CIO Day | Melbourne
CIOs at the Edge of AI, Accountability, and a Broken Playbook
Hosted by Factor
- 180 attendees
- 6 hours
Overview
In mid-2025, the global tech landscape is splintering fast. U.S.–China tensions have escalated, AI regulation is lagging behind adoption, and digital sovereignty has shifted from policy buzzword to operational reality.
Australian CIOs are being forced to rethink their dependencies—on hyperscalers, global SaaS platforms, offshore development, and supply chains that no longer look dependable.
This event is a candid exploration of what it means to lead when the old playbooks—monocloud strategies, offshoring, centralisation—are now strategic liabilities.
From geopolitical instability to increased personal liability for outages and breaches, enterprise tech leaders must now decide: what to divest from, what to take control of, and what must be defended at all costs.
And as cyber threats continue to exploit internal sprawl and misconfiguration, lateral movement has become the default breach path—making containment, visibility, and segmentation critical to survival, not just security.
This event brings together Australia’s top CIOs and IT executives for an unfiltered conversation on resilience, autonomy, and reinvention in a world where control is everything and compromise is no longer optional.
What we will cover
- Customer Experience Exploring strategies to elevate customer interactions, personalisation, and engagement, ensuring competitive differentiation and loyalty.
- Operational Productivity Investigating ways to streamline processes and optimise internal operations, reducing inefficiencies and improving overall output.
- Enterprise Agility Focusing on building agility and resilience into business operations to quickly respond to market shifts, disruptions, and emerging opportunities.
- Digital Acceleration Exploring how to accelerate digital transformation efforts to drive growth and adapt to new market demands.
- Cybersecurity Priority Emphasising proactive approaches to cybersecurity, integrating security measures into projects from inception to minimise risk.
- Cloud Sovereignty Discussing the growing need for digital sovereignty, reducing reliance on U.S.-centric cloud platforms, and how Australian CIOs are balancing cost, control, and compliance in a fragmented tech landscape.
- Geopolitics & Supply Chains Addressing how shifting global power dynamics, tariffs, and trade tensions are reshaping the tech supply chain, and how CIOs can mitigate risks while ensuring operational continuity.
- ESG Goals Investigating how CIOs can support organisational sustainability efforts, aligning IT with environmental and social governance (ESG) metrics.
- Threat Containment Exploring how organisations are using microsegmentation to limit lateral movement, reduce breach impact, and strengthen zero trust security.
- Executive Partnerships Exploring the evolving role of CIOs as strategic partners within the executive team, driving cross-functional collaboration and innovation.
- Data Analytics Exploring how data-driven insights can guide strategic decisions and improve business outcomes across departments.
- AI & Productivity Exploring AI's role in optimising business processes, from predictive analytics to automating routine workflows.
Agenda
- Registration & Welcome Coffee(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session)
- Welcome Address & Introduction(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session)
- Fast Tracking Transformation with the Digital Sprint and Insights by Factor(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session) In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, leading companies are accelerating their digital transformation efforts to maintain competitiveness and meet changing customer expectations. For instance, a mid-tier mining company in Australia invested in AI and machine learning to build digital twins for its milling operations, enhancing efficiency and reducing costs. However, many organisations have captured less value than expected from their digital initiatives, with only 31% of anticipated revenue lift and 25% of expected cost savings realised. Discussion Points: Balancing Speed and Stability in Digital Initiatives Understanding the Costs of Inaction in a Fast-Paced Tech Environment Identifying Common Pitfalls in Transformation Efforts and How to Avoid Them
- Leadership in Times of Uncertainty: Lessons from the National Stage(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session) [Fireside Chat] In an era marked by rapid technological disruption and intensifying global instability, CIOs are expected to lead far beyond the IT function. This keynote invites one of Australia’s most seasoned national leaders, The Hon. John Howard, to reflect on how to lead through profound uncertainty—drawing lessons from the national stage that are deeply relevant to enterprise leadership today. Mr. Howard will explore the global political dynamics reshaping the world, how these forces impact Australia’s strategic position, and what today’s corporate leaders can learn from decision-making at the highest levels of public life. Discussion Points: Geopolitical Volatility and the Return of Strategic Competition : How rising tensions between global powers such as the US, China, Russia, are redrawing alliances, shifting global norms, and challenging the stability of liberal democracies. Australia’s Strategic Position in an Uncertain World : What these global shifts mean for Australia’s national priorities: from economic resilience and defence, to data sovereignty and technological independence. Leadership Under Pressure: What National Decision-Making Can Teach CIOs : How to make clear, trusted decisions in the absence of certainty balancing risk, trust, and long-term vision. What CIOs can take from political leadership during reform, crisis, and global change.
- Rebuilding the Digital Backbone: Agile, Secure, and AI-Ready(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session) As boards demand transformation with zero tolerance for failure, the CIO's focus is shifting from strategy to execution. This session explores how Australia’s enterprise leaders are modernising core infrastructure to thrive in a volatile, AI-driven world—without compromising speed, control, or resilience. Discussion Points: Designing “containable” infrastructure to limit the impact of failures, breaches, or outages. Rethinking the network as a real-time control plane for smarter, faster decisions. Embedding automation, segmentation, and observability for quicker recovery and AI-enabled responses. Practical strategies for modernising infrastructure without full rip-and-replace overhauls.
- The Collective Enterprise: C-Suite Collaboration Amid Global Megatrends and Trade Disruption(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session) Join a dynamic cross-functional C-Suite panel as they unpack how collaborative leadership is vital in responding to today’s global megatrends—and how external forces like tariffs are reshaping the landscape for Australian companies. Going beyond the buzzwords of fusion teams, this conversation will spotlight how partnerships among top executives can help organisations navigate geopolitical shifts, trade policy changes, and economic volatility. From tariffs impacting supply chains to regulatory uncertainty across markets, discover how integrated C-Suite strategies are key to building resilience, agility, and competitive strength. Discussion Points: Harnessing diverse executive insights to confront global disruptions and protectionist trade measures. Adapting business frameworks to navigate governance, technological, and economic shifts—including the impact of tariffs and trade barriers. Aligning cross-functional leadership to innovate, manage risk, and sustain growth in a shifting international market.
- Reduce Risk and Cut Costs Through Simplification and Standardisation—Until Data and AI Changed the Game(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session) As IT executives and practitioners, we've consistently pursued simplification through technology rationalisation—consolidating similar functionalities into fewer applications. We've also worked to streamline our strategic vendor and partner landscape to maximise value for our spend - fewer apps, fewer vendors. But with the rise of AI, are we now facing a shift that challenges this very strategic imperative? AI is transforming our personal lives in ways we couldn't have imagined just a few years ago. It's accelerating business innovation, enabling faster time to market, and delivering competitive advantages. But amid the rapid evolution and intense drive to adopt AI, what impact is it having on our underlying technology ecosystem? Is AI truly driving simplification—or is it introducing a new level of complexity we’ve never encountered before? Discussion Points: • How should we govern AI? Are traditional governance frameworks and guardrails still fit for purpose in today’s AI-driven landscape? • With no single, unified AI solution able to cover all use cases , are we inadvertently increasing complexity by adopting multiple AI tools and approaches? • Data, data, data —bad data in means bad outcomes out. How can we effectively manage and control the explosion of data now powering multiple AI models?
- Morning Tea & Networking(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session)
- From IT Leader to Strategic Partner The evolving role of CIOs in shaping enterprise direction and cross-functional collaboration.(CIO Partnership) Discussion Points: Navigating the shift from service delivery to business co-creation Building trust and alignment with C-suite peers Driving innovation through shared accountability
- Resilience as a Competitive Advantage Embedding adaptability into business operations for rapid response and innovation.(Enterprise Agility) Discussion Points: Accelerating time-to-market with agile practices Enabling real-time pivots with modular IT infrastructure Building resilience into supply chains and services
- Security as an Enabler, not a Bottleneck Limiting attacker movement, enforcing Zero Trust, and boosting visibility across hybrid environments.(Operational Productivity) Discussion Points: Redefining productivity with embedded security Implementing practical Zero Trust segmentation Balancing access, usability, and threat mitigation
- Reclaiming IT Capacity: How CIOs Are Automating the Mundane and Accelerate What Matters(AI & Productivity) Discussion Points: Identifying low-value tasks suitable for AI automation Reshaping IT teams around high-impact work Measuring ROI from AI-driven productivity initiatives
- Sustainable Tech Leadership How CIOs are aligning IT operations with environmental and social governance metrics.(ESG Goals) Discussion Points: Embedding ESG into IT sourcing, infrastructure, and strategy Tracking and reporting ESG-aligned technology outcomes Partnering with sustainability leads to drive impact
- From Bottlenecks to Breakthroughs How CIOs are using workflow automation to unclog operations—without writing code.(Low Code & Organisational Agility) Discussion Points: Identifying key bottlenecks ripe for low-code automation Empowering business users to create their own solutions Driving agility without compromising governance
- Reset & Scale: The New Automation Playbook for CIOs(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session) Today’s CIOs aren’t just technologists - they’re the architects of resilience, innovation, and growth. However, in the race to adopt AI and automation, many organisations are unintentionally compounding complexity rather than solving it. In this session, Nintex unpacks what “great” looks like for modern CIOs navigating tech sprawl, skill gaps, and shifting expectations. Drawing from global data, regional case studies, and analyst insights, we’ll explore why your automation strategy may need a reset and where to begin. Discover how leading CIOs are simplifying their tech landscape, unlocking institutional knowledge, and scaling smarter with AI-powered process orchestration.
- From Data to Intelligence: How CIOs Can Unlock Value Through Integrated Workflows(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session) In an era where data is abundant, but insight is scarce, CIOs are under pressure to unify disconnected systems, extract actionable intelligence, and deliver measurable value across the enterprise. In this session, Rajkumar Mathiravedu, President, Asia at Orica and former SVP of Digital Solutions shares how one of the world’s largest mining technology companies reimagined its value chain through integrated digital platforms. Drawing from global case studies, Rajkumar will explore how CIOs can move from fragmented data landscapes to intelligent, connected workflows that scale unlocking operational efficiency, agility, and business resilience. Discussion Points: From Siloed Data to Actionable Intelligence: Why integration across IT and OT systems is critical Building Digital Platforms That Scale: Moving from tools to systems: the power of workflow integration CIO as Value Chain Architect: Redefining the CIO’s role beyond infrastructure toward ecosystem orchestration
- The Intelligent Future of Work: Powered by AI, Built on Trust(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session) In a world of rapid transformation, the future of work hinges on intelligence, flexibility, and trust. This session explores how AI is no longer just a tool, but the engine powering smarter work. Learn how forward-thinking organisations are embracing AI-driven platforms to remove inefficiencies, automate workflows, and deliver real-time visibility across teams. But it's not just about smarter systems, it's about building a foundation that’s secure, scalable, and flexible enough to evolve with your business. Discover how a Collaborative Work Management (CWM) platform like Smartsheet can unify your ecosystem, foster transparency, and empower everyone, from frontline teams to the C-suite, with the insights and tools they need to succeed. Discussion points: How AI is transforming execution and decision-making Why integration and security are essential for scalable operations How democratising access to information drives performance at every level What it takes to future-proof your work platform for long-term growth Whether you're rethinking your tech stack or accelerating digital transformation, this session will help you understand the shifts needed to stay ahead and why the time to act is now.
- Generative AI at Scale: Balancing Automation, Efficiency, and Trust(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session) Generative AI has the potential to revolutionise industries by driving efficiency, automating processes, and scaling operations. However, as organisations increasingly rely on AI to streamline workflows, it's crucial to balance automation with trust. This session will explore how generative AI can be applied at scale, the benefits of increased efficiency, and the importance of ensuring trust in AI-generated outcomes, from data privacy to ethical considerations. Discussion Points: Scaling Automation for Efficiency Gains: The challenges of maintaining quality and consistency while scaling AI-driven automation. Maintaining Trust in AI Systems: Strategies for addressing concerns related to bias, privacy, and data security when using AI at scale. Integrating AI Without Compromising Human Oversight: How to balance AI automation with human decision-making to ensure effective and ethical outcomes.
- Transform Faster, Deliver Smarter and Realise Value Sooner with AI-Accelerated Delivery in Financial Services(Executive Round Table) In financial services, where resilience, compliance, and customer trust are paramount, technology leaders are under growing pressure to modernise systems and accelerate digital delivery—without increasing risk. This roundtable will explore how AI-accelerated delivery is enabling BFSI organisations to enhance operational efficiency, automate safely, and make smarter decisions—while maintaining human oversight and robust governance. We’ll examine real-world strategies for embedding AI in software and data delivery workflows—from intelligent automation and human-in-the-loop models to AI literacy and responsible adoption frameworks. Attendees will gain peer insights on building scalable, compliant delivery architectures, fostering AI-ready cultures, and unlocking measurable value—sooner. Key Discussion Points: Targeting the Right AI Use Cases for BFSI Delivery: Where AI adds the most value in code generation, testing, data processing, fraud detection, and compliance workflows, without losing human control. Governance, Risk, and Responsible AI Adoption: How to implement transparent, auditable, and secure AI practices, aligned with regulatory expectations and organisational risk appetite. Upskilling for AI: Building Literacy and Trust: Closing the knowledge gap across tech and business teams to ensure AI tools are understood, trusted, and used responsibly. Demonstrating ROI in a Risk-Conscious Environment : Balancing innovation and caution, measuring value in speed, cost, compliance, and customer impact, and making the case to regulators and the board.
- Powering AI Workloads Anywhere: Building Resilient, Scalable Infrastructure(Executive Round Table) Despite Australia’s reputation as a leader in technology adoption, AI readiness remains low, with only 4% of organisations fully prepared to leverage its potential. In this roundtable with David Siroky, AI Chief Technology Officer for Cisco Asia Pacific, Japan, and China , we’ll explore the critical infrastructure and operational strategies CIOs need to close this gap. This roundtable provides a focused discussion on how to build infrastructure capable of running AI workloads anywhere—whether on-premises, at the edge, or in the cloud. Join us and your peers as Craig Baty, VP Research & Advisory, Factor, moderates this highly interactive roundtable to exchange insights on achieving end-to-end observability, securing operations from ground to cloud, and creating scalable, resilient systems that meet the demands of today and tomorrow. What You'll Gain: Strategies for creating secure, AI-ready environments that enable experimentation and scale Guidance on aligning AI capabilities with business strategy, ethics, and operations Peer-driven perspectives on overcoming the barriers to AI readiness
- Lunch Break and Peer Connect(Lunch and Peer Connect)
- IO Future of Work - Lesson's from Ferrari(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session) Frederic Vasseur - Team Principal - Scuderia Ferrari - Quotes "Excellence isn't an accident its engineered" Together we unpack the lessons from the HP | Ferrari partnership on how we accelerate impact with data insights, collaboration and performance. This session will relate these lessons back to how we can partner together with customers to deliver on business outcomes.
- Driving Smarter Enterprise Performance: Balancing Experience, Intelligence, and Efficiency(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session) As enterprises face growing pressure to do more with less, leaders are being challenged to deliver exceptional customer experiences while keeping a firm grip on cost, visibility, and innovation. This panel explores how organisations are balancing these demands by leveraging smarter strategies across customer experience, data-driven decision making, AI adoption, observability, and cost optimisation. Discussion Points: Customer experience (CX) at scale Data-driven decision making across the enterprise Practical applications of AI and enterprise-scale adoption System and service observability for performance and reliability Cost optimisation and investment prioritisation
- Winning Practices to Transform Legacy IT Organisations(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session) As organisations race to stay competitive in the digital age, many are struggling to modernise their legacy IT systems and processes. Join Mirco Hering, author of "DevOps for the Modern Enterprise: Winning Practices to Transform Legacy IT Organisations", as he will dive deep into the strategies that can help CIOs and IT leaders overcome the obstacles of legacy infrastructure and accelerate their transformation journey. Drawing on his extensive experience and insights from his book, Mirco will cover: The Legacy IT Dilemma: Understanding why traditional approaches to IT management modelled after outdated manufacturing practices are failing in today’s fast-paced, innovation-driven tech environment. Creating a People-Centric Ecosystem: How to empower teams, foster collaboration, and put creativity at the heart of IT delivery, shifting from a process-driven culture to a performance-driven one. The Role of Agile, Lean, and DevOps: How combining these methodologies can drive real change, improve collaboration, and deliver high-quality outcomes at scale. The Hidden Power of Cultural Change: Practical insights on how to break through the cultural barriers that hinder transformation, with real-world examples of how large enterprises have successfully navigated this challenge. Technology as an Enabler, Not a Saviour: Why the right tools alone won’t guarantee success, and how to ensure technology is used to drive meaningful change, not just automate existing processes.
- Doing More with Less – How Tech Leaders Can Turn Constraints into Strategic Advantage(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session) In today’s climate of economic pressure and heightened expectations, technology leaders are being asked to deliver more — more innovation, more resilience, more value — with fewer resources. But constraints don’t have to mean compromise. In this session, Tanya Trott will explore how technology executives can use constraint as a catalyst for sharper focus, smarter investment, and greater team alignment. Drawing on her experience leading strategic technology initiatives and operational transformation in large-scale, regulated environments, Tanya will share practical insights into how tech leaders can prioritise ruthlessly, scale intelligently, and keep their teams engaged and motivated — even when the runway is tight. Discussion Points: Invest Where It Matters Most: Connect every tech dollar to clear business outcomes — whether that’s boosting productivity, improving service resilience, strengthening cybersecurity, or enhancing the customer experience. Use Automation and AI Wisely: Cut through the noise by focusing AI and automation efforts on removing friction and freeing up human capacity — not chasing hype. Lead with Purpose: In times of constraint, people look for clarity. Setting direction and communicating why priorities are shifting keeps teams motivated and aligned.
- The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session) Enabling Australian CIO Influence with C-Level Stakeholders In 2025, the digital landscape is undergoing another major shift. Australian CIOs are expected to interpret the impacts of technology changes, and play a critical role in influencing C-Level stakeholders. All while organisations navigate financial constraints, increased cyber risks, and the rapid rise of AI-driven transformation. Factor’s local research reveals that 61% of Australian CIOs plan to increase digital transformation investment, with 84% of IT investments influenced by AI/ML initiatives. However, challenges persist—budget constraints (32%), integration complexity (28%), and talent shortages (18%) remain major barriers to success. The judicious use of AI as a force multiplier rather than a replacement for human intelligence, can assist in overcoming some of these hurdles. Organisations that embrace AI strategically are expected to see improved cybersecurity, greater operational efficiency and improved competitiveness. Recent AI developments have significantly disrupted the market and will potentially reduce the cost and increase efficiency of AI, however the overall competitive cost of inaction whilst waiting for this to eventuate is rising. Organisations that fail to adapt risk falling behind in an era where technology adoption drives competitive advantage. Discussion Points: What priorities are core to ICT Strategies in 2025? What technologies are influencing overall business and ICT Strategy? What factors are holding CIOs back in the race to avoid stagnation in a landscape where AI adoption is accelerating? What strategies can CIOs adopt to increase C-Level stakeholder influence in their organisation?
- Shifting Security Left Proactively embedding security into the design phase of IT and business projects.(Cybersecurity Priority) Discussion Points: Rethinking security as a foundational project input Collaborating with developers and product teams Reducing attack surfaces through early-stage controls
- From Gut Feel to Data-Led Decisions Unlocking business value through actionable insights and strategic alignment.(Data Analytics) Discussion Points: Building a data-driven culture across the organisation Empowering departments with self-service analytics Moving from reporting to real-time, predictive insights
- Future-Proofing the Tech Workforce How CIOs are upskilling teams and attracting digital talent in a competitive landscape.(Talent Development) Discussion Points: Building learning pathways for emerging tech skills Retaining talent through purpose and progression Developing tech-savvy leadership for the next era
- Blocking lateral movement with practical segmentation that actually works(Segmentation And Breach Containment) Discussion Points: Prioritising segmentation strategies that actually scale Aligning segmentation to business-critical workflows Integrating visibility tools for early threat detection
- Balancing Cost, Control, and Compliance Navigating digital sovereignty in a multi-cloud, geopolitically fragmented world.(Tech & Cloud Sovereignty) Discussion Points: Understanding the implications of digital sovereignty Managing data residency and compliance risks Reducing dependency on U.S.-centric hyperscales
- Tech-Enabled Differentiation Strategies to enhance personalisation, engagement, and loyalty through better tech delivery.(Customer Experience) Discussion Points: Connecting IT to CX strategy and outcomes Enabling omnichannel personalisation with data and AI Driving retention and advocacy through tech-led service
- Closing Remarks(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session)
- Networking Drinks & End of Day(CIO Day Melbourne - Plenary Session)
Speakers
Josh Heid · CEO, Panelist Josh brings with himself years of leadership experience as the driving force behind Factor and Panelist, where he has shaped the future of business strategy through his expertise in Product Design, Customer Experience, and Engineering. An innovator at heart, Josh excels in Product Design, where he combines aesthetic sensibility with functional purpose to create solutions that resonate with users and deliver measurable results. His approach bridges customer needs and cutting-edge technology, ensuring that every product is not only visually compelling but also highly effective in meeting market demands. In the realm of Customer Experience, Josh has consistently championed the importance of understanding user journeys and fostering engagement through intuitive design and seamless interactions. He has implemented frameworks that elevate user satisfaction, ensuring that Factor’s offerings remain at the forefront of customer-centric innovation. Josh's engineering mindset adds a unique layer to his leadership. His ability to translate complex concepts into actionable development processes has resulted in robust, scalable applications and systems. By integrating engineering principles with strategic thinking, Josh has driven operational excellence while maintaining a sharp focus on delivering top-tier solutions to clients. With a deep understanding of Leadership Strategy, Marketing, and Sales, Josh has built Factor and Panelist into trusted names in their industries, continuously setting new benchmarks for innovation and success.
The Hon. John Howard · Former Prime Minister, Australia
Tanya Trott · Chief : Technology Officer CTO, Transurban A versatile and widely experienced senior Technology professional with a history of planning and implementing technology initiatives to generate improved productivity and deliver capability uplifts and strategic value. I enjoy interacting with people and re-focusing teams to deliver excellent service and successful programs of work. Specialties: Specialised skills in technology roadmaps and adoption, technology selection and business case development, contract negotiation and cost reduction identification and execution, and service and operational management and general business management skills. The ability to translate technical drivers to business initiatives and vice-versa.
Tom Richardson · Chief : Information Officer CIO, Suncorp Group Experienced CIO with history of leading transformational change. Strategic thinker coupled with deep execution skills. Builder of high performance technology teams in retail banking, wealth management, IT procurement, and mergers & acquisitions (M&A).
Claire Smith · Chief : Digital & Data Officer, Endeavour Group Claire Smith is the Chief Digital & Data Officer at Endeavour Group, Australia's leading retail drinks and hospitality business. With over 25 years of experience in digital, technology, and transformation roles across the retail and FMCG sectors in Australia and New Zealand, Claire has been instrumental in driving Endeavour Group's technology strategy. She joined the company in 2012 as Head of Online for Dan Murphy’s and has since held several key positions, including Director of endeavourX, the company's digital innovation arm. Appointed CIO in 2023, Claire continues to lead Endeavour Group's multi-year technology transformation, focusing on enhancing customer experiences and operational excellence.
Goran Stefkovski · Chief : Technology Officer CTO, Kogan Goran Stefkovski is the Chief Technology Officer of Kogan.com. Before joining Kogan.com, Goran worked at companies such as Rio Tinto, Coffey International, and as a solicitor at HWL Ebsworth Lawyers. His valuable years of experience in technology and e-commerce has secured him seats at ZDNet's TechBuzz series in 2013, Keynote speaker at Rackspace Solve (2015), SydStart (2015), AWS ReInvent (2016), Dropbox Melbourne Business event (2016) as well as numerous other panellist and speaker roles. A firm believer of personalisation and data analysis to improve shoppers' experience, Goran ensured technological excellence and innovation in Kogan across all business lines and received the CIO of the Year award in the Consumer sector for the Kogan development team's achievements in 2017.
Rajkumar Mathiravedu · President : Asia & Group Executive, Orica Rajkumar Mathiravedu is an experienced global senior executive and Non-Executive Director with a proven track record in creating and executing enterprise-level business transformation programs. He specialises in value-driven digital acceleration that enables firms in the energy and resources industry to reach their full potential. Rajkumar has strategic and end-to-end P&L accountability across integrated asset lifecycle management, covering both direct customer-led and ecosystem partnership sales channels from ideation to distribution. He is a results-driven visionary leader with hands-on experience across a diverse functional portfolio, thriving in multi-cultural global environments. Rajkumar is recognised for his ability to harness talent and develop high-performance teams. Known as a savvy leader, he excels at driving consensus across diverse organisations and making strategic business decisions that deliver measurable results. He has a strong history of building and scaling new businesses, including leading native digital transformations within legacy industrial sectors, thereby delivering significant enterprise value to stakeholders.
Mark Gretton · Chief : Technology Officer CTO, CLEMENGER Innovative technology and marketing leader with industry leading strategic consulting and digital capability. 20 years+ marketing experience working across a range of FMCG, Financial services, Automotive, Utility, Service, Tourism, B2B, Government, NFP and Apparel brands in both senior agency and client-side roles. Strong pedigree for leading globally recognised creative communications. Leader of multiple award winning integrated creative campaigns and digital projects recognised at Cannes, The Effies, AIMIA, IMA, Award, DMA's, Webbys, AMES, Adnews, Adobe Awards etc. Strong digital understanding with experience running Enterprise eCommerce, CRM programme, social media, UX and programmatic digital communications projects. Deep strategic credentials with strong knowledge of shopper behaviour, behavioural economics and consumer behaviour.
Kylie Schabel · Chief : Information Officer CIO, Insignia Financial Kylie Schabel is the General Manager of Infrastructure, Cloud, and Workplace at Insignia Financial, bringing over 15 years of experience leading teams to deliver exceptional IT infrastructure outcomes, PMO, and service management improvements. She combines deep technical expertise with a strong focus on collaboration across internal business units and vendors to drive outstanding business results. Kylie is skilled in managing contractual and commercial agreements and regularly engages in executive-level discussions with staff, customers, and vendors. Her leadership ensures the seamless delivery of technology infrastructure, cloud services, and workplace solutions that enhance employee experience, optimise performance, and safeguard data. She holds a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Melbourne, a Bachelor’s in Management Information Systems from UNSW, and is accredited by the Project Management Institute.
Mirco Hering · Global Lead : Experience and Platform Engineering, Accenture With over 20 years at Accenture, Mirco Hering is a Managing Director leading the global DevOps practice and APAC Agile practice. Renowned for his expertise in Agile and DevOps transformations, he has supported major public and private sector organisations across Australia and globally, driving innovation in software delivery and IT efficiency. Mirco’s pragmatic approach focuses on blending methodologies to deliver tangible outcomes, whether setting up large-scale transformations or course-correcting projects that veer off track. Mirco is the author of the award-winning DevOps for the Modern Enterprise and a sought-after speaker at conferences worldwide, sharing insights on IT delivery, Agile practices, and DevOps strategies. Through his blog, Not A Factory Anymore, he continues to inspire IT leaders to overcome legacy challenges and embrace modern engineering practices. His passion for fostering high-performing developer communities underscores his leadership in Accenture’s mission to redefine IT delivery excellence.
Jason Mcnamara · General Manager : Retail Technology, Digital & Transformation, Viva Energy Australia Jason McNamara leads retail technology, digital platforms, and enterprise transformation at Viva Energy, one of Australia’s largest fuel and convenience retailers. He is responsible for the integration and modernisation of IT systems following Viva’s major acquisitions, including Coles Express and OTR Group. With a background spanning transformation leadership at Super Retail Group and senior IT roles at Coles/Myer, Jason brings over two decades of experience driving large-scale digital change across retail, logistics, and workforce platforms.
Madeline Palmer · Head : Content, Research & Editorial, Factor Madeline Palmer is a seasoned media and communications professional with extensive experience across journalism, broadcasting, and content creation. Before joining Factor, Madeline worked as a broadcast journalist in a number of major newsrooms across the country. During this time, Madeline covered breaking national and international news, including the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Medibank and Optus data breaches, several State and Federal Elections, the historical AUKUS Agreement, and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, among other stories.
Craig Baty · Vice President : Research & Advisory, Factor With over 30 years of C-level experience in ICT, HR, marketing, sales, operations, research, leadership, and international business, Craig is a notable tech industry leader.
David Siroky · AI Chief Technology Officer, Cisco Asia Pacific, Japan, and China, Cisco David Siroky is the AI Architecture Lead at Cisco, having held various leadership roles across the Asia Pacific. He focuses on solution architecture, collaborating with data scientists to support organisations in delivering their AI projects. His work spans diverse customers in the Asia Pacific & Japan region. Prior to Cisco, David worked at Dell Technologies and Microsoft in Seattle, contributing to software development projects. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in computer science and business, blending technical and strategic expertise. David is a proud father of a 17-year-old girl, an avid reader, fitness enthusiast, skier and passionate about diversity & STEM.
David Irecki · Chief : Technology Officer CTO, Boomi David Irecki is the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) for Asia Pacific / Japan (APJ) at Boomi, a category-leading, global software as a service (SaaS) company with more than 20,000 global customers and a worldwide network of 800 partners. As CTO, David leads the region’s efforts in advocating and evangelizing the future of artificial intelligence (AI) in business with intelligent integration and automation. He is instrumental in helping organizations across the APJ region thrive in the digital age and on their AI journeys. David leads a team of pre-sales professionals across APJ. Under his leadership, his team helps customers transform their business by solving integration and data management challenges. David is an IT veteran with over 20 years of experience in the enterprise integration and embedded computing markets. David joined Boomi in June 2015 as the first Solutions Consultant in APJ. Prior to Boomi, David worked for MuleSoft, where he led the APJ Solutions Consulting team. David is a graduate of New Zealand’s Massey University, majoring in Information Engineering.
Jarrod Kinchington · Regional Vice President : ANZ Sales Smartsheet, Smartsheet Jarrod is a strategic and creative leader with over 20 years of experience driving performance through innovation, strategic planning, and change management. He has held senior roles at leading organisations including Telstra, Oracle, DXC Technology, Infor, and Ivanti, and now brings his expertise to Smartsheet. Jarrod has worked across a wide range of industries from Telecommunications and Utilities to Transportation, Financial Services, and the Public Sector, partnering with Business and IT stakeholders to deliver measurable outcomes. With deep expertise in Enterprise Applications, Integration, and Managed Services, he specialises in modernising legacy systems and leading cloud transformation initiatives. Passionate about aligning innovation, culture, and strategy, Jarrod excels at building high-performing teams and enabling organisations to thrive in an era of rapid change.
Ashley Diffey · Vice President : ANZ, Ping Identity Ashley Diffey is a passionate leader with over 20 years of experience in B2B Sales, Key Account Management and Business Development in both Finance and ICT/Telecommunications industries, specialising in security, data, communications, SaaS and hosted software. As VP of Australia and New Zealand for Ping Identity, Ashley is responsible for accelerating sales and bolstering customer support and services to continue driving the increasing demand for Ping Identity’s solutions in the region. He is working with organisations to achieve Zero Trust identity-defined security and more personalised, streamlined user experiences. Ash works closely with customers to provide flexible identity solutions that accelerate digital business initiatives, delight customers, and secure the enterprise through multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, access management, intelligent API security, directory, and data governance capabilities. Prior to joining Ping Identity, Ashley worked at leading ICT/Telecommunication companies such as F5 Networks, Commvault and Telstra. During his tenure at F5 Networks he oversaw the organisation’s southern regional channel, the Telstra partnership and was Director for Channel Sales Australia and New Zealand at Commvault.
Craig Magee · Chief Technology Officer, Splunk Craig Magee serves as the Chief Technology Officer for ANZ at Splunk, bringing over 25 years of experience in technology and business leadership. In his role, Craig partners with customers to align Splunk’s capabilities with their strategic goals—helping reduce IT costs, enhance operational and IT resilience, and strengthen cybersecurity to mitigate organisational risk. Craig’s expertise spans a wide range of industries, including telecommunications, consulting, resources and mining, financial services, government, and retail. This breadth of experience gives him valuable cross-sector insights and a versatile skill set, enabling him to drive impactful outcomes across diverse business environments.
Keith Payne · Vice President : Regional APAC, Nintex Keith brings 25 years of experience helping organisations across APAC Scale and Grow through process efficiency. With a unique background in TQM, Organisational Change and Customer Success with FujiFilm Business Innovation, SAP and now Nintex, Keith has partnered extensively with CIO’s as their priorities and roles have shifted. As automation technology enters a new phase and becomes more accessible and intuitive through AI, it is time to rethink the automation playbook and reset the role that the CIO plays as an orchestrator of growth for the next phase of the journey.
Brett Salakas · Ambassador : Education, HP Brett Salakas, the HP Education Ambassador, is an international keynote speaker, the best-selling author of ‘A MAMMOTH Lesson’, the founder of #aussieED (formerly the largest online network of teachers in Australia) and the co-founder of the ED Poets Society. He was identified by Linkedin as a TOP VOICE (top 1% worldwide) in K-12 Education. Brett was recently identified by the District Administration Leadership Institute as one of the top 100 most influential leaders in education globally (the only Australian named on the list) and was named the Most Influential Educator in Australia for 2024 by The Educator magazine. Brett is a teacher and experienced school leader who, over the past 26 years, has taught in South East Asia and Australia. He is passionately committed to turning educational theory into real classroom practice. Brett is all about CONNECTION, COLLABORATION and INSPIRATION.
Daniel Coughran · Lead : Enterprise Sales Acting, HP Daniel Coughran is a seasoned enterprise sales leader with over two decades of experience driving strategic growth across the technology sector. Currently serving as Enterprise Sales Director (Acting) at HP , Daniel leads national sales initiatives with a focus on Enterprise, government and education sectors, leveraging data analytics, forecasting tools, and cutting-edge sales technologies to align solutions with evolving customer needs. Throughout his career, Daniel has held pivotal roles at leading organizations including Samsung, Canon Australia, and Hutchison 3G, consistently delivering results through stakeholder engagement, strategic account planning, and innovative deal closure strategies. His leadership is marked by a commitment to ethical standards, customer-centricity, and long-term profitability. Daniel is known for his ability to navigate complex enterprise environments, foster high-performing teams, and build trusted relationships with senior decision-makers. His deep expertise in enterprise technology sales and his passion for enabling digital transformation make him a valuable contributor to the CIO community.
Partners
- Cisco · Diamond Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) enables people to make powerful connections--whether in business, education, philanthropy, or creativity. Cisco hardware, software, and service offerings are used to create the Internet solutions that make networks possible--providing easy access to information anywhere, at any time. Cisco was founded in 1984 by a small group of computer scientists from Stanford University. Since the company's inception, Cisco engineers have been leaders in the development of Internet Protocol (IP)-based networking technologies. Today, with more than 71,000 employees worldwide, this tradition of innovation continues with industry-leading products and solutions in the company's core development areas of routing and switching, as well as in advanced technologies such as home networking, IP telephony, optical networking, security, storage area networking, and wireless technology. In addition to its products, Cisco provides a broad range of service offerings, including technical support and advanced services. Cisco sells its products and services, both directly through its own sales force as well as through its channel partners, to large enterprises, commercial businesses, service providers, and consumers.
- Equal Experts · Gold
Boomi · Gold Boomi aims to make the world a better place by connecting everyone to everything, anywhere. The pioneer of cloud-based integration platform as a service (iPaaS), and now a category-leading, global software as a service (SaaS) company, Boomi touts the largest customer base among integration platform vendors and a worldwide network of approximately 800 partners – including Accenture, Capgemini, Deloitte, SAP, and Snowflake. Global organisations turn to Boomi’s award-winning platform to discover, manage, and orchestrate data, while connecting applications, processes, and people for better, faster outcomes. For more information, visit http://www.boomi.com.
Ping Identity · Gold- Smartsheet · Gold
Kong Inc. · Bronze APIs run everything. They enable AI. They’re at the heart of modern applications and customer experiences. But the explosion of APIs and services creates challenges around complexity, scale, compliance, and security. Kong simplifies things. It is the foundation that enables any company to securely adopt AI and become an API-first company — speeding up time to market, creating new business opportunities, and delivering superior products and services. Kong helps organizations globally — from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises — unleash developer productivity, build securely and accelerate time to market. For more information about Kong, please visit www.konghq.com or follow us on X @thekonginc.- Creatio · Bronze Creatio is a global vendor of an AI-native platform to automate CRM and workflows with no-code. Millions of workflows are launched on our platform daily in 100 countries by thousands of clients. Genuine care for our clients and partners is a defining part of Creatio DNA. Creatio offerings include a no-code platform (Studio Creatio), CRM applications (marketing, sales, and service), industry workflows for 20 verticals, and marketplace add-ons. Creatio is recognized as a Leader and Strong Performer in multiple Gartner and Forrester reports. Creatio products receive raving end-user reviews on peer-to-peer portals. Our customers enjoy the freedom to own their automation. Freedom is provided through unlimited customization, the ability to build apps without a line of code, and a universe of ready-to-use templates and connectors. Creatio is headquartered in Boston, MA. We have 700 employees in six offices and a local presence in 25 countries. Creatio has long-lasting relationships with thousands of customers and partners with 700 GSIs and local integrators worldwide.
- TPG Telecom · Gold TPG Telecom is one of Australia’s largest telecommunication companies and operates a number of leading mobile and internet brands including Vodafone, TPG, iiNet, Internode, Lebara, AAPT and felix. As a full-service telecommunications provider, TPG Telecom provides mobile, internet, business and fixed network solutions. We serve consumers, small and medium businesses, government, corporate enterprises and wholesale customers offering a comprehensive portfolio of fixed and mobile products in the Australian telecommunications market. We operate a leading mobile network with over 5,600 sites covering more than 23 million Australians, and Australia’s second-largest fixed voice and data network, with more than 27,000km of inter-capital and metropolitan fibre networks as well as international transit capacity, and a 5G mobile network that is currently being rolled out. TPG Telecom is an ASX-listed company, employing more than 3,000 people offering a flexible, diverse and inclusive workplace. At TPG Telecom, we are committed to connecting Australia for the better.
- Kaseya · Bronze
OutSystems · Silver
Splunk · Platinum Splunk helps make organizations more digitally resilient. Leading organizations use our unified security and observability platform to keep their digital systems secure and reliable. Organizations trust Splunk to prevent infrastructure, application and security incidents from becoming major issues, remediate threats and disruptions faster, and adapt quickly to new opportunities. Splunk helps SecOps, ITOps and engineering teams deliver these outcomes with comprehensive visibility, rapid detection and investigation, and optimized response, all accelerated by AI and at the scale necessary for the world's largest organizations.- Nintex · Platinum Nintex is the global standard for process intelligence and automation. Today more than 10,000 public and private sector organisations across 90 countries turn to the Nintex Platform to accelerate progress on their digital transformation journeys by quickly and easily managing, automating and optimising business processes. Learn more by visiting www.nintex.com and experience how Nintex and its global partner network are shaping the future of Intelligent Process Automation (IPA).
- Panelist · Bronze Panelist is the vision for easy connections. We are a movement that exits to eliminate the complexity in professional interactions and give individuals a sense of clarity behind every conversation. And we do that by giving you the power to swift through to the right conversations and opportunities. Founded in 2021, we have had exponential growth, with members and senior executives from organisations across the globe including the Fortune 500. Panelist services include: Social networking Virtual events platform Audio chat rooms Company community centers We grow rapidly and we're always on the look out for talent across engineering, product management, design, research, analytics, technical program management, operations, and more.
- Whatfix · Bronze
HP · Platinum Our vision is to create a world where innovation drives extraordinary contributions to humanity. This vision guides everything we do, how we do it, and why we do it. Our technology – a product and service portfolio of personal systems, printers, and 3D printing solutions – was created to inspire our vision and we are doing everything in our power across climate action, human rights, and digital equity to make it so. We believe thoughtful ideas can come from anyone, anywhere, at any time. And all it takes is one to change the world.
Thales · Bronze Thales is a global leader in cybersecurity, helping the most trusted organizations protect critical applications, data, identities, and software anywhere, at scale. Through Thales’ integrated platforms, customers achieve better visibility of risks, defend against cyber threats, close compliance gaps, and deliver trusted digital experiences for billions of consumers every day.- Factor Leading market research in APAC.
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