Agenda
Tuesday, 22 July 2025
“Taming Hybrid, Mastering FinOps & Building Future-Ready Infrastructure for AI at Scale”
Please note that 1:1 meetings will be running throughout the day.
Registration & Check-In
Welcome to the 13th annual Cloud & Infrastructure Edge
Jim Berry - CEO & Founder
Australia’s leading CTOs, infrastructure, and data centre professionals face immense pressure to cut costs while accelerating digital initiatives.
Facing the challenges of hybrid and multi-cloud environments, soaring compute demands, and the need for sustainable AI and data pipelines – debate will focus on workload optimisation, FinOps best practices, and next-generation data centre and edge computing strategies.
To tackle this, we gather the nation’s leaders and proudly bring you Australia’s top Cloud & Infrastructure Strategy event – with a focus on outcome based ideas you will remember and be able to action after the day. Learn how to build a secure, resilient foundation for the high-performance computing, analytics, and AI that will power Australia’s economic future.
ADAPT Insights: The State of Digital Infrastructure & Resilience in A/NZ Enterprise
Matt Boon - Senior Research Director at ADAPT
ADAPT’s Research and Advisory team reveal the latest data-driven insights from over 1000 local surveys from regional Heads of IT, digital, security and finance enabling companies responsible for over 60% of Australia’s GDP.
Assessing digital infrastructure and finops maturity, performance, capital allocation, and the unique challenges facing Australian Heads of Cloud and Infrastructure. Also revealing ADAPT’s 2025 Cloud Migration study – running since 2018.
Helping you to benchmark and validate your priorities and thinking, ADAPT reveal the core findings distilled from your aggregated pre-event surveys and examine which tactics have the biggest impact – and how best to scale that success.
Get an Edge: Making the Most of Your Day
Tenar Larsen - Head of People & Performance, Executive Programs
The State of the Australian Digital Infrastructure
Bevan Slattery - Founder of Cloudscene, Superloop, Megaport, NEXTDC and Co-Founder PIPE Networks
Bevan Slattery is one of Australia’s leading digital infrastructure entrepreneurs having founded a record 5 ASX companies spanning everything from metro fibre, subsea cables, data centres and elastic connectivity including PIPE Networks, NEXTDC, Megaport, Superloop, SubPartners, SUBCO and SODA. As well as founding CloudScene, Bevan has deep knowledge on all aspects of Australian Digital Infrastructure and joins us for a frank discussion on the market, the roadblocks, the state of the industry and ideas for executives to leverage.
Building Cloud Security Programs That Can Shift Left
Matt Preswick - Principal Solutions Engineer at Wiz Edwin Kwan - Head of Product Security at Domain Group

For organisations born in the cloud or seeking to adopt modern technologies like containers, Kubernetes, and Serverless architectures, shifting security left is foundational. It empowers engineering teams to collaborate effectively with security teams, and effectively prevent common risks associated with the cloud. But how can this be achieved when security and engineering teams often have transactional relationships?
Join this session for real-world examples of how Australian organisations are bringing DevSecOps together with practical guidance from Australian Security leader, Edwin Kwan, Head of Product Security at Domain Group.
Morning Break
Refreshments, Snacks & Connections
Cloud & AI Panel: From Hybrid Chaos to AI-Driven Innovation: The New Cloud Operating Model
Matt Boon - Senior Research Director at ADAPT Brendan Humphreys - CTO at Canva Nam Je Cho - Director of Solutions Architecture at AWS


Organisations are grappling with the complexities of hybrid and multi-cloud environments, rising compute and storage costs for AI workloads, and the need to streamline data pipelines.
Based on feedback from Advisors and ADAPT community, this panel of Australian experts will explore strategies for orchestrating hybrid cloud infrastructures effectively, managing multi-cloud data compliance, optimising workload placement, enabling rapid AI experimentation, and leveraging serverless architectures.
Also asking the role of Infrastructure leaders in code transformation enabled by Agentic AI – using AI as tooling to mitigate the legacy code case, code generate to modernise into the Cloud.
Gain a holistic view of how to align cloud operations with business imperatives while controlling costs, ensuring security, and scaling AI capabilities.
- Orchestration & Hybrid Cloud Value
- Multi-Cloud Governance & Security
- Workload Optimisation & Agentic AI role in code generation
- Rapid AI Enablement & Experimentation
- Data at Scale & Serverless Architectures
Embracing AI and GenAI for Sustainable Hybrid IT Infrastructure
Raj Singh - Targeted Segments Enterprise Sales Leader at Schneider Electric
Discover how AI and GenAI are transforming hybrid IT infrastructure by improving efficiency, boosting competitiveness, maximising value, ensuring resilience, and meeting sustainability goals. Learn from Schneider Electric’s expertise in sustainable AI solutions for hybrid IT enterprises. This session will focus on three main areas: confidently embracing AI, building secure and modular AI-ready IT infrastructure, and using AI to enhance business sustainability.
The Wireless Infrastructure of Resilience: How Private 5G, Wireless WAN and Edge AI is Future-Proofing Australia’s Organisations
John Hopping - CTO APAC at Ericsson Enterprise Wireless
In an era defined by climate extremes, cyber threats, and accelerating digital disruption, Australian organisations must fundamentally rethink how they build operational resilience. In this discussion with John Hopping, CTO APAC for Enterprise Wireless Solutions at Ericsson, we will explore how Private 5G , wireless WNA and Edge AI are transforming traditional infrastructure into intelligent, adaptive systems capable of real-time decision-making and ultimate resiliency.
During the discussion we will share how industries such as mining, logistics, retail, utilities, and emergency services sectors are already leveraging next-generation wireless to reduce downtime, improve safety, and meet evolving regulatory and sustainability demands. John will share global use cases and local insights that illustrate how wireless is no longer just a connectivity tool—but a foundational pillar for mission-critical operations.
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.
Resilience in the AI Era: Rethinking Data Strategy
Felix Fitzpatrick - Head of Observability ANZ at Splunk
Data is growing faster than most organisations can manage—driving up costs, creating blind spots, and threatening decision-making and compliance. As AI accelerates change, leaders must align data strategy with business goals to stay competitive and resilient.
This roundtable will explore how to maximise the value of data across complex digital environments. We’ll uncover the new rules of data management that optimise visibility, reduce risk, and enable faster, smarter decisions.
Further discussion points:
- Using AI to unlock innovation without losing control
- Preventing data overload that hides threats and delays insight
- Managing the cost and complexity of data mobility and access
- Streamlining compliance while protecting against risk
Is Your FinOps Strategy Ready for 2026 and Beyond?
Joana Valente - Partner, Consulting at Deloitte Logan Fraser - Principal Solutions Consultant at Apptio

Cloud complexity is skyrocketing. AI-driven workloads are pushing budgets to new limits. Cloud Practitioners and FinOps teams are under pressure to go beyond tracking costs and start driving real business value.
The question is: Is your FinOps strategy evolving fast enough? Join this roundtable to explore the five critical shifts shaping FinOps in 2026 and beyond:
1. Understanding Unit Economics – Why tracking cloud costs isn’t enough – you need to prove value.
2. FinOps Meets GreenOps – How do you balance the increased use of energy and cloud-intensive innovations while managing carbon emissions?
3. Going Beyond CSPs – Are Third-Party SaaS apps like Snowflake, Datadog, and Databricks accounted for in your cloud cost strategy?
4. Shift-Left: From Reactive to Proactive – Embedding FinOps earlier in the product development stage to prevent cost overruns.
5. The AI Budget Black Hole – Can FinOps finally control and manage growing AI costs?
Building A Minimal Viable Business: Redefining Cyber Resilient Infrastructure & Cloud Strategies
Alister Freese - Account Executive at Rubrik
Join Rubrik to explore how businesses can achieve a Minimal Viable Business (MVB) by integrating strong cyber resilience strategies while reducing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). This session will focus on optimising cloud and infrastructure investments to ensure business continuity, enhance security and cyber resilience while driving cost savings. Learn and discuss how to implement MVB frameworks, prioritise critical services, secure data across enterprise, cloud, and SaaS, reduce complexity, and leverage automation and data protection to build secure, cost-efficient, and resilient environments.
Peer Networking Seated Lunch
AWS + Accenture Executive Lunch Roundtable Session: Accelerating Enterprise Modernisation: the AI-Enabled Cloud Operating Model
Nam Je Cho - Director of Solutions Architecture at AWS Danielle Malone - Data and AI Technology Lead at Accenture ANZ Sudesh Shah - Lead - AWS Business Group & Cloud Advisory at Accenture ANZ


Legacy systems hold businesses back – limiting agility, increasing costs, and creating unnecessary operational and security complexities. We can no longer do it ‘cheaper, better, faster’ on premises and should look ahead to capture the value from a higher order of data and AI services.
AI-driven intelligent automation and modern cloud capabilities are finally enabling Australian businesses accelerate modernisation of their legacy applications and infrastructure. This then drives efficiencies in project timelines, costs, technical debts, and security posture, whilst freeing up valuable strategic resources. The promise of Generative and Agentic AI tooling means modernisation isn’t just an upgrade; it can deliver real transformation and competitive advantage.
The cohort will explore the state of cloud operations and AI-enabled infrastructure to debate practical strategies that are achieving transformative outcomes.
Join special experts sharing use cases under the Chatham House Rule:
- Nam Je Cho – Director of Solutions Architecture at AWS
- Danielle Malone – Managing Director, Data and AI Technology at Accenture ANZ
- Sudesh Shah – Managing Director, AWS Business Group & Cloud Advisory at Accenture ANZ
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.
Ship Fast, Stay Secure – Rethinking Continuous Delivery at Enterprise Scale
with OctopusAs cloud-native architectures mature and digital expectations accelerate, large enterprises and government organisations face increasing pressure to deploy faster, more reliably, and at scale — all while maintaining stringent compliance and minimising risk. This session is designed for technology executives seeking to modernise software delivery while striking the right balance between agility, governance, and developer empowerment.
How do you deliver faster — without losing control?
This roundtable will explore how enterprise and government orgs are modernising Continuous Delivery to:
- Move faster without compromising uptime or compliance
- Cut developer friction in complex multi-environment pipelines
- Bake security and auditability into every deployment
AI-Native Networking: making every user experience exceptional.
Greg Yelas - Regional Sales Director, Enterprise & Government at Juniper Networks Ivan Evans - Head of Data Centre Networks at Juniper Networks ANZ

This session will look at how the industry’s first AI-Native Networking Platform is already using visibility and orchestration to deliver better operator and end-user experiences with the most comprehensive AIOps across the entire network stack – from Client to Cloud.
– How can your network deliver simplicity, productivity, reliability, reduced risk, performance, and exceptional experiences?
– How to build and operate hybrid cloud infrastructure so that it’s ultra reliable, high performance, secure and easy to manage, no matter if the workload is on-prem, in a co-lo, or hosted cloud?
The discussion will cover how to tackle some of the most critical networking challenges, including how to use AIOps to:
• Reduce Network Complexity
• Private Data Centre Environments
• Unlock Resources
• Deliver predictability
• Unthrottle Network Responsiveness
From transforming and modernising the Data Centre and Campus & Branch networks, to scaling & automating the WAN, join your peers and experts from Juniper to discuss new ways to reach these network goals
Adopting Cloud, Adapting Security
Wayne Phillips - Chief Technology Officer at SentinelOne
As organisations increasingly build in the cloud, and adopt AI services, their attack surface correspondingly alters.
What changes do our security teams need to make with increasingly containerised, cloud focused and AI-first technologies coming to the fore?
Afternoon Break
Refreshments, Snacks & Connections
Panel: Scaling Data Centres for AI and High-Performance Computing: Building Smarter, Resilient Infrastructure
Peter Alexander - CTO, Defence Digital Group at the Department of Defence Matt Gurr - Senior Director of Design Management APAC at NTT Global Data Centres (formerly AECOM, AWS, Aurecon) Adam Gardner - Head of Products at NEXTDC


Modern data centres face unprecedented pressures – from the explosive rise of AI and HPC workloads to the growing importance of sustainability and edge architectures.
This expert panel explores how to build next-generation data centre environments that unite high-performance computing, cloud-native concepts, and robust operational management. Debating how to collaborate on a more robust, future-ready foundation for AI and high-performance computing while ensuring resilience, cost-efficiency, and sustainability – all while meeting ever-increasing business demands.
- AI & HPC Readiness: Balancing performance, scalability, and cooling requirements for advanced workloads.
- Edge & Distributed Architecture: Applying cloud-native principles across on-premises and edge environments for seamless, low-latency operations.
- Sustainability & Power Efficiency: Integrating renewable energy and innovative cooling solutions to meet ESG goals and optimise costs.
- Infrastructure Modernisation: Automating and standardising hybrid data centre platforms to enable agility and consistent governance.
- Facility Management & Collaboration: Roles, responsibilities, and skill sets to run modern data centres effectively with IT, facilities, and engineering.
Six ways to control the growing cloud
Wayne Vest - Senior Expert at McKinsey & Company
Cloud & Infrastructure Edge 2025: Insights summary
with ADAPT's Research & Advisory TeamSummarising the day’s core findings into actionable insights to take back to your job.
ADAPT proudly host the "2025 Infrastructure Masons Australian Chapter Networking Event"
Hilton Zeta Bar – private hire to meet and network with your industry peers over drinks and canapes.
ADAPT helped the local launch of the global Infrastructure Masons in March 2020, and proudly partner their 5th annual local chapter meeting. All attendees are invited to attend – and each can apply for a free iMasons annual membership.
Established in 2016 in the US, Infrastructure Masons is where technical professionals connect, grow and give back.
End User Members are IT and facilities professionals who are directly responsible to design, build and/or operate the physical and logical structures for a company that provides infrastructure services primarily to their internal customers.
The iM Australia Chapter provides a forum for members to connect and engage in meaningful discussion with their industry peers. As a Member, you are invited to ‘leave your company at the door’ and take advantage of the opportunity to build new connections, gain new knowledge, and generate contributions to the iMasons scholarship fund.