Our Speakers Include

Bhaskar Katta is a recognised expert with ~3 decades of experience in Operations &Technology, Consumer Business, Strategy, Customer-centric design, and Digital with a successful track record in delivering meaningful transformations in financial services.

He is currently General Manager of Global Operations at Westpac, leading a team of over 6,500 employees. Formerly as General Manager at ANZ, Bhaskar brought his extensive background in digital transformation in the Deposits, Payments, and Wealth business for over 6 million customers and managing the wealth business partnerships. Prior to that Bhaskar was Regional Chief Operating Officer in Singapore covering over 20 markets across Asia & Pacific and leading a Digital-only bank initiative. He has also has~2 decades experience with Citi across Europe, Middle East and Africa living and working in India, UAE, Russia, Czech Republic &UK in COO, CEO (Consumer Bank) & MD roles.

Bhaskar holds an MBA from Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning in India and an Executive Education from MIT covering Digital Business Transformation and is experienced in building and leading high performing diverse teams and has a track record for leading significant organisational transformations that achieve outstanding results.

As Deputy CEO and Chief Customer Officer at Services Australia, I lead a group responsible for optimising, improving and transforming critical services to millions of Australians every day. I have over ten years of senior executive experience in driving technology-enabled business transformation, including digital identity, and strategy in the public sector.

My mission is to apply design, innovation, customer experience, and digital capabilities to transform government services and create positive outcomes for our customers. I have a strong background in agile leadership, digital delivery, and strategy. I am passionate about fostering a culture of collaboration, empowerment, and excellence within Services Australia and across government.

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Alan looks after CISR’s Research and Engagement for the Asia Pacific region. Previously, he held senior digital executive roles and managed digital strategy teams where he built and ran successful consulting businesses for Accenture and PwC. He was the Head of Digital Strategy for the Turnbull government of Australia.

As an Expert Partner and Chief Digital Risk Officer at McKinsey & Company, I lead digital risk for the firm’s Global Technology and AI function, as well as the Technology, Leap, and QuantumBlack practices. With deep experience across Europe, the Middle East, North America, Latin America, and Australia, I advise Boards and senior technology leaders—particularly in the public and social sectors—on navigating complex digital, cyber, and AI‑related risks. Based in London, I am recognised for bringing a strategic, cross‑sector perspective to digital risk governance and transformation.

Prior to joining McKinsey, I served as a Naval Flight Officer, Mission Commander, and Scientific and Technical Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Navy. I later held leadership roles as a Director in Position Services at Morgan Stanley and as a Program Manager at Proteus Technologies. I have previously earned certifications including Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Project Management Professional (PMP), and PMI‑ACP.

David is a former CIO and CISO with over 20 years of global leadership experience across financial services, insurance, and technology risk. His roles at Macquarie Group, HSBC, MetLife Japan, and in advisory positions within fintech and cybersecurity ecosystems have shaped his deep expertise in cyber resilience, digital transformation, IT risk management and value realisation.

I am the Group Head of Consumer Bank at DBS Bank and a member of the DBS Group Management Committee. DBS, headquartered in Singapore, is a leading financial services group in Asia, recognized globally as the “World’s Best Bank” by Euromoney and Global Finance, and as the “World’s Best Digital Bank” by Euromoney.

I oversee the bank’s consumer business across the region, driving strategy, market development, and business performance across various markets and leading the expansion of our regional footprint. My responsibilities include driving the Consumer Bank’s digital transformation, developing new ecosystem partnerships, and leveraging DBS’s banking and technology capabilities to scale the consumer business.

I have over 30 years of international consumer banking experience. I joined DBS in 2018. Prior to that, I led ANZ Bank’s Consumer and Private Bank in the Asia Pacific region for 5 years. Before that, I spent 22 years at Citibank, where my last position was Consumer Bank Head for the Middle East and North Africa.

I currently serve on several boards within DBS. I am a Board Director at DBS Bank Taiwan, DBS Vickers Holding, and DBS Vickers Thailand. I also serve on the board of the DBS Foundation, overseeing sustainability efforts and championing social enterprises.

I am actively involved in various external boards and committees. I currently serve as Board Director and Treasurer at the Singapore Institute of Management. I am also a Governor on the Board of the Singapore International Foundation, supporting its mission to build enduring people-to-people ties for a better world. I am a member of the Strategic Advisory Council of the Singapore FinTech Association, contributing to the strategic growth and global expansion of the FinTech ecosystem.

Previously, I served as Director of the Board for ANZ’s subsidiaries in Cambodia, and Vietnam, and served as Director of Metrobank Cards Corporation in Philippines. I have held honorary positions at the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) and the Singapore Institute of Directors. I also served on the board of Tanglin Club for several years.

I was conferred the IBF Fellow Award for Consumer Banking in 2019. I am a regular keynote speaker at international conferences and business schools. I also teach in the Asia Financial Leadership Program, of which I am an alumnus.

Dawid Naude is a trailblazer in business, disruption, and innovation, shaping the future by translating AI’s potential into real world impact. Committed to making AI exciting, accessible, and impossible to ignore, he helps organisations to make every employee more productive, reimagine what’s possible, and achieve breakthrough innovation.

With a dynamic CV spanning consulting and leadership roles across digital, technology and innovation, Dawid is the proud Founder & CEO of Pathfindr. Named one of AFR BOSS’ Most Innovative Companies in its founding year, Pathfindr’s is now the fastest growing AI Accelerator in Australia.

An advisor to Government and industry bodies across APAC, Dawid is one of the region’s foremost AI innovators, educators, and implementers. With an infectious energy and a gift for making the complex feel simple, his keynotes have built a reputation for exciting audiences into action.

95% of enterprise AI pilots never reach production.

Not because the models are weak. Because organisations are delivering probabilistic AI systems using delivery disciplines built for deterministic software.

The result:
— Agents that demo beautifully but collapse in production
— Ownership that fragments the moment a pilot scales
— Governance that reacts too late
— Unit economics that turn negative
— No one accountable for how AI behaviour evolves after go-live

This is the pilot-to-production gap. The single biggest barrier to enterprise AI value today. I am building the discipline that closes it.

WHAT I DO

I am building the discipline of Enterprise Agentic AI Systems Delivery — the methodology, governance, and role clarity required to take AI agents from pilot to reliable production at enterprise scale.

This work is grounded in two proprietary frameworks:

— AI ROF (AI Role Operating Framework) — redesigning role accountability so humans and AI agents operate with clear ownership, decision rights, and escalation paths
— ICE (Intelligence-Centred Enterprise) — an operating model where intelligence is a practice, not a product. Built around a metabolic loop: Sense, Reason, Act, Learn

Jim is known for exceeding expectations in execution.His entire career has been spent connecting the right people at the right time in roles across Europe and Asia Pac. ​
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He founded ADAPT to deliver quality outcomes with integrity – with a vision to help Australia thrive commercially, now and for the future.To enable that, Jim leads ADAPT’s mission to connect, inform and equip our local business and tech leaders. ​
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At the centre of agenda creation and strategic partner management for two decades, Jim is uniquely experienced to be the voice of the end-user, the customer and the vendor. ​
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He satisfies C-suite attendees with all agendas across ADAPT Edge events. He also regularly presents “Know your Customer” webinars and guides the world’s largest vendors with their GTM and content strategies.​
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Through entrepreneurial product development and a servant leader mentality with his team and clients, ADAPT grows annually with clearly differentiated value for all stakeholders.

Gabby’s primary role is managing ADAPT’s overall strategy for Data Analytics. He has extensive experience in using data to identify trends in technology that help shape Australian organisations. Utilising modern Data Science techniques, he provides ADAPT and their customers with confidence in the accuracy and validity of the information used for ADAPT’s Research, Advisory, and Events.​

With a passion for creating stories with data, Gabby is consistently rated as one of the top speakers at ADAPT Events. In round table discussions, he specialises in using statistics to initiate thought-provoking discussions. Gabby is effective in translating information into insights, enabling ADAPT’s customers to become more data-driven.​

Gabby’s primary areas of expertise are: ​

• Advanced AI and ML practices, including AI ethics.​
• Building models to benchmark and predict IT performance.
• End-user behaviour and human-centred design.​
• Cross-functional team design and value, such as DevSecOps.​

Peter Hind has spent the last 25 years as an analyst and commentator on the ICT industry. He says his primary areas of interest are the potential of technology to transform the way organisations operate, the change management obstacles executives encounter in realising this potential and the tactics and techniques leaders have deployed to overcome these difficulties.

Peter now takes on multiple roles within ADAPT including the moderation of private events and roundtables, interviewing business executives about the strategies they are pursuing and assisting with the structuring of our delegate surveys and the interrogation and analysis of ADAPT’s treasure trove of end-user and C-level data

As Director of Strategic Research at ADAPT Matt Boon, is responsible for directing and developing ADAPTs research content and positions. In his role at ADAPT Boon advises C-Suite executives across the end-user and technology provider landscape. Boon is also responsible for bringing together groups of C-Suite leaders to discuss and prepare for the myriad of challenges and opportunities they face.

ADAPT host’s numerous industry leading IT focused events annually and Boon is responsible for hosting, chairing and delivering ADAPT independent content and positions to help attendees make informed IT decisions.