CTO Day | Melbourne
Enterprise Advantage Through Simplicity and Control
The Crown Promenade, Melbourne, Southbank, Australia
Hosted by Factor
- 155 attendees
- 8 hours
Overview
Technology leadership has entered a new phase. The defining challenge is no longer access to innovation, but the ability to convert it into durable enterprise advantage under increasing constraint. Regulatory scrutiny, cost pressure, cyber risk, legacy complexity, and board-level accountability now shape every major technology decision.
This conference brings together Australia’s most senior technology leaders to examine how CTOs are navigating these pressures while still delivering growth, resilience, and transformation. Across sectors from banking and retail to industrials and aviation, sessions explore how emerging technologies are being translated into measurable outcomes, how modernisation has become a risk strategy rather than a discretionary investment, and how AI is reshaping delivery, governance, and operating models.
A central theme throughout is convergence: between technology and cost strategy, innovation and regulation, cyber resilience and speed, and the CTO and the broader C-suite. The agenda moves beyond hype to focus on execution, sequencing, and judgement, where to invest, where to simplify, and where delay now creates greater risk than action.
Attendees will leave with practical insight into how leading CTOs are making the toughest calls today: balancing ambition with control, innovation with trust, and speed with resilience, while strengthening their mandate as enterprise leaders trusted by boards.
What we will cover
- Enterprise Support The latest strategies in enterprise support with cost optimisation in mind.
- Innovation & Transformation Focusing on how technology leaders can guide digital transformation efforts, ensuring alignment with broader business goals.
- IT Modernisation Examining strategies for modernising legacy systems, creating more agile and scalable IT infrastructures that meet future demands.
- Cloud Management Discussing the role of cloud technologies in enhancing operational efficiency, improving cost management, and supporting business growth.
- Cybersecurity Leadership Highlighting the growing responsibility CTOs have in setting the organisation’s cybersecurity agenda, balancing proactive defence with innovation.
- Edge Computing Exploring the integration of edge computing and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to enable faster data processing and real-time insights.
- AI Integration Investigating how AI and machine learning are transforming business processes, driving automation, and enhancing decision-making.
- Data Governance Addressing how CTOs can lead efforts in establishing robust data governance frameworks to ensure compliance and data security.
- Talent Upskilling Focusing on strategies to attract, retain, and upskill technology talent, keeping teams agile and ahead of the curve in a competitive market.
- C-Suite Collaboration Discussing the evolving role of CTOs as strategic partners within the executive team, ensuring that technology initiatives align with overall business strategies.
- CTOs & Sustainability Exploring how technology can drive sustainability efforts, from reducing energy consumption in data centres to integrating eco-friendly IT practices.
- Quantum Readiness Examining how CTOs can prepare their organisations for the future of quantum computing, understanding potential applications and risks.
Agenda
- Networking Breakfast(CTO Day) An informal start to the day where delegates can meet peers, share expectations and prepare for the sessions ahead. Exchange experiences and discuss current challenges with fellow CTOs. Outline objectives for the day’s programme. Build connections that could lead to future collaboration.
- Opening Remarks: What Boards Now Expect(CTO Day) Drawing on Factor’s latest CIO and board-level research, the VP Analytics outlines how expectations of enterprise leaders have shifted in Australia this year. Covers what directors now look for in resilience, modernisation, and technology outcomes, and how leading CTOs are adjusting their communication to match.
- Context: CTOs at the Crossroads(CTO Day) As organisations navigate 2026, CTOs are redefining technology leadership to accelerate growth, innovation, and resilience. No longer focused solely on infrastructure and delivery, technology leaders are shaping enterprise strategy by harnessing data, scaling emerging technologies, and enabling organisational agility. Recent insights show CTOs prioritising AI adoption, modern data platforms, cyber resilience, and scalable architectures to support sustainable growth in an increasingly complex digital environment. This session will explore how forward-thinking CTOs are transforming technology functions into strategic engines for enterprise-wide impact. Discussion Points: Harnessing data platforms and advanced analytics to enable real-time insights, smarter decision-making, and business agility. Expanding the CTO’s role as a strategic partner to the C-suite, aligning technology roadmaps with enterprise and operational objectives. Leveraging AI, automation, and modern architectures to scale innovation, improve efficiency, and maintain competitive advantage.
- Building the Next Horizon for Australian AI(CTO Day) Australia’s largest organisations have moved beyond the experimentation phase into enterprise-scale AI adoption, where the real challenge is no longer trying new technology, but balancing speed, value and structural risk. In this opening keynote, Brett Szmajda, Deputy Executive Director of the National AI Centre, will explore how confidence, capability and clarity must evolve as enterprises scale AI. Brett will examine how technology leaders can move beyond ad-hoc experimentation and use-case proliferation, navigate emerging risks including agentic AI, and build a stronger Australian AI ecosystem without defaulting entirely to overseas technology. Discussion Points: Confidence: Navigating the Next Generation of Risk: As enterprises move beyond basic shadow AI controls, traditional risk frameworks are being tested by autonomous and agentic technologies. How should leaders redefine risk tolerance and enable safe experimentation as AI becomes less predictable? Capability: Scaling Output, Not Just Literacy: As organisations face an expanding pipeline of AI use cases, the challenge is shifting from basic fluency to prioritising what delivers genuine value. How can leaders build workforce capability, safely enable bottom-up experimentation and turn AI into a multiplier of organisational output? Clarity: Governing for Scale and Supporting Local Innovation: Enterprise-scale adoption requires clarity around governance, transparency, procurement and build-versus-buy decisions. How can leaders create the conditions to scale AI responsibly while supporting Australia’s emerging AI ecosystem and reducing unnecessary dependence on overseas technology?
- C-Suite Convergence in Designing Organisations that are Built to Adapt(CTO Day) In an environment shaped by accelerating technology, evolving regulation, geopolitical uncertainty and rising customer expectations, organisational success depends on more than how individual functions respond to change, it requires a C-suite that designs for adaptability from the outset. This session explores how technology, legal, risk and transformation leaders are working together to build resilient operating models, modern digital architectures and governance frameworks that enable organisations to innovate with confidence, respond to disruption faster and turn complexity into a strategic advantage. Discussion Points: Who Owns Adaptability? As disruption increasingly cuts across every function, who is ultimately responsible for ensuring an organisation can adapt? Has the era of individual executive ownership given way to shared accountability, and what does that require from today's C-suite? Which Decisions Matter Most? Not every decision carries the same strategic weight. Which technology, governance and organisational choices made today will be the hardest or most expensive to reverse over the next decade, and how should executive teams approach them differently? Where Does Resilience Really Come From? Organisations invest heavily in technology, governance and risk management, but what ultimately determines whether an organisation can withstand disruption? Is resilience built through systems, leadership, culture, or the way the C-suite makes decisions together?
- The Building Blocks of Enterprise AI Transformation(CTO Day) Enterprise AI transformation only works when it is unlocked across the organisation, with governance and costs under control. In this session Grant Currey, Corporate CTO at Flight Centre, shares how his team is making AI practical at enterprise scale in a fireside chat with Notion. Hear how Flight Centre’s corporate team are giving teams governed access to frontier models, making company knowledge usable through platform consolidation, and moving beyond individual chatbots toward shared workflows that can change how work gets done. Discussion Points: Balancing Access and Governance : How Flight Centre's corporate team enabled wide scale AI access in a sanctioned, visible, permissions-aware way. Platform Consolidation as AI Readiness : Fewer places where work and knowledge live, clearer permissions and a shared layer where people and AI can work together. Cost Control and Model Access : At enterprise scale, token usage, license cost and duplicated AI spend matter. From Individual AI Use to Multiplayer AI Workflows : Rebuilding processes for the AI and agent era.
- Turning Emerging Tech into Business Outcomes(CTO Day) Emerging technologies like AI, quantum computing, and robotics are transforming the banking industry, but realising their potential requires strategic leadership. Discuss how to prioritise technologies that deliver real value, overcome integration and regulatory challenges to make multiple innovations work together, and scale initiatives by building the right teams, capabilities, and infrastructure. Discussion Points: Prioritising What Matters: How to decide which emerging technologies-AI, quantum, robotics- deliver real value for the bank and its customers. Making Technologies Work Together: Overcoming integration, operational, and regulatory challenges to ensure different technologies deliver seamless impact. Scaling for the Future: Building the right teams, capabilities, and infrastructure to turn innovation into sustainable business results.
- Scaling Smart: Storage Decisions That Shape MSP Growth(Executive Roundtable) For managed service providers, storage is no longer a background decision. Rapid data growth across customer environments, rising retention expectations, and increasing pressure on power, cooling and margins are turning storage into a commercial constraint as much as a technical one. This closed-door roundtable brings together MSP leaders who are responsible for infrastructure decisions to discuss how they are evolving their storage foundations to support growth, profitability and operational simplicity. Rather than chasing complexity, the conversation will focus on how service providers are using modern, high-density storage platforms to scale capacity efficiently, reduce operational drag, and maintain control across on-prem and hybrid environments. This discussion is designed for MSPs who manage large and growing data estates and want a clearer, more sustainable path to scale without over-engineering their stack or locking themselves into inflexible vendor models. Key Discussion Points: When storage limits MSP growth: How capacity constraints, retention demands and customer expectations are shaping infrastructure decisions for service providers. Designing storage for scale, not sprawl: What MSPs need from modern storage platforms to improve density, availability and operational efficiency as environments grow. Balancing cost, performance and resilience across customer estates: How infrastructure leaders are reducing footprint, power and management overhead without compromising service quality. Building a storage layer that adapts as MSPs mature: What to look for in storage hardware that can evolve with customer demand, new workloads and changing commercial models.
- Your Data Has Left the Building: Where your data lives, how it connects to AI, and how to take back control.(Executive Roundtable) AI has quietly rewritten the rules of enterprise infrastructure. Data now has to reach more places, more often, and more securely than ever before, and the network has become the place where cost, control, and risk are either enforced or lost. Shadow AI is spreading, token spend is climbing, and internal risk is rising alongside adoption, often faster than the controls around it. This roundtable brings a small group of senior technology, risk and compliance leaders together to make sense of that shift. Not through vendor slides, but through an honest, peer-level conversation, structured around a simple map for a genuinely messy problem: where your data lives, how it connects to compute and AI, and how to optimise all of it. Discussion Points: Where does the data live? Data has sprawled across cloud, on-premises, the edge, and SaaS, and now into public AI tools. The perimeter has dissolved. How does it connect to compute and AI? The network is now the choke point and the control point. The question is whether you bring AI to your data, or keep shipping your data out to the AI. How do we optimise all of it? You cannot optimise what you cannot see. Visibility and governance first, then the economics, resilience, and automation follow.
- Networking Break & Morning Tea Morning Team Strategy and Collaboration Session
- Peer-Driven Debates(CTO Day) A: AI Innovation vs Data Control How far should organisations push AI experimentation when the risks around data governance, privacy, and model reliability remain unresolved? Discussion Prompts: When does accelerating AI adoption create unacceptable enterprise risk? How should CTOs balance innovation pressure with governance obligations? Is the biggest barrier to AI scale technical capability or data control? B: Delivery Velocity vs System Resilience Are organisations optimising for faster delivery at the expense of reliability and operational stability? Discussion Prompts: When does continuous delivery increase risk rather than reduce it? How should CTOs balance release velocity with system resilience in complex architectures? Does the pressure to ship faster undermine long-term operational health? C: Platform Standardisation vs Engineering Autonomy Do internal developer platforms accelerate innovation or constrain the creativity and judgement of engineering teams? Discussion Prompts: When does platform engineering remove friction, and when does it introduce rigidity? How much autonomy should teams retain over tools, architecture, and delivery pipelines? Does platform standardisation accelerate innovation or institutionalise compromise? D: AI-Augmented Engineering vs Engineering Discipline Will AI fundamentally increase engineering productivity or weaken the technical depth and rigour organisations rely on? Discussion Prompts: Where does AI genuinely accelerate software delivery versus introducing new risk? How should organisations maintain code quality, architecture discipline, and security with AI-generated output? Does AI amplify great engineers or flatten the difference between strong and weak teams? E: Cloud Scale vs Cost Accountability Has the cloud truly simplified technology operations or simply shifted complexity into cost management? Discussion Prompts: At what point does cloud flexibility become financial inefficiency? Should CTOs optimise for architectural agility or financial predictability? Is the next phase of cloud about scale or discipline? F: Composable Architectures vs Architectural Fragmentation Are API-first and composable architectures enabling agility or creating fragmented, harder-to-govern ecosystems? Discussion Prompts: At what point does modularity become architectural sprawl? How should CTOs govern APIs and services without slowing teams down? Does composability truly simplify systems or simply distribute complexity? G: Modernisation vs Operational Stability Should organisations aggressively modernise legacy systems or prioritise stability for the platforms that still run the business? Discussion Prompts: When does modernisation unlock strategic capacity and when does it create unnecessary disruption? How should CTOs decide which legacy systems must evolve and which should endure? Is technical debt always a liability or sometimes a strategic asset? H: Engineering Productivity vs Engineering Craft Are organisations optimising engineering for throughput or preserving the technical craft that underpins long-term system quality? Discussion Prompts: Should CTOs measure engineering success by speed of delivery or durability of systems? Does the rise of automation, platforms, and AI risk commoditising software engineering? What defines engineering excellence in an era of increasingly automated development?
- When Technology Growth Starts Limiting Agility(CTO Day) For years, technology leaders were rewarded for expanding platforms, adding capabilities and accelerating delivery. But as organisations scale, technology growth can introduce complexity that slows decision-making, increases risk and limits agility. Today’s leading organisations are taking a more disciplined approach, simplifying environments, protecting core architecture and making deliberate choices about what to build, buy and retire. In this session, Ram explores why simplicity has become a strategic capability and how technology leaders can build foundations that enable continuous change. Discussion Points: When Technology Growth Starts Limiting Agility : How accumulated systems, platforms, integrations and processes can create hidden complexity, slowing decision-making, increasing operational risk and making organisations harder to adapt. Knowing What to Build, Buy and Retire : How technology leaders can move beyond continuous expansion by making disciplined investment decisions, reducing unnecessary complexity and focusing resources on capabilities that create business value. Building Technology Foundations That Enable Future Change: How CIOs can create scalable architectures, operating models and technology foundations that allow organisations to evolve faster without creating future constraints.
- Technology as the Enterprise Cost Strategy(CTO Day) As organisations face increasing pressure to reduce technology costs while continuing to enable innovation, technology leaders are being challenged to rethink how they deliver value from their existing environments. In this session, Jason Hargenrader, General Manager IT Services, Infrastructure & Cyber at Treasury Wine Estates, explores how technology leaders can create greater efficiency through cloud optimisation, platform simplification, operational discipline and smarter investment decisions. Drawing on his experience modernising technology operations, he shares how leaders can move beyond cost cutting to build leaner, more resilient technology foundations that enable future growth. Discussion Points: Turning Technology Spend Into Business Value: How technology leaders can improve cost visibility, optimise cloud consumption and create accountability around technology investment without constraining innovation. Simplifying the Enterprise Technology Landscape: How infrastructure modernisation, platform rationalisation and operational discipline can reduce complexity while improving resilience and scalability. Building Efficiency Through Strategic Partnerships: How technology leaders can rethink vendor relationships to drive better outcomes, increase agility and create sustainable value.
- The Brutal Truth of Building Enterprise Agentic Products(CTO Day) The hype cycle of AI experimentation is over; the era of operational reality is here. In this session, Lendi Group Chief Technology Officer, Devesh Maheshwari, and Chief Product Officer, Travis Tyler, pull back the curtain on what it takes to build an AI-native organisation from the inside out. They explore how technology capability and customer-driven product strategy must intersect to safely scale AI, redesign workflows, strengthen data foundations and deliver seamless experiences for both customers and brokers without compromising trust, security or stability. Discussion Points: Moving Past the Experimentation Trap : Transitioning from isolated AI pilots into scalable business capabilities by establishing the data foundations, governance and operating models required for production environments. The Shared Accountability Engine : Breaking down traditional silos by creating shared accountability between engineering and product teams to balance customer value, delivery speed and long-term scalability. Resilience, Trust, and the Human Element : Exploring how organisations can scale automation and intelligent experiences while maintaining security, resilience and confidence among customers, employees and partners.
- Lunch Break & Peer Connect An hour to continue conversations, meet solution providers and explore potential partnerships.
- Enterprise AI Transformation Assessment: A framework for understanding how organisations adopt and scale AI.(Executive Roundtable) Most enterprises operate across fragmented systems, where over 80% of enterprise data remains unstructured , knowledge is duplicated, workflows are disconnected and governance is inconsistent, limiting AI’s ability to act reliably. The result is slower execution, reduced trust in data, rising operational risk, and AI that cannot scale beyond assistance. 95% of Forbes AI 50 global leaders including OpenAI & Nvidia, are redefining how work operates by deploying Notion as an enterprise AI operating system; consolidating fragmented tools into a single, unified workspace where knowledge, workflows, and agents operate together. By establishing a true enterprise context layer, the impact is immediate: reduced time spent searching, less duplication, with permissioned real-time visibility across projects, decisions, and performance; all within an enterprise-grade, secure environment where customer data is never used to train external models. Reflecting Notion’s core principle that “AI should augment teams, not replace them”, this interactive roundtable takes executive leaders on a transformation maturity discovery session, exploring how organisations are structuring knowledge to make AI investments effective, secure, and scalable.
- CTO Exchange(CTO Day) In this fast-paced session, CTOs share candid perspectives on technology initiatives that succeeded, and those that fell short. Through a rotating one-on-one format, participants connect directly with peers to unpack common operational, technical, and governance challenges, exploring what truly accelerates or stalls enterprise technology transformation.
- Architecture as an Economic Engine(CTO Day) As technology becomes one of the largest and most strategic areas of enterprise investment, architecture is taking on a far broader role than defining standards or governing platforms. Increasingly, it is the discipline that connects business strategy with capital allocation—helping executive teams determine not only what to build, but when to invest, how to sequence transformation, and where complexity should be reduced rather than added. This session explores how enterprise architecture is evolving into a strategic capability that enables organisations to make more deliberate investment decisions and build enduring enterprise advantage. Discussion Points: Sequencing Over Spending: Why the Order of Investment Matters Technology leaders rarely fail because they chose the wrong initiatives—they fail because they pursued the right ones in the wrong order. How should CTOs think about sequencing transformation to maximise long-term enterprise value? Architecture as an Executive Language: How can enterprise architecture move beyond technical artefacts and become a common language that enables Boards, executives and technology leaders to make better strategic decisions together? Designing for Strategic Optionality: Markets, regulation and technology will continue to change. What architectural choices create the flexibility to respond to future opportunities without repeatedly rebuilding the enterprise?
- The Ruthless Edit(CTO Day) Technology leaders are continually being asked to do more: transform faster, modernise platforms, adopt AI, manage cyber risk, reduce cost, and attract great people. The danger is that leadership itself becomes equally crowded. The Ruthless Edit challenges the assumption that constant transformation, re-platforming, and adoption of the latest technology automatically create business value. Instead, it asks what is genuinely worth keeping and what can be stripped away when leading technology departments through complexity and change. Drawing on practical experience, the session will explore the choices that have had the greatest impact: creating clarity about what really matters, being deliberate about where leaders spend their time, and building a strong team culture that shapes how people behave, make decisions, support each other, and perform. Discussion Points: Challenging the Constant Pivot: Examining why relentless re-platforming and trend-chasing often dilute business value, and learning how to separate genuine strategic imperatives from market noise. The Power of Stripping Back: Identifying what is truly worth keeping in a crowded technology roadmap to reduce complexity and sharpen operational focus. Culture as an Operating Mechanism: Exploring how team culture, sustainable performance, and shared behaviours directly drive execution and decision-making rather than sitting separately alongside strategy.
- Where CTOs Are Making the Toughest Calls(CTO Day) As the pace of AI adoption accelerates and digital services become central to every organisation, the challenge is no longer simply choosing the right technology, it's deciding where to focus limited time, talent and investment to create lasting business value. This discussion brings together leading CTOs to explore the decisions they're grappling with today, the trade-offs they can't avoid, and how they're preparing their organisations for what's next. Discussion Points: How Technology Decisions Shape Customer Confidence: As technology becomes the primary interface between organisations and customers, how are CTOs balancing innovation, reliability and trust? Where Should CTOs Invest Their Attention? With AI, cyber resilience, platform modernisation and engineering productivity all competing for focus, how are technology leaders deciding what matters most? Building Engineering Teams for the Next Five Years: As AI reshapes software development and customer expectations continue to rise, what capabilities, cultures and leadership approaches will define high-performing engineering teams?
- Wrap and Roadmap: CTO Priorities for 2027(CTO Day) A structured 90-, 180-, and 360-day roadmap built from Factor’s benchmark data. Covers modernisation, resilience, platform simplification, and capability uplift. CTOs can scan the QR code to access a personalised benchmarking tool and download an action plan tailored to their organisation.
- End of Day | Networking Drinks(CTO Day)
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.
Burak Cankurtaran · Chief Technology Officer, Panelist Heading up the tech team at Panelist.
Monique Dignan-Smith · VP Analyst, Factor Monique Dignan-Smith is Editor – Research & Content at Factor and a versatile host and presenter with more than a decade of experience across corporate, sports, lifestyle, travel, health and automotive sectors. With a strong background in journalism, content creation and social media marketing, Monique brings a sharp editorial lens and audience-first mindset to every conversation she leads. She has delivered across live events, advertorial, interviews, UGC and digital platforms including TikTok Live, combining professionalism with an energetic, engaging on-stage presence.
Shelley Rigg · VP Analyst, Factor Shelley Rigg is Executive Producer, Research & Content at Factor, where she draws on over two decades of experience producing commercially driven campaigns, broadcast content, and executive events for some of the world’s leading brands. An award-winning producer and BAFTA recipient, Shelley has overseen more than 30 primetime shows in the UK and US, led strategic campaigns for Netflix, BBC, Amazon Prime, Rio Tinto, and Optus, and executive produced major live events, including Optus’s award-winning coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. At Factor, she brings her expertise as a talk show host, moderator, and content strategist, supporting broadcast, editorial, and e-learning initiatives while shaping engaging conversations with senior leaders across industries.
Dr Brett Szmajda · Deputy Executive Director, National AI Centre Brett is the Deputy Executive Director of the National AI Centre (NAIC) at the Department of Industry, Science and Resources. The NAIC ( pronounced “nayk” ) is the government’s lead body supporting industry to unlock the economic benefits of AI. NAIC’s goal is to make Australia a global leader in developing and adopting artificial intelligence that is trusted and secure. It does this by: supporting AI adoption for small and medium businesses by addressing barriers and challenges; growing an Australian AI industry; convening the AI ecosystem; and mitigating harms and risks. Prior to the NAIC, Brett’s career includes a decade in scientific research (including a PhD in Neuroscience), along with subsequent work supporting health and medical research. Brett has built and developed cross-functional teams, served as a non-executive director on Boards, and led large-scale strategy development and implementation.
Stuart Freer · Chief Information and Digital Officer, Coates Stuart Freer is the Chief Information & Digital Officer at Coates, where he leads the organisation's technology, digital and AI strategy. Responsible for modernising enterprise platforms and accelerating digital transformation, Stuart is focused on embedding AI into frontline operations, enhancing customer experiences and delivering measurable commercial outcomes across one of Australia's largest industrial services businesses. With more than 20 years of executive technology leadership experience, Stuart has held senior digital and technology roles at Coates, MECCA Brands, Strand and Coles Group. Recognised for aligning technology investment with business value, he brings deep expertise in AI adoption, digital transformation, customer-centric innovation and building technology capabilities that enable organisations to scale, adapt and compete in rapidly evolving markets.
Ram Kalyanasundaram · Chief Information and Digital Officer, Harris Farm Markets Ram Kalyanasundaram is the Chief Information & Digital Officer at Harris Farm Markets, where he leads the organisation's technology, digital, data and AI strategy to accelerate growth across retail operations, e-commerce and customer experience. Appointed in 2026, he is responsible for modernising the company's technology landscape and building the digital capabilities required to support one of Australia's most recognised fresh food retailers. Prior to joining Harris Farm Markets, Ram held senior technology and digital transformation leadership roles at Lion, where he served as Group Technology & Digital Transformation Director. With extensive experience leading enterprise transformation, technology modernisation and digital innovation, he brings a commercially focused perspective on how organisations can leverage technology, data and AI to drive operational excellence, enhance customer outcomes and deliver sustainable business growth.
Deniz Molokov · Group Chief Information Security Officer, Downer Deniz Molokov is the Acting Group Chief Information Officer and Chief Information Security Officer at Downer Group, where he leads both the organisation’s technology strategy and cybersecurity programs. In this dual role, he is responsible for driving enterprise IT transformation, modernising legacy systems, implementing scalable digital platforms, and safeguarding the business against emerging cyber threats across Downer’s diverse infrastructure and services operations. With over two decades of experience in technology leadership, Deniz has deep expertise in aligning IT strategy with business outcomes, managing risk, and delivering digital solutions in complex, asset‑intensive environments. He is recognised for fostering innovation, operational resilience, and a data-driven culture that balances technological advancement with security, governance, and measurable business impact.
Melissa Ellul · Chief Information Officer (CIO), Woods Bagot Melissa Ellul is the Chief Information Officer at Woods Bagot, where she leads the firm's global technology strategy across its international studios. Responsible for driving digital transformation, cyber resilience, enterprise platforms and the modern digital workplace, Melissa partners with business leaders to ensure technology enables innovation, collaboration and operational excellence across one of the world's leading architecture and design practices. With more than 25 years' experience in enterprise technology leadership, Melissa has built a career delivering large-scale transformation across complex organisations, with previous senior leadership roles spanning telecommunications, engineering and digital services. Recognised for aligning technology with business strategy, she brings practical insight into AI adoption, organisational agility, technology governance and building high-performing teams in globally connected enterprises.
Devesh Maheshwari · Chief Technology Officer, Lendi Group Devesh Maheshwari is the Chief Technology Officer at Lendi Group, where he leads technology strategy, innovation, and transformation. With deep expertise across financial services and regulated industries, he has a proven track record in driving business value through modern delivery practices, cultural change, and scalable tech solutions. Devesh is known for building high-performing, distributed teams across APAC and balancing strategic insourcing with commercial outsourcing partnerships to deliver impactful, cost-effective outcomes.
Travis Tyler · Chief Product Officer, Lendi Group Travis Tyler is the Chief Product Officer at Lendi Group, where he leads the Experience organisation spanning product, engineering, technology and growth. He is responsible for shaping the company's AI-enabled lending platform and digital strategy, driving innovation that enhances customer experiences, empowers brokers and accelerates business growth across one of Australia's leading fintech organisations. With more than two decades of leadership experience across banking, fintech and digital transformation, Travis has held executive roles at Zip Co, 86 400 and Westpac. Recognised for building customer-centric digital products and high-performing technology organisations, he brings deep expertise in AI-powered product innovation, digital transformation, product-led growth and scaling technology platforms to deliver measurable business value.
Jacomi Du Preez · Chief Risk Officer (CRO), EnergyAustralia Jacomi Du Preez is the Chief Risk Officer (CRO) at EnergyAustralia, where she leads enterprise risk, assurance, and governance across one of Australia’s largest integrated energy businesses. In this role, she is responsible for overseeing strategic, operational, and regulatory risk across energy generation, trading, and retail operations, ensuring the organisation remains resilient in a highly regulated and rapidly transforming energy sector. She brings extensive experience in risk and assurance leadership across complex industrial and infrastructure environments, with a career spanning senior roles in large-scale organisations. Jacomi is recognised for her ability to embed strong risk frameworks that balance compliance, operational resilience, and transformation—particularly in sectors where reliability, safety, and regulatory scrutiny are critical.
Mark Brown · Chief Information Officer (CIO), Dyson Group of Companies Mark Brown is the Chief Information Officer at Dyson Group, where he leads the organisation’s technology strategy, digital transformation, and enterprise systems across its large-scale transport and logistics operations. In this role, he is responsible for modernising core platforms, improving operational efficiency, and ensuring technology enables safe, reliable, and data-driven transport services across the business. With extensive experience in IT leadership within complex, operationally intensive environments, Mark brings a strong focus on aligning technology with frontline business needs. He has a track record of delivering practical innovation across infrastructure, systems integration, and service optimisation, with an emphasis on improving performance, resilience, and customer outcomes in the transport sector.
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.
Esti Frischling · Solutions Consultant Manager, Notion Esti Frischling is a Solutions Consultant Manager at Notion, where she leads enterprise and mid-market teams. At Notion, she helps customers understand how AI, agents, and connected workflows can move from ideas into practical business impact grounded in context. Esti has deep experience across SaaS, marketing technology, customer success, and regional sales leadership, with roles at Movable Ink, Optimizely, NewsCred, and Outbrain. Her background spans APAC market expansion, enterprise account strategy, customer education, and commercial leadership, giving her a practical perspective on how organisations adopt new technology and turn AI ambition into repeatable workflows.
Grant Currey · Corporate CTO ANZ, Flight Centre Travel Group
Aaron Alphonso · Chief Technology Officer, Sydney Opera House Aaron Alphonso is the Chief Technology Officer at the Sydney Opera House, leading technology strategy and digital transformation for one of the world’s most iconic cultural institutions. With extensive experience in media and broadcasting, Aaron has held senior technology leadership roles at Macquarie Media, SBS Australia, and Southern Cross Austereo. He specialises in modernising digital infrastructure, enhancing audience engagement, and driving technology innovation within complex organisations. Aaron holds a degree in Information Technology with a management major and is recognised for his expertise in technology governance and transformation.
Venkataraman Subramanian · CTO APAC, Vanguard Australia Venkataraman (Venkat) Subramanian is the Chief Technology Officer, APAC at Vanguard, where he leads technology strategy and engineering across the Asia-Pacific region. He is responsible for driving modern technology platforms, cloud transformation and enterprise-wide innovation, ensuring technology delivers secure, scalable and customer-centric outcomes that support Vanguard's long-term growth and investment mission. With more than 25 years of global technology leadership experience, Venkat has built a distinguished career leading large-scale technology transformation across financial services and multinational organisations. Recognised for his expertise in enterprise architecture, cloud strategy, AI adoption and engineering excellence, he is passionate about aligning technology with business strategy to build resilient, future-ready organisations and deliver lasting value for customers.
Frank De Sa · Chief Information Officer, Premier Retail Frank De Sa is the Chief Information Officer of Premier Retail, where he leads technology for two of Australia’s best-known retail brands, Peter Alexander and Smiggle. With more than 30 years of experience in technology and information systems, Frank has built his career around helping businesses navigate change, improve performance and deliver better outcomes for customers and teams. He is known for his practical, commercially focused leadership style and his ability to make complex challenges clear and actionable. Frank is passionate about building strong teams, aligning technology with business priorities and creating the conditions for sustainable growth in a fast-moving retail environment. He also believes that lasting success should be measured by more than business results.
Jason Hargenrader · GM IT Services, Infrastructure and Cyber, Treasury Wine Estates
Partners
- Chainguard · Bronze
- Vercel · Platinum
- Notion · Diamond Notion is the AI workspace that brings all work together in a tool that adapts to every team , with AI to find answers and automate busywork. It's one place for search, manage projects, capture notes and company knowledge, and collaborate as a team. Notion brings together all your team's work in one place with high employee adoption, enterprise-grade security, and integrated AI capabilities that work better because context lives side by side with your projects, letting you consolidate your tool stack and saving you time and money. Now you have beautiful tools to build your life’s work.
- Seagate Technology · Gold Seagate is a leader in mass-capacity data storage. We’ve delivered more than four and a half billion terabytes of capacity over the past four decades. We make storage that scales, bringing trust and integrity to innovations that depend on data. In an era of unprecedented creation, Seagate stores infinite potential. Unlock the full value of your data today.
- Nerdio · Bronze
- AMD · Silver We care deeply about transforming lives with AMD technology to enrich our industry, our communities, and the world. Our mission is to build great products that accelerate next-generation computing experiences – the building blocks for the data center, artificial intelligence, PCs, gaming and embedded. Underpinning our mission is the AMD culture. We push the limits of innovation to solve the world’s most important challenges. We strive for execution excellence while being direct, humble, collaborative, and inclusive of diverse perspectives. AMD together we advance_
- Equinix · Gold Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world’s digital infrastructure company®. Digital leaders harness Equinix’s trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.
- New Relic · Bronze As a leader in observability, New Relic empowers engineers with a data-driven approach to planning, building, deploying, and running great software. New Relic delivers the only unified data platform that empowers engineers with all telemetry—metrics, events, logs, and traces—paired with powerful full-stack analysis tools to help engineers do their best work with data, not opinion. Delivered through the industry’s first usage-based consumption pricing that’s intuitive and predictable, New Relic gives engineers more value for the money by helping improve planning cycle times, change failure rates, release frequency, and mean time to resolution. This helps the world’s leading brands including adidas Runtastic, American Red Cross, Australia Post, Banco Inter, Chegg, GoTo Group, Signify Health, Topgolf, and World Fuel Services improve uptime, reliability, and operational efficiency to deliver exceptional customer experiences that fuel innovation and growth. Empower your engineers with the data they need to measure, improve, and grow your digital business. www.newrelic.com .
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