Stela Solar, Director, National Artificial Intelligence Centre
Stela Solar is passionate about removing barriers to positive technology adoption and engagement. Over the past 15 years, Stela has cultivated expertise in capturing new revenue opportunities presented by emerging technologies, particularly through business model transformation. Stela leads Australia’s National AI Centre hosted by CSIRO, and has held several roles at Microsoft including Global Director of AI Solution Sales, as well as roles across IT distributors and technology startups.
Steve Sammartino - Futurist, Entrepreneur And Business Technologist
The future belongs to those who prepare for it. And no one has a more profound understanding of what it’s going to be like than Steve Sammartino. Australia’s leading Futurist and International keynote speaker, Steve has a deep understanding of disruptive technology and the wider economy. He has authored 2 best-selling tech strategy books: The Great Fragmentation and The Lessons School Forgot. Steve is the host and creator of TV Show the Rebound – A future focused weekly TV show on Channel 9 nationally. Now in its second season, it is running in 3 other countries via the Discovery Channel.
Dayle Stevens, Executive Data & AI, Telstra
Dayle is a Technology Executive with nearly 30 years’ experience in the technology industry. Previous roles include Chief Data Officer at AGL Energy, Divisional CIO at National Australia Bank, and as an IT consultant working all over the world to help businesses transform through adoption of new technologies. Dayle is the Board Chair of Robogals Global, an international not-for-profit volunteer organisation aiming to engage young women in STEM education and careers.
Jonathan Dean, Chief Information Security Officer, Department of Defence, Federal Government of Australia
Jon was appointed as Defence CISO in 2020, bringing 18 years of domain expertise to the role. Since joining Defence in 2002, Jon led Defence’s inaugural operational cyber threat intelligence capability within Chief Information Officer Group; and continues to focus on maturing the capability to 24/7 cyber operations and enhancing its ability to support Australian Defence Force operations.
He was also responsible for the delivery of a number of Cyber Defence Mission Systems to protect both Australian and US networks and military platforms; and established a world-leading international research program for Cyber Mission Assurance.
Fahed Mostafa, Head of Data and Analytics, CSL Behring
Fahed Mostafa is an accomplished leader with extensive experience in advanced analytics strategies and data monetisation across multiple sectors, including energy, mining, manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals.
Prior to his current role in CSL Behring, Fahed held senior role at Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) where he was the GM of Data Servers, and before that he was the Global Director of Data and AI for Incitec Pivot Limited.
Jennifer Rebeiro, Chief Transformation Officer, Great Western Water
Jennifer is transformation focused, results driven and strategic technology leader who embraces innovation, leads change initiatives and solves complex business problems with people, process and technology. Her demonstrated ability to communicate complex technology concepts in practical language to non-technical people make her an engaged and strategic people leader who understands the necessary elements to drive a performance culture.
Jennifer has led the provision of core and strategic support in information Technology, human resources, finance and corporate services, asset & facilities management, major construction, enforcement and Health, safety and environment.
Nick Dean, Head of Technology Strategy & Transformation, Westpac
Nick Dean is an accomplished technology and transformation executive who has spent his career making complex things simple and enabling people who thought they couldn’t do it – do it.
With more than 20 years of experience spanning three continents, Nick was the Chief Technology Officer at ANZ Bank and has also held senior technology roles and shaped the technology agenda at KiwiBank, Maybank and RMIT University.
Hind Benbya, Professor, Head of IS & Business Analytics, Founding Director of the Centre for AI and the Future of Business, Deakin University
Hind has over eighteen years leadership experience as Head of IS, Chair in Digital Business and Director of MSc in different countries including France, Italy and the USA.
Hind’s research interests include digital innovation, IT-enabled transformation and Artificial Intelligence. Her work has appeared in MIS Quarterly, the Journal of Management Information Systems, MIT Sloan Management Review, MISQ Executive, and Decision Support Systems, among others. She is currently senior editor of the MISQ Executive, guest senior editor for the Journal of Association of Information Systems and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Strategic Information Systems.
Kendra Vant, Executive GM Data, Xero
Kendra leads data globally for Xero including – strategic use of data, machine learning frameworks and ‘augmented intelligence’ product build, AI literacy & responsible data use, analytical data platform and core reporting.
With a firm conviction not to die wondering ‘what if?’, Kendra has worn a number of hats in her career to date and plans to wear quite a few more. Her greatest satisfaction comes from working with smart people to solve difficult problems.
John Cox, Chief Technology Officer, Coles
John has more than 20 years’ experience in a career that has covered the breadth of financial services (banking, payments, insurance, wealth, and markets) retail, government services and logistics.
Prior to joining Coles, John spent five years at Australia Post, as CIO and EGM for Transformation and Enablement with accountability for Strategy, Technology, Communications, Government Relations, Data Science and Transformation office. He spent eight years at NAB in a variety of roles, concluding as CIO for Banking and Markets
Prof. Erwin Loh, Group Chief Medical Officer, St Vincent's Health Australia
Professor Erwin Loh is qualified in both medicine and law, and also has an MBA, Master of Health Service Management, and PhD. He is Vice President of the Royal Australasian College of Administrators. He is adjunct Professor at Monash University, University of Melbourne and Macquarie University. He teaches and carries out research in health law, health management and clinical leadership, and is a member of the Association of Professional Futurists, with an interest in medical futurology. He received the Distinguished Fellow Award from RACMA in 2017 for “commitment to governance, research and publication”.
Jon Whittle, Director, Data61
Jon Whittle is Director of CSIRO’s Data61, the digital and data sciences arm of Australia’s national science agency. Prior to joining Data61, Jon was Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University, the largest university in Australia. He was named CEO Magazine’s 2019 Education Executive of the Year. Jon is also a former Technical Area Lead at NASA, where he worked on AI software for NASA space missions. Jon has a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Edinburgh, UK.
Carina Parisella, Tribe Lead, Head of Tech Workforce, ANZ
Carina Parisella is a technology and business executive with extensive background in leading high performing teams, large program delivery, media and communications and diversity and inclusion. At ANZ, she’s leading the Technology Workforce Tribe, a team of cross-functional squads to build a highly capable, diverse and future ready workforce. Carina oversees the Technology Workforce Strategy covering learning and capability, early talent, talent mobility and workforce management. She is a passionate diversity and inclusion advocate and pioneered some of the Australia’s first-of-its-kind career programs for untapped talent, including the award-winning ANZ Return to Work program.
Daniela Fernandez, Head of Information Security – AU, PayPal
With over 15 years’ experience in Information Technology, Daniela is a cyber security and analytics leader who values integrity, diversity of thought, continuous learning, sense of achievement and ensuring a healthy work/life integration. Currently Daniela is the Head of Information Security at PayPal Australia where she focuses on making security a business enabler, helping PayPal to achieve their mission to democratise financial services while ensuring that PayPal Australia delivers secure products to customers and meets local regulatory requirements.
Before that, Daniela was Director of Cyber Risk and Strategy. Prior to Deloitte, Daniela worked in multiple roles at CBA, across protective services, intelligence team, fraud detection and cyber security. Her last role at CBA was Executive Manager, Business Information Security Officer. Daniela is a recent winner of the CSO30 Australia 2022 awards recognising excellent in cyber security initiatives.
Steven Bonnici, CIO – Ford Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa
Steven Bonnici is the Chief Information Officer for the Asia Pacific, Middle East, and African regions, a $17B division of the Ford Motor Company, where he has achieved record business results applying technology to transform business performance and customer experience. He has served in many technology-based roles within Australia, the United States, Thailand, and China, spearheading the launch of vehicle connectivity, E-Commerce, and digital services at global scale. He is passionate about working with teams to deliver outstanding business outcomes. Steven has over 20 years of experience within the Automotive and Financial Service industries, a bachelor’s degree in Business Information Systems and a Master’s in Business Administration from RMIT.
Anna Coniglio, Data Analytics Lead, Google Cloud, Australia/NZ
Anna is a seasoned technical leader with 17 years of experience in Data & Analytics, spanning delivery, product management, and architecture. With a passion for empowering customers to deliver analytics at scale, Anna has helped numerous organizations unlock transformational business opportunities through the use of data-driven insights. Currently serving as the Technical Lead for Analytics at Google Cloud in Australia and New Zealand, Anna leads a team of talented technologists who work closely with customers to identify and advise on the best technology solutions to meet their unique needs.
Dr. Kellie Nuttall, AI Institute Lead & Strategy and Business Design Lead, Deloitte Australia
As the AI Institute Leader and Strategy and Business Design Leader for Deloitte Australia, Dr. Kellie Nuttall leads the charge in collaborating with organisations to develop strategic plans for transforming complex data into valuable insights. Her passion lies in integrating AI and cognitive technologies into business and government to create a better world.
Kellie has a vast track record in using AI, digital twins and other emerging technologies to optimise complex operational systems and value chains, with a focus on driving high-value business outcomes. She has extensive experience designing AI operating models that align with companies’ strategic goals. Kellie is also a faculty member at Singularity University, where she applies exponential technologies to enhance transportation systems.
Prior to her current role, Kellie led transport planning and applied advanced analytics at the Department of Transport and Main Roads (QLD). Kellie holds a Ph.D. in consumer decision making and nudge psychology.
Karen Davis, Principal Technologist - Data and AI, Thoughtworks
Karen started her career as a software engineer before moving into the data space. She has worked on a wide variety of projects from developing data strategies for organisations and building data platforms to getting machine learning models into production. She is passionate about all things data and AI and is especially interested in the ethical and secure application of machine learning and AI.
Cameron Pitt, Partner, Consulting, Deloitte
Cameron is a Partner in the Human Capital Consulting, and leads the Human Capital Canberra Office, whilst taking responsibility for Deloitte’s Workforce Centre of Excellence across Australia.
Cameron is an expert in aligning the workforce with organizational outcomes and community / customer expectations by building capability, reducing cost and increasing workforce productivity.
Dr Kim Oosthuizen, Innovation Principal: Customer Transformation Advisor
As Customer Transformation Advisor, Kim supports customer and partner enablement with Artificial Intelligent innovation opportunities across process and usability to enable improved working practices. Kim is passionate about AI, holding a PhD in the application of AI in business. She has over 20 years of experience spanning South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Australia, and she held various operations, Centre of Excellence, and technology roles during her career.
Gary Hoberman, CEO & Founder, Unqork
Gary Hoberman is an entrepreneur and technology chief executive who has been innovating and bringing transformative solutions to market for more than 25 years. In 2017, Gary founded Unqork to break through the biggest barrier to growth he saw serving in technology leadership roles at Fortune 500 organizations: code.
Unqork invented the first completely visual, enterprise-grade codeless platform and pioneered the codeless architecture standard, helping organizations build complex, custom software faster, with higher quality and lower costs than code-based methods. Unqork’s customers are global industry leaders, including Goldman Sachs, Marsh, Liberty Mutual, Maimonides Medical Center, New York City and the District of Columbia.
In 2020, Unqork received a $2B valuation at the time of its Series C financing. Based on Unqork’s ability to create complex, secure, mission-critical enterprise applications, Gary was named a New York Entrepreneur of the Year by EY and one of Goldman Sachs’ 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs in 2020 and 2021. Unqork has been named Fast Company #5 Most Innovative Enterprise company in 2022, Forbes’ Best Startup Employers 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Rob Carruthers, Head of ValueOps APAC, Broadcom
With more than 25 years’ experience working with enterprise management solutions, Rob’s charter is to strengthen Broadcom’s leadership in Value Stream Management, to deliver value to customers and partners across the APAC region.
Rob started his career as a planning engineer with a project management consultancy, before joining Capgemini in its Project Systems Division in London. Here he was responsible for implementing project management solutions for the ABT toolset in project and program office environments. He moved to Sydney in 1998 where he held APJ regional professional services roles for both ABT, Niku and CA Technologies. Rob has worked throughout the APJ region, directing major implementation projects, working with local teams and partner organizations.
Rob has been responsible for building and leading Sales, Pre-Sales, and Professional Services teams in the Project Management, Service Management, Agile, and Value Stream Management spaces.
Kris Lovejoy, Security & Resiliency Practice Leader, Kyndryl
Kris Lovejoy, an internationally recognized leader in the field of cybersecurity and privacy, is the Kyndryl Global Practice Leader, Security & Resiliency.
Kris came to Kyndryl from EY, one of the world’s leading professional services organizations, where she was the global consulting cybersecurity leader and was responsible for the organization’s multi-billion-dollar security practice.
Before Kyndryl, Kris was the founder and CEO of BluVector Inc., an AI-powered, sense-and-respond platform that was acquired by Comcast in 2019. She was also Global CISO and VP of IT Risk for IBM, and General Manager of IBM’s Security Services division where she led teams that built end-to-end security programs for IBM’s global clients. She also served as co-chair of IBM’s Women’s Diversity Committee.
Kris holds U.S. and EU patents in areas around risk management; was named The Consulting Report’s “Top Cybersecurity Leader of 2021” and has served as a member of the World Economic Forum’s cybersecurity committee.
Ashley Diffey, Head of Asia-Pacific and Japan, Ping Identity
Ashely is passionate about helping organisations protect critical identity information by choosing the right security measures to protect their businesses and demonstrate sound governance. His strong security and channel background spans 20 years in which he specialised in data, communication, online and hosted software at leading providers including F5 Networks and Venn Solutions.