CTO Day | Sydney

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

• 8:00 am Networking Breakfast(CTO Day Sydney) 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.
• 9:00 am Opening Remarks: Building the Modern Engineering Organisation(CTO Day Sydney) A quick look at the day’s focus on speed, resilience and platform-centric delivery.
• 9:25 am The Real Cost of Not Modernising(CTO Day Sydney) For most organisations, technology modernisation is no longer optional, it now sits at the centre of performance, resilience, and competitiveness. Yet the greatest risk today isn’t failed transformation; it’s delayed transformation. In this session, Robert Wilson, Group CTO of BOQ, will unpack the hidden costs of maintaining legacy platforms, the operational and strategic exposure created by technical debt, and why postponing change now carries more risk than moving forward. He will explore how organisations can modernise in a measured, risk-aware way, and how simplifying technology environments can unlock resilience, reduce cost, and accelerate innovation across the business. Discussion Points: Quantifying the Cost of Delay: How Legacy Systems Inflate Risk, Spend, and Complexity Modernisation as a Risk-Control Strategy: Reducing Operational and Regulatory Exposure Sequencing Modernisation for Maximum Impact with Minimum Disruption
• 9:45 am Why Engineering Velocity Still Breaks in 2026(CTO Day Sydney) In 2026, most engineering teams have the frameworks, the cloud, and the AI tooling. Velocity still breaks. It breaks between commit and production in the deployment systems, the infra tickets that sit in someone's backlog while the feature waits. This session is for engineering leaders who've modernised the stack but still can't answer why shipping feels harder than it should. We'll examine where delivery actually stalls in modern web stacks, whether managed platforms and AI are genuinely fixing the problem or just masking fragile foundations, and what it looks like when the layer between development and production finally stops being a liability.
• 10:00 am The Power of C-Suite Convergence in Building Resilience That Boards Support(CTO Day Sydney) Join an expert, cross-function C-Suite panel as they explore how partnerships among top executives are essential for addressing today’s global megatrends. Moving beyond the buzzwords of fusion teams, this discussion will focus on the importance of collaborative leadership in navigating shifts in technology, governance, and market dynamics, showcasing how integrated strategies across business functions can bolster organisational resilience and agility. Discussion Points: Leveraging diverse executive perspectives to tackle complex global challenges. Developing adaptable frameworks to meet governance, technological, and economic shifts. Fostering cross-functional alignment to drive innovation and gain a competitive edge.
• 10:30 am Building the Agentic Foundation: Architecting Data for the AI Era(CTO Day Sydney) Most AI projects fail not due to poor models, but due to fragmented data and "integration debt." This 5-minute briefing explores how the Boomi serves as the active data foundation for the modern enterprise. We will discuss how unifying Integration, Data, APIs (plus MCP), and Agent Orchestration/Governance into a single platform allows CTOs to move beyond siloed automation toward a fully realized Agentic Enterprise. Learn from over 30,000 organisations globally that are leveraging Boomi to provide the secure, scalable connectivity required to power and govern autonomous AI agents at scale. Presented by: David Irecki CTO, APJ for Boomi
• 10:35 am Executive Roundtable Enterprise AI Transformation Assessment: A framework for understanding how organisations adopt and scale AI.(Roundtable 2) Enterprise AI Transformation Assessment: A framework for understanding how organisations adopt and scale AI. 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.
• 10:35 am Networking Break & Morning Tea Morning Team Strategy and Collaboration Session
• 10:35 am Executive Roundtable The Data Activation Imperative: Evolving Your Foundation for Agentic AI(Roundtable 3) The Data Activation Imperative: Evolving Your Foundation for Agentic AI The CIO mandate is shifting from building data foundations to activating them. While many organisations have invested heavily in aggregating data at scale, a critical gap remains between insight and action. In the era of agentic AI, competitive advantage will come not from how much data an organisation holds, but how quickly and confidently it can govern, orchestrate and activate that data in real time. Traditional storage-first architectures, designed for static reporting and retrospective analytics, are increasingly being exposed as too slow and fragmented to support the speed, autonomy and decision-making cadence that modern AI demands. This closed-door roundtable brings together CTOs and technology leaders to explore the architectural, operational and governance shifts required to move from passive data estates to real-time, activation-ready ecosystems. The discussion will examine how organisations are connecting fragmented systems, enabling data in motion, embedding trust into the flow, and moving from AI experimentation to scalable business process automation.
• 11:20 am Peer-Driven Debates(Networking Break & Morning Tea) 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?
• 11:50 am The Performance Architect: Engineering Simplicity in the Age of AI(Networking Break & Morning Tea) In an era of rising digital complexity, the modern CTO’s greatest challenge is the ability to simplify and discern. Drawing on over 20 years of experience leading digital transformations for major Australian retail icons like Cotton On, Super Retail Group, and now Domino’s, John BouAntoun explores the Maker approach to leadership. This session focuses on the pragmatic work of systemising people and processes, enforcing high engineering standards for new technology, and building an organisation healthy enough to turn technical potential into operational reality. Discussion Points: The Maker Standard for Engineering Integrity: Technology adoption must be net accretive to human interaction rather than contributing to operational noise. John discusses applying an engineer's discipline to ensure every implementation acts as a genuine performance multiplier for the business. Engineering Performance Teams through Human Systemisation: High-performance culture is achieved by architecting human workflows with the same precision as a technical stack. This involves visualising organisational processes to position talent effectively before a business need even becomes apparent. The Silent Revolution of Operational Simplification: Meaningful transformation occurs through quiet, heavily tuned optimisations that remove friction from the core business. John shares his turnaround playbook for navigating the shift from legacy complexity to enterprise simplicity to create a stable foundation for innovation.
• 0:10 pm Scaling Innovation in Highly Regulated Industries(Networking Break & Morning Tea) In sectors where safety, compliance, and environmental controls define the boundaries of every decision, innovation can seem constrained, but these same constraints can become powerful accelerators when approached the right way. In this session, Angus Melbourne, CTO of Orica, will explore how heavily regulated industries can drive meaningful, scalable innovation without compromising safety or operational integrity. Discussion Points: Turning Regulatory Constraints Into Innovation Catalysts: How strict regulatory environments, often viewed as blockers, can instead lead to stronger product design, more robust governance, and higher-quality technology outcomes. Designing Repeatable Innovation Models for Traditional and Safety-Critical Sectors : Unlike digital-only businesses, physical and industrial organisations require innovation frameworks that account for long-lived assets, operational risk, field safety, and environmental stewardship. Partnering Across Ecosystems to Accelerate Safe, Real-World Innovation: From universities to startups, government bodies to end customers, cross-ecosystem collaboration is increasingly essential for derisking and scaling innovation before it reaches high-stakes operational environments.
• 0:30 pm Mission-Critical Operations: Cloud, Edge, and Resilience(Networking Break & Morning Tea) When national security operations cannot fail, technology design, resilience, and decision-making reach new heights. Krissie Auld, CTO of the Australian Federal Police, shares how the AFP builds secure, distributed, cloud-enabled, and edge-capable systems that stay operational under extreme conditions. Attendees will take away practical strategies for designing resilient, scalable, and future-ready infrastructure. Discussion Points: Designing for Continuous Operations: How to build infrastructure that stays resilient under pressure, from system failures to high-demand, mission-critical workloads. Hybrid Cloud and Edge in Action: Practical insights on leveraging distributed architectures to support real-time decision-making and operational agility. Translating National Security Lessons to Enterprise: Frameworks and strategies to secure, resilient, and high-value enterprise systems.
• 0:50 pm Product as the Operating Model for Customer Trust(Networking Break & Morning Tea) The right product delivered at the right time is the ultimate way to earn customer trust. In this fireside chat, Adam Cox, Chief Product and Technology Officer at THE ICONIC, demonstrates how a product-led approach can transform organisations by putting the customer at the centre of every decision. By aligning engineering, product, and customer insights, Adam shows how disciplined prioritisation drives measurable value, accelerates innovation, and builds long-term trust with customers. Discussion Points: Product-Led Decision Making: Turning product strategy into a guiding framework that ensures every initiative delivers tangible business impact. Enhancing Customer Trust Through Technology and AI: Using AI and modern tech to speed delivery, improve experiences, and strengthen customer loyalty. Scaling Innovation With Discipline: Empowering teams across the organisation to experiment and prototype quickly while maintaining alignment and focus.
• 1:10 pm Lunch Break & Peer Connect An hour to continue conversations, meet solution providers and explore potential partnerships.
• 1:10 pm Executive Roundtable: The Cost of Moving Fast: Why Speed is No Longer the Problem(Roundtable 4) The Cost of Moving Fast: Why Speed is No Longer the Problem As delivery velocity accelerates across the enterprise, many organisations are discovering that speed is no longer the primary constraint. With automation, AI-assisted development, and modern tooling increasing throughput, the real challenge is shifting to the quality and reliability of what is being delivered. In many cases, organisations are now moving faster than ever before, but with less control, less clarity on what “good” looks like, and increasing long-term cost as poor quality is pushed into production at scale. This closed-door roundtable brings together CTOs and technology leaders to explore how organisations are responding to this shift, and what it takes to deliver high-quality outcomes at pace without increasing risk or cost.
• 1:10 pm Executive Roundtable: How Observability Drives Business Outcomes During Rapid Technological Change(Roundtable 5) How Observability Drives Business Outcomes During Rapid Technological Change We are living in an era of rapid technological change. From significant advancements in AI, to the myriad of challenges that complex software architectures present; the stakes of running a successful, secure, and scalable digital business have never been higher. The 2025 Observability Forecast for Asia Pacific found that while organisations in Australia and New Zealand are embracing new technologies and key observability capabilities, tool sprawl and fragmentation is continuing to present significant hurdles. In fact, 35% of respondents in ANZ still use five or more observability tools, with only 5% relying on a single platform. How do businesses continue to adopt new, complex technologies and realise value from them, without the ability to adequately observe their performance and measure ROI? In this roundtable, we’ll discuss the top trends driving the need for observability in Australian and New Zealand organisations, dive into the reasons why these areas are taking priority, and discuss tangible ways that organisations can navigate this new era without compromising on service delivery or user experience.
• 2:10 pm CTO Exchange(Lunch Break & Peer Connect) 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.
• 2:40 pm Separating Hype from Reality in Emerging Technology(Lunch Break & Peer Connect) As organisations across industries explore AI, automation, and other emerging technologies, the challenge is no longer access but discernment. In this session, Simon Hughes, CTO of Jetstar, will share practical insights on how to separate genuine opportunities from overhyped trends. He will discuss how to assess new technologies through the lens of cybersecurity, data privacy, ethics, and operational readiness, and how to turn pilots and proofs-of-concept into measurable organisational value. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies for adopting emerging tech in a way that drives real impact rather than following the noise. Discussion Points: Identifying what is real versus overhyped in emerging technology. Integrating governance, ethics, and compliance into technology adoption. Translating pilot programs and proofs-of-concept into tangible business outcomes.
• 3:00 pm Technology as the Enterprise Cost Strategy(Plenary) As enterprises face mounting pressure to deliver rapid cost reduction without slowing innovation, CTOs are increasingly at the centre of the mandate. In this session, Kate Whitney, Chief Digital and Technology Officer of Treasury Wine Estates, shares how technology leaders can use AI, automation, platform rationalisation, and smarter vendor partnerships to remove structural cost from the business; not just trim budgets. Drawing on her experience leading large-scale cost transformation, she explores the mindset shifts required across teams, how to keep talent engaged during cost-out programs, and why execution and culture ultimately matter more than tools. Discussion Points: Leading Technology-Driven Cost Transformation: How CTOs can turn cost pressure into strategic advantage by aligning teams, culture, and execution to deliver measurable enterprise impact. Vendor Partnerships as a Force Multiplier: How strategic, trust-based vendor relationships can accelerate innovation, enable smarter technology adoption, and unlock sustainable cost efficiency. Driving Enterprise AI Adoption: Overcoming organisational friction and the ‘frozen middle’ to embed AI and automation into day-to-day operations, boosting productivity and operational impact.
• 3:00 pm Executive Roundtable Breaking the Complexity Cycle: How CTOs Are Simplifying Operations in the Age of AI(Roundtable 6) As technology environments expand, many organisations are finding themselves caught in a cycle of increasing operational complexity. What was once implemented to drive efficiency, including new tools, platforms, and now AI, is often introducing additional layers of fragmentation, cost, and overhead. For CTOs, the challenge is no longer simply adopting new capabilities, but ensuring those capabilities simplify operations rather than complicate them. Across many organisations, disconnected workflows, limited visibility across assets and services, and underutilised investments are creating friction that slows delivery and reduces return on technology spend. This closed-door roundtable brings together CTOs responsible for service and operational strategy to explore how they are simplifying their environments: reducing tool sprawl, improving visibility, connecting workflows across teams, and using AI to move from reactive support to more proactive, scalable operations. The discussion is designed for technology leaders navigating growing operational demands who are looking to streamline their environments, improve time-to-value, and build a more sustainable path to scale.
• 3:20 pm The Pressure Points: Where CTOs Are Making the Toughest Calls(Plenary) This panel brings together senior technology leaders to unpack the critical decisions shaping enterprise technology today. From managing technical debt and operational risk to integrating AI at scale and retaining top talent, CTOs share the real-world challenges that don’t make it into board reports and the strategies they use to navigate them. Discussion Points: Managing Legacy & Technical Debt: How do you decide when to modernise vs maintain? Operational Risk & Resilience: Key strategies for preventing outages or failures in critical systems. Talent & Team Capability: Retaining top tech talent in a competitive market. The CTO Mandate Today: How the role has evolved from tech operator to business strategist.
• 3:50 pm Analyst Wrap: Five Imperatives for the CTO Office(Plenary) Board ready insights on architecture, cost, AI enablement, developer experience and velocity.
• 4:00 pm End of Day | Networking Drinks(Plenary)

Speakers

• Burak Cankurtaran · Chief Technology Officer, Panelist Heading up the tech team at Panelist.
• Marli Lozoya · Executive Producer, Factor Marli Lozoya is an Executive Producer and Moderator at Factor, where she designs and delivers high-impact conferences and executive events that connect industry leaders with actionable insights. With expertise in content development, event production, and executive engagement, Marli creates engaging programs and facilitates thought-provoking discussions that explore emerging trends, strategic challenges, and opportunities for innovation. Known for her collaborative approach and ability to bring clarity to complex topics, she ensures every session delivers value, inspires dialogue, and drives meaningful outcomes for audiences.
• Monique Dignan-smith · Executive Moderator, 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 · Executive Producer & Industry Analysis, 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.
• John BouAntoun · Group Chief Technology Officer, Domino's Pizza Enterprises Limited John BouAntoun is the Group Chief Technology Officer at Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, where he leads global technology strategy across digital platforms, data, and innovation. With over 20 years of experience, he is responsible for delivering scalable, customer-centric solutions that support Domino’s position as a leader in digital ordering and retail technology. Prior to joining Domino’s, John was a Partner at Deloitte Digital, advising organisations across Australia and New Zealand on large-scale digital transformation, commerce, and customer experience initiatives. He brings a pragmatic, practitioner-led perspective on balancing innovation, cost, and risk in complex enterprise environments.
• Robert Wilson · Group Chief Technology Officer, Bank of Queensland Rob is a technologist and a banker with in excess of 35 years of global experience with a number of both global institutions and in start-ups, across financial services and technology. The last five years with Bank of Queensland he has been responsible for driving the renewed technology strategy supporting the Groups Digital and AI transformation and for the technology execution of the new multi-brand Digital bank platform supported by the Azure based Cloud Transformation program. Prior to joining BoQ he was Group CTO at Westpac. There he was key in planning and driving the Cloud, Data, Cybersecurity and Customer Hub transformations. Prior to joining Westpac, Rob worked with SAP in a Global Banking role, including a number of successful core transformations. Before joining SAP he was co-founder of a FinTech start-up backed by Swiss Re & McKinsey, and for 11 years prior with ABN AMRO Bank in senior functions in Asia, the US & Europe. Rob has worked closely with FinTechs in Australia, as Advisor and Board member with special focus on AI/Data, Quantum cyber, smart Payments & Compliance.
• Krissie Auld · Chief Technology Officer, Australian Federal Police Krissie Auld is the Chief Technology Officer and Acting National Manager Forensics at the Australian Federal Police, leading technology strategy and digital transformation initiatives. She previously held senior technology roles at IMB Bank and spent over 20 years in the New South Wales State Government driving major ICT projects. Krissie holds multiple certifications including ISO27001 and is a Graduate Certificate holder in Public Sector Innovation.
• Angus Melbourne · President Orica Digital Solutions & Chief Technology Officer, Orica Angus Melbourne is Chief Technology Officer at Orica, leading the company’s technology and innovation strategy, including digital and monitoring businesses, IT, strategic marketing, and the development and commercialisation of new technologies to improve customer productivity. Previously, he served as Orica’s Chief Commercial Officer and as Group Executive and President for Australia Pacific and Indonesia. Angus joined Orica in 2016 after a 25-year career with Schlumberger, where he held senior global leadership roles across engineering, manufacturing, operations and sales, including President of Artificial Lift and multiple vice-president and general manager positions across Asia, Australia and the US. He has worked in more than 11 countries, holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering (Hons) and Science from Monash University, and chairs the Monash Engineering Deans Advisory Council.
• Simon Hughes · Chief Technology Officer, Jetstar Airways An experienced leader and innovator, I enjoy shaping and inspiring teams to superior performance and outcomes. I have a possibly-unhealthy passion for planes and the airline industry in general. I'm currently having a blast leading the technology team at Jetstar, one of the world's best and most successful low cost carriers. I'm privileged to lead the tech organisation during a transformative era where technology and tech-led innovation will shape some of the biggest changes in our industry's history. I previously had responsibility for Global Distribution and Payments across Qantas, driving structural transformation to deliver benefits for customers and the airline industry through the transition to New Distribution Capability (NDC) and towards Offers & Orders. Previous responsibilities include leadership of Commercial Airline Technology at Qantas (spanning network strategy & planning, revenue management & pricing, sales & distribution, and digital channels), as well as technology risk & compliance for Qantas Airlines. Another great experience includes my time working in Qantas Loyalty, leading the commercial, technical and operational functions in establishing and running Qantas Loyalty's breakout data, insights and targeted digital media business. In my pre-airline life, I guided the formation of a complex tech/digital joint venture, involving two publicly-listed companies, in order to bring digital mail to Australia. I established and led the digital start-up JV, Digital Post Australia.
• Adam Cox · Chief Technology & Product Officer, THE ICONIC Adam Cox is the Chief Technology & Product Officer at THE ICONIC, Australia and New Zealand’s leading online fashion and lifestyle retailer. He is responsible for the company’s end-to-end technology and product strategy, overseeing engineering, digital platforms, and innovation that support THE ICONIC’s scale, customer experience, and operational excellence across the region. With a strong background in software engineering and technology leadership, Adam brings deep expertise in building high-performing teams and translating complex technology into practical business outcomes. He is particularly focused on modernising platforms, driving data-led decision-making, and ensuring technology investments deliver measurable value for customers and the wider organisation.
• 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.
• 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.
• Kate Whitney · Chief Digital and Technology Officer, Treasury Wine Estates Kate has had an obsession with using data in brand marketing since the day she left University. With that passion and commitment, she has been fortunate to work across a number of categories and brands that are true market leaders. Some of her proudest achievements have been whilst working with, and leading, great people in advertising, subscription television, consumer goods, financial services, telecommunication, luxury and omni-channel retail.
• Andy McCarthy · Group GM Technology Engineering, The NRMA A Senior Leader with strong financial and commercial experience. Over 16 years leading large multiple product teams across complex enterprise level deliveries at scale, including consumer, internal workplace and retail endpoint technologies. A proven track record leveraging scrum/hybrid delivery, automation & continuous delivery across Multi Cloud/On premise security hardened solutions. Delivering across Digital, Marketing, Engineering, Networking, Security and Identity. Transformation champion for the delivery approach in NRMA and Vodafone, evolving from traditional delivery approaches towards an agile and customer first based approach - leveraging technologies as the enabling capability to be adopted across the wider teams. Proven ability to transform, build, coach & lead large complex teams focusing on the ability to perform frictionless deployments, zero downtime & adopting Continuous SecOps methodologies. Over 10 years experience in the AWS and Azure Cloud eco-systems, and have built innovative solutions that significantly altered the business in revenue, NPV, eNPS & sales. Working in a fast moving Business with high business stakeholder visibility & management up to Cx level, whilst ensuring solutions are scalable. Extensive experience presenting at high profile conferences & seminars such as AWS Summit & Innovating IT. Proficient in enterprise solutions in Cloud environments, managing cost models, optimsation & budgeting whilst also ensuring Cloud based solutions integrate securely & flexibly with traditional IT Data Centres. Pioneered Vodafone Australia's use of AWS & CDN technologies.
• Ashish Khurana · Chief Data and AI Officer, Transurban Australia Ashish Khurana is a visionary senior technology executive at Transurban, known for leading large-scale transformation programs that modernise technology and reimagine operating models. With deep expertise across financial services—including retail banking, wealth management, capital markets, and insurance—Ashish brings a strategic lens to driving innovation, agile delivery, and scalable growth. He is an experienced change leader, skilled in navigating complex cross-functional initiatives that require organisational redesign, business process re-engineering, and end-to-end technology uplift. Ashish is also a passionate people leader, recognised for building high-performing, globally diverse teams and fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement. With a strong grasp of stakeholder engagement and consultative communication, Ashish is adept at bridging business and technology—translating technical complexity into strategic value for C-suite leaders and board members.
• Jamie Scott · Enterprise Account Director, Vercel Building strategic partnerships at the intersection of AI, developer experience, and modern web infrastructure. Currently at Vercel, helping enterprise organisations rethink how they build and ship digital products with Next.js, AI-native workflows, and platform engineering. Passionate about translating complex technology into real business outcomes, with a focus on developer productivity, security, and innovation at scale. Based in Sydney and working closely with some of Australia’s leading enterprises to modernise the way software gets built and deployed.
• 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.
• Anthony Emmanouil · Chief Marketing Officer, Macquarie Technology Group

Partners

• Vercel · Platinum
• Equal Experts · Gold We are honoured to have been named the 2nd best place to work in the UK by Glassdoor! Our team of 3,000 consultants across five continents help create leading digital products and services. We decide with data, design for users, deliver at pace and scale sustainably. Bringing undiluted expertise We only engage senior consultants. In years of experience, our people have twice the industry average. Low-ego and curious, they share knowledge with your teams and across our network. Keeping you innovating We take the time to understand where you are now. We get excited about where you want to be. Building momentum with many small changes, we embed innovation into your every day. Easy to work with Valuing context, we never offer cookie-cutter solutions. Treating each other and our customers as equals, we solve problems with you. Infusing our culture and skills into your organisation, we build long-lasting value. Experienced consultants know what they’re doing – we free them to do what they do best. Find out what it’s like to work with us, get in touch.
• Chainguard · Bronze
• New Relic · Gold 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 .
• Freshworks · Gold Freshworks provides people-first, AI service software that organizations use to deliver exceptional customer and employee experiences. More than 68,000 companies, including American Express, Bridgestone, Databricks, Fila, Nucor, and Sony choose Freshworks’ uncomplicated solutionsto increase efficiency and loyalty.
• 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.
• Notion · Gold
• Boomi · Gold Boomi, the leader in AI-driven automation, enables organizations worldwide to connect everything, automate processes, and accelerate outcomes. The Boomi Enterprise Platform — including Boomi Agentstudio — unifies integration and automation along with data, API, and AI agent management, in a single, comprehensive solution. Trusted by over 23,000 customers and supported by a network of 800+ partners, Boomi is driving agentic transformation — helping enterprises of all sizes achieve agility, efficiency, and innovation at scale. Discover more at boomi.com .
• Macquarie Data Centres · Bronze We’re your experts in seriously secure, sovereign and compliant data centres. Our AI and cloud data centres are trusted by the world’s biggest hyperscalers, Global Fortune 500 companies and 42% of the Australian Federal Government. All our campuses are Certified Strategic by the Australian Federal Government and supported by 270+ Government-cleared engineers. We're designed to meet your needs today, and into the future. As Australia's most experienced data centre provider, we have been successfully building and operating data centres for over 25 years and hold the nation's longest running track record for Uptime and Operational Excellence. We can tailor a design for your needs today and accommodate your growth for tomorrow. Owned by the ASX200 Macquarie Technology Group.
• Planit · Bronze At Planit, we provide businesses with the vision, precision and independence they need to improve the quality of their software and the way they deliver it. As a global leader in quality engineering and assurance solutions, our 2,000+ consultants are at the forefront of the industry. Every day, they test themselves on a variety of challenging projects across our top-tier client base. We are hungry to learn and drive our industry forward. This permeates the fabric of our culture, with core values centred around continuous growth and excellence, as we look to inspire minds and raise the bar. We embrace and encourage diversity. We strive to create an environment that’s productive, welcoming, fair, rewarding, and fun for everyone. We act with integrity and harness sustainability as a catalyst for positive change. Ready to test yourself and grow your career? Visit our Careers tab or www.planit.com/careers
• 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_
• Seagate Technology · Silver
• Macquarie Telecom · Official Sovereign Partner We get our customers talking, emailing and connecting. But we do it in an #SoUnTelco way. We take care of data, voice, mobile and SDWAN. But we also take care of you. We work hard to be better.
• NRI · Bronze
• ABBYY
• Factor Leading market research in APAC.

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