Agenda
Thursday, 29 August 2024
“Achieving Operational Excellence”
Please note that 1:1 meetings will be running throughout the day.
Registration & Check-In
Secure your seat in the keynote room for the day.
Welcome to the 26th CIO Edge: Achieving Operational Excellence
Jim Berry - CEO & FounderModern CIOs must lead with confidence and visibility, while articulating the value of technology to secure resources, deliver on business outcomes, and enable growth. Join us to debate which IT operating models will help you to achieve more outcomes with less in the digital age?
How can CIOs lead and deliver exceptional CX, EX and operating efficiencies?
What cost optimisation strategies can ensure you have the backing you need?
What is possible – what is the future – what is the opportunity if we get it right over the next 5-10 years? What will be the cost if we get it wrong?
CIOs responsible for 30% of our GDP join experts and ADAPT for the day to find answers to these critical questions.
ADAPT Research: The Collective Intelligence: Insights from CIO Surveys
Gabby Fredkin - Head of Analytics & Insights at ADAPTADAPT’s research and advisory team reveal the latest local fact-based insights from over 350 detailed surveys of our region’s top CIOs in 2024. Insights will also draw upon 20,000 conversations with the CFOs, Digital, Data and Security leaders. This session will assist you in comparing the resource allocation, investment priorities and unique challenges of Australian CIOs 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 technology strategies that are generating value.
Get an Edge: Making the Most of Your Day
Tenar Larsen - Head of People & Performance, Executive ProgramsMIT CISR Research: What’s Next? ...Real-Time Business
Peter Weill - Chairman & Senior Research Scientist at MIT CISR & ADAPT Senior AdvisorIn new MIT research they asked, “what’s next after digital transformation?”
The answer: becoming a ‘Real-Time’ Business (RTB).
RTBs operate more in real-time with transparent and automated decision-making, with seamless digital customer and employee journeys, while managing and reducing operating and costs – all risk based on a foundation of real-time data.
In a world of increased volatility, firms that can operate in ‘real-time’ outperformed their peers on both margin and growth with better customer experience and greater organisational efficiency.
Peter will share the RTB framework, case studies and the latest global MIT CISR performance insights.
As Chair of CISR at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Peter’s work centred on the role, value, and governance of digitisation in enterprises and he consults several of Australia’s and the world’s leading CIOs, ExCos and Boards. Peter 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.
Cochlear: Transformation in Action & Lessons Learned
Karen O’Driscoll - CIO at CochlearCochlear is one of Australia’s success stories – and their transformation journey has led to operational excellence, record growth, profits, engagement and purpose. They also excel at digital ecosystem – embedding partners to added value. Peter talks with Karen 1-1 about the lessons learned in their transformational tech strategy.
Navigating AI Transformation with Digital Adoption
Raj Sundarason - Senior Vice President (APAC) & Chief Evangelist at WalkMe Adam Dinneen - Director, Sales Engineering APAC at WalkMeAI transformation is the biggest change to how we work in our lifetime.
But just like digital transformation, AI transformation success is far from guaranteed. When applications, workflows and the people using them constantly change, how do you adapt to maximise impact? Digital adoption is the answer.
See our live demonstration of WalkMe(X), the only copilot that has the context to meet every user with the next best action for any workflow, across any application.
Morning Break
Refreshments, snacks & connections
CIO Panel: How to Achieve Operational Excellence?
Peter Hind - Principal Research Analyst John Hunt - CIO & Director of Group Enablement at Woolworths Memo Hayek - CIO & CTO, Executive Leader, previously Nine Entertainment & CBAHow can IT leaders win the resources and executive support they need to help modernise and transform their business?
We explore:
- What are the nuances of modern IT operating models that will help you outperform?
- How to prioritise spend to deliver on the multiple asks, compliance, and security across the business?
- What are proven ways to execute on operational excellence?
- How to understand the Board’s risk appetite, and articulate the narrative to the ELT?
Leading local CIOs will give frank advice and practical tips on how to get it right.
Coles: Accelerating Feature Releases and Speed to Value Through Test Data Engineering
Sakshee Kohli - Head of Engineering & Site Infrastructure at Coles Andrew Hinde - Regional Sales Manager at Delphix by PerforceJoin Sakshee Kohli for a discussion on how Coles is transforming test data engineering with Delphix. Discover how Coles is accelerating feature releases and speed to value, ensuring compliance and security, and reinforcing their “Accelerated by Digital” strategy. Learn how robust Tech and Data Foundations are driving operational efficiency and enabling Coles to stay ahead in the competitive retail landscape.
Delivering Exceptional Customer and Employee Experiences: the Path to Operational Excellence
Angela Logothetis - Executive Group Owner Network and Business Application Services at TelstraJoin us for an insightful session to hear how Telstra is delivering customer and employee experiences. How Telstra leverages innovative solutions, and personalised services to enhance customer interactions, while fostering a positive work environment and optimising operations for efficiency and sustainability.
ADAPT Executive Insight Roundtables
Attend your pre-selected roundtable to participate in a peer discussion with confidence under Chatham House Rule moderated by an ADAPT analyst with subject matter experts.
How to Unlock Greater Value From Your Technology Investments
Peter Tsakissiris - Lead Partner, AI Experience Consulting at Alyve Daniel Cameron - Partner at AlyveWith increased pressure to find cost savings in the current climate, leaders are looking for every opportunity to improve operational efficiencies through strategic cost-cutting and efficiency gains, enabling your organisation to achieve more with less.
During this conversation, we will explore:
- Innovative methods designed to streamline processes, enhance productivity, and reduce expenses without compromising on quality or performance.
- How evolving operating and aligning IT strategy with business metrics ensures measurable and impactful outcomes.
- Why streamlining vendor management is critical to ensuring you receive the best possible service quality and return on investment.
- How to identify and eliminate duplication within the workforce, optimising roles and responsibilities to enhance overall efficiency and effectiveness.
- Strategies to manage and reduce technical debt, ensuring long-term scalability and maintainability of your technology infrastructure.
By integrating advanced automation and AI tools, we significantly reduce manual workloads and operational costs.
Join us to learn how to drive sustainable growth and operational excellence in today’s competitive landscape.
Ethical and Responsible AI Technologies – For Business Impact
Shan Moorthy - Chief Technology Office APAC at WorkdayWe are in the midst of an unprecedented wave of technological innovation with AI fundamentally redefining how we work.
AI promises the ability to transform how work gets done. However, people won’t use technology they can’t trust. Implementing responsible AI is the key to unlocking adoption and the impressive productivity gains offered by this technology. Join us for a conversation to discuss the approach to Responsible AI, and the foundations needed for business outcomes.
Enhancing Business Growth Through Advanced Mobile Connectivity
Chris Russo - GM Enterprise & Government Customer Sales & Solutions at TPG Telecom Paul Tremlett - GM Technology Strategy & Innovation at TPG TelecomIn the digital age, mobile connectivity emerges as a pivotal driver of business growth. The advent of 5G technology empowers enterprises with unparalleled speed, reliability, and security, positioning them competitively.
This discussion delves into how advanced mobile connectivity accelerates business expansion and operational efficiency.
- 5G Technology: Revolutionises enterprise mobility with ultra-fast speeds and low latency, enabling real-time data transfer and communication.
- Cost Efficiency and Workforce Flexibility: Implementation of 5G reduces operational costs and offers workforce flexibility, facilitating remote work and cloud service access.
- Network Coverage and Accessibility: 5G’s wide-spectrum bands ensure comprehensive coverage, vital for urban and rural business activities.
- Strategic Partnerships: Collaborations with tech leaders fortify network infrastructure, ensuring secure and dependable connectivity.
• Digital Transformation and Automation: Innovative automation enhances network performance, security, and customer experience, fuelling overall business growth.
Rewiring The Enterprise For Pervasive AI
Michael Camarri PhD - Practice Lead AI&A (Artificial Intelligence & Analytics) APAC + Japan at CognizantAI is disrupting and transforming organisations at an unprecedented pace. Cognizant recently surveyed enterprise adoption of AI across the APJ and EMEA regions to understand how organisations are approaching this rapid change.
To begin this roundtable discussion, we will share some top line insights from this research to help you gain a deeper understanding of the current landscape, drawing comparisons between Australian enterprises and global counterparts:
- AI Strategies: Exploring the prevalence and maturity of AI strategies within organisations.
- Investment in AI: Examining the levels of investment dedicated to AI initiatives across various industries.
- Use Cases: Uncovering the diverse applications and use cases of AI within enterprises.
- Expectations of Disruption: Assessing the anticipated impact of AI on business models and industry dynamics.
- Value Creation: Evaluating the tangible and intangible benefits of AI adoption on operational efficiency, customer experience, and revenue generation.
We will also share recommendations for organisations seeking to build, grow and scale AI within enterprise, to be explored further as we open up the discussion around the table.
Join us for a lively conversation and gain a clearer vision of how to best move forward with your organisational AI strategy.
Peer Networking Seated Lunch
Join us for relaxed peer networking and great food, upstairs in the Heritage ballroom
Lunch Session: Maximise Your Research ROI with ADAPT: Ensuring Business Outcomes
with ADAPTMany senior executives, including those using Global providers, are critically assessing the value received for their research spend.
They struggle with limited time to consume research, restrictive licensing access, periods of disengagement, and high costs for advisors and analysts.
In a fast-paced moving business environment leaders need:
- Rapid access to SMEs with proven real-world experience
- Insights from executive peers who have executed similar projects
- A framework to prioritise activities linked to top-line business outcomes
- Data and insights that enable them to rally stakeholders for budget and resources
For the past 5 years, ADAPT has been helping organisations lower their Research and Advisory spend while measurably increasing the impact and value they receive.
Join us for lunch and a roundtable discussion to explore how ADAPT provides affordable access to AU/NZ-centric IT research and a network of seasoned CxO advisors and peers.
ADAPT Executive Insight Roundtables
Attend your pre-selected roundtable to participate in a peer discussion with confidence under Chatham House Rule moderated by an ADAPT analyst with subject matter experts.
The AI Learning Curve: How CIOs Benefit from an MSP Already Savvy in AI
Nick Sone - Chief Customer Officer at BrennanIs Australia all in on AI? With 50% of firms already using Generative AI, 71% planning on increasing AI investment (FIS Global Innovation Report), and CSIRO and Deloitte Access Economics reporting Australia may need up to 161,000 new specialist AI workers by 2030, it’s clear the AI appetite is only set to grow.
In what promises to be a fascinating discussion, join us as we unpack:
- AI’s growing role in digital transformation
- How, and where, Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and AI intersect
- Our AI approach – how we use it, what we’ve learned
- How our customers benefit – in efficiencies, automation, risk, and security
How AI is Just Like Us – It Becomes What It “Eats”
George Harb - Managing Director at OpenText Ian Poulton - Director, Solution Consulting at OpenTextGame-changing AI results relies on the underlying data to learn and improve, to transform decision-making and productivity. If your data is not accurate, reliable, and well-organised, you are unlikely to fully tap into your organisation’s most valuable asset – corporate data – to deliver the actionable insights to get ahead. In fact, a recent CIO Market Pulse survey shows that data management issues are at the top of the respondents’ AI challenges and warns that poor data quality can lead to wasted time, money and resources on AI initiatives. To harness AI’s full potential, organisations must first maximise the value of their data, by prioritising effective information management.
Join us for this discussion on:
- The essential steps to establish a modern information management platform to pave the way for successful AI adoption.
- The key elements that will lay the foundation with robust data governance, data security and integration processes and data quality assurance.
- Why the time and effort spent categorising, organising and securing your data it is going to pay dividends, when you infuse AI capabilities such as large language models (LLM) with information management.
Future-Proofing the Enterprise: The Role of Open Source in Driving Innovation and Agility
Geoff Andrews - APAC Enterprise Sales, Australia at CanonicalThis interactive Roundtable will challenge and inspire CIOs to envision the future of their enterprises, emphasizing the role of open-source solutions in driving innovation, scalability, and agility, and showcasing examples of how Canonical can be a pivotal partner in this journey.
Discussion Points:
- Embracing open-source solutions as a catalyst for innovation and digital transformation, to stay ahead of technological advancements
- Ensuring the scalability and flexibility of IT infrastructure with open-source technologies.
- Fostering a culture of continuous improvement and agility through open-source practices.
- Strategies to integrate emerging technologies (such as AI, IoT, and blockchain) with open-source platforms.
Actionable Strategies to Foster Digital Literacy for Competitive Advantage
Michelle Teis - Managing Partner at GWI Tim Sheehan - Partner at GWIADAPT research proves the correlation between literacy and modernisation success. Join us for a roundtable session on digital literacy, focusing on its critical role in today’s tech-driven enterprises.
We’ll discuss:
- Practical tips and shared experiences to foster digital literacy across your organisation.
- Why digital literacy is pivotal for driving innovation and competitive advantage.
- Discover actionable strategies to kickstart digital literacy initiatives.
- How to deliver success and future-proof your organisation in the digital age.
Afternoon Break
How Organisations are Getting AI Wrong
Michael Kollo - CEO at Evolved AIGenAI is a breakthrough, but often human misunderstanding means we feel there’s too much hype about its capability.
Adoption of AI is tough, mainly because companies face big gaps:
- They don’t fully understand AI’s potential
- They struggle to execute AI projects well
- Their teams aren’t ready to use AI effectively
- They overestimate it’s potential and are disappointed
The question also emerges as to who should own AI capabilities and adoption? Should it go to the Head of Data or CIO, or elsewhere?
Reality is businesses who harness the AI capability for operational efficiency and new business models will excel in the next 5 years. So, one thing is for sure: the CEO and Board want to know how to get past the hurdles and truly benefit from AI, no matter what stage of the adoption cycle.
- What are the proven use cases to make operations more efficient?
- How can you make AI projects succeed and align with strategic business goals?
- How can you identify, understand, and adopt the right AI tools to propel growth?
With an impressive career and capabilities in quantitative finance, the impact of automation, and the future of work, Michael is focused on solving the problems of industry AI adoption.
Michael is an experienced business leader with a strong technical foundation in statistical AI systems. He began his career with a PhD in Finance from the London School of Economics, eventually moving into institutional asset management and quantitative research (Blackrock, Fidelity, AXA). Later, transitioning to the development of AI systems for institutional investment programmes, while continuing to teach Masters courses in quantitative techniques and analysis at LSE and Imperial College.
Aspiring to be a World class CIO & CISO
David Gee - Global Head Technology, Cyber & Data Risk at Macquarie GroupDavid has over 25 years’ experience in CIO and CISO roles across different industries and countries. At Macquarie Group David served as Global Head Technology, Cyber and Data Risk. Previously served as CISO for HSBC Asia Pacific which accounts for 80% of their global profits. His career as a CIO spans across multiple industries and geographies including – Metlife, Eli Lilly and Credit Union Australia. David was winner of CIO of the Year 2014, at CUA where successfully completed a significant Transformation with new Core Banking, Online and Mobile Banking systems.
He is past Chairman for the FS-ISAC Strategy Committee and awarded Global Leaders Award in 2023 for his contributions to the cybersecurity industry. A regular conference keynote speaker and 150+ published articles for CIO Australia, Computerworld, ITNews and CSO (Cyber Security), David now writes for Foundry CIO.com and AICD.
David has been a Partner-level Strategic IT consultant with KPMG, EY and ICG. Also has been a VC Partner, Fintech Advisor and Innovation Consultant.
David’s most recent book – the Aspiring CIO & CISO was published in July 2024. David is writing his second – A Day in the Life of a CISO with CISOs from around the world.
- How to be a World Class CIO & CISO.
- How can you hire a World Class CIO & CISO.
- What I will do in my first 90 Days.
- The Elevator for my next CIO & CISO role.
MIT & CIO Workshop: Activating the RTB Framework for Impactful Outcomes
Peter Weill - Chairman & Senior Research Scientist at MIT CISR & ADAPT Senior AdvisorTo close the day, Peter will lead a peer workshop with actionable insights on how CIOs can deploy the Real-Time Business framework he discussed in the opening keynote. With recommendations also developed from work with Insight Partners and live polling, Peter will help you to self assess where you are today and brainstorm in table top peer groups where to start and how to engage your peers on this important journey.
Closing Comments
CIO Edge Peer Networking Drinks
An opportunity to stay, mingle and meet other attendees over drinks and food and discuss the day