne, titled “Business Model Transformation: The AI & Cloud Technology Revolution”, which focuses on the critical success factors to drive AI-enabled transformation.
Dr Elea Wurth, Trustworthy AI Partner, Risk Advisory, Deloitte
Elea is the lead Trustworthy AI partner for Deloitte Risk Advisory. She works with Australia’s largest institutions to achieve ethical, lawful and technically robust AI and automation. Elea has 20 years’ experience in enterprise advanced analytics and automation with 16 years leading risk analytics and automation programs in federal government.
Alex Taylor, Global Head of Emerging Technology, QBE Ventures, QBE Insurance
Alex is the Global Head of Emerging Technology of QBE Ventures, the venture investment and development arm of QBE Insurance. Alex and the team invest in, build alongside and partner with early-stage technology companies that have the potential to reshape the insurance industry. Alex is an innovation and disruption specialist and futurist, helping established companies to see where the threats lie, and how they can play in the same field and with the same tools as the disrupters.
As the technology lead on a number of AI/ML investments in VC and CVC environments, Alex has lived the challenge of applying machine learning and related technologies in highly regulated environments – from visual and voice analytics, customer sentiment platforms and IoT to the challenges of vehicular automation. Before joining QBE, Alex was the Director of Emerging and Innovation Technology and also Entrepreneur in Residence at IAG.
Scott Zanevra, Data and Analytics Customer Engineer, Google Cloud
Scott is a dedicated to helping financial services organisations thrive in the digital era. Scott excels at bridging the gap between technology and business requirements, helping clients harness the power of data, analytics and AI responsibly. Recognising the potential for AI to massively distribute knowledge, enhance efficiency, and revolutionise various industries, Scott is dedicated to exploring innovative ways to leverage AI technologies in a manner that benefits individuals and society as a whole.
Sarah-Jane Peterschlingmann, Managing Director and Owner, ATech
ATech is a Queensland-based award-winning company that delivers cloud hosting and web development for mission critical websites. Starting as a web developer, Sarah-Jane helped to grow ATech from humble beginnings to multi-million-dollar revenues and an impressive list of high calibre clients including Virgin Australia, Seqwater and Brisbane City Council. Sarah-Jane was named co-recipient of the prestigious 2022 Queensland Pearcey ICT Entrepreneur of the Year Award.