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 will have 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, most recently serving as First Assistant Secretary, Cyber and Critical Technology Coordination Centre within the Department of Home Affairs. Mr Dowling has also served in a senior role in Australia’s Embassy in the United States.

Garry Bentlin, Group Director of Cybersecurity, Nine

Garry brings more than two decades of security experience to the company, honed in IT environments across critical infrastructure and energy, mining, financial services, airlines and transport, major sporting events, and government. His key strengths include developing enterprise cybersecurity visions and implementing programs of work to protect organisations’ data, people and systems. Garry was most recently a partner with PwC Australia, with previous roles including Chief Information Security Officer at TransGrid, national cybersecurity director at Deloitte, and various security positions at IBM. He is also currently a member of the executive advisory board for Cyber (EABC) at Deakin University.

Mallika Sathi, Vice President, Cyber & Intelligence and Digital Identity, Mastercard

Mallika has extensive experience in digital payments, banking, cybersecurity and innovation. She was appointed to her current role in 2018, to help businesses counter the growing threat of scams, online fraud and cyber attacks by leveraging cutting edge technologies. Prior to joining Mastercard, Mallika was the Head of Payments at PayPal. She has also held leadership roles in strategy, product management and commercial partnerships at Visa, Commonwealth Bank, Ernst & Young and Westpac. Mallika has 25 years experience across banking, eCommerce, management consulting and technology sectors.

 

Laura Christie, Government Chief Information & Digital Officer, ServiceNSW

Laura is an experience public sector leader having spent 15 years in roles in the NSW Government, Commonwealth Government and the not-for-profit sector. Her expertise and achievements were acknowledged in 2018 as the recipient of a Public Service Medal for outstanding public service to policy development and reform initiatives. Prior to leading Digital.NSW, Laura led Service Delivery for Service NSW, where she was responsible for the Service NSW shopfronts and Contact Centre (13 77 88), leading over 3500 staff. She joined Service NSW as Executive Director Partnerships where she was instrumental in providing Service NSW with dedicated cluster and agency partnership support. Before Service NSW, Laura was the founding Executive Director for Office of the Secretary at the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation and held various roles at the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Commonwealth Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

David Gee, Global Chief Information Security Officer, Macquarie Group

David has 20+ years experience as CIO and CISO. He joined Macquarie Group in early 2021 and is responsible for providing technology and cyber risk management globally for the Group. Previously serving as CISO for HSBC Asia Pacific, David drove the cybersecurity maturity uplift and led all aspects of cyber for HSBC.David has held CIO roles at MetLife Japan and Credit Union of Australia where he successfully led a major transformation of all systems and technology. In this role he won CIO of the Year for Financial Services in Australia. David is a digital industry thought leader and regular columnist with ITnews, CSO (Cyber), CIO Magazine and Computerworld, with more than 100+ articles published.

 

Sally Pfeiffer, First Assistant Secretary, Department of Home Affairs

Sally joined the Australian public service in 2002 before moving to the Department of Home Affairs (then Immigration) in 2007. She has had a varied career in the Department of Home Affairs including IT, major procurement and contract management, immigration status resolution, character and cancellations program, the refugee and humanitarian visa program and the Counter Foreign Interference Coordination Centre. In November 2023 Sally was appointed as First Assistant Secretary, Industry Partnerships and Infrastructure Policy (IPIP Division) within the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Group. IPIP Division is responsible for critical infrastructure security policy.  It provides policy advice to the Australian Government on critical infrastructure and transport security matters and manages the policy for, and the implementation of, the relevant legislative frameworks. 

 

Dr Ian Oppermann, Chief Data Scientist, Department of Customer Service

Dr Ian Oppermann is the NSW Government’s Chief Data Scientist working within the Department of Customer Service, and Industry Professor at University of Technology Sydney (UTS). He is a Digital Economy thought leader and a highly-cited researcher about big data, broadband enabled services and the impact of technology on society. Ian has 30 years’ experience in the ICT sector and has led organisations that deliver products and outcomes that have reached millions of people globally. He has held senior management roles in Europe and Australia.

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. 

Stephen Bennett, Global Chief Information Security Officer, Domino's Pizza Enterprizes Limited

Stephen has over 30 years of experience in the security and technology space, working with large enterprise organizations in various market sectors, such as Gaming, Law Enforcement, Healthcare, and Retail, to build and enhance their cybersecurity capabilities. Currently working as the Global Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) he plays an instrumental role in securing and maintaining the integrity of Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Limited (DPE), the largest master franchisee of the Domino’s brand outside the US, encompassing 12 regions across Asia Pacific and Europe and supporting over 3,700 stores. In the last financial year, DPE served a staggering 180 million pizzas, amounting to over seven pizzas sold every second. With 80% of all orders placed through their digital platform, Stephen’s work in safeguarding customer data and ensuring a seamless user experience is particularly crucial.