Adam Spencer, Drawcard MC
A math genius, radio and television presenter, author and TEDx speaker whose talk attracted over two million views, Adam has interviewed bestselling authors, astronauts, CEOs, and CIOs of some of the world’s largest companies, winners of Nobel Prizes, and every Prime Minister on-stage since Gough Whitlam, among others.
Adam Spencer has been a breakfast radio announcer on Triple J and ABC Sydney, TV personality on everything from comedies Good News Week and The Glasshouse to weekly sports wrap The Back Page, and is a member of the Sleek Geeks Science Team with Dr Karl Kruszelnicki.
Brendan Dowling, Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology
Mr Dowling leads Australia’s foreign policy and international engagement on cyber and technology security issues. He had a key role in the development of Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy for 2023-2030, which will enhance our role as a trusted and influential global cyber leader. The strategy recognises that a whole-of-nation approach to cyber is required and that cyber affairs are an integral element of Australia’s foreign and strategic policy. Mr Dowling has had a distinguished career in cyber affairs, previously serving as First Assistant Secretary, Cyber and Critical Technology Coordination Centre within the Department of Home Affairs. He has also served in a senior role in Australia’s Embassy in the United States.
Brad Carr, Executive, Innovation & Partnerships, National Australia Bank
Brad Carr is an experienced leader in Digital Identity and Governance, having lead risk and control management and policy engagement for NAB’s Innovation, Digital, and Data and Analytics functions. One of Brad’s recent focus areas includes consumer-empowered data use and transmission, operating with Australia’s Consumer Data Right and the emerging digital identity ecosystem, and the skilling and employment challenges of the digital economy.
Brad was previously Managing Director of Digital Finance at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) in Washington, leading programs on digital identity, data policy, cloud, artificial intelligence and digital assets, including collaborations with the OpenID Foundation and in the IIF-Deloitte Realizing the Digital Promise series on digital transformation. Brad led IIF advocacy on Basel III and a global review of banks’ credit risk modelling practices, preceded by 15 years across credit, capital and portfolio management and managing client relationships.
Rachel Dixon, Victoria’s Privacy and Data Protection Deputy Commissioner
Rachel Dixon was appointed as the Privacy and Data Protection Deputy Commissioner on 28 November 2017 and was reappointed for a further five year term in November 2022.
Rachel has served in senior roles in Government and the private sector and has a wealth of experience in IT, telecommunications, big data, and biometrics.
Nigel Hedges, General Manager – IT Security Risk & Compliance (CISO), Chemist Warehouse
Nigel provides CISO-level leadership in an enterprise setting and enjoys strategy, program development, operations and building & developing an engaged, capable and resilient team.
Nigel has held his current role as Group Head of Cyber Security for Kmart and Target since January 2022, prior to this he was the Head of Information Security at CPA Australia.
Nigel is a Fellow of The Australian Information Security Association (FAISA) and Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (MAICD).
Shannon Jurkovic, CISO, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank | CSO30 Awards 2023
Shannon Jurkovic is Chief Information Security Officer and Practice Lead for the Information Security Practice of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank. Shannon joined the Bank in 2019 after 15 years in senior technology risk, cyber security and business resilience management consulting roles. She is a strong advocate for taking a holistic approach to cyber-resilience, one that encompasses culture, people, process, governance and culture, as well as technology.
Goran Stefkovski, Chief Technology Officer, Kogan
Goran Stefkovski is a leading technologist and business leader, serving as the Chief Technology Officer of the Kogan. com, one of Australia’s largest online retailers and five time winner of the ORIA’s customer’s choice award. Goran looks after the technology, data and security as well as product strategy and execution of the Kogan. com group – ensuring Kogan.com customers are experience the best digital shopping experience available.
Under his guidance, Kogan. com has made strides in innovation and customer experience. He engineered the online store, co-invented patented technologies, refined agile delivery processes and has driven adoption of personalisation, AI and learning throughout the business.
With a background in Law and in Engineering, Goran has been a speaker and panellist at many events on topics ranging from technology, drones and self driving cars through to business process and engineering best practices. He has also received the 2017 CIO of the Year award for Retail.
Maria Paz, Chief Technology Officer, Epworth Health | CIO50 2022, 2023
Maria Paz is a seasoned leader with over two decades of experience driving transformative business and technology initiatives across diverse sectors. Driven by values of integrity, excellence, and collaboration, Maria is passionate about leveraging emerging technologies and data to drive business transformation. She excels in aligning business and technology strategies to maximize value delivery and is particularly adept at managing change and innovation to enhance social and community outcomes.
Maria’s accomplishments have earned her recognition, including being ranked in the top 25 of Australia’s CIO50 in 2022 and 2023. Her achievements include the development and deployment of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform, delivering substantial cost savings, and driving significant improvements in governance, security, and data analytics capabilities. Maria’s leadership has also facilitated research partnerships to evaluate emerging technologies’ effectiveness in diverse care settings, securing substantial government funding in the process.
Charles Gillman, CISO, SuperChoice | CSO30 Awards 2023
With 20 years of experience in Information Security, Charles is a seasoned expert in security consulting, ethical hacking, cybercrime research, security architecture, security operations, and security leadership. His proven track record in building and leading Information Security teams at two of Australia’s major banks, along with his experience in CISO roles in the Financial Services, Cloud & Managed Services space, provides him with a comprehensive understanding of the current security landscape and the ability to implement practical solutions to address those threats.
Sascha Thiel, Executive Tribe Lead, Head of Business Platform Services & Authentication, ANZ Bank
Sascha, a highly accomplished digital and technology executive in the financial services sector, currently serves as Executive, Head of Business Platform Services. Leading a team of 300, her focus is on ensuring operational efficiency and delivering secure digital solutions. Sascha excels in strategic business planning, technology strategy, and adeptly navigating digital transformations within regulated environments. In her previous role, Sascha played a pivotal role in reshaping customer authentication strategies. With a robust background in senior management at ANZ, she led technology teams across corporate and commercial banking to global digital. Her achievements include initiating and delivering end-to-end technology services, crafting digital strategies, and successfully executing enterprise mobility solutions. Beyond her technical proficiency, Sascha is a passionate advocate for fostering growth and cultivating high-performing teams, making her a standout leader in the realm of access and identity within the financial services industry.
Jorge Silveira, Chief Digital Health Officer, Virtus Health
Jorge Silveira was named CIO/CDO of the Year 2023 for both the APAC and A/NZ regions | Top50 CIO in 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020, and is a true believer that technology and people are key enablers to assist us re-inventing ourselves and improve ways we work. He has supported the implementation of various digital technology projects in Australia and overseas, including the first e-Business portal for the automobile industry in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East for General Motors; the implementation of the Victorian-first digital electrocardiogram (ECG) in regional Victoria and also introduced cutting-edge information security technology in Australia, leading to the update of the Australian Federal Government Information Security Manual (ISM). He was also the chair of the Victorian Health Sector CIO Cybersecurity Working Group within the DHHS and the deputy chair for its ICT Operations and Assurance Working Group, defining standards and programs to improve technology and cybersecurity maturity for the health sector. As a qualified auditor, he has conducted a number of ICT governance, operations and security reviews for various health services throughout his career.
Marion Hemphill, General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer, Australian Red Cross Lifeblood
Marion Hemphill is the General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer of Australian Red Cross Lifeblood. At Lifeblood Marion was a key part of the team responding to Lifeblood’s 2016 privacy breach which needed to keep the public informed while maintaining the trust of blood donors Australia-wide. Marion is a Vincent Fairfax Fellow in Ethical Leadership and a director of MCM.
Dr. Rebecca Wynn [USA], Top CISO to Watch 2023; Threat Watch Show Host
Dr. Rebecca Wynn is among the world’s top CSOs and Risk and Compliance practitioners and visionaries. Rebecca has been recently awarded Top CISO to Watch in 2023 [Cyber Express], Top Inspirational Cybersecurity Leader 2021 [Cyber Magazine], Who’s Who in Cybersecurity 2021 [Cyber News], and Top 100 Tech Women 2021 [Technology Magazine]. She is lauded as a game-changer who is ahead of the curve when developing and enforcing cybersecurity and privacy best practices and policies for Fortune 100 companies. Ranking within the top 1% views on LinkedIn, she is renowned for being a gifted polymath, having deep understanding of current cyber security challenges and privacy issues. She has a proven track record of taking companies to the next level of excellence in across many industries in both public and private sector. An accomplished author, Dr Wynn is also the recipient of notable awards including SC Magazine’s List of “Women in IT Security – Top Influencers for 2018, 2018 Top 10 Women in Cybersecurity (Cyber Research Data Bank), Women in Technology Business Role Model of the Year and more than 10 United States Department of Defense certificates of achievement. She also owns 4 copyrights and 70-plus professional articles and presentations on cybersecurity, cyber ethics, technology governance, security programs, privacy, risk mitigation, and healthcare security, among other topics.
Samuel Irvine Casey, Principal Consultant (Data Science, Machine Learning & AI), Mantel Group
Samuel is a highly experienced leader, consultant and entrepreneur who has co-founded and led the strategy and growth of two successful machine learning startups (Max Kelsen & otso.ai). He combines a deep technical understanding of machine learning with strong consulting and stakeholder management skills to bridge the gap between technical and business stakeholders during pre-sales and delivery of machine learning engagements. Actively keeps across rapid developments in AI and ML and the key challenges facing institutions in Australia such as Generative AI, Adversarial AI and Ethical AI.
Samuel combines a diverse background in mathematics, law and finance to bring a unique way of thinking to complex problems. Samuel is considered to be a domain expert in the implementation of machine learning solutions for enterprise and government, and is a regular speaker at both artificial intelligence meetups and national and international conferences.
David Fairman, CIO & CSO APAC, Netskope | Top 50 Australian Professionals of the Top 10 CISOs to Know
David Fairman is an experienced CIO/CSO/CISO, strategic advisor, investor and coach. David has extensive experience in the global financial services sector. David is currently the APAC CIO for Netskope helping customers manage their digital and cyber risk programs in addition to working across industry with the aim of making the digital economy a safer place to do business. Furthermore, David is a Partner and CISO-in residence at SixThirty Ventures, driving innovation and helping build great technology companies. Previously, David was the Chief Security Officer (CSO) at NAB owning all aspects of Physical Security, Fraud, Investigations, and Cyber Security. Prior to NAB, he was the Group Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the Royal Bank of Canada. David has been a senior leader at JP Morgan Chase and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
David holds a number of positions on boards of directors for various cyber and fraud tech companies and was a founding member of the Security Advisor Alliance, and the Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange. During his tenure at NAB, David was the Chair for the Board of Directors for the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange and spear headed the formation of a taskforce in partnership with the Australian Government to detect and disrupt cyber-crime impacting Australia. Recently, David has been recognized as one of the Top 50 Australian Professionals, named as one of the Top 10 CISOs to Know, and recognized as a thought leader as profiled by K-Logix. David co-authored Cyber Risk (2016), co-edited Fintech: Growth and Deregulation (2018), and was the Technical Editor for Zero Trust Journey Across the Digital Estate (2022).
Sarah Sloan, Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy, ANZ, Palo Alto Networks
At Palo Alto Networks, Sarah advises the company’s leadership on a range of cyber and technology policy issues, builds strategic relationships across all tiers of Government and acts as a trusted private sector adviser to Government. Prior to her roles in the private sector, Sarah spent 10+ years working in Government, predominantly in cybercrime and cybersecurity. She has a proven track record of delivering results at the operational and strategic levels of government and is passionate about improving Australia and New Zealand’s cyber security posture.
Marc Beder, General Manager, APAC, 11:11 Systems
Marc Beder is the General Manager, APAC at 11:11 Systems – a global managed infrastructure solutions provider. He is responsible for leading the region across all business activities including Sales, Channel, Support and Service Delivery. Marc and the APAC team are focused on driving success in the Cloud for our partners and customers alike.
Marc is a seasoned technology leader, highly motivated and driven to bring people together with the goal of creating leading solutions and services for customers. His 20-year career spans multiple facets of technology organisations, including strategy, architecture, product development, project and service delivery, commercial management and more.
Ciaran Finnegan, Practice Lead, Cyber Security, Mantel Group
Ciaran is an information security specialist with a strong consulting and business background in financial services from technology startups through to large enterprise. He enjoy sworking with disruptive technologies, currently focusing on continuous controls assurance, cloud security, web3 security and the use of language models to improve application security outcomes.
Cam Maxwell, Executive Security Advisor, AWS Global Services Security, AWS
Cam is an Executive Security Advisor with AWS, with over 10 years as an Amazonian and 15 years in the industry leading consulting and operational teams. He has guided hundreds of organisations in the region across public and commercial sectors through secure cloud adoption journeys. As a bridge between the business and technology domains he drives customer business outcomes by working closely with customers to shape their cloud security strategy, roadmaps and programs, with a particular focus on regulated and compliant workloads.