Agenda

Tuesday, 11 November 2025

“Redefining CFO Leadership in the Digital Enterprise”

Please note that 1:1 meetings will be running throughout the day.

Download Agenda
07:45 - 08:30

Registration & Check-In

Secure your seat in the keynote room for the day.

Jim Berry

CEO & Founder at ADAPT

About

Jim founded ADAPT with a vision to help Australia thrive commercially, now and for the future.  To enable that, Jim leads ADAPT’s mission to connect, inform and equip our local business and tech leaders.

Leading the development of ADAPTs agenda’s and content strategy whilst also advising executive leadership teams from global technology service providers, Jim is uniquely experienced to be the voice of the end-user, the customer and the vendor.

Bringing his deep knowledge of the local market, Jim regularly presents “Know your Customer” webinars and guides the world’s largest vendors with their G-T-M and content strategies.

Through entrepreneurial product development and a servant leader mentality with his team and clients, ADAPT grows annually with clearly differentiated value for all stakeholders.

08:30 - 08:45

Welcome to the 16th CFO Edge: Redefining CFO Leadership in the Digital Enterprise

Jim Berry - CEO & Founder at ADAPT Read More

In this opening address, we set the stage for a day dedicated to the modern CFO agenda – where finance leaders are no longer just managing risk and reporting numbers, but steering technology strategy, driving business model reinvention, and enabling enterprise-wide resilience. We’ll explore what it means to lead in today’s volatile, AI-powered economy, introduce the key themes of the day, under pinned by unique Australian insights from ADAPT – and preview the sessions and speakers shaping the future of finance.

Tenar Larsen

Head of People & Performance, Executive Programs

About

Tenar has spent the last 18 years working in sales, running her own company consulting to corporate Australia around Workplace Wellness / Employee Experience and now she finds herself back over on the dark side as an employee, part of a well oiled machine – and loving it! As a Senior Manager of the ADAPT Advisory team, Tenar runs the team that fulfils over 60 private advisory events each year across Asia Pacific. Tenar build genuine relationships quickly and easily, loves connecting people, finding out how to solve a problem and then delivering.

08:45 - 08:50

Get an Edge: Making the Most of Your Day

Tenar Larsen - Head of People & Performance, Executive Programs Read More

Dom Price

Work Futurist and ADAPT Advisor

About

As a work futurist, formerly with Atlassian, Dom was the in-house ‘team doctor’, designing collaborative patterns which are easily adaptable for any purpose.

But he doesn’t believe it’s enough to simply make predictions about the future, or even just prepare for it. What sets Dom apart is his ability to inspire people to transform their working lives, and with it, their futures. This person-centred approach has established him as a thought leader, at the forefront of the zeitgeist that is life at work in the years ahead.

Dom has a galvanising take on people, practices, technology, and workspaces – being passionate about filling the gap between knowledge and action.

His experience in global strategic positions across the fields of technology and finance, as well as extensive travel to fifty countries, has informed a unique perspective on the future of work. One which values interconnectedness but never forgets the individual at the core of even the largest scale operation.

The Hon Victor Dominello

Director UNSW/UTS Trustworthy Digital Society Hub, Tech Council of Australia Board Member and Former Minister for Customer Service and Digital Govt and Founder of ServiceGen

About

Victor Dominello is a former Senior Government Minister of New South Wales (Australia), serving prominently as the Former Minister for Customer Service and Digital.

Recognised by The Australian in July 2022 as one of Australia’s top 100 innovators, he made history in 2019 as the world’s first Customer Service Minister. During his 12-year cabinet career, he led diverse portfolios including Digital Government, Innovation, Finance, and Aboriginal Affairs, garnering global acclaim for transforming NSW public service delivery through initiatives like the Department of Customer Service, Service NSW and the Digital Restart Fund.

Before politics, Victor practiced law as a partner in a commercial firm for over a decade. In September 2023, he co-founded ServiceGen, advising governments and organisations on innovative service delivery strategies.

Currently, Victor holds the following roles: Chair of the Federal Ministerial Digital ID Expert Panel (Department of Finance) and Chair of the Independent Advisory Board (Services Australia), Strategic Advisor and Global Luminary at Accenture, Advisor for Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, and Professor at the University of New South Wales. He also serves on several boards, including Director of the UNSW-UTS Trustworthy Digital Society Hub and Board Director of the Tech Council of Australia since 2023.

8:50 - 09:25

From Platform to Profit: CFO imperatives in Australia’s Age of AI & Tech Disruption

Dom Price - Work Futurist and ADAPT Advisor The Hon Victor Dominello - Director UNSW/UTS Trustworthy Digital Society Hub, Tech Council of Australia Board Member and Former Minister for Customer Service and Digital Govt and Founder of ServiceGen Read More

A high-voltage, no-spin conversation between two of Australia’s sharpest minds: Victor Dominello, the digital-government architect, and Dom Price, work futurist, and team doctor.

They’ll zero in on what CFOs must understand, unlearn, and do now in the fast-shifting terrain of AI, tech, and work. CFOs will leave with a blueprint – not just for survival, but for leadership in Australia’s immediate future.

• Transformation at Scale – Lessons from Service NSW, Digital ID, and data platforms on doing digital right.
• Trust at Speed – Driving tech investment while safeguarding ethics, transparency, and user trust.
• People & AI at Work – Reshaping teams, tools, and culture for effectiveness, not just efficiency.
• Metrics that Matter – From output to outcomes: CX, impact, data responsibility, and resilience.
• Risk & Resilience – Tackling technical debt, security, regulation, and the digital divide with adaptive strategies.
• Leading in Uncertainty – Guiding organisations through AI disruption and crisis with agility and foresighted.

 

The Hon. Victor Dominello
CEO of Future Government Institute | Co-Founder, ServiceGen | Service Transformation Expert

Victor Dominello is a globally recognised leader in public sector transformation and a pioneer of secure, citizen-focused digital identity.

A former NSW Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government, he created world-first reforms including the Department of Customer Service, Service NSW, and the Digital Restart Fund. His innovations, such as the digital driver’s licence, QR check-ins, and vaccine certificates, have set global benchmarks.

Victor’s leadership has been recognised worldwide. He was named to the Okta Identity 25 list of global visionaries, with his image featured on the Nasdaq Tower in Times Square. Today, as CEO of the Future Government Institute and Co-Founder of ServiceGen, he advises governments and organisations worldwide, including the World Bank. He also contributes to national policy, recently participating in the Treasurer’s Economic Reform Roundtable on efficient and high-quality government services.

 

Dom Price

As a work futurist, formerly with Atlassian, Dom Price was the in-house ‘team doctor’, designing collaborative patterns which are easily adaptable for any purpose.

But he doesn’t believe it’s enough to simply make predictions about the future, or even just prepare for it. What sets Dom apart is his ability to inspire people to transform their working lives, and with it, their futures. This person-centred approach has established him as a thought leader, at the forefront of the zeitgeist that is life at work in the years ahead.

Dom has a galvanising take on people, practices, technology, and workspaces – being passionate about filling the gap between knowledge and action.

His experience in global strategic positions across the fields of technology and finance, as well as extensive travel to fifty countries, has informed a unique perspective on the future of work. One which values interconnectedness but never forgets the individual at the core of even the largest scale operation.

Shilpa Bhale

Director, Strategy and Product Management at Oracle

About

Shilpa is the Strategy and Product Management Director for Oracle’s ERP Cloud Financials, where she shapes the vision and execution of this flagship offering. With over 23 years of experience in finance and technology, Shilpa has held consulting, strategy, and leadership roles, helping global clients achieve strategic business outcomes through technology investments. She supports clients in making the right choices for their businesses when partnering with Oracle across data, applications, platform, infrastructure, and industry solutions. Shilpa holds a Bachelor’s in Finance and a Master’s in Computers. Based in Sydney, she is passionate about mentoring young professionals, enjoys board games, and loves travelling with her family. 

09:25 - 09:55

The 4 Critical Foundations for AI Success in Finance

Shilpa Bhale - Director, Strategy and Product Management at Oracle Read More

AI has moved beyond the hype. It’s now at the heart of top-performing finance teams. Today’s forward-thinking finance leaders aren’t just automating processes; they’re redefining the strategic value their function delivers to the business. This session will unpack what an AI-enabled finance function looks like in action and why strong foundations in people, process, data, and governance are critical for sustained success. You will gain an understanding of how your private data drives unique outcomes for your organisation and how leading CFOs are shifting from reactive analysis to predictive, frictionless operations that drive strategic growth.

Gabby Fredkin

Head of Analytics & Insights at ADAPT

About

Gabby’s primary role is managing ADAPT’s overall strategy for Data Analytics. He has extensive experience in using data to identify trends in technology that help shape Australian organisations. Utilising modern Data Science techniques, he provides ADAPT and their customers with confidence in the accuracy and validity of the information used for ADAPT’s Research, Advisory, and Events.​

With a passion for creating stories with data, Gabby is consistently rated as one of the top speakers at ADAPT Events. In round table discussions, he specialises in using statistics to initiate thought-provoking discussions. Gabby is effective in translating information into insights, enabling ADAPT’s customers to become more data-driven.​

Gabby’s primary areas of expertise are: ​

  • Advanced AI and ML practices, including AI ethics.​
  • Building models to benchmark and predict IT performance.​
  • End-user behaviour and human-centred design.​
  • Cross-functional team design and value, such as DevSecOps.​
09:55 - 10:25

ADAPT State of Australia Maturity & Performance Insights: AI with an ROI

Gabby Fredkin - Head of Analytics & Insights at ADAPT Read More

ADAPT’s research team reveal the latest local fact-based insights from over 5000 interactions and 2000 detailed surveys with our region’s top CIOs, CISO, CFOs, CTOs, and digital leaders. This session will assist you in comparing the resource allocation, investment priorities and unique challenges of Australian CFOs for you to benchmark and validate your priorities and thinking. Gabby will reveal the core findings distilled from your aggregated pre-event surveys and examine the AI and tech strategies that are generating value – focused on what the top performers are doing differently to scale AI success through a CFO lens.

10:25 - 10:45

Morning Break

Refreshments, Snacks & Connections

Solly Brown

Partner at McKinsey & Co-Leader of QuantumBlack Australia & NZ

About

I am a Partner at McKinsey & Company based in Sydney, where much of my work is oriented around helping organisations on strategy, AI and transformation. I am leader in our analytics practice and QuantumBlack Australia (QuantumBlack is an analytics consulting firm acquired by McKinsey). My QB teams work with organisations on issues related to advanced analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.

I also have a passion for public sector, where I serve organisations on strategy, organisation and transformation topics.

Before joining McKinsey I studied for a PhD in machine learning and artificial intelligence. Prior to this my background was in theoretical physics.

10:45 - 11:15

McKinsey: Navigating Agentic AI for Business Impact

Solly Brown - Partner at McKinsey & Co-Leader of QuantumBlack Australia & NZ Read More

In a world defined by economic upheaval, geopolitical volatility, and rapid technological advancement, CFOs face unprecedented pressure to deliver tangible value – immediately, not eventually.

Through a focused look at the agentic organisation, this session will cut through the noise around agentic AI to explore how leading organisations are shifting from proof-of-concept to enterprise-scale productivity, and what that means for finance leaders.

As businesses transition from isolated AI experiments to enterprise-wide implementation, finance leaders must navigate a new landscape of opportunity and accountability where embedding agentic AI into core workflows is accelerating value capture, reshaping enterprise performance and demanding a pragmatic shift from ambition to action.

Solly will explore:

• What CFOs should now expect from AI beyond the experimentation phase
• Why scaling requires a shift from scattered use cases to domain-driven investment
• Practical case of agentic AI at scale, with productivity and value capture in mind

Adrian Fahy

Director of Finance Planning & Strategy at Dell Technologies

About

Adrian Fahy is Senior Director, Finance Planning & Sales Strategy at Dell within the Finance organisation.

The organisation leads sales planning, forecasting, go‑to‑market strategy, and business transformation and partners closely with sales, marketing and the product teams to drive actionable growth plans.

A recent focus for Adrian has been on driving business transformation in line with the company’s modernisation agenda. A focus on simplification, standardisation and automation within the CFO organization itself, and driving productivity in Sales through accelerated adoption of modern toolsets, processes and philosophies.

Adrian has been with Dell for close to 30 years, and in that time has lived and worked in 5 countries across 2 continents. He has held senior roles at the Global, Regional and Country level with Dell Technologies across the CFO and Marketing organizations.

Academically Adrian completed a Bachelors Degree in Business Atlantic Technological University Galway and undertook Postgraduate Masters study in Science and Engineering at the University of Limerick, both in Ireland.

Adrian and his wife Lisa live in Sydney. Lisa is a Specialist in Emergency Medicine and the Clinical Director within NSW Ambulance. They have 3 children, 2 boys and a girl, that range from to 7 to 14 years old.

11:15 - 11:35

From Proof-of-Concept to Productivity: Unlocking Impact for CFOs

Adrian Fahy - Director of Finance Planning & Strategy at Dell Technologies Read More

Matt Boon, Strategic Research Director at ADAPT in a fireside chat with Dell Technologies Director of Finance Planning & Strategy, Adrian Fahy exploring how emerging digital solutions are reshaping the CFO’s role.

Discover actionable strategies for moving beyond AI hype to deliver measurable business value, increase cost efficiency, and manage risk – future-proofing your finance function for sustainable growth in a rapidly evolving market.

Florian Pecher

CFO Performance Coach at Imperative Advisory

About

Florian brings 22 years of global investment banking experience across London, Germany, Hong Kong, and Sydney, including 12 years in senior leadership at HSBC.

As a Senior Director, he worked with hundreds of the world’s top CEOs and CFOs on their most critical transactions: cross-border M&A, billion-dollar financings, corporate restructurings.

As HSBC Hong Kong’s former Head of Sales Management, he also led a broad range of strategic initiatives for HSBC in its home market. This included building and leading a high performing team, leveraging data analytics to drive revenue, policy design and implementation, as well as delivering L&D, mentoring, and wellbeing programs for 2,500+ staff.

Today, Florian advises and coaches some of Asia-Pacific’s top CFOs, investment bankers, and private capital leaders. He specializes in helping CFOs shift from being consumed by operational finance to driving strategic value creation as trusted partners to the CEO. That means reclaiming time to set the agenda, honing an authentic personal brand and positioning, and influencing organizational dynamics with greater impact.

As an ICF-certified ontological coach, he guides leaders through the internal mindset shifts, that underpin lasting peak performance and transformation – harmonising vision, self-mastery, and action. Based in Sydney and serving clients across Asia-Pacific, he brings a global perspective to CFOs shaping the region’s future.

11:35 - 11:55

The Human Edge: How CFOs and Their Teams Can Lead Strategic Value Creation Through the Power of Personality and Being Human

Florian Pecher - CFO Performance Coach at Imperative Advisory Read More

In the age of AI, our human edge matters more than ever.

Competitors and AI can replicate and extrapolate what we do, but never who we really are as human beings – individually and collectively.

When CFOs and their teams fully capitalise on their unique personality strengths and perspectives, they’re able to compete with greater intensity externally, collaborate with greater depth within the organisation, and create more innovative solutions.

It all starts with:

1. Mind state: showing up centred, with clarity of intent (how you’re being)
2. Strategic self-awareness: own and team personality (who you’re being)
3. Disciplined execution: translating insight into action (what you’re doing)

Florian brings a rare combination of real-world experience to this session (gained in over two decades as a global investment banker and Performance Coach) along with scientifically validated insights from performance and personality psychology.

Participants will leave with a clear framework linking their unique human edge to tangible performance outcomes – and the personality traits driving these at individual and team level.

12:00 - 13:00

ADAPT Executive Insight Roundtables

Attend your pre-selected roundtable to participate in a peer discussion with confidence under Chatham House Rules moderated by an ADAPT analyst with subject matter experts.

Justin Chapman

Vice President of Finance for Oracle JAPAC Applications

About

Justin is a Chartered Accountant whose expertise stretches far beyond the typical boundaries of finance. Having sharpened his skills at institutions like UWA and Stanford, and across industry giants such as PwC, BHP Billiton, and DXC, Justin brings a comprehensive perspective from his time in consulting, customer success, and technology. At Oracle, Justin leads the Global Business Finance (GBF) Group, shaping a modern finance agenda within the Sales Organisation. He and his team build deep, collaborative partnerships with business units, providing critical insights and foresight through advanced analytics that power informed decision-making. Justin is passionate about integrating best practices to streamline operations, enhance efficiency, and uncover new revenue streams, always leveraging technology to identify cost savings and boost shareholder value.

Roundtable 1

Embracing the Era of Agentic AI – What CFO’s Need to Know

Justin Chapman - Vice President of Finance for Oracle JAPAC Applications Read More

Join your peers for a candid conversation on the adoption strategy and best practices to achieve AI Driven Finance. Hear firsthand experiences on how top CFOs are leveraging AI to streamline operations, enhance decision-making and help their teams unlock the full potential of AI to become trusted business partners in the digital age.

Esther Monks

Industry Advisor at Workday

About

Esther joined Workday in April 2023, based in Melbourne. As Industry Advisor, Esther brings insights from our customers global transformation journeys to the region, and applies a local lens to solutions.

Esther is a chartered accountant, with diverse experience spanning professional services (finance transformation and assurance), commercial finance, regional CFO and strategy roles. She has worked in or consulted to numerous industries including Public Sector and Healthcare, FSI, manufacturing and distribution, FMCG, Online Media, and has worked across Australia, Asia and North America.

Vince Randall

Vice President, Planning Business Unit, APJ at Workday

About

Vince Randall is Vice President of Workday’s Planning Business Unit for the Asia Pacific and Japan region. In this role, Vince and his team are laser-focused on empowering FP&A and finance teams across the region to build more speed, flexibility, and accuracy into their organisations.

Vince joined Workday in 2018 through the acquisition of Adaptive Insights, where he was Managing Director for ANZ. Vince has spent over 20 years in technology and enterprise software companies, holding a variety of sales and technical roles. Throughout his career, Vince has worked for multi-national companies such as SAP, Epicor Software, NetSuite and IBM. 

Roundtable 2

The Agentic Finance Function – Exclusive Research on CFO Priorities & ROI

Esther Monks - Industry Advisor at Workday Vince Randall - Vice President, Planning Business Unit, APJ at Workday Read More

Join this roundtable to explore how Agentic AI is creating a new class of autonomous finance functions, representing a quantum leap in productivity. We will reveal new research on the real-world implications for Australian businesses, including critical data on its strategic adoption and financial impact. This candid, data-driven discussion will equip you to build the business case, manage the risks, and position your finance function to lead in the new agentic era.

Prashant Shetty

Executive Manager, Finance Transformation Leader at IAG

About

Prashant Shetty, Chartered Accountant with 20+ years of experience spanning Big 4 and the insurance sector, bringing a blend of strategic vision and executional discipline. With deep expertise in IFRS and US GAAP with a proven record of shaping and delivering enterprise-wide finance transformations.

Roundtable 3

Navigating Transformation: People, Processes, and Technology for a Resilient Finance Function

Prashant Shetty - Executive Manager, Finance Transformation Leader at IAG Read More

Join Christian Hecker, SVP, Chief Revenue Officer, oCFO, SAP and IAG Prashant Shetty, Finance Transformation Leader at IAG) to explore how to build a resilient and value-driven… organisation by strategically leading your team through the critical interplay of people, processes, and technology. Learn how to leverage intelligent automation and data-driven insights to navigate complexity, enhance decision-making, and create a future-ready finance function.

Jitto Arulampalam

CEO & Co-Founder at RedOwl

About

Jitto Arulampalam is the CEO and Co-Founder of RedOwl, a company pioneering the use of Augmented Intelligence for the Office of the CFO. With a vision to transform how finance teams make decisions, Jitto leads RedOwl in developing intelligent solutions that enhance strategic insights, operational efficiency, and business performance. Drawing on deep experience across leadership and innovation, he is passionate about empowering organisations to harness data and AI to drive smarter, faster financial outcomes. 

Gareth Lewis

Director at Mastercard

About

As an accomplished sales and business leader, I stand for my accounts management expertise and highly successful track record of building, motivating and leading high performing sales and account management teams in a channel environment. I possess more than 20 years of experience developing and implementing engagement and influencing strategies resulting in the profitable growth of transactional banking businesses across corporate, institutional and commercial market segments. With a strong history of success in all areas of transactional banking, merchant acquiring and corporate card solutions, I bring people management skills to the forefront of everything I do and thrive on developing and mentoring the performance of talented individuals.

I bring a rich background and expertise in business development, key accounts management, client engagement and strategic planning with demonstrable experience in delivering business sales performance and growth in banking and financial solutions. Leveraging my extensive knowledge of sales strategies, processes and best practices, I have a proven track record of consistently exceeding revenue and FUM growth targets. I have also been instrumental in developing and executing innovative strategies and providing well-informed recommendations for long-term business and financial growth whilst anticipating and understanding client, stakeholder and organisational needs.

As a confident communicator, I have a natural talent to establish positive stakeholder relationships and ensure all aspects of services are delivered at the highest level. Possessing an optimistic outlook and a results-focused mindset, I consistently deliver on all commitments whilst managing large portfolios. I am also a cybercrime prevention educator with extensive experience in running seminars to increase cyber-safety awareness for customers as well as bankers.

Sumal Karunanayake

Head of Partners at Amazon Web Services (ANZ)

About

Sumal Karunanayake is Head of Partners for Australia & New Zealand at Amazon Web Services (AWS), where he helps to drive the ‘Partners Everywhere’ strategy to accelerate cloud adoption, AI and digital transformation across the region. With nearly 30 years of experience in software sales management, Sumal has consistently demonstrated his ability to rapidly scale revenue, customer acquisition, and retention for businesses ranging from startups to Tier 1 software and technology companies including SAP, CA Technologies (now Broadcom), NetSuite (Oracle), Forgerock (now Ping Identity), TechnologyOne,
and AWS, where he has served on their respective core Senior Regional Leadership Teams.

His experience spans both European and Asia Pacific Japan markets, where he has served as in-market leader with comprehensive expertise in establishing, accelerating, and managing software businesses, in addition to working predominantly with North American technology companies. Sumal specialises in formulating and executing go-to-market strategies from conceptualisation through closed-loop execution, working collaboratively across product, business operations, financial management, and delivery.

Roundtable 4

Challenge the Notion of Real-time Governance in the Age of AI

Jitto Arulampalam - CEO & Co-Founder at RedOwl Gareth Lewis - Director at Mastercard Sumal Karunanayake - Head of Partners at Amazon Web Services (ANZ) Read More

Join Mastercard, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and RedOwl for an immersive discussion on the emerging category of real-time governance for the office of the CFO. We’ll dive deep into:

– Capturing and operationalising organisational memory to turbocharge your AI Agents
– The significance of human-in-the-loop, when using AI in financial systems
– The power of pre-transactional intelligence in financial operations’

13:00 - 13:55

Peer Networking Seated Lunch

Sam Mani

Managing Director, Oracle Business Group at Accenture

About

Sam Mani is the Managing Director for the Oracle Business Group at Accenture. She is responsible for the overall delivery of Oracle services. This includes accountability of meeting the program milestones, essential resources and clients realising the benefits of expected program outcomes. Sam holds the key relationship with Oracle to ensure all parties are in alignment for the successful program.

Priyunko Paul

Associate Director at Accenture Australia Pty Ltd

About

Priyunko is an Associate Director in Accenture’s ANZ technology practice & leads the Oracle applications practice in ANZ region. As Oracle applications lead, he supports organisations across ANZ and APAC in defining and implementing cloud strategy and roadmap in Finance and Supply chain digital transformation. Priyunko has 19+ years of experience in Oracle technology enabled Financial & Supply Chain business transformation engagements across APAC region. In recent times, he has helped organisations define their Digital strategy & address cloud migration challenges through executive engagement and close collaboration with global ERP cloud capability at Accenture. Priyunko has led multiple complex Oracle ERP transformations for Finance and supply chain processed across different industries. He is an expert in evaluating and selecting right solution for Finance and Supply chain processes to drive business benefits & align to organisation’s technology vision. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering and an MBA from India. 

LJ Cagney

Managing Director, CFO & Enterprise Value, Strategy and Consulting at Accenture

About

Lisa Jane (LJ) Cagney is a Managing Director based in Sydney. She has 30 years of professional experience in consulting, business and technology transformation.

LJ works with clients to deliver transformation with a focus on CFO/Finance leveraging data and technology (ERP, AI, EPM, big data…) to automate process and enhance value and consulting with teams to establish the right target operating model.

LJ is experienced in supporting global and regional projects and working with geographically dispersed teams.

13:00 - 13:55

Lunch Roundtable: The AI-Empowered CFO: Leading with Insight, Partnering for Scale

Sam Mani - Managing Director, Oracle Business Group at Accenture Priyunko Paul - Associate Director at Accenture Australia Pty Ltd LJ Cagney - Managing Director, CFO & Enterprise Value, Strategy and Consulting at Accenture Read More

The CFO’s remit is expanding, from financial stewardship to enterprise strategy. As the Office of Finance evolves into a hub for insight, agility, and performance, AI and Generative AI (GenAI) are emerging as critical enablers of long-term value creation.

This closed-door roundtable, hosted by Accenture’s Oracle practice and ADAPTs Matt Boon, invites CFOs and senior finance leaders to explore how AI is being applied to accelerate planning cycles, improve forecast accuracy, and unlock real-time decision intelligence. We’ll examine practical use cases—from autonomous close to conversational analytics—and unpack the governance, talent, and data implications of scaling AI responsibly.

Importantly, CFOs don’t need to understand every technical nuance. But they do need to know what AI can do, how to ask the right questions, and how to engage their CIOs in building a finance function—and a business—that’s fit for the future. This is about avoiding short-term wins that don’t scale, and instead architecting a roadmap for sustained impact.

 

Key Themes for Discussion:

AI as a Strategic Lever
How CFOs are using AI to shift finance from reactive reporting to proactive performance management.

From Automation to Augmentation
Real-world use cases where AI is enhancing planning, forecasting, and scenario modelling—not just reducing manual effort.

Oracle’s Embedded Intelligence
How Oracle Cloud ERP and EPM are enabling faster close cycles, smarter insights, and more agile finance operations.

Responsible AI in Finance
Governance, auditability, and ethical deployment—ensuring AI enhances trust, transparency, and control.

CFO–CIO Collaboration for Scalable Success
How finance leaders can engage with CIOs to align on architecture, data, and delivery—avoiding fragmented pilots and building for scale.

The Future Finance Workforce
What AI means for finance talent, leadership, and operating models—and how to build a function that’s insight-driven, adaptive, and innovation-ready.

13:55 - 14:55

ADAPT Executive Insight Roundtables - share with confidence under the Chatham House Rule

Attend your preselected roundtable to participate in a peer discussion moderated by ADAPT analysts with subject matter experts.

Johny Li

Senior Solution Engineer at Alteryx

About

Johny Li is part of the solution engineering practice in Australia and New Zealand supporting organisations as they go through their transformation journeys. Johny has a focus on people-led change, and empowering finance teams to integrate technology to drive process uplift and culture change.

Marie Holmes

Country Manager at Alteryx (ANZ)

About

Marie Holmes is the Country Manager for ANZ at Alteryx, where she is responsible for defining and executing the go-to-market strategy. In this role, she leads business activities and partnerships to drive Alteryx’s next phase of growth in the region, empowering the team to shape the future of data analytics for customers across ANZ. She is passionate about helping businesses unlock insights and tell compelling stories through data, transforming complex information into meaningful, actionable outcomes.

With over 25 years of experience in building technology businesses and leading high-performing teams, Marie has held leadership positions at both global technology companies and high-tech scale-ups. Prior to joining Alteryx, she was Senior Director for VMware Tanzu in ANZ (now part of Broadcom), where she led the go-to-market function and drove revenue growth. She has also held senior regional leadership roles at Amdocs and
Logica Plc and has extensive experience in country leadership.

While primarily based in Australia, Marie has also worked in leadership roles in Malaysia and Dublin. In addition to her corporate career, she has collaborated with a portfolio of startup and scale-up emerging tech companies, helping shape their go-to-market strategies to successfully enter and expand in new markets.

Marie originally moved to Australia as a graduate engineer, beginning her career with Telstra Network Engineering in Melbourne.

She holds an Honours degree in Electronic Engineering with a specialization in Telecommunications from the University of Limerick, Ireland.

Roundtable 5

Reimagining Finance: Building Trust in Data to Unleash the Power of Analytics and AI

Johny Li - Senior Solution Engineer at Alteryx Marie Holmes - Country Manager at Alteryx (ANZ) Read More

The desire to redefine Finance as a pre-emptive, proactive and autonomous function is a vision shared amongst many leaders, though execution has its hurdles. If CFOs are motivated to transition into Chief Value Officers, success is underpinned by providing data that can be trusted and insights derived with clear actions and value-centric performance. The evolution of AI and the potential it offers provides another catalyst for change that CFOs are eager to capitalize on. As the innovation tide swells further, the need to act swiftly while maintaining transformation control is critical.

This exclusive roundtable will share perspectives on the several questions which are top of mind of many CFOs:

1. How can CFOs rebuild trust in data?
2. What is the transformative potential of AI in Finance?
3. How can Finance leaders become responsible guardians of AI?
4. What skills are needed in Finance to transition to a more autonomous and value-centric function?
5. What does the implementation pathway look like?

Roundtable 6

Accelerating Financial Leadership: CFOs at the Forefront of AI Transformation

with Sage Read More

Join Sage for an exclusive roundtable unveiling our latest CFO research report, spotlighting how AI is reshaping financial leadership. Discover why high-performing CFOs are embracing AI—and where untapped potential still lies.

– Exploring the key drivers and barriers to AI adoption among CFOs.
– Identifying practical steps to embed AI into core financial operations.
– Defining the CFO’s role in leading AI-driven transformation across the organisation.
– Highlighting the most impactful use cases for AI in finance today.

Balancing innovation with governance in AI adoption for growing organisations.

This insightful discussion will explore the evolving role of CFOs in an AI-powered future—and how to lead the charge

Rosie Cairnes

BlackLine's Regional Vice President for Australia and New Zealand

About

Rosie Cairnes is BlackLine’s Regional Vice President for Australia and New Zealand. With over thirty years of experience in the IT industry, she has worked with industry giants like SmartForce, SAI Global, and SkillSoft. Rosie is dedicated to empowering and guiding organisations to seamlessly integrate technology in every aspect of their work for a better future.

Mike Goldsworthy

Principal Value Architect at BlackLine

About

Mike Goldsworthy is a Principal Value Architect at BlackLine. With over two decades of experience in IT and finance, Mike has a deep understanding of both professional services and end-user perspectives. His expertise lies in large ERP process architecture and best-of-breed application solution architecture, with a particular focus on seamless integration and optimising financial processes. Mike has a proven track record in successfully executing global, multi-jurisdiction deployments, mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. Prior to his career in technology consulting, he commenced his career in CA with five years in Audit. 

Roundtable 7

From Automation to Autonomy: The CFO’s Guide to AI-Enabled Finance

Rosie Cairnes - BlackLine's Regional Vice President for Australia and New Zealand Mike Goldsworthy - Principal Value Architect at BlackLine Read More

The concept of “autonomous finance” is no longer a futuristic vision but an emerging reality. This roundtable will address the strategic imperatives for CFOs in leading this next wave of transformation. We will discuss the practical path from automation to autonomy, focusing on how AI is reshaping finance processes, team structures, and the skills required for success. Join us to explore how to lead the change, cultivate a future-ready finance team, and build an operating model that is accurate, efficient, and intelligent.

14:55 - 15:05

Afternoon Break

Refreshments, Snacks & Connections

Peter Hind

Principal Research Analyst at ADAPT

About

Peter Hind has spent the last 25 years as an analyst and commentator on the ICT industry. He says his primary areas of interest are the potential of technology to transform the way organisations operate, the change management obstacles executives encounter in realising this potential and the tactics and techniques leaders have deployed to overcome these difficulties.

Peter now takes on multiple roles within ADAPT including the moderation of private events and roundtables, interviewing business executives about the strategies they are pursuing and assisting with the structuring of our delegate surveys and the interrogation and analysis of ADAPT’s treasure trove of end-user and C-level data

David Walker Headshot
David Walker Headshot

David Walker

Group Chief Technology Officer of Westpac and DBS Bank

About

David Walker was appointed Westpac Group’s Chief Technology Officer in August 2019. Since then, he is leading Westpac through its technology transformation – simplifying and merging the bank, building 4th gen cloud-native applications, establishing and operating evergreen platforms, leading Westpac’s AI technology, and building a culture of passionate and forward-thinking tech and emerging talent.

David began his technology career in 1987 as a software engineer, focusing on coding complex systems. After a decade of evolving his software engineering craft, David founded a data science consulting. Over the following decade, it became the number one expert data insights company in Australia and Southeast Asia.

For the last 15 years, David has held executive roles in large, complex organisations across the APAC region. Prior to joining Westpac, David was part of the leadership team of Singaporean bank, DBS. In his ten years there, David helped transform DBS from a traditional bricks and mortar bank with little brand presence or recognition outside Singapore, to being recognised as the ‘Best Bank in the World’ and the ‘Best Digital Bank in the World’ by leading global financial publication Euromoney.

Samantha Randall

CFO ANZ at Accenture

About

Experienced Finance Professional with a demonstrated history of working in the Information Technology and Services Industry. Highly skilled in all aspects of Corporate Financial Management, Advisory, Cash Flow, Treasury, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Business Collaboration, mentoring and building High Performing Finance teams.

JB Naudet

CFO at the Australian Red Cross

About

Major Skills, Expertise & Achievements

• Highly skilled and experienced CFO and Commercial Director with strong finance background and leading-edge comprehension and expertise in customer insights and business intelligence.
• Recognised throughout my career for the ability to build and enhance strong team cultures and increase engagement outcomes due to innate leadership style which empowers and supports decision making and individual development.
• Successfully led operations and delivered key commercial outcomes across the broader Asia Pacific region which resulted in growth in revenue and market share.
• Designed, led and delivered several data analytics and forecasting systems into the Asia Pacific region to improve the quality of decision making via enriched data and visuals, with the aim of providing real competitive advantage in tightly contested markets.
• Fluent English and French

15:05 - 15:45

CFO Edge Panel: Redefining CFO Leadership in the Digital Enterprise

Peter Hind - Principal Research Analyst at ADAPT David Walker - Group Chief Technology Officer of Westpac and DBS Bank Samantha Randall - CFO ANZ at Accenture JB Naudet - CFO at the Australian Red Cross David Walker Headshot Read More

Today’s CFOs are stepping beyond traditional finance to lead enterprise transformation – from modernising the financial core to shaping digital strategy and managing technical risk. This panel brings together leading Australian CFOs to explore how finance is becoming the control tower for resilience, innovation, and growth.

Debating:

– Blending financial governance with digital strategy across the enterprise
– CFO-CIO collaboration: shared ownership of ERP modernisation and transformation outcomes
– Replacing legacy systems with cloud-native ERP and intelligent finance platforms
– Quantifying and managing technical debt as a financial risk
– Building business cases that fund change while preserving agility and value creation.

Andrea Clarke

Work Futurist & Author at FutureFit

About

I help people adapt to change — and help businesses see it coming. Through writing, speaking and foresight reports, I turn emerging signals into clear, actionable insights for today.

My hope is to inspire leaders at all levels to be ready for change and not reactive—through simple tactics, small habits, and powerful stories that remind us of how much change we are truly capable of.

For the past decade, I have worked with forward-thinking organisations delivering leadership programs that help build the personal agency of their people and adaptability at scale — including Rio Tinto, Austrade, NBN & Atlassian.

I value unconventional thinking, challenging outdated beliefs, and always asking, ‘What’s possible’.

My first book, Future Fit (2019), was awarded Australian Business Book of the Year and was a finalist at the 2020 UK Business Book Awards. Prior to my move into building capability in leaders, I was based in Washington, D.C., covering breaking news for major media outlets. I also worked across human rights, helping to generate grants to rebuild Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, & Georgia with funding from USAID & the US State Department.

15:45 - 16:25

How CFOs Can Embrace their Adaptive Intelligence

Andrea Clarke - Work Futurist & Author at FutureFit Read More
Great leaders and learners are defined by one trait: the ability to understand what is changing around them and adapt.
Andrea shares the new, expanded role of adaptability for modern leaders, and three practical ways to get started on building your AQ to shift from reacting and responding to change – to anticipating and shaping it. This will be of specific value to Finance leaders to help deal with the unique challenges of the role.
Andrea is a Work Futurist who encourages people to adapt to change more effectively so they can be ‘future fit’ for their work/life.
One year before the pandemic, Andrea released her first award-winning book, ‘Future Fit: How to Stay Relevant and Competitive in the Future of Work’ – winner of the Australian Business Book of the Year 2019 and finalist in the UK Business Book Awards 2020.
She founded Future Fit Learning in 2012 – a small business that builds leaders who drive innovation, growth and cultural change by accelerating the ‘real skills’ needed to lead with impact. Through her programs, Andrea and her team have helped major organisations develop leaders at all levels.
Her 2nd book, “Adapt” is out now.
16:25 - 16:30

CFO Edge 2025: Insights Summary

Read More

Summarising the day’s core findings into actionable insights to take back to your job.

16:30 - 17:30

CFO Edge Peer Networking Drinks

Read More

An opportunity to stay, mingle and meet other attendees over drinks and food and discuss the day.

Register your interest

CFO Edge