Agenda

Tuesday, 26 August 2025

“Platforms, People, Performance”

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

07:45 - 08:30

Registration & Check-In

Secure your seat in the keynote room for the day.

Jim Berry

CEO & Founder

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 - 08:50

Welcome to the 28th CIO Edge: Platforms, People, Performance

Jim Berry - CEO & Founder Read More

Welcome to ADAPT’s 28th gathering of Australian CIO and IT leaders from Enterprise and Government responsible for over 1/3 of AU GDP and 10% of the workforce.

The #1 Business Goal articulated by over 1,000 executive surveys in 2024 is ‘Tech modernisation and Simplification’. So many Australian organisations are struggling to run such complex, customised, and fragile IT estates – with operating challenges, technical debt, and siloed problems.

Modern CIOs must lead with confidence and visibility, while articulating the value of technology to secure resources to solve these challenges – to be able to deliver on business outcomes.

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?

Join the CIO community, experts and ADAPT for the day to find answers to these critical questions and enable business led change.

Michael Kollo

Director of AI at ADAPT

About

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.

08:50 - 09:10

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

Michael Kollo - Director of AI at ADAPT Read More

ADAPT’s research team reveal the latest local fact-based insights from over 5000 interactions and 1000 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 CIOs for you to benchmark and validate your priorities and thinking. Michael will reveal the core findings distilled from your aggregated pre-event surveys and examine the technology strategies that are generating value – focused on what the top performers are doing differently.

Tenar Larsen

Head of People & Performance, Executive Programs

About
09:10 - 09:15

Get an Edge: Making the Most of Your Day

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

Peter Weill

Chairman & Senior Research Scientist at MIT CISR & ADAPT Senior Advisor

About

Peter Weill’s work centers on the role, value, and governance of digitization in enterprises. Weill joined the MIT Sloan faculty in 2000 to become director of MIT Sloan’s Center for Information Systems Research (CISR).

MIT CISR is funded by approximately 100 corporate sponsors and patrons, and undertakes practical research on how firms generate business value from Information Technology (IT). As chair, Weill focuses on globalizing the center’s research and delivery. In 2008, Ziff Davis recognized Weill as #24 of The Top 100 Most Influential People in IT, the highest-ranked academic. In Dec 2019, his 2015 MIT SMR article Thriving in an Increasingly Digital Era was recognized as one of The Best 10 SMR Articles in the 2010s.

Peter has worked on digitization issues with the Executive Committees and Boards of more than 40 companies globally. He conducts workshops for key conferences, including the CEO Summits for Microsoft, IBM, and SAP, and the International Monetary Conference.

09:10 - 09:30

MIT CISR: From Spaghetti to Platforms - The 4 Designs Used by Top Performers

Peter Weill - Chairman & Senior Research Scientist at MIT CISR & ADAPT Senior Advisor Read More

In this volatile and AI enabled world, being world class at building and reusing digital platforms pays off – particularly as a foundation for creating quicker value from AI.

MIT CISR have defined four platform designs – and found that the 45% of companies that effectively managed one or more are top performers in their industry.

While the companies that focused on local needs and were poor on platform reuse (lost in Silos and Spaghetti) now had the worst financial performance.

In this in-person session, Peter will reveal and describe these four platform designs, their financial performance, and the key capabilities needed for each – bringing them to life with case studies. Peter will be onsite for the day to meet anyone wanting to know more.

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.

Peter Weill

Chairman & Senior Research Scientist at MIT CISR & ADAPT Senior Advisor

About

Peter Weill’s work centers on the role, value, and governance of digitization in enterprises. Weill joined the MIT Sloan faculty in 2000 to become director of MIT Sloan’s Center for Information Systems Research (CISR).

MIT CISR is funded by approximately 100 corporate sponsors and patrons, and undertakes practical research on how firms generate business value from Information Technology (IT). As chair, Weill focuses on globalizing the center’s research and delivery. In 2008, Ziff Davis recognized Weill as #24 of The Top 100 Most Influential People in IT, the highest-ranked academic. In Dec 2019, his 2015 MIT SMR article Thriving in an Increasingly Digital Era was recognized as one of The Best 10 SMR Articles in the 2010s.

Peter has worked on digitization issues with the Executive Committees and Boards of more than 40 companies globally. He conducts workshops for key conferences, including the CEO Summits for Microsoft, IBM, and SAP, and the International Monetary Conference.

Gerard Florian

Group Executive, Technology at ANZ Bank

About

Gerard Florian, ANZ’s Group Executive, Technology. Via a short presentation and then armchair interview, he will outline what they are doing, what they have learned along the way, and with hindsight, the advice they suggest.

09:30 - 09:50

ANZ Bank: Platform-based Transformation

Peter Weill - Chairman & Senior Research Scientist at MIT CISR & ADAPT Senior Advisor Gerard Florian - Group Executive, Technology at ANZ Bank Read More

ANZ Bank is one of Australia’s success stories. Their platform-based transformation journey has led to operational excellence, growth, and profits in a hyper competitive sector starting with the Institutional bank and now building enterprise-wide.

In this interview, ANZ Group Executive Technology and Business Services, Gerard Florian shares his lessons learned on the journey.

Gerard is responsible for defining ANZ’s technology strategy, building and managing technology infrastructure and driving the Bank’s business services framework. This includes overseeing the development of new technologies, implementing existing technologies to help the Bank reach their strategic goals, and creating systems and processes to make the best use of ANZ’s resources.

Nathan Gumley

Group Owner Strategy & Transformation at Telstra

About

Nathan is the Strategy & Transformation executive for Telstra’s Product & Technology division which includes Software Engineering, Asset Management and Data & Artificial Intelligence. He also sits on the board of muru-d, Telstra’s startup incubation portfolio. Prior to his current role, he’s had several other executive positions at Telstra spanning Digital Media, Sports and Streaming, Wholesale and Retail Energy and Fixed broadband with notable products including Telstra TV, AFL and NRL Live Pass and world-first partnerships with Xbox.

Nathan is based out of Canberra, given its perfect proximity to Australia’s snowy-mountains and the NSW south coast. He’s served in the NSW Rural Fire Service as a volunteer firefighter for over 10 years, supporting the community through some of Australia’s most significant natural disasters.

Channa Seneviratne

Technology Engagement & Advancement Executive Global Networks & Technology at Telstra

About

Channa Seneviratne is the Executive – Technology Engagement & Advancement in Telstra Global Networks & Technology (GN&T). In this role he contributes to the continuing evolution of Telstra network differentiation and ensures our engineering teams continue our drive for technology leadership through world and Australian first’s.

He will help grow Telstra’s reputation locally and internationally in network leadership and superiority through thought leadership and influence in the telco industry globally via his role in GSMA, ORAN Alliance and other industry bodies. He has accountability for network sustainability and energy resilience & optimisation for GN&T and to drive greater advocacy and engagement with our customers and our segment teams including Regional Australia.

Channa has extensive experience in telecommunications networks having worked in both Operations and Engineering across both fixed and wireless technologies. During his time in Telstra, Channa has played key engineering design, support and operational roles as Telstra moved from being a start up in wireless through the evolutions of 2G, CDMA, 3G, 4G ,5G and now towards 5G Advanced. Channa led the launch of the world’s first commercial gigabit LTE network, the activation of Australia’s largest IoT footprint through our Cat M1 and Narrowband IoT technology and the launch of our 5G network. More recently he has been engaged in the increasing AI based automation of networks as applied to increased resource optimisation, service optimisation balanced
with better energy efficiency.

Channa has a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Queensland specialising in Telecommunications.

Away from work Channa enjoys travel, sport, wildlife photography and spending time with his family.

09:55 - 10:25

Strategic Insights from Telstra Enterprise

Nathan Gumley - Group Owner Strategy & Transformation at Telstra Channa Seneviratne - Technology Engagement & Advancement Executive Global Networks & Technology at Telstra Read More

Telstra’s ‘Connected Future 30’ strategy that looks to double down on connectivity and innovate for the country’s digital future. This session will provide business and government CIOs and CTOs with Telstra’s view on the criticality of connectivity to our nation’s future growth and highlight what enhanced connectivity could enable.

10:25 - 10:45

Morning Break

Refreshments, snacks & connections

Chris Crozier

CIO at the Department of Defence

About

Mr Chris Crozier was recently appointed Chief Information Officer, leading the Defence Digital Group at Defence.

Prior to joining Defence, Mr Crozier was the Group Chief Information Officer for Orica International, the world’s largest manufacturer and supplier of explosives for mining and civil construction.

As the Group Chief Information Officer, Mr Crozier was accountable for global digital technology strategies and operations across a footprint of the organisation spanning 120 countries, covering Business (IT), Customer (IoT) and Manufacturing (OT) systems, including the governance of Orica’s digital ecosystems, architecture, data, and cyber posture.

Prior to this, Mr Crozier held executive roles within Orica as Vice President of AusPac (60% of Orica’s global EBIT), Chief Digital Officer and Global Vice President Supply Chain; and BHP as Global Chief Information Officer and Global Chief Procurement Officer.

As a 35-year veteran of the Mining and Resources Sector, having commenced his professional life with Rio Tinto as a Research Engineer, Mr Crozier has experienced the highs and lows of the commodity cycle.

Mr Crozier has a Chemical Engineering Degree (Honours First Class) and Master of Business Administration.

In his spare time, Mr Crozier enjoys endurance sports, including cycling, running and swimming.

10:45 - 11:15

CIO Edge Panel: Simplify, Secure, Scale

Chris Crozier - CIO at the Department of Defence Read More

From Tech Steward to Business Catalyst – our high calibre panel will debate tactics that let CIOs secure the resources and steer enterprise-wide change.

  • Cutting Complexity – Practical wins for shrinking fragile, customised estates and freeing budget for innovation.
  • Platform Reuse vs. Silos – where has reuse delivered speed and margin, and where has “spaghetti” dragged performance?
  • AI with an ROI – Moving past pilots: how are CIOs funding and governing GenAI/Agentic AI so value shows up on the P&L?
  • Talent & Operating-Model Gaps – Reskilling, sourcing and target Operating Model (TOM) tweaks that close execution barriers faster than new tooling alone.
  • Storytelling, board engagement and KPI alignment.

Matthew Barratt

Principal Customer Success Manager at WalkMe

About

Hey folks I’m Matt and I’m a customer experience leader and strategist. Here’s what I enjoy in the work world:

– Translating business strategy into positive customer outcomes
– Pushing organisations to become more human work environments
– Coaching and developing people who are hungry to grow their careers for themselves and their family

Simon Carlson

Senior Solution Advisor at WalkMe

About

As a fractional presales consultant, I specialise in helping cybersecurity start-ups, scale-ups and established firms enhance their presales strategies, particularly within Identity and Access Management (IAM) and broader cybersecurity solutions. With experience in presales enablement, I support companies in achieving product-market fit, problem-market fit and scaling their sales efforts.

By offering flexible, fractional services, I empower businesses to access expert-level presales support without the overhead of full-time hires, ensuring they can focus on closing deals and growing their business. My approach covers discovery calls, technical demos, proof of concepts, and sales enablement training, helping you move prospects through the pipeline effectively.”

11:15 - 11:35

WalkMe Innovation Showcase: Real Stories of Adoption in Action

Matthew Barratt - Principal Customer Success Manager at WalkMe Simon Carlson - Senior Solution Advisor at WalkMe Read More

Join us for a high-impact showcase of how leading Australian organisations are pushing the boundaries with WalkMe. Through live demos and real-world results, see how IT leaders are solving the “last mile” challenge of digital transformation with innovative technology adoption strategies.

Melissa Bischoping

Sr. Director, Security & Product Design Research at Tanium

About

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.

11:35 - 11:55

From Overwhelmed to Control: How to move to Proactive Vulnerability Reduction

Melissa Bischoping - Sr. Director, Security & Product Design Research at Tanium Read More

Vulnerability Management’ too often begins and ends with a collection of reports, dashboards, trends, and graphs that all tell the same story: we have too many bugs, too many apps, and not enough people to fix all the problems. Its time we move beyond this approach and put our data to work with the power of automation and AI. Scanning and reporting are only as valuable as the patching and remediation workflows they support. But why wait for scanning? Wouldn’t it be spectacular if you had vulnerabilities patched before your next scan even saw them? Organizations must pivot into action with data-driven, high-confidence actions to patch vulnerabilities almost as soon as they’re uncovered in the environment and without negative operational impact – close the door for attackers who’d seek to capitalize on uncertainty and blind spots.

In this presentation, we’ll show how the power of high-confidence automation reduces your risk AND your cost of time, people, and money allowing you to reclaim those resources for other workflows

11:55 - 12:55

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.

Shan Moorthy

CTO APAC at Workday

About

Shan Moorthy is the Chief Technology Officer for APAC at Workday.

Shan has led technology and data functions as a senior IT executive, CTO and CDO with grand success in key enterprises across ANZ and APAC, achieving digital revolutions within the media, retail, banking, and telecommunications industries by retiring sprawling, monolithic ERP, HCM, CRM, and data systems and replacing them with modern, cloud platforms. Based in Melbourne, Australia, Shan loves combining deep technical knowledge of Software Engineering, Data and AI, with business strategy and commercial acumen. Outside of work, he enjoys time with his family and is a mechanic, tinkerer, and hacker on classic cars, home automation, hydroponics, and other electronics which are in a constant state of iterative improvement. 

Roundtable 1

Balancing Innovation and Productivity while Reducing Complexity

Shan Moorthy - CTO APAC at Workday Read More

Enterprises are required to reduce their technology proliferation, technical debt and improve residual risk – all while delivering on productivity and innovation demands that the business desires to stay competitive. Learn and share strategies with peers, like leveraging an AI native platform such as Workday, to balance delivery of both, while operating within resource constraints. Explore how Agentic AI could deliver the ROI that CIO’s have chased, the vision and potential – and risks – it brings to the table.

Nikhil de Silva

Digital Lead Partner at PWC

About

Nikhil De Silva is a Partner at PwC Australia, where he leads the firm’s Digital practice. With over 20 years of experience, Nikhil specialises in helping enterprises adopt cloud-native technologies, modernise legacy systems, and drive large-scale digital transformation. He has delivered complex programs across industries, working closely with CIOs to align modern technology architecture with business strategy. His focus is on enterprise modernisation and simplification, enabling resilient, AI-led outcomes at scale. 

Roundtable 2

Transforming Tomorrow: Reinventing the Tech Landscape

Nikhil de Silva - Digital Lead Partner at PWC Read More

Join us for an exclusive event designed to propel Australia’s tech leaders to the forefront of the evolving tech landscape. Master AI maturity, cyber resilience, and operational clarity to fuel unparalleled success. Learn strategies for seamlessly integrating platforms, people, and performance to build a secure, resilient enterprise.

Tackle the most pressing challenges head-on, from overcoming execution barriers like funding and talent gaps to harnessing the game-changing potential of disruptors like agentic AI. Discover how to deploy adaptive systems, ensuring robust compliance, effectively managing risks, and maintaining data privacy and ethics.

This event is your launchpad for strategic influence, steering your organisation towards ambitious growth and innovation. Be inspired by future tech possibilities while grounding in today’s realities. Gain actionable insights to navigate competing priorities and tight budgets, and lead the integration of technology, AI, resilience, cybersecurity, and data to unlock significant value and drive top-line growth.

Nick Sone

Chief Customer Officer at Brennan

About

Nick Sone is a results-oriented leader with a proven track record of delivering against high-growth sales targets and strategic business objectives. He believes that technology is best implemented when all stakeholders have a clear understanding of how it fits together and can be optimised for an organisation’s goals and the benefit of their customers and clients.

Nick’s background as a systems integrator and cloud computing specialist, combined with his certification as a practising accountant, provides him with a deep empathy for his customers’ challenges. He ensures that any technology solution delivered meets business goals within the framework of tightly defined capital and operational expenditures.

Roundtable 3

Cutting Through the AI Hype and Complexity

Nick Sone - Chief Customer Officer at Brennan Read More

For many enterprises, generative AI can be a solution looking for a problem. Just because you can deploy these tools, doesn’t mean you should. There’s pressure for organisations to reap the benefits of gen AI, but many are struggling to follow through with implementations. This is despite CIOs telling ADAPT that deploying automation and machine learning tools as well as gen AI are among their top 10 priorities this year.

During this roundtable session, join Brennan’s Nick Sone to discuss:

  • Why you should ignore the gen AI hype and look closer at where it adds value.
  • How Brennan builds business cases for gen AI; lessons learned from failures and the results the systems integrator is seeing so far.
  • The key questions you need to ask before starting a gen AI project, the data governance that is required, and the steps to take to reduce potential hallucinations in AI models.

Will Hiebert

Regional Vice President, ANZ at Glean

About

Will Hiebert serves as a regional vice president at Glean. He is a seasoned leader with 15+ years of experience in driving growth across the APAC region and around the world. In his current role at Glean, he leads the expansion of the company’s AI-powered work assistant across ANZ, SEA, and Japan, contributing to significant business growth. He previously held senior roles at Zscaler, UKG, Confirmit (now Forsta), and Vision Critical, consistently exceeding sales goals and excelling at building high-performing teams. 

Roundtable 4

Building the Future-Ready Enterprise with Responsible AI and Secure Agents

Will Hiebert - Regional Vice President, ANZ at Glean Read More

CIOs are being asked to do more than just “bring in AI”- they must enable it across the business responsibly, securely, and at scale. The opportunity? Massive gains in productivity, accuracy, and decision-making – without sacrificing trust or control.

In this focused roundtable, explore how secure AI agents are transforming the enterprise by giving every employee instant, permission-aware access to the knowledge they need – without the complexity of manual model training. Learn how forward-thinking CIOs are using AI to accelerate outcomes, break down silos, and unlock enterprise-wide performance.

You’ll discover how to:

  • Enable real-time, trusted answers grounded in your enterprise knowledge
  • Equip every employee with a secure, AI-powered assistant
  • Drive smarter, faster decisions without adding risk or noise
  • Break silos and boost productivity at scale
  • Operationalise AI responsibly – with governance built in from day one
12:55 - 13:55

Peer Networking Seated Lunch

Join us for relaxed peer networking and great food, upstairs in the Heritage ballroom

Dom Price

Chief Futurist at Atlassian

About

An accomplished TED speaker, Dom is proud to work at Atlassian, the home of the most intelligent t-shirt wearers in business.
As their resident Work Futurist, Dom is Atlassian’s in house “Team Doctor” helping Atlassian scale by being ruthlessly efficient and effective, and spends over half his time helping their customers navigate transformation, agility, leadership, and the future of work.

Dom helped pioneer Atlassian’s Team Playbook and has a deep passion for understanding of teamwork and the changes needed today to build thriving businesses.

He has previously been the GM Program Management for a global gaming company and a Director of Deloitte.

A keen traveller, Dom has traversed over 53 countries so far, but after 17 years on these shores, he calls Australia home.

13:00 - 13:55

Modern Work: Navigating Change, Enhancing Productivity and Delivering Value

Dom Price - Chief Futurist at Atlassian Read More

In the evolving landscape of modern work, companies face the challenge of managing increasing workloads while striving to deliver outcomes. Despite new tools, many teams are busier but achieving less. The focus on productivity often leads to more planning, less action, and struggles with goal alignment and value delivery. For CIOs, this means navigating a complex environment where decisions rely on instinct over data, and notifications and meetings hinder communication and alignment, slowing time to market and obscuring revenue paths.

Join Dom Price for insights on how successful teams innovate work processes and build effective teamwork foundations.

Key discussion points:

  • Enhancing System Productivity
  • Shifting from Time to Market to Time to Value
  • Delivering Meaningful Outcomes Quickly and Effectively
  • ADAPT and Atlassian’s Views on Leadership and Productivity
13:55 - 14:55

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.

Matt Pinter

Field CTO APAC at Apptio

About

Matt is the APAC Field CTO at Apptio, an IBM Company, responsible for ensuring the success of customers across the region. Since joining Apptio in 2010, Matt has worked with a wide range of customers across APJ and the Americas, helping them adopt the disciplines and best practices of Technology Business Management. Additionally, Matt is responsible for providing product feedback into the Product Marketing and Product Management organizations based on unique customer requirements across the APJ region. Before joining Apptio, Matt was a Senior Consultant with Capgemini based out of Detroit, Michigan.

Zahid Arain

General Manager, TBM Council APAC at Apptio

About
Roundtable 5

Effective Ways to Launch Your Technology Business Management (TBM) Program

Matt Pinter - Field CTO APAC at Apptio Zahid Arain - General Manager, TBM Council APAC at Apptio Read More

Technology plays a key role in driving innovation and transformation. However, without clear visibility into costs and value, optimising IT investments can be a challenge. Traditional financial management methods such as spreadsheets and custom-built tools are often time-consuming, error-prone, and difficult to scale. The Technology Business Management (TBM) framework offers a structured approach to improving financial transparency, aligning IT spend with organizational objectives, and enabling fact-based decision-making.

This roundtable will bring together technology and finance leaders to explore best practices for launching and sustaining a TBM program. Participants will gain insights into building a common language between CIOs, CFOs, and business leaders; tracking total cost of ownership (TCO) across on-premises and cloud environments; and implementing cost recovery solutions that drive efficiency and accountability. The discussion will also cover challenges such as budget planning, resource allocation, and implementing chargeback and showback models to ensure IT investments align with business priorities.

Key discussion points include:

  • Building a Strong TBM Foundation: Establishing a shared financial language across IT and finance teams to drive informed decision-making.
  • Optimising IT Spend and Cost Recovery: Understanding true TCO, tracking expenditure, and implementing cost recovery strategies.
  • Enhancing Transparency and Accountability: Leveraging data insights to manage budgets, control variances, and align IT resources with strategic goals.
  • Implementing Service Rate Models: Driving strategic IT service utilisation through structured pricing, benchmarking, and financial accountability.

George Harb

Managing Director at OpenText

About

George Harb is responsible for driving growth of OpenText in the ANZ region. In addition to leading the business in the ANZ region, as an experienced B2B integration and software business leader, he has been spearheading the Business Network unit for OpenText within the Asia-Pacific region. In both roles he works with customers and partners to help them derive value from OpenText’s offerings and solve business challenges. Having joined in 2016, George has held a number of senior sales leadership roles at OpenText. As an internationally experienced business executive, he has spent significant time residing overseas and working with customers across Asia and Southern Africa, his appointment at OpenText bringing him back home to Australia. With over 20 years of experience in Technology, B2B integration and Software (On and Off Cloud) sales leadership, he has a proven track record in accelerating growth, delivering improvements in operational efficiency and raising customer satisfaction. George’s expertise lies in helping companies transform in a digital first world.

Ian Poulton

Director, Solution Consulting at OpenText

About

Based in Sydney, Ian Poulton manages the OpenText Australia and New Zealand pre-sales organisation. This team covers the wide range of industries and solutions that OpenText supports including Content Management, Information Governance, IT Operations Management, Application Delivery Management,
Cybersecurity, Customer Experience Management, Business Networks, Analytics and AI.

Ian has over 20 years’ experience in the IT Industry and software industry in traditional process driven systems as well as modern workloads, based in multi-cloud environments. His sphere of work extends to AI-driven Content Management, real-time analytics, modern workload automation, DevSecOps and digital customer experience management.

Having started over 16 years ago in a hands-on role within the OpenText Solutions Consulting team, Ian has been managing the team across Australia and New Zealand for 8 years. Ian provides thought leadership and strategic guidance for customers, as well as our eco-system of partners and the OpenText team.

Roundtable 6

AI-Ready or Not: Bridging the Gap Between Ambition and Adoption in 2025

George Harb - Managing Director at OpenText Ian Poulton - Director, Solution Consulting at OpenText Read More

With 70% of CIOs planning to invest in generative AI in 2025, the focus must shift from experimentation to delivering measurable business value. This roundtable will explore how CIOs can drive new revenue streams, boost productivity, and enhance customer and employee experiences—all while reducing costs. We’ll unpack strategies to overcome infrastructure and skills gaps, improve adoption, and build compelling business cases that resonate with executive stakeholders. Learn how modular, low-risk AI solutions and local success stories can accelerate ROI, and how to partner with vendors who understand your environment and can help turn AI ambition into operational and financial outcomes.

Roundtable 7

Navigating the Future of Technology Economics – Having the Right Conversations Amid Cost Pressures

with Cognizant Read More

This roundtable brings together CIOs and tech leaders to explore the future of tech economics and a number of key trends:

• Technology costs rising unsustainably. Tech cost inflation eating away at value propositions.
• Huge demand for AI in businesses. Unrealistic expectations around scalability and cost.
• Exhaustion of Moore’s Law as a model for tracking and forecasting investment.

We’ll cover a number of topics:

• How to articulate tech economics to the C-suite: How can we communicate to ensures mutual benefits around funding and resources?
• How do you navigate the future from a risk and value? What strategies can be employed to balance innovative high-tech demand with legacy simplification?
• How can you develop cost intelligence to create better visibility and optimise expenditure? What tools are available to help?
• What role does AI play in the future of tech economics? Can you accurately forecast AI project costs while balancing value?

Jason Wornham

General Manager at FUJIFILM IT Services

About

Leader with 25 years experience in the IT industry. Repeatedly proven ability to manage business units addressing global clients’ business needs, with particular depth in multi-year operate solutions. Develops lasting relationships by consistently demonstrating integrity and earning trust. Recognised as a strong leader and coach, manages and inspires multi-national teams to deliver.

Also working with not for profits as a crisis supporter, board member and hands-on volunteer to try and make a difference in suicide prevention and support for people experiencing homelessness.

Roundtable 8

Reimagining Operating Models: Utilising IT and Automated AI to Unlock Scalable Performance

Jason Wornham - General Manager at FUJIFILM IT Services Read More

As CIOs face mounting pressure to scale operations, boost productivity, and drive innovation, the convergence of AI, automation, and IT infrastructure is redefining what’s possible. The shift isn’t just about deploying tools—it’s about fundamentally reimagining how operating models function.

In this roundtable, we explore how AI-powered IT ecosystems can become the backbone of enterprise agility and performance. From low-code workflows and intelligent capture tools, the future lies in tightly integrated, app-native AI solutions that drive autonomous, self-optimising systems.

Join your peers in a forward-looking conversation about building intelligent IT foundations that unlock scalable, secure, and productive operations.

14:55 - 15:05

Afternoon Break

Dave Hyman

CEO & Co-founder at Lendi Group

About

A serial-entrepreneur and with a unique skillset that spans across corporate strategy, technology, product, customer acquisition and operational excellence. David has spent the majority of his career conceptualising, building and scaling businesses across a number of industries.
Over eight years ago, David co-founded Lendi – one of the fastest growing fintech groups globally with a mission to change the way Australians get home loans by disrupting the status quo in the mortgage market using technology.

Today, David is the CEO of Lendi Group, the leading branded distributor of home loans in the market, housing both Lendi & Aussie.

Dom Price

Chief Futurist at Atlassian

About

An accomplished TED speaker, Dom is proud to work at Atlassian, the home of the most intelligent t-shirt wearers in business.
As their resident Work Futurist, Dom is Atlassian’s in house “Team Doctor” helping Atlassian scale by being ruthlessly efficient and effective, and spends over half his time helping their customers navigate transformation, agility, leadership, and the future of work.

Dom helped pioneer Atlassian’s Team Playbook and has a deep passion for understanding of teamwork and the changes needed today to build thriving businesses.

He has previously been the GM Program Management for a global gaming company and a Director of Deloitte.

A keen traveller, Dom has traversed over 53 countries so far, but after 17 years on these shores, he calls Australia home.

15:05 - 15:35

Perspectives from a CEO & Disruptive FinTech

Dave Hyman - CEO & Co-founder at Lendi Group Dom Price - Chief Futurist at Atlassian Read More

Dave is CEO of Lendi Group, the digital platform business behind Lendi, Australia’s #1 digital mortgage brand, and the iconic Aussie franchise. Backed by a powerful AI platform, a network of 1,300 brokers and 220 retail stores, Lendi Group is revolutionising the property journey. Today, its loan book is more than $100b – it’s a growth story like no other.

In what promises to be a lively debate with Atlassian’s well known stage force, Dom Price – they’ll talk:

  • What should a healthy relationship between CIO and CEO look like?
  • Real life examples of tech and AI adoption
  • Keeping up with the pace and future of IT/tech

Jessica Eyes

Digital Leader at McKinsey & Company

About

Jessica a digital expert with a focus on value capture and assurance in large-scale, value-driven transformations and technology simplification programs. She has worked extensively with executives across the UK, Australia, and Asia, addressing both technical complexities and business concerns. Her expertise spans a diverse range of industries, including global firms like McDonald’s and Unilever, as well as launching digital startups.

Since moving to Australia in 2019, Jessica has honed her skills across the entire software delivery lifecycle, adopting customer-led development and translating complex technical details into user-centric outcomes for clients ranging from large corporations to equity-backed startups. She played a pivotal role in establishing McKinsey’s ERP Value Assurance Service Line in Australia and New Zealand.

15:35 - 16:05

McKinsey: How Leading CIOs turn High Stakes into High ROI

Jessica Eyes - Digital Leader at McKinsey & Company Read More

In today’s high-pressure environment, CIOs in Australia and New Zealand are navigating a complex mix of digital ambition, budget constraints, and rising board expectations.

This session explores how leading CIOs are shifting from tech custodians to true value co-pilots — turning high-stakes initiatives like cloud, AI, cyber, and ERP into measurable commercial outcomes.

With a focused deep dive on ERP transformation, we’ll unpack what success looks like beyond go-live: how to avoid value leakage, manage vendor risk, and align transformation with business performance. Expect practical strategies, real-world insights, and the metrics that matter.

Jess will explore:

  • Why ROI doesn’t come from more tech but deliberate bets, better sequencing, and focus on value
  • High-stakes bets CIO can turn into value e.g. cloud migration, tech debt and simplification etc.
  • Practical case of how a CIO can reframe ERP from ‘back office plumbing’ to ‘frontline’ enablement

Peter Weill

Chairman & Senior Research Scientist at MIT CISR & ADAPT Senior Advisor

About

Peter Weill’s work centers on the role, value, and governance of digitization in enterprises. Weill joined the MIT Sloan faculty in 2000 to become director of MIT Sloan’s Center for Information Systems Research (CISR).

MIT CISR is funded by approximately 100 corporate sponsors and patrons, and undertakes practical research on how firms generate business value from Information Technology (IT). As chair, Weill focuses on globalizing the center’s research and delivery. In 2008, Ziff Davis recognized Weill as #24 of The Top 100 Most Influential People in IT, the highest-ranked academic. In Dec 2019, his 2015 MIT SMR article Thriving in an Increasingly Digital Era was recognized as one of The Best 10 SMR Articles in the 2010s.

Peter has worked on digitization issues with the Executive Committees and Boards of more than 40 companies globally. He conducts workshops for key conferences, including the CEO Summits for Microsoft, IBM, and SAP, and the International Monetary Conference.

16:05 - 16:45

CIO Town Hall: What's on the mind of A/NZ CIOs leading Tech for 30% of our GDP?

Peter Weill - Chairman & Senior Research Scientist at MIT CISR & ADAPT Senior Advisor Read More

To close the day, Peter will lead a CIO Town Hall held under the Chatham House Rule. Attendees will talk as a group and in table top debate, moderated by ADAPT advisors.

Topics inspired by MIT and ADAPT datasets will include:

  • How do CIOs in top performing companies spend their time?
  • AI use case maturity and value for the CIO.
  • Stakeholder engagement and winning allies.
  • How to lead career defining transformations?
16:45 - 16:50

Closing Comments

16:45 - 17:45

CIO Edge Peer Networking Drinks

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

Register your interest

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