Agenda

Jim is known for exceeding expectations in execution.His entire career has been spent connecting the right people at the right time in roles across Europe and Asia Pac. ​
​
He founded ADAPT to deliver quality outcomes with integrity – 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. ​
​
At the centre of agenda creation and strategic partner management for two decades, Jim is uniquely experienced to be the voice of the end-user, the customer and the vendor. ​
​
He satisfies C-suite attendees with all agendas across ADAPT Edge events. He also regularly presents “Know your Customer” webinars and guides the world’s largest vendors with their GTM 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.

Dr. Michael G. Kollo is recognised as an accomplished executive leader and educator within the realm of artificial intelligence’s significance in business strategy and product development across various sectors including financial services, technology, and public services. Holding a portfolio of leadership roles, Michael has contributed his expertise to renowned institutional investors such as Blackrock, Fidelity, Renaissance Asset Management, Axa Investment Managers, and HESTA. Additionally, he served as a non-executive director for Clime Investment Managers, an ASX-listed entity.

In the entrepreneurial sphere, Michael has been involved with AI and software companies, notably as a key figure at Faethm Pty, an Australian AI software company that was acquired by Pearsons in 2021, and at the Blockchain company Clanz. Beyond entrepreneurship, he actively participates in mentoring and supporting fintech and cybertech startup ecosystems in London and Australia.

In the realm of academia, Michael boasts a PhD in Finance from the London School of Economics, coupled with extensive lecturing experience at esteemed institutions such as the LSE and Imperial College. He has also been invited as a speaker at TedX events, focusing on the responsible utilisation of AI. With publications addressing machine learning’s application in investment management and contributions to the World Economic Forum’s AI/Fintech panel, Michael’s expertise is widely recognised. Moreover, he has cultivated a global audience through educational podcasts like “Curious Quant.”

As well as Director of AI at ADAPT, Michael is also the CEO of Evolved AI, a distinguished executive education and software development firm dedicated to empowering individuals through effective and responsible AI usage, thereby fostering resilient, transparent, and rapidly evolving enterprises.

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.

As Chair of CISR at the MIT Sloan School of Management in Boston, Peter’s work centres on the role, value, and governance of digitisation in enterprises. Peter works with several of Australia’s and the world’s leading CIOs, ExCos and Boards and is a senior advisor to the New York VC firm Insight Partners.

Peter was nominated for the 2023 Thinkers-50 based on his new book, Future Ready, and was ranked by Ziff Davis as the 24th most influential person in IT and the highest ranking academic. MIT CISR undertakes practical research on how firms generate business value from digital.

John has more than 20 years’ experience in a career that has covered the breadth of financial services (banking, payments, insurance, wealth, and markets) retail, government services and logistics.

Prior to joining Coles, John spent five years at Australia Post, as CIO and EGM for Transformation and Enablement with accountability for Strategy, Technology, Communications, Government Relations, Data Science and Transformation office. He spent eight years at NAB in a variety of roles, concluding as CIO for Banking and Markets. He started his career in Management Consulting at Accenture working on large scale business transformations in Europe and Asia. John focuses on culture to make sustainable change and innovating to create customer value.

Born in Australia, John has lived and worked in Australia, Germany, Scotland, and England and has managed teams across the globe. He is passionate about learning and the potential of education to change lives.

Melissa Bischoping is a dedicated security advocate who blends an academic background in human psychology with extensive technical expertise to address complex technical challenges for businesses and individuals. Melissa’s research focuses on creative ways to leverage telemetry and technology to improve responses to emerging threats and vulnerability trends. She excels in leveraging data-driven insights to enhance threat mitigation strategies, optimize risk and vulnerability management, and excel in digital forensics and incident response methodologies.

Alexey Goldov is a Partner at McKinsey & Company and is a leader in McKinsey’s Technology practice in Asia.

Alexey is specialising in large scale technology transformations in service industries – financial, telecommunication companies and public sector organisations.

Adam Dinneen has over 17 years of experience in business and technology roles, with a strong focus on digital product development and leading projects that drive both business and customer value. He has worked with a broad range of technologies and delivery methods, helping organizations create impactful digital experiences.

More recently, Adam has ventured into the dynamic world of Sales Engineering at WalkMe, one of the fastest-growing Digital Adoption start-ups. He is passionate about delivering digital solutions that align with product vision, business objectives, and user needs. Known for his ability to collaborate effectively across business, design, and engineering teams, Adam builds strong stakeholder and vendor relationships through a focused, honest, and supportive approach—no matter the challenges at hand.

Nathan has over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications and IT industry, leading sales of high-value, complex solutions that incorporate cutting-edge technology and challenging systems integration.

By working closely with the market’s tier 1 partners and customers, Nathan has developed a strong track record of high performance in business development for complex technology and networking, as well as Big Data and IoT solutions.