Our Past Speakers Include...

A seasoned cybersecurity leader with extensive expertise in establishing and overseeing cybersecurity teams. A published author in the field of cybersecurity, notably with the book ‘Ransomware: Enhancing Threat-Centric Cyber Defense’. Demonstrates strong leadership skills, fostering the growth of individuals within the industry.

Bringing a wealth of experience as an IT executive, adept at customizing security strategies according to specific industry sectors and threat landscapes. Proficiently manages security budgets spanning from $5 million to $160 million. Successfully established both in-house onshore and offshore security operations centers, collaborating with partner organizations to achieve robust security outcomes.

Possesses a rich background working with major global financial institutions such as American Express, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Bank, as well as prominent players in the technology sector like IBM, and within the manufacturing vertical.

As the Chief eHealth Strategy Officer at the Department of Health in Victoria, my role encompasses two core areas: driving digital strategy for the future of healthcare and ensuring the cybersecurity and operational integrity of critical health systems.

On the digital strategy side, I am responsible for setting an ambitious agenda that shapes the future of the Victorian health system through innovation and transformation. By collaborating with policymakers, funders, and healthcare leaders, I work to align strategic initiatives and emerging technologies that drive improvements across the system and enhance the health and wellbeing of Victorians.

In parallel, I oversee a 24/7 cybersecurity operation dedicated to protecting Victorians’ health data and securing the critical systems that keep our healthcare services running. My leadership in cybersecurity is focused on ensuring robust protections against emerging threats while maintaining operational excellence in the face of evolving challenges.

My dual role allows me to balance high-level strategic vision with the practical, day-to-day oversight of security operations, ensuring both the future and the present of the health system are secure, resilient, and forward-thinking.

Steering Google Cloud’s ‘Office of the CISO’ in the Asia Pacific, Daryl works with CISOs, CIOs, CROs, regulators and government officials to elevate cybersecurity maturity at both a national and global level. The ‘Office of the CISO’ is art of Google’s internal security team & COO function, and is comprised of former CISOs/CIOs tasked with advocating for better cybersecurity, AI risk and digital trust outcomes.

Daryl has 30 years of technology experience including an initial 8 years in the Australian Public sector in Canberra, followed by 9 years in Banking in Sydney and Singapore, and 11 years as a senior Partner at KPMG Management Consulting. While at KPMG Singapore, Daryl founded and led the Cyber Consulting practice, growing the team to over 120 cyber consultants and leading 5 Partners (owner-operators).

At Deutsche Bank, Daryl’s last role was as global head of Program Management Office for the Global Banking IT division, overseeing governance for a €500M portfolio and 150 project managers based in Singapore, Frankfurt, London and New York.

Daryl began his career working in the Australian Federal Government in Canberra as an outsourced technology contractor at the Australian Customs Service, followed by positions with the Department of Agriculture, Department of Home Affairs/Immigration and Department of Veterans Affairs.

Nurturing the next generation of Cybersecurity and Governance leaders is Daryl’s passion, leading him to volunteer at ISACA Singapore where he was the President of the Board of Directors, the American Chamber of Commerce, and the Institute of Internal Auditors where he is currently a Board member.

Daryl is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Singapore Management University – Singapore Institute of Directors, where he leads the Cybersecurity module for “SID’s Directorship Programme”. This program certifies Company Directors as Boardroom-ready for their organisations. He is also a Guest Lecturer at the University of Canberra (Australia) on the topic of Cyber Strategy.

Daryl was awarded a B.Commerce (double major in Accounting & Information Systems) and M.InfoTech from the University of Canberra, and a MBA from Manchester Business School. He is also a certified CPA (Australia), CISA, CISM, CRISC.

Alexey, a Director at Accenture, brings over 15 years of expertise in cybersecurity strategy, risk management, quantum risk, and cryptography. He currently holds the position of APAC Quantum Security Lead and A/NZ Cyber Strategy Delivery Lead.

Prior to Accenture, Alexey honed his expertise at EY, contributing to the Global Innovation Quantum Technology Lab and leading Global Quantum Security efforts. In parallel with advancing quantum security, he successfully delivered over a dozen cyber strategy projects for clients across the A/NZ region. Before EY, Alexey served as a County Information Security Officer at Deutsche Bank’s Moscow Branch. His focus was protecting business interests and infrastructure from cyber threats and balancing headquarters objectives with local branch needs.

Alexey is a vocal advocate for best practices and proactive risk management in cyber strategy and quantum security. His thought leadership includes authoring articles, contributing to international reports, producing educational videos, and speaking at industry conferences.

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.

Tara is the Chief Information Security Officer at Victoria University, responsible for cyber and physical security, risk and assurance and business resilience.

With a foundation in network engineering and extensive experience across security, she has worked across diverse sectors including financial services, telecommunications, e-conveyancing and higher education, leading high-performing teams across threat intelligence, offensive security, strategy, risk and governance and security culture. Her career spans senior leadership roles in highly regulated industries, notably at PEXA and Telstra.

Tara also contributes as an advisor to national security forums and higher education institutions and serves on the Victorian Committee for the Australian Information Security Association (AISA).

She is passionate about empowering people, fostering inclusive and secure environments and embedding resilience at the heart of organisational strategy.

Darren is an accomplished executive with close to 20 years of international cyber risk/security experience and served as the Group Chief Information Security Risk Officer at Standard Chartered bank. He was recently appointed as Ambassador for the Global Cyber Alliance in recognition of his collaborative work advising small businesses in a voluntary capacity and is the Co-Founder/ Chairman of Cyber Leadership Institute.

Darren has a wealth of real-world hands-on leadership experience to impart; he was the former Group Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Qantas Airlines and, before coming to live in Australia, the former Chief Information Security Officer at IHS Markit, a global FinTech headquartered in the UK, and also held various senior international cyber security leadership roles at Symantec and IBM.

In 2016, Darren was featured on the front cover of SC Magazine (an award-winning cybersecurity media publication) then, in 2017 and 2022, was named in the top 100 Chief Information Security Officers globally, and, in 2018, was listed in the top 100 IT security influencers globally. Darren is adept at using real-world stories to demonstrate the critical importance of striving for cyber resilience.

Mitch Ryan is an Enterprise Solution Engineer at Wiz, specializing in cloud security, threat detection, and compliance. With over 17 years in IT and cybersecurity, he has worked across enterprise, government, and vendor environments, helping organizations strengthen their security posture.

Before Wiz, Mitch was a Senior Security Solution Architect at Splunk, where he designed complex security solutions, drove revenue growth, and spoke at industry events. He also held key roles at Varonis, VMware, and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, focusing on data security, automation, and infrastructure architecture. 

A member of the PreSales Collective, Mitch is passionate about security innovation, attack simulation, and Al-driven threat detection, frequently sharing insights through workshops and conferences. 

James is a leader with a range of experience across various cyber security, technology risk and audit domains, bringing a global lens across a diverse background in financial services, telecommunications, entertainment, consulting and FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods). 

James is currently the General Manager Cyber Security & CISO at Insignia Financial and most recently was at AARNet (Australia’s Academic and Research Network) where he oversaw a managed Security Operations Centre (SOC) capability for a number of Australian universities. Prior to this James held a number of roles at Telstra including leading the information security function at Belong and in parallel, the Telstra cyber governance and risk team.

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.

Field CTO combining a strong technical background with two decades of real-world sales acumen. Seasoned leader of technical sales teams in the Asia Pacific region with experience of growing new-to-country businesses. Media experience across conference speaking, keynotes, podcasts and TV.

David Coleman is a security industry professional with more than 20 years’ experience leading, contributing and delivering IT, cybersecurity and compliance solutions. With 6 years at Rapid7, David is passionate about building scalable solutions that assist operational teams implement and mature cyber security programs that support broader organisational goals and objectives.

Before joining Rapid7, David worked as the lead security solutions architect for Managed Security Services Products in Australia’s largest telecommunications provider, Telstra, and Senior Security Solutions Architect and SME at a global systems integrator; Dimension Data (now NTT). Prior to this, David managed the delivery of IT programs at a prominent Victoria council. This broad experience helps to underscore David’s unique ability to translate technical aspects of cybersecurity to business outcomes.

With over a 15 year career in disruptive and innovative technology, I have enjoyed working with some of the most talented humans across some of the most amazing companies on the planet.

From startups to well established multi-billion dollar software enterprises, my sweet spot has been with the unicorns shifting into hyper scale-up where their processes and Go-to-market is at an intersection. That’s where I thrive.

I am an adept and passionate people leader and have spent my career taking new capabilities to market that solve some of the biggest organisational challenges across cyber security, digital & data, IT Infrastructure and I am now leading the efforts at Silverfort for the Australia/New Zealand region usher in the best-in-class approach to securing identities in the enterprise.

Highly customer centric and passionate about solving problems and generating true customer value.

I connect the dots between cybersecurity, compliance, and critical infrastructure. Helping organisations protect what matters most while aligning security with real business outcomes. Whether it’s navigating SoCI, deploying OT visibility platforms, or crafting executive ready reporting, I bring clarity, structure, and strategic thinking to every engagement.

With a foundation in the Australian Army, I work well under pressure, think strategically, and drive outcomes. Skills that carry directly into the evolving cyber and regulatory landscape.

Outside of work I’m deeply involved in the equestrian world, backing young riders (and their four-legged teammates) to perform at their best. And when I’m not ringside, you’ll find me chasing golf balls or sheep, both keep me humble and grounded. It’s all about focus, discipline, and a little grit – values that translate to the boardroom.

In the last 20 over years, I have gained extensive experience in cybersecurity, network, system engineering and pre-sales architect experience. I’m an experienced, reliable, highly motivated, outcome driven team player to drive positive results for customers’ complex business challenges. I’m extremely focused in empowering my customers in their Cloud Security Transformation journey.

Tenable is the exposure management company. Tenable exists to expose and close priority security gaps that put businesses at risk. Our industry-leading exposure management platform radically unifies security visibility, insight and action across the attack surface, equipping modern organizations to protect against attacks, from IT infrastructure to the cloud to OT and everywhere in between. By protecting digital and critical infrastructure from exposures, Tenable reduces business risk for more than 44,000 customers around the globe.

Outside the office, I enjoyed spending time with family and friends in the professional circles who are always the source of inspirations and motivations to me.

A technology strategy thought leader with a legacy of shaping and delivering high-stakes digital transformations, Samrat is known for leading from the front—where innovation, security, and business value converge. With a sharp strategic lens and deep domain expertise, he has successfully built and managed complex portfolios across cross-section of business, while delivering enterprise-wide transformation initiatives, with end-to-end P&L ownership and NorthStar commercial acumen.

Samrat brings an unique combination of strategic clarity, technical depth, and business-first mindset to every engagement—driving change at scale, mitigating risk, and unlocking long-term value for stakeholders. He is adept at navigating ambiguity and aligning technology investments with business outcomes, while ensuring agility, regulatory compliance, and secure-by-design principles remain at the core of delivery.

A proven people leader, Samrat has built and led high-performing, cross-functional teams across geographies—fostering collaboration, ownership, and continuous innovation. His leadership approach empowers talent, nurtures future leaders, and builds a culture of excellence, accountability, and resilience.

With a strong foundation across cybersecurity, AI, cloud computing, API ecosystems, and over-arching digital transformation, Samrat is committed to advancing enterprise capabilities through secure, scalable, and future-ready platforms. He is passionate about shaping the next frontier of technology, translating vision into execution, and delivering measurable business impact in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

Peter Wolski is the General Manager Reliability and Security at MYOB. With a career spanning over two decades in the technology and finance industry, Peter has established himself as a strategic leader with a knack for driving operational efficiency and implementing innovative solutions.

Peter joined MYOB in 2020, bringing with him a wealth of experience from his previous roles in various multinational corporations. At MYOB, he has been instrumental in leading the company’s digital transformation efforts, streamlining processes, and enhancing customer experience.

With over 20 years of experience in start-ups and the broader technology industry, I am a renowned advocate for cyber security in Australia. My journey has been marked by fostering collaboration and propelling the growth of Australia’s cyber security industry.

Key Achievements:

• Developed strategic initiatives and partnerships that fuel innovation in collaboration with start-ups, industry leaders, government agencies and academia.
• Recognised thought leader, sharing insights on entrepreneurship, cyber security and public-private sector collaboration.
• Featured in reputable media outlets, amplifying the significance of cyber security in today’s digital landscape.

I am committed to driving innovation and resilience in the field, leveraging my expertise to align strategies with industry needs and address evolving cyber threats. My role at AustCyber involved close collaboration with various stakeholders to develop strategic initiatives and forge partnerships that fuel innovation.

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.

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.​