Agenda
9.00am – 9.10am
Welcome by MC Extraordinaire: Adam Spencer, Media Provocateur, Math Genius, TED Speaker, Author
9.10am – 9.45am
THE CHIEFS: CXO Leaders Panel
- AI Exposing the Attack Surface – how frontier models such as Anthropic Mythos are accelerating vulnerability discovery and reconnaissance, and what this means for patching, disclosure, and defensive readiness
- Autonomous Threats, Autonomous Defence – where AI-assisted defence is delivering real leverage today (SOC, threat intel, vulnerability management), and how to operate at machine speed without losing control
- From Assistive AI to Agentic Risk – what changes when AI systems take action across environments, and how CISOs maintain visibility, accountability, and governance beyond the “black box”
- Sovereign AI & Control Planes – balancing global AI capability with data sovereignty, regulatory obligations, and the need for resilient, locally governed infrastructure
- The Risk Posture Blueprint – the urgent priorities CISOs must present to their board and senior leadership team to drive increased cyber security investment
Panellists:
- Dan Maslin, Group Chief Information Security Officer, Monash University
- Nigel Hedges, Chief Information Security Officer, Chemist Warehouse
- Simon Kriss, Chief Executive Officer, Sovereign Australia AI
- Ashley Diffey, Vice President ANZ, Ping Identity
9.45am – 10.00am
Fireside Chat: Building Trusted AI: Securing the Foundations for Agentic Systems Jamie Humphrey, General Manager, Compute, Storage Platforms and Solutions, Dell Technologies
10.00am – 10.15am
Keynote Address: Cyber Strategy as Decision Making: Navigating Risk and Choice in a Fragmented World
John Ellis, Global Head of Security Trust & Influence, QBE Insurance
10.15am – 10.30am
Fireside Chat: Is AI our Defender or our Adversary? How CISOs Must Find the Balance
Nathan Smith, Head of Security APJC, Splunk
10.30am – 11.15am
Morning Tea
11.15am – 11.45am
THE STAND OUTS: Best Use Cases Panel
- AI on Offence – how generative AI is scaling phishing, vulnerability discovery, and exploitation, and what defenders are seeing in real-world attacks
- AI in Production – where AI is delivering measurable value across coding, SOC, and vulnerability management – and where it’s introducing new risk and false confidence
- Attack Surface Explosion – securing assets, identities, and exposure across cloud, SaaS, APIs, and AI systems, and what actually works at scale
- Agents Out of Control – governing non-human identity, shadow AI, and autonomous agents before they become unmanaged attack vectors
Panellists:
- Varun Acharya, Chief Information Security Officer, Healthscope
- Guy Lupo, PhD Research Pioneer, AI/ML Security, Swinburne University of Technology
- Farina Riaz, Research Scientist, CSIRO
- Paul Leitao, Offensive Security Leader, AC3
11.45am – 12.00pm
Fireside Chat with Richard Davies, Regional Lead APAC, Airia
12.00pm – 12.15pm
Fireside Chat: Managing the cybersecurity AI trifecta – Steps for upskilling the workforce in an agentic world
Dr James Stanger, Chief Technology Evangelist, CompTIA
12.15pm – 12.45pm
THE MODERN SECURITY LEADER – AI, Influence and Enterprise Impact
- Leading in the Age of AI Acceleration – how CISOs are redefining leadership, decision-making and accountability as AI compresses response times and expands the scale of cyber risk
- From Risk to Board Influence – translating cyber exposure into financial impact, resilience and investment priorities, and what actually drives action at board level beyond traditional security reporting
- Breaking the Burnout Cycle – confronting the mental health and sustainability challenge in cyber teams, and rethinking the “hero culture” to enable resilient, high-performing security organisations
- Future Security Capability Shift – how AI is reshaping cyber skills, reducing cognitive load in operations, and redefining what future-ready security teams and CISOs need to look like
Panellists:
- Suma Shivalingaiah, Chief Information Officer, Eastern Health
- Callum Nelson, Chief Information Security Officer, EBOS Group
- Cameron Martin, Regional Lead, Engineering APJ, Chainguard
12.45pm – 1.00pm
Fireside Chat: From Noise to Confidence: Becoming AI-Powered, Breach-Ready and Board-Ready
Ajay Biyani, Senior Vice President – APJ, Securonix
1.00pm – 2.00pm
Lunch
2.00pm – 2.30pm
SCAMS, DEEPFAKES AND MISINFORMATION: Securing Truth in the Age of AI
- Synthetic Trust Breakdown – redefining what “trusted interaction” means when voice, video and identity can be convincingly fabricated in real time
- Identity Under Siege – evolving IAM from static access control to continuous, adaptive verification to counter deepfakes, synthetic identities and AI-driven impersonation
- From Detection to Intervention – where AI is delivering real impact today in identifying scams and misinformation, and how organisations are closing the gap between detection and enforcement
- Building Resilient Human + Digital Defences – embedding anti-fraud behaviours and system-level controls into everyday workflows to strengthen resilience without creating fatigue
Panellists:
- Maria Paz, Chief Technology Officer, Epworth Healthcare
- Crispin Blackall, Chief Information & Technology Officer, VicRoads
- Mathew Graham, APAC Chief Security Officer, Okta
2.30pm – 2.45pm
Fireside Chat: Quantum Disruption – Preparing Cyber Security for the Post-Quantum Era
Daswin de Silva, Professor of AI and Analytics, La Trobe University
2.45pm – 2.50pm
Beach balls, mystery prizes and your chance to win
2.50pm – 3.30pm
INDUSTRY VOICE: Audience Questions Answered
Pose your burning cyber questions on the registration form and have them answered live from industry experts in this dynamic Q&A session.
Key topics to be discussed include:
- AI Risk & Shadow AI – controlling sprawl without killing innovation
- Fraud & Scam Prevention – identity assurance and biometric risk
- Board Reporting & Risk Quantification – KPIs that actually resonate
- Incident Response Readiness – testing before crisis hits
- Post-Quantum Strategy – practical migration pathways
Panellists:
- Vijay Narayan, Chief Information Security Officer, Mercy Health
- Milad Kruze, Executive General Manager – IT, The Salvation Army
- James Ng, Chief Information Security Officer, Insignia Financial
3.30pm – 4.30pm
Prizes Giveaway, Canapes, Music & Networking!