October Contributors Include...

Ahmad Douglas is the Chief Information Security Officer of CommScope, a global manufacturer of telecommunications equipment based in North Carolina, USA.  CommScope operates a diverse portfolio of businesses, innovating in the fields of fiber optics and coaxial cable, cellular antennas, large-scale and high-density wi-fi installations, and telecommunications systems.

Prior to joining CommScope in 2023, Ahmad served as Chief Security Officer of Equifax Workforce Solutions, securing the premier datasets of American employment and payroll information.  He has also held information security leadership roles at Comcast Xfinity and Visa.  His career began at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where his technical and strategic contributions focused on securing the U.S. nuclear weapons program.

Ahmad holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Allegheny College as well as M.S. (Computer Science) and M.B.A. degrees from the University of New Mexico.  Outside of work, his passions are mentoring the next generation of ambitious young professionals and playing jazz piano.

As the CEO of PrivacyCode and a Partner at Privatus Consulting, Michelle Dennedy has over 20 years of experience in advancing the respect for human information. She is renowned for her expertise in privacy engineering, a field that bridges the policy and technology divide with metrics and outcomes. Additionally, Michelle is an author, a podcaster, and a strategic advisor for several technology companies.

Michelle’s mission is to build better technology that matters, promoting quality, integrity, and asset-level possibilities for information assets. She works closely with families, executives, innovators, and dreamers at all stages and in all sectors to support the combination of policy, practice, and tools. She is passionate about creating solutions that enable data privacy and security, as well as social and environmental responsibility.

David is the Co-Founder and CEO of Internet 2.0.

Leveraging his background as an Australian Army Intelligence Officer, his expertise in cyber, information warfare and data security leads the compnay.

David has just retired in July 2024 and is building out his portfolio. He is an Advisor with Bain Advisory Network and also an Advisor to JS Careers (Cyber Recruitment) and Emertel (Software Commercialization).

He is a seasoned technology executive with significant experience and 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 was CISO for HSBC Asia Pacific. His career as a CIO spans across multiple industries and geographies including – Metlife, Eli Lilly and Credit Union Australia. He was winner CIO of the Year 2014, at CUA where he successfully completed a significant Transformation of Core Banking, Online and Mobile Banking systems.

David 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.

His most recent book – the Aspiring CIO & CISO was published in June 2024 and David is writing his second – A Day in the Life of a CISO with a number of CISOs from around the world for 2025.

Kylie Watson is an experienced executive in the Information Technology Infrastructure, Apps, and Services Industry. Driven by a strong client focus, she supports large-scale business and technical transformation, leveraging her expertise in change management and behavioural economics. Kylie excels in leading large sales and delivery teams across multiple disciplines and regions, driving the adoption and embrace of new technologies. She is adept at growing capabilities and skills to meet market demand across Australia, New Zealand, and Asia, and at building partnerships and alliances to solve client challenges.

Kylie has extensive experience working across all industries and is well-connected with key C-suite stakeholders in federal, state, and local government, as well as in retail, mining, oil and gas, utilities, distribution, health, and financial services. She has a proven track record of driving cultural change and embracing diversity and inclusion, earning awards in coaching, mentoring, and innovation.

With over 25 years of executive leadership experience in technology and consulting, spanning multiple industries, international geographies, and platforms, Kylie is well-versed in Google, AWS, IBM Cloud, and Azure. Her solution experience and qualifications include cybersecurity, data, AI, cloud, and change management. Additionally, she is an AI ethicist with some quantum computing capability.

Kylie is also a media spokesperson, keynote speaker, and author on technology topics, and serves as an advisor to universities and government agencies on cyber, technology research, and education.

Helen is a Consulting Director at Unit 42.  She has over two decades of global cyber security consulting experience, combining deep technical knowledge with the ability to support CISOs to accurately measure and articulate cyber risk to Executive teams and Boards to support effective risk management decisions and oversight.

Helen serves as co-chair of the FAIR Institute Sydney Chapter, a not-for-profit industry body that drives the use of the FAIR (Factor Analysis of Information Risk) standard to assist C-level executives to make more defensible, informed and effective cyber risk management decisions through cyber risk quantification.

Prior to joining Unit 42, Helen was a Managing Director at PwC where she led the national cyber risk management practice. In this role, she developed and delivered over 25 engagements using FAIR to assist clients to understand and take practical risk management decisions to manage their cyber risk exposure. This included assisting CISO’s to determine appropriate cyber strategies and roadmaps that were fit for purpose for the business’s risk appetite whilst optimising Return on Security
Investments (ROSI), supporting CISO’s in budget and planning conversations at the executive level and guiding organisations towards dynamic data driven risk management through automated risk and compliance reporting.

Helen’s deep technical background includes her research in solid state Physics, working with PLCs, performing network and application penetration testing, delivering secure coding training, holding a patent for integrated fraud & event management and leading identity and access management programs. She has delivered risk assessments in all major sectors, including telecommunication backbone and ISPs, financial, educational and retail sectors, and developed strategies and roadmaps for uplift with
optimised return on security investments.

Macquarie Cloud Services is the most trusted Cloud Services provider in Australia – with the highest independently verified NPS in the country. Macquarie Cloud Services has chosen Azure and only Azure as its cloud platform of choice & is proud to deliver unparalleled services that uniquely benefit our customers.

Our passion & steadfast focus runs deep on Azure, with global awarding winning Customer Service, innovative Managed Services, tightly integrated Operations, and an abundance of Azure certified experts spanning all available knowledge paths.

We take great pride in what we do. Be it migration, optimisation, transformation, or perhaps delivering to unique and sometimes demanding criteria – we’re up for any challenge! We enjoy applying our craft, and working in true partnership with our customers, Microsoft, and our select vendors that share our objectives & culture.

Enrico, the current Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at IMB Bank, is a highly accomplished IT leader with a strong technical foundation and a passion for leveraging technology to solve complex challenges. With a proven track record in cybersecurity, Enrico is responsible for developing and overseeing a comprehensive, organisation-wide information security framework, ensuring that critical assets are protected through effective policies and programs.

Enrico began his career as a systems engineer, where he cultivated a deep expertise in cybersecurity, eventually transitioning into leadership roles. He collaborates closely with key stakeholders, including the board and executive team, to align security initiatives with business objectives. Enrico holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering and is recognised by Engineers Australia as an accredited Engineering Technologist.

Macquarie Cloud Services Launch® Private Cloud infrastructure provides a secure, compliant, cost-effective solution for custom needs. Housed in our leading tier III Intellicentre facilities across Sydney and Canberra it is the flagship of a true Australian sovereign solution. 
 
Having started his career in IT as a Network Administrator, before moving through technical sales, sales leadership and now head of our Private Cloud offering, Jonathan brings over 20 years of experience in IT strategy and helping customers leverage technology to solve problems.   

Jonathan lives and breathes our purpose of making a difference in markets traditionally overcharged and underserved and also sits on the Board of Freedom for Humanity, a NFP dedicated to ending modern slavery in Australia. 

Clive is the Deputy Chief Information Security Officer and has over 20 years’ experience in cyber security risk management, engineering and operations. Clive leads critical customer-facing security capabilities including the Telstra Security Operation Centres and the Defence Engagement Security Team. Clive was previously the CISO for Telstra’s Defence Engagement Team and also managed a secure ops and incident response centre.

Prior to joining Telstra, Clive worked for the Australian Government and served in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Clive is an engineering graduate of RMIT and holds an MBA in Technology Management.

Don has built a reputation as a versatile leader who delivers results by building high performing and resilient teams. He is passionate about developing people and organisational culture to improve customer satisfaction. His experience in large and complex environments demonstrates an ability to sell and implement company-wide strategic programs often within a framework of competing divisions and agendas.

Don has strong commercial acumen and the ability to simplify complex business and technical problems to build understanding and consensus. He relishes the opportunity to delivery technology solutions to address business opportunities through strong collaboration and partnering.

Don has worked across all aspects of IT Strategy, Planning, Delivery and Operations in both startups and multi-nationals and has gaining a deep understanding of many industries including Retail, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Finance, Utilities and Telecommunications.

Olivia Loadwick is a Partner at McKinsey & Company. She is a leader in the firm’s Financial Services and Risk & Resilience Practices in Australia and New Zealand, and a member of McKinsey’s Asia–Pacific sustainability-leadership group. She also leads McKinsey’s Wealth & Asset Management Practice in Australia & New Zealand. She brings more than 15 years of experience serving financial-services companies, regulators, and other public institutions on strategy, M&A, risk, and transformation. Olivia leads McKinsey’s work in Asia on digital risk management, encompassing cyber risk, data risk, technology risk. Prior to her current role she advised public sector and private sector organisations on capital management, mergers and acquisitions and divestments. Olivia has significant experience in international markets having lived and worked in China, South Korea, North America, the Middle East, Europe and the UK, New Zealand and Australia. Olivia has been awarded in the Westpac/Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence Awards. She has also served as a representative to the B20 Leaders’ Summit. She is a University medal awardee and valedictorian for both her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.

Matt Preswick is the Enterprise Solutions Engineer for Wiz in APJ, with experience in network, email and cloud security at leading security vendors in EMEA and APAC. Before joining Wiz, he lead operations at a Sydney based network analytics startup before returning to Cloud security with Wiz.

Matt is passionate about developing scalable and actionable security practices within APJs largest organisations.

Heng Mok is a practical cyber leader with over 20 years of experience spanning a range of industries and cyber disciplines. Heng has worked on some of the largest transformation programs in Australia in the financial services and energy sectors. He has written security standards for the Open Data Center Alliance and currently sits on a number of CompTIA Cybersecurity Certification committees.

Prior to Zscaler, Heng was the CISO at Australia’s largest integrated energy company, AGL Energy where he led cyber, data governance, and technology risk functions responsible for keeping employees, customers, data, systems, and OT assets safe. Heng believes that as the adoption of cloud, AI, data analytics, remote working, and digital transformation gain traction, organisations need to have the right people, partners, process, and technology embedded to enable business outcomes.

With over 25 years in the IT industry, Troy has cultivated a diverse career that spans multiple continents and industries.  His extensive experience includes working with startups and global consulting powerhouses like Accenture.  Throughout his career, Troy has had the opportunity to work in various roles spanning pre-sales, architecture, implementation and delivery serving a broad spectrum of clients, including many Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies.  Currently, Troy is part of Akamai following the acquisition of Noname Security, where he leads sales and pre-sales across Australia and New Zealand, evangelising the importance of API security.

Troy holds an MBA from Kingston along with PRINCE2, ITIL, TOGAF & Lean Six Sigma accreditations, as well as numerous vendor-specific certifications.

Lindsay Hansen has been working in the PKI Industry for more than 23 years, after moving into the Private Sector in 2000 from Victoria Police’s Computer Crime Squad.

During this time, Lindsay has worked at VeriSign, Inc, Symantec PKI and DigiCert performed many roles including APJ CA & HSM Key Management, PKI Professional Services Consulting, PKI Sales Engineering and Enterprise PKI Sales.

Lindsay provides a wealth of information in all aspects of Public Key Infrastructure based on his many years of experience and is looking forward to sharing his knowledge and speaking with guests to answer anything and everything related to PKI, Digital Certificates & Digital Trust Management.

Daniel Sutherland is the Regional Vice President, ANZ for DigiCert, a leading provider of digital trust solutions. With over 10 years of experience in Cyber Security, Daniel is a highly respected industry professional known for his expertise and insights.

In his role, Daniel drives DigiCert’s profile across the ANZ region and contributes his insights into the cyber-security industry. Prior to DigiCert, he held various positions at Symantec, working with organizations across Asia Pacific and Europe.

Daniel holds an MBA from the University of Birmingham and a BA (Hons) in Politics from the University of East Anglia. With his extensive educational background and deep industry knowledge, he effectively combines technical and strategic aspects of Cyber Security.

As the Regional Vice President, ANZ at DigiCert, Daniel Sutherland brings a wealth of experience, industry knowledge, and strategic insights to the table. His contributions continue to shape and strengthen organizations’ security practices across the ANZ region.

As the APJ Presales Architects & Specialists Leader, Ewan spearheads the introduction of new product innovations across the Asia-Pacific and Japan regions. Ewan and his team play a pivotal role in assisting customers to achieve their desired solutions through the company’s products. Collaborating closely with the Product team, [Ewan ensures that the voices and needs of APJ customers are heard and integrated into the Product Roadmap.

Ewan has a robust background spanning over 15 years across the Identity Security landscape, including evolving the Digital Identity experiences with NSW Government and uplifting security posture for complex Identity centric projects within highly regulated industries

Antonio Rancan is a seasoned cybersecurity specialist and pre-sales technology consultant at Abnormal Security, where he advises clients on current and emerging threats across email, cloud and collaboration platforms. 

With over 20 years experience in the IT and telecommunications sectors managing teams in all sector SMB/Mid-Market/Corporate/Enterprise and government across all verticals. I have a commercially focused and results-orientated management style with the skills and expertise needed to expand revenue and client account capabilities for regional, national and international accounts. I have a strong record of successfully building and managing sales teams. I believe a collaborative approach will more often then not achieve the best outcomes. I find the most enjoyable part of you role is coaching, developing and mentoring sales people and customers to achieve their goals.

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 g-t-m 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.

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.

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.​

Byron is a highly experienced technology and business journalist, editor, corporate writer, and event producer.

Prior to joining Adapt, he was the editor-in-chief at CIO Australia and associate editor at CSO Australia. He also created and led the well-known CIO50 awards program in Australia and The CIO Show podcast.

Byron creates valuable insights for our community of senior technology and business professionals that help them reach their organisational and professional goals. He has a passion for uncovering stories about the careers and personal philosophies of Australia’s top technology and digital executives.

When he is not working, Byron enjoys hot yoga, swimming, running, and spending time with his family.

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

Shane Hill is part of ADAPT’s Strategic Research and Advisory team. As Senior Research Analyst, he produces pragmatic insights tailored to the specific needs of technology leaders in Australia and New Zealand.

Hill has worked in technology delivery and market intelligence roles for the past 15 years. His expertise encompasses automation, data science, and machine learning domains. He focuses on how emerging technologies will impact the business models, frameworks, and operations of end-user and vendor organisations.

Formerly of Gartner and with IT services experience across multiple jurisdictions, Shane has led business transformation, technology modernisation, vendor management, and advisory programs for leading consultancies, major corporates, government agencies, and boutique firms.