Agenda
Tuesday, 24 June 2025
“Digital Excellence & Being Ridiculously Easy to Do Business With”
Please note that 1:1 meetings will be running throughout the day.
Registration & Check-In
Welcome to the 10th Digital Edge: Digital Excellence & Being Ridiculously Easy to Do Business With
Jim Berry - CEO & Founder at ADAPT
Sales are moving online, revenues from digital products are booming, AI is evolving, and competition is fierce.
This means an explosion in customer facing apps, internal data, and systems – all driving new management challenges and opportunities.
Meanwhile, Customer and Employee expectations heighten – along with the need for improved digital trust, experience, and personalisation.
The operating models, products and structures of the past must evolve to deliver innovation, speed, CX and UX.
It’s time for radical modernisation and change – but most are underprepared to harness AI because of gaps in organisational data and digital maturity.
To tackle this, we gather the nation’s leaders and proudly bring you Australia’s top Digital Strategy event – with a focus on outcome based ideas you will remember and be able to action after the day.
ADAPT Insights: The State of CX, Transformation and ROI in A/NZ Enterprise
Gabby Fredkin - Head of Analytics & Insights 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 digitisation and CX maturity, performance, capital allocation, and the unique challenges facing Australian Heads of Digital Transformation, Product and Customer Experience.
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
"Ridiculously Easy to Do Business With” - Serving a New Generation of Customer Wants, Needs and Expectations
David Avrin - World Leading CX Consultant
How, when and where we buy has changed dramatically, with customers’ now prioritising speed, simplicity, and convenience over quality. Winning in today’s competitive marketplace is dictated by those who can deliver faster while being ridiculously easy to do business with.
David will shine a light on this profound shift in CX, UX and EX – driving an alignment of product development, processes, and policy.
How do we deploy effectively and compliantly – while eliminating friction in the buying process, responding to prospects, and creating experiences worth sharing?
Participants will gain actionable insights to:
- Better understand the cause and pervasiveness of the shift in customer behaviour.
- Recognise how and why customer service and experiences are distinct.
- Create alignment between customer needs and deliverables.
- Recognise what it takes to compete on social media and AI, and the ramifications of under-performing.
David Avrin, CSP, GSF is one of the world’s leading Customer Experience speakers and consultants. He helps CEOs and organisations better understand and serve their changing customers and clients to help future-proof their businesses by becoming ridiculously easy to do business with. David’s the author of seven books: It’s Not Who You Know, It’s Who Knows You!, Why Customers Leave (and How to Win Them Back) and his newest book: Ridiculously Easy to Do Business With: A practical guide to giving customers what they want-when and how they want it. His business insights have been featured worldwide.
Revolutionise your CRM: Transform Service and Sales with AI
Simon Bowker - AVP, CRM & Industry Solutions, Asia Pacific at ServiceNow
AI is revolutionising customer service by delivering faster resolutions, enhancing self-service, and fostering more meaningful customer interactions. Discover how ServiceNow empowers organisations in any industry to sell, fulfill, and serve customers through its AI-powered platform.
By leveraging AI agents and automation, businesses can significantly reduce costs, free human agents from repetitive tasks to focus on complex customer needs, and accelerate resolution times. The result? Increased revenue, lower service costs, and transformed customer experiences that build lifelong loyalty.
Morning Break
Refreshments, Snacks & Connections
Digital Excellence & Experience Insights
Peter Hind - Principal Research Analyst at ADAPT Jesse Arundell - Head of Emerging AI at Optus Tom Gao - Chief Tech & Digital Services Officer at City of Sydney Christina Igasto - Chief Digital Officer at ServiceNSW



Debating responsibilities, possibilities, and tactics for Australian Digital, Product & Customer leaders to improve customer experiences and digital products.
This session will explore:
- Tactics to lead a successful digital strategy
- Aligning data governance and monetisation to measurable product and business results
- Data driven enablement: predictive, algorithmic, revenue generating
- The reality of Agentic AI in 2025?
- Cross functional collaboration or dysfunction?
AI in Action: Personalisation and the Evolving Digital Experience
Stephen Hardy - Partner at Bain & Co
Stephen Hardy, Partner at Bain & Company, will explore how artificial intelligence is changing the way organisations approach personalisation and digital engagement. Through recent use cases and practical case studies, he’ll share what leading companies are doing today to tailor experiences at scale, improve customer interactions, and deliver measurable results.
This keynote will provide a clear look at where AI is making a real difference — and what it means for teams working across digital strategy, customer experience, and product development.
Stephen is the former CEO of Ambiata and one of Bain’s most experienced AI experts in APAC.
ADAPT Insights: What 3 Things the Top Performers Do for Most Success in AI?
Mike Kollo - Director of AI at ADAPT
Mike explores the key factors that contribute to AI success, drawing on ADAPT’s unique local research covering the latest on Agentic and GenAI – having surveyed 600 CIOs, Data and Digital leaders across Australia in 2025.
AI has rapidly evolved from a niche discussion to a strategic priority, with 70% of respondents planning to increase their investment in generative AI.
However, despite growing budgets, only 25% of organisations have automated workflows, highlighting a gap between AI readiness and actual implementation. Mike shares AI use case and adoption insights, revealing how and why strategic alignment — not just investment — drives real business impact.
- What 3 things the top performers do for most success in AI?
- AI Investment & ROI: ways to track long-term value and ROI
- Which internal measures set the leaders apart?
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.
From Clicks to Conversations: Scaling Digital CX Through AI-Powered Engagement
with LivePersonCustomer expectations are evolving rapidly. Traditional, static web journeys can no longer meet the demand for seamless, personalised, and efficient service. In this session, LivePerson will explore how leading enterprises are transforming digital engagement by leveraging Conversational AI and generative agents to drive higher conversion rates and revenue growth.
We’ll cover how to:
- Evolve from basic chatbots to scalable, AI-powered messaging solutions
- Reduce cost-to-serve while boosting digital self-service and conversion rates
- Understand the role of conversational AI and messaging across the digital journey
- Explore how GenAI is powering next-gen experiences with proven revenue impact
- Connect human expertise with digital visitors to enhance the customer experience
Join us to share challenges, hear success stories, and explore the future of AI-driven customer engagement.
Scaling Growth with Customer and Product Data – Signal To Strategy
with AmplitudeWith digital driving every customer interaction, growth is no longer powered by gut instinct. It’s driven by how quickly and accurately you can act on customer behaviour. Yet for many enterprise leaders, especially in complex, regulated industries, those valuable digital signals remain trapped in slow, legacy systems and siloed teams.
At the same time, expectations are rising fast. You’re expected to deliver measurable growth, deeper loyalty, and faster innovation – without overhauling your entire tech stack or adding more complexity.
Join your fellow leaders to discuss how industry-leading enterprises are:
- Activating product and customer data to power business-critical decisions and unlock new growth
- Aligning digital, product, and CX teams to deliver seamless, profitable experiences at scale
- Using experimentation and AI to accelerate insight-to-action loops
- Evolving digital capabilities to cut through complexity, accelerate insights, and power sustained enterprise growth
Attendees will also receive exclusive access to Amplitude’s Digital Experience Maturity Assessment – Benchmark your organisation and uncover the next best actions to drive impact.
If you’re responsible for customer value, digital performance, or transformation in 2025, this is the session to join.
Reimagining CX: Unifying Data, Teams, and Technology to Elevate Customer Experience
with SprinklrCustomer expectations continue to evolve at pace—placing pressure on organisations to deliver more seamless, connected, and personalised experiences across every touchpoint. However, fragmented technology stacks, siloed data, and disconnected functions across marketing, service, and digital teams remain major barriers.
As Business and IT leaders look to drive greater enterprise value through customer-centric strategies, the ability to integrate CX efforts across departments, systems, and channels is becoming critical.
In this interactive discussion hosted by Sprinklr, we’ll explore how leading organisations are:
- Unifying data to create a single view of the customer and deliver consistent, contextual experiences
- Equipping customer-facing teams with real-time insights to drive faster, smarter decision-making
- Breaking down silos across marketing, service, and digital to enable end-to-end customer journey orchestration
- Embedding AI into CX workflows to improve speed, personalisation, and operational efficiency
- Reducing software sprawl and technical debt by consolidating platforms and optimising CX investments
Join your peers to share challenges and best practices around modernising customer experience for greater business impact.
Peer Networking Seated Lunch
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.
Driving Growth and Efficiency: Leveraging Digital Transformation for Business Success
with SAP & SAP SignavioIn today’s fast-changing landscape, businesses are constantly balancing two key priorities—driving growth and maximising efficiency. This roundtable will explore how digital transformation helps achieve both, unlocking new opportunities while streamlining operations. Through real-world examples, we’ll dive into how industry leaders have successfully navigated transformation to accelerate performance, improve agility, and stay ahead of the competition.
Afternoon Break
Refreshments, Snacks & Connections
The Economy of Algorithms, AI and the Rise of the Digital Minions
Prof. Marek Kowalkiewicz - Professor and Chair in Digital Economy at Centre for Future Enterprise, QUT Business School
AI is changing the way we work so we need to be able to adapt to this future. Join us as we delve into the intricacies of AI in the business landscape.
From managing the ascent of shadow AI to the evolving role of C-level executives, we explore the critical success factors for leveraging data and AI.
- How do algorithms and AI impact your workplace and the experiences you offer?
- How to equip organisations to design new work practices, policies and products to embrace new technologies?
- Discover how fostering a culture of innovation intersects with ethical considerations
- The importance of partnerships between industry giants and startups.
Invaluable insights on policy, regulation, and practical advice for navigating the complex terrain of AI in business.
Listed among the Top 100 Global Thought Leaders in AI by Thinkers360, Marek has led global innovation teams in Silicon Valley, was a Global Research Program Lead and Founding Research Manager of SAP’s Machine Learning lab in Singapore, and a Research Fellow at Microsoft Research Asia.
His newest book, “The Economy of Algorithms: AI and the Rise of the Digital Minions”, is an international bestseller.
Digital Edge 2025: Insights summary
with ADAPT's Research & Advisory TeamSummarising the day’s core findings into actionable insights to take back to your job.
iTnews | Digital Nation | Digital Transformation Awards: “Digital Champions”
Velvet-Belle Templeman - Publishing Director at iTnews
At Digital Edge 2025, ADAPT will proudly host the inaugural Digital Nation 2025 Digital Champion Awards. Hear from the finalists in short panels.
Hear direct from the nominee finalists for each category open for Australia’s Digital Champions:
- Customer Experience Transformation Champion (Chief Customer Officer, Head of CX / Marketing)
- Employee Experience Transformation Champion (HR, People & Culture)
- Finance Transformation Champion (CFO/Head of Finance)
- Data & AI transformation champion (Chief Data and AI)
- Governance champion (Chief Risk Officer)
- Digital Transformation Champion (Chief Transformation Officer, Chief Digital Officer)
ADAPT Digital Edge & Digital Nation “Digital Champions” Networking Drinks
Meet & network with the attendees of both ADAPT’s Digital Edge event and the arriving nominees for the Digital Nation “Digital Champion” awards
Digital Nation's “Digital Champions” Awards & Gala Dinner
The iTnews & Digital Nation team will announce the category winners and present the awards over dinner.
Who will be Australia’s Digital Champions for 2025?
- Customer Experience Transformation Champion (Chief Customer Officer, Head of CX / Marketing)
- Employee Experience Transformation Champion (HR, People & Culture)
- Finance Transformation Champion (CFO/Head of Finance)
- Data & AI transformation champion (Chief Data and AI)
- Governance champion (Chief Risk Officer)
- Digital Transformation Champion (Chief Transformation Officer, Chief Digital Officer)