Stela Solar, Director, National Artificial Intelligence Centre, CSIRO
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.
With most recent experience as Global Director of AI Solutions Sales and Strategy at Microsoft, Stela’s experiences across business development, strategy, ecosystem development, marketing and product management inform her insights surrounding cross-organisational factors affecting an organisation’s ability to capture an advantage.
Stela has returned to Australia after seven years in the US to join CSIRO and lead the National AI Centre.
Steve Sammartino, Futurist, TV host Channel 9
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.
Dan Jermyn, Chief Decision Scientist, Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Dan is an experienced leader in both technology and analytics, with an established record of building award-winning, global teams in digital, big data and customer decisioning. Dan joined the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in 2017, where he has responsibility for ensuring they harness specialisms in AI, data science, experimentation, and behavioural economics to drive decisions that help improve the financial wellbeing of CBA’s customers and communities.
After gaining master’s degrees from both Oxford University and Cardiff University, Dan first plied his trade as a strategy consultant and then Head of Analytics for an agency in the UK, where he led engagements with a host of major corporate and governmental organizations. He followed this up by co-founding a successful digital technology startup. Dan joined CBA from the Royal Bank of Scotland, where he held various roles including Head of Digital Analytics and Head of Big Data & Innovation.
Dr Rachna Gandhi (Phd), Global Chief Digital & Data Officer, Ramsay Health
Rachna is an experienced multi-industry, ASX 30 and public sector executive. She has held roles across strategy, operations and digital, and has a track record in delivering transformations that achieve world class customer experience and growth in highly regulated and complex environments.
In her current role as Group Chief Digital and Data Officer at Ramsay, Rachna leads the global digital and data agenda as well as the Australian digital and data transformation. She is responsible for progressing the global digital strategy and culture to enable Ramsay’s vision to be a patient centric, digitally enabled, and integrated healthcare provider of the future.
Rachna career includes several senior executive positions across Westpac and Suncorp. Her experience also extends to time in the public sector as CEO of Service NSW which radically transformed government service delivery. Service NSW is regarded as best practice in customer centric service and digital transformation.
Rachna has a Bachelor of Business and Doctor of Philosophy, as well as qualifications in Leadership, and Leading Strategic Transformations and Culture Renewal from Stanford University and Harvard University. She is a member of CEW and AICD.
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.
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.
Pooyan Asgari, Chief Data Officer, Domain Group
As Chief Data officer, Pooyan oversees Data, Analytics, BI and AI for Domain group, Pooyan has over 20 years’ experience in the Business Intelligence, Data Science, Advanced Analytics and Machine Learning fields.
Pooyan’s team is dedicated to providing seamless access to data and analytics across the business and supports teams to solve their complex problems, as well as providing cutting edge AI and BI solutions to internal and external stakeholders.
Pooyan is passionate about what data can bring to help a customer-centric organization to get a ‘proper’ understanding of micro details of its customer needs.
Greg Wells, Chief Executive Officer, Service NSW
Greg is a leader who is passionate about services and technology that enable genuine customer impact and foster collaboration. He has more than 20 years of experience in delivering major programs and strategic development that drive government reform and better customer outcomes, and continue to transform NSW into a global leader.
Greg was the former NSW Government Chief Information and Digital Officer and Deputy Secretary, Digital.NSW and has been nominated in the Top 3 CIOs of CIO50 in 2022. Under his leadership, the NSW state government has undergone a radical transformation in terms of how it conceives, funds and deploys digital solutions servicing the state’s citizens. A year after taking on the role in 2018, Wells and his team presided over the introduction of the Digital Restart Fund.
Robert Wilson, Group Chief Technology Officer, Bank of Queensland
A technologist and a banker, Rob has more than 30 years of global experience working in both financial services and technology, as well in start-ups. A leader of innovation and both digital, and data and core transformations, Rob has a strong track record in driving strategic transformation programs. Rob is responsible for driving and developing the technology strategy, architecture and execution that supports the Group’s ambitious digital transformation and the future data driven growth agenda.
Mark Cruth, Modern Work Coach, Atlassian (USA)
Focused on practice over theory, Mark is a pragmatic modern work expert who spends his days working with organizations to unleash their potential. His mission; inject modern ways of working, a transformation mindset, and the power of expert storytelling into everything he does.
Mark is Atlassian’s resident modern work coach, bringing over a decade of experience experimenting with modern work practices and helping people, teams, and organizations transform at places like Boeing, Nordstrom, Charles Schwab, and Rocket Mortgage.
Memo Hayek, Chief Information Officer, Nine
Memo is an exceptional technology leader with a proven track record in driving digital transformation and innovation in large organisations. A highly experienced technologist, with more than 30 years’ industry experience, Memo has thrived in some of the most complex environments, both domestically and globally. In her role as Chief Information & Technology Officer at Nine, Memo is responsible for the vision, strategy, planning and delivery of technology across the Nine group.
Dan Chesterman, Group Executive, Technology and Data, ASX
In this role, Dan is charged with delivering a comprehensive suite of technology and data solutions to meet the evolving needs of ASX’s internal and external customers. He is responsible for ASX’s data centre and connectivity business; the market data and analytics products (including DataSphere); ASX’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform and solutions business (DLT Solutions); and in parallel, remains accountable for the core technology functions of ASX including infrastructure, architecture, engineering, testing and systems integration.
Dan has extensive domestic and international financial services experience and familiarity with technology and data businesses from strategy, infrastructure, delivery, regulatory, operational and customer perspectives.
Tim Fung, Founder and CEO, Airtasker
Tim is Founder and CEO of Airtasker, Australia’s no. 1 marketplace for local services, connecting people who need work done with people who want to work. He is also a founder and director of Tank Stream Labs – a co-working space and entrepreneurial community located in the heart of Sydney CBD. Prior to starting Airtasker, Tim was a founding team member and investor in mobile startup amaysim, playing a key role in strategy and one of Australia’s largest venture capital raisings in recent years. He is a founder and director of several web startups, including custom shirt designer Joe Button, and motorsport event group, Circuit Club.
Amy Shi-Nash, Chief Analytics and Data Officer, Tabcorp
Recognised as a global leader in data-driven innovation, Amy has a unique mix of leadership skills, commercial acumen, scientific depth, and industry know-how. Amy is currently the Chief Analytics and Data Officer at TabCorp, leading its data analytics strategy and execution, empowering business transformation and customer obsession. Prior to this Amy held various leadership positions, including Chief Data Scientist at NAB, Global Head of Analytics and Data Science at HSBC, General Manager of Group Data Science at CBA, and the Founding member and Chief Data Scientist at DataSpark, Singtel’s pioneering data monetization spin-off. Amy has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate for her leadership and contributions in the field of data science, and named as one of the global top 100 innovators in data and analytics in 2021 and 2022.
David Walker, Group Chief Technology Officer, Westpac
David Walker joined as Westpac Group’s Chief Technology Officer in 2019. David commenced his technology career in 1987 as an engineer, coding systems for various Australian based companies. After a decade of evolving his software engineering craft, David founded a consultancy specialising in the use of data, in what is now known as data science. For the last 15 years, David has been in large, complex organisations. He worked in ANZ across a number of executive roles, in both Australia and Singapore. It was in Singapore where David subsequently joined DBS, which transformed from a traditional bricks and mortar bank to be recognised as the Best Bank in the World and the Best Digital Bank in the World by Euromoney.
Susan Travis, Head of Research, Tech Council of Australia
Susan leads the Tech Council’s research program. She is an economist with experience across the public and private sectors. At the Tech Council, Susan leads the work on major reports such as ‘Shots on Goal’ and ongoing initiatives including the official tech jobs numbers in partnership with the Australian Government.
Angela Donohoe, Chief Information Officer, Department of Enterprise, Investment and Trade
A CIO with a passion for innovation, Angela ranked within Australia’s top CIOs by CIO Magazine in 2020 and is a sought-after speaker on emerging technology and discovering value for business. Previously, Angela was Group CIO at BPAY where she was responsible for leading the Group’s successful technology transformation and played a key role in delivery of new digital products including real-time payments and digital identity solutions. Angela has more than 25 years of experience in senior technology leadership roles at organisations including Revenue NSW, Cuscal, Societe Generale, and Bank of New York. Angela is a Fellow of CPA Australia and FINSIA, is a director of a not-for-profit childcare organisation, is a mentor to women pursuing STEM careers, and serves on a range of technology advisory boards.
Angela Logothetis, Group Owner for Edge and Cloud, Telstra
Angela leads Telstra’s Edge and Cloud product and technology strategy and roadmap, working with an ecosystem of partners to create and deliver edge and cloud products and solutions for all Telstra’s customers. Before joining Telstra, Angela was the CTO of Amdocs Open Network and a non-executive board director for EXFO. She has more than 20 years’ experience in the telecommunications and technology industry having worked with major software vendors and service providers across the globe. She is a board advisor to the 5G Open Innovation Lab, a growth advisor to digital and AI startups, and a mentor for women in technology.
Dr Elea Wurth, Trustworthy AI Partner, Risk Advisory, Deloitte Australia
Elea is the lead Trustworthy AI partner for Deloitte Risk Advisory. She works with Australia’s largest institutions to achieve ethical, lawful and technically robust AI and automation. Elea has 20 years’ experience in enterprise advanced analytics and automation with 16 years leading risk analytics and automation programs in federal government.
Ed Knott, VP Australia & New Zealand, DocuSign
Ed is the Area Vice President for ANZ at DocuSign. Ed leads all aspects of the Sales and GTM functions and is passionate about technology transformation and partnering with customers to deliver seamless digital experiences. Ed brings over 20 years of experience in technology and leadership to his current role at DocuSign. Prior to this Ed was Head of Sales at Google Cloud, a business he started back in 2014 and held multiple executive leadership roles at Oracle. Ed has been recognised for his customer focus and is an advocate for equality in the workplace, having recently judged the Gender Equality Awards.
Sandeep Srinivasan, Senior Vice President & Business Head APAC, Persistent Systems
Sandeep Srinivasan is an accomplished Business Leader with over 18 years of experience. He excels in building inclusive teams and leveraging modern technologies for Digital Transformation in Global 2000 Enterprises. Sandeep is a Technical SME and Architect for digital solutions, known for his advocacy of Agile methodologies and innovative approaches. His expertise spans various tech domains, including hyperscale cloud platforms like GCP and Azure, making him a visionary in the field.
Ella Grier, AI Specialist, Google Cloud
Ella Grier is an AI Specialist at Google Cloud. She works directly with Australia’s Digital Native companies on designing and implementing their AI principles, strategies, and roadmaps.
Ella’s background is in Software Engineering and AI academic research at the University of Sydney. At Google, she combines these two disciplines to help technology companies to think differently about how they are leveraging AI, architecting their ML Operations and considering ethical AI frameworks.
Justin Tauber, Senior Director, Strategic Innovation, Salesforce A/NZ; Responsible AI at Scale, CSIRO National AI Centre
Justin Tauber is an award winning strategic designer with 20 years of experience bringing complex, values-driven transformations to life in Europe and Australia, on top of a background in Philosophy and Cognitive Science. He is a Vincent Fairfax Foundation Ethical Leadership Fellow and a member of CSIRO’s National AI Centre Think Tank on Responsible AI. Justin runs Ignite – an innovation design team for Salesforce’s most ambitious customers – in Australia and New Zealand.
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.
Ridhav Mahajan, CTO & Head of HPE Ezmeral APAC, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Ridhav heads the software business unit (Ezmeral) at HPE – where he focuses on assisting customers on their strategic Data and AI Initiatives, helping them to transform digitally. He actively provides technology, strategy and thought leadership for customers across Banking, Telecommunications and Public Sector domain. He has also been actively driving education and evangelization of next generation data platforms particularly around AI, Kubernetes, GPU Accelerated Computing and Big Data Platforms. Prior to joining HPE Ezmeral, Ridhav held various senior technology leadership roles at Kinetica, MapR, SoftwareAG & Terracotta – where he spent the majority of his time helping customers transform their business with Data and AI technologies.
Jonathan Staff, Head of Private Cloud, Macquarie Technology Group
Jonathan is an experienced Senior Technology Business leader with a passion for helping people leverage technology to solve problems. He is currently the Head of Private Cloud for Macquarie Technology Group’s Cloud Business Unit where he connects Australian enterprises with the technological solutions they need to stay ahead in today’s digital first world.
Skilled in IT Strategy, Complex Solution Sales and Leadership, Jonathan has helped companies in Australia’s most critical industries solidify their technology strategy and secure their most valuable resource, their data. This includes providing them with tailored, sovereign colocation services, cloud and hybrid IT services and cyber security services.
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. 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.