Mark Jones, MC
Mark Jones is a globally recognised strategist, author and former journalist who spent over 20 years shaping narratives as a journalist, editor and publisher across Australia and Silicon Valley –including as IT Editor at The Australian Financial Review and senior roles at IDG and Fairfax.
Ranil Boteju, Chief AI Officer, Commonwealth Bank
Ranil is the Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer at the Commonwealth Bank. His focus is on industrialising and scaling AI capabilities to deliver world-class customer experiences, improve productivity and support faster delivery of AI-driven solutions. Ranil has over 25 years’ of global experience transforming organisations and creating measurable value through data, analytics and AI. He has held executive and senior leadership roles across leading financial services and telecommunications organisations across the Asia Pacific region and in London, including Lloyds Banking Group, Vodafone, Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC. He brings deep expertise in building and leading large, multi disciplinary and geographically distributed teams, and in operating within agile, cross functional environments.
Lee Hickin, Executive Director, National AI Centre
Lee has over 30 years’ experience in the technology industry, having been in technical, sales and business development roles. Most recently he was the CTO for Microsoft ANZ and then lead the Asia region for Microsoft’s global Responsible AI team. Lee has worked across the UK, Asia, and Australia, before joining the Federal Government. In addition to his time at Microsoft, Lee led the Internet of Things team for Amazon Web Services in Asia Pacific, he was a CISSP security architect with RSA Security and worked at both Tivoli and IBM as a software engineer. During his time in industry, Lee has supported Governments around the world as an independent contributor; having been a member of the Singapore AI-Verify Board and a founding member of the NSW AI Assurance Committee.Today Lee leads the Australian National AI Centre (NAIC), with a mission to enable and support Australian Industry and society in its adoption of and acceleration through AI technology and services. He has a clear focus on the need for consistent and appropriate responsible safety mechanisms to support AI, balanced with the need to empower Australians with the confidence and trust in the positive and transformative potential of AI.Lee brings the importance of technical understanding combined with the need for clear and unambiguous language as we help shape a future where AI will be a powerful enabler of productivity, growth and society broadly.
Aurélie Jacquet, Expert on AI Classification & Risk, OECD; NSW Government AI Assurance Board
Aurélie is a senior cybersecurity and risk leader with extensive experience across financial services and critical infrastructure. She specialises in cyber strategy, resilience, and governance, with a strong focus on aligning security to business outcomes and regulatory expectations. Aurélie has led large-scale transformation initiatives, helping organisations strengthen their security posture while enabling innovation. She is known for her practical, business-first approach to managing cyber risk in increasingly complex and AI-driven environments.
Dr Tom Gao, Chief Technology & Digital Services Officer, City of Sydney
Tom is a seasoned digital and technology leader with deep experience across digital platforms and the Microsoft ecosystem, spanning both line management and large-scale transformation programs. He has led high performing teams in startup and enterprise environments, delivering complex, IT enabled change while building strong trust with executives and frontline stakeholders. In 2025, Tom was ranked among the Top 10 CIOs in Australia by CIO50 and recognised nationally as CIO of the Year by IDG, as well as CIO of Local Government of the Year by ITNews, reflecting his impact at both strategic and operational levels.
Andrew Friar, Chief Technology Officer, Macquarie University
Andrew is Chief Technology Officer at Macquarie University, where he is responsible for enterprise technology strategy, digital transformation, and the delivery of secure and scalable IT services that support teaching, research, and innovation. He has extensive experience across higher education and complex organisations, leading modernisation programs, cloud transformation, and the integration of emerging technologies to enhance student and staff experiences.
Devesh Maheshwari, Chief Technology Officer, Lendi Group
Devesh is Chief Technology Officer at Lendi Group, where he leads technology, product engineering, and platform innovation across one of Australia’s leading digital home loan marketplaces. He brings deep experience in building and scaling high-performance engineering organisations, with a focus on digital platforms, data-driven products, and delivering seamless customer experiences. Devesh is known for driving technology transformation in fast-growth environments and aligning technology strategy with business outcomes.
Alex Taylor, Global Head of Emerging Technology, QBE Ventures
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 – and has spoken before a wide range of audiences on the Horizon 1 to Horizon 3 innovation and disruption journey, and how to navigate the bridge between. 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.