As digital transformation accelerates, organisations are using modernisation, AI, and data to enhance customer experiences and drive growth. ADAPT’s Digital Edge explored how agile companies leverage these tools to optimise customer journeys and uncover new opportunities.

As customer behaviour shifts online and digital product revenues rise, the rapid expansion of customer-facing apps and internal systems presents both opportunities and challenges. 

We’re in the midst of a technological revolution, with AI positioned to reshape industries over the next decade. 

Both customers and employees now expect trust, personalisation, and seamless experiences—making outdated models ineffective for today’s UX and CX demands.  

At Digital Edge, we gathered 130 of Australia’s leading digital executives to discuss best practices for achieving Digital Product Excellence, enhancing Digital Experiences, and leveraging the Power of X Teams. 

The most agile organisations are evolving through cross-functional X teams, driving up to 4% more revenue growth and nearly doubling net profit compared to less mature counterparts. 

These leaders are using mobile, AI, and automation to lower costs, streamline processes, and uncover new value streams, while companies stuck in traditional frameworks risk falling behind.  

Australia’s top performers succeed by aligning three key elements—modern IT platforms, digital-savvy leadership, and a data-driven culture. 

One striking insight is that organisations focused on AI-driven personalisation for customer experience are reducing churn, a critical factor in sustaining long-term growth. 

We explored these insights alongside experts from Bendigo & Adelaide Bank, Domain, Salesforce, and Telstra, highlighting the importance of aligning strategy, executive support, and the vast potential of AI in today’s competitive landscape. 

1. ADAPT Research: Operationally Excellent & AI Ready

Presented by: Gabby Fredkin – Head of Analytics & Insights at ADAPT 

Gabby Fredkin presented findings from ADAPT’s 2024 survey, revealing insights from over 500 Australian CIOs, CISOs, CTOs, and Heads of Data and Digital.

A key shift highlighted in the report is the rising importance of customer acquisition and retention, now ranked as top priorities, with customer growth moving up 11 places since last year.

This shift is crucial as 73% of customers prioritise customer experience (CX) when deciding where to buy, and 52% will switch to a competitor if their CX expectations aren’t met.

The survey also revealed operational gaps, with 66% of CISOs reporting insufficient resources to deliver world-class security services and 85% of Australian consumers expressing concern over data usage, emphasising the need for better governance and digital trust.

Additionally, 81% of Aussie businesses see digital apps as key to market success, but 34% of large enterprises still struggle with omnichannel services, leading to fragmented customer experiences.

Modernisation is a top priority for high-performing organisations, which have consolidated twice as many applications, reducing friction and improving operational efficiency.

Highly modernised companies have nearly three times more interconnected applications, allowing for a single view of the customer.

Gabby emphasised that simplification and process automation, especially through generative AI and workflow automation, are driving operational excellence, contributing to higher value capture.

However, only 18% of organisations feel AI-ready, and 30% of companies gather customer feedback frequently enough, indicating a need for deeper customer insight and stronger cross-functional collaboration—something 61% of companies struggle with.

Organisations with mature data governance frameworks are three times more likely to be AI-ready, and those that excel at data democratisation are seven times more likely to succeed with AI initiatives.

The path to success, according to Gabby, lies in improving digital literacy among executives and fostering cross-functional teams to fully leverage AI and digital transformation.

This presents a good opportunity for tech vendors to offer AI-driven solutions that enhance CX, streamline application consolidation, automate workflows, strengthen data governance, and facilitate omnichannel experiences to meet modern customer demands.

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2. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank: Transformation in Action & Lessons Learned

Presented by Ryan Brosnahan, Chief Transformation Officer at Bendigo & Adelaide Bank 

Ryan Brosnahan, Chief Transformation Officer at Bendigo & Adelaide Bank, shared insights on leading the bank’s digital transformation since 2019.  

He focused on simplifying operations by consolidating eight separate banks into one core platform, reducing applications from 650 to 324 by 2025.  

Ryan highlighted the bank’s strategic use of AI to speed up cloud migration and automate customer interactions.  

However, he cautioned that thoughtful AI deployment is crucial to avoid amplifying existing issues, stressing the importance of data governance and quality.  

Bendigo’s smaller size has been an advantage, enabling faster adaptability compared to larger banks.  

The success of Up, their neobank, relies heavily on viral marketing and customer input, demonstrating the bank’s unique approach to innovation.

Vendors specialising in cloud migration and AI automation are positioned to help financial institutions like Bendigo scale their operations, reduce inefficiencies, and create seamless customer experiences through smart application of new technologies. 

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3. The 9 Steps for Digital & Product Leaders to Succeed With Data Governance

Presented by: Michelle Dennedy, Chief Data Strategy Officer at ABAXX Technologies 

Michelle Dennedy, Chief Data Strategy Officer at ABAXX Technologies, presented a detailed framework for improving data governance, focusing on how digital and product leaders can harness data for better customer experiences and compliance.  

Michelle emphasised that poor data quality leads to customer churn, making data governance critical for both efficiency and product monetisation. 

She outlined nine steps to improve people, processes, and technology within data frameworks, highlighting a case where effective data governance saved an organisation $8 billion.  

Michelle stressed the importance of creating a “data defender” culture, where cross-functional collaboration ensures that all teams handle data with precision.  

She also talked about the role of privacy, noting that embedding privacy into digital products enhances customer trust and compliance. 

To measure success, Michelle advised using clear metrics and presenting these results at the board level, ensuring that data governance becomes a strategic, not just operational, priority. 

This landscape opens the door for vendors offering data governance and privacy tools that integrate seamlessly into existing systems, allowing organisations to protect their customer data while improving operational efficiency. 

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4. Digital Edge Panel: How to Achieve Digital Product Excellence & Digital Experiences 

Panellists: Peter Hind, Principal Research Analyst at ADAPT, Andreas Marmaras, General Manager Product & Technology at Domain, Dayle Stevens OAM, Executive, Data & AI at Telstra, Carrie Mott, MD and Founder at Flywheel Marketing

This panel explored practical insights on achieving digital product excellence and improving digital experiences.  

Andreas emphasised that customer centricity is the core of digital product excellence, highlighting the need to deeply understand customers’ businesses and ROI.

However, he cautioned against being too far ahead of customers, stressing the importance of balanced innovation.  

Dayle discussed the impact of cross-functional collaboration, noting how Telstra co-located IT, data, and product teams to break down silos and increase resilience, allowing for faster outcomes.

Carrie pointed out that digital excellence is a journey, not just about a product, and requires monitoring both qualitative and quantitative data to track customer behaviour and reduce friction.

She shared how tools like session replays can help identify pain points and reduce churn.

All panellists agreed that executive support and alignment across teams are crucial for sustained digital transformation.

For tech vendors, this highlights the need for solutions that support cross-functional collaboration, streamline digital product development, and enhance customer experience by addressing pain points in real-time.

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5. MIT Research: 3 Emergent Approaches to Ecosystem Governance

Presented by: Dr Gayan Benedict, CTO at Salesforce, Former CIO at RBA 

Dr Gayan Benedict shared new insights from MIT Sloan’s research on emerging governance models for digital ecosystems.  

The study, which interviewed executives across industries, highlighted three key approaches: alpha governance, where a single dominant provider takes charge; representative governance, involving collaborative decision-making among ecosystem participants; and liquid governance, a decentralised, Web3-inspired approach. 

Dr. Benedict discussed how organisations face increased complexity when working with external partners, especially when addressing shared challenges like sustainability and real-time payments.  

He emphasised that trust and transparency are essential to ensuring ecosystem success, particularly in representative governance models, where participants share decision rights.  

He also noted that ecosystems are particularly effective in solving “wicked problems,” such as fraud, cyber threats, and climate change, which require collaboration beyond individual capabilities. 

To close his session, Dr. Benedict stressed the need for cost transparency and equitable value distribution to maintain participant engagement and long-term ecosystem sustainability. 

This is an opportunity for tech vendors to develop tools that support transparency and trust within digital ecosystems, enabling organisations to collaborate more effectively while managing shared challenges like sustainability and payments innovation. 

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6. Your Role in Modern Work

Presented by: Dom Price, Work Futurist at Atlassian 

Dom Price, Work Futurist at Atlassian, urged leaders to take meaningful actions today to shape a sustainable future of work.  

He encouraged moving beyond envisioning the future and focusing on implementing impactful changes now.  

Dom highlighted the pitfalls of knowledge without action, stressing the importance of applying learnings rather than consuming endless content.  

He advocated for evolution over large-scale transformations, emphasising adaptability and continuous improvement.  

Dom also stressed the value of team collaboration, explaining that diverse teams, despite challenges, produce better outcomes.  

He then called on leaders to regularly reflect on their performance and embrace continuous learning to stay relevant in the fast-changing work environment. 

Technology providers that offer collaboration tools empowering diverse, cross-functional teams will find a growing market for solutions that help organisations remain agile and adaptable in the future of work. 

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Conclusion 

Australia’s digital leaders are navigating a rapidly evolving landscape driven by customer expectations, operational challenges, and the transformative potential of AI. 

ADAPT’s Digital Edge event offered critical insights and practical strategies that can help digital executives and the technology partners that support them. 

From achieving digital product excellence to enhancing customer experiences through AI-driven personalisation, the key to success lies in aligning technology with business goals, fostering collaboration across teams, and embracing a data-driven culture. 

Tech vendors who provide scalable, integrative solutions that empower organisations to modernise, personalise, and optimise their operations will be well-positioned to collaborate with Australia’s leading digital companies as they strive to thrive in the digital era. 

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Contributors
Gabby Fredkin Head of Analytics & Insights at ADAPT
Gabby’s primary role is managing analysis to produce ADAPT’s actionable insights. He has extensive experience in using data to identify technology trends... More

Gabby’s primary role is managing analysis to produce ADAPT’s actionable insights. He has extensive experience in using data to identify technology trends to support Australian organisations.​

Using modern data science techniques, he provides ADAPT and its 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’s events. In roundtable 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.​
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Ryan Brosnahan Chief Transformation Officer at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank
At Bendigo and Adelaide Bank I’m responsible for driving the Group’s digital transformation program, a key enabler of the bank’s strategy. I’m... More

At Bendigo and Adelaide Bank I’m responsible for driving the Group’s digital transformation program, a key enabler of the bank’s strategy. I’m privileged to lead a talented team across our digital, data, payments, and technology functions.

With more than 20 years’ international experience in the financial services industry in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, I’ve led complex growth and transformation change initiatives across multiple functions and businesses in financial services.

I’m passionate about harnessing the power of technology to improve the way we live and work, driving improvements in customer experience, business operations and performance.

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Michelle Dennedy Chief Data Strategy Officer at Abaxx Technologies
As the former CEO of PrivacyCode and the Partner of Privatus Consulting, I have over 20 years of experience in advancing the... More

As the former CEO of PrivacyCode and the Partner of Privatus Consulting, I have over 20 years of experience in advancing the respect for human information. I am known for my experience in privacy engineering, a field that bridges the policy and technology divide with metrics and outcomes. I am also an author, a podcaster, and a strategic advisor for several technology companies.

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

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Peter Hind Principal Research Analyst at ADAPT
Peter Hind has spent the last 25 years as an analyst and commentator on the ICT industry. ​ His primary areas of interest... More

Peter Hind has spent the last 25 years as an analyst and commentator on the ICT industry. ​

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, as well as 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 delegate surveys.​

He also interrogates and analyses ADAPT’s treasure trove of end-user and C-suite data.​

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Andreas Marmaras General Manager Product & Technology, Domain Insight at Domain
A pragmatic, strategic and highly commercial executive leader with global experience (US, UK, AUS) in Product & Tech across B2C and B2B.... More

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Dayle Stevens OAM Executive, Data & AI at Telstra, former GM Data at AGL
Dayle joined Telstra in July 2021 with nearly 30 years’ experience in the technology industry. She has held notable executive leadership roles... More

Dayle joined Telstra in July 2021 with nearly 30 years’ experience in the technology industry. She has held notable executive leadership roles in technology at companies such as NAB and AGL. Today Dayle leads Telstra’s Data & AI function.

 

Outside of Telstra, Dayle is a non-executive director at Beyond Blue, Australia’s most well-known and trusted mental health organisation, and a member of the IT Advisory Committee at Trinity College, University of Melbourne.

 

Dayle has long championed diversity in STEM across industry and age group boundaries, both through her own work and with global organisations aimed at encouraging women and girls to participate in STEM such as Robogals and Girl Geek Academy.

 

Dayle’s work has been recognised with multiple industry and professional awards, including being named in the CIO50 list of the best CIOs in Australia, the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence, and being awarded an Order of Australia Medal for her services to information technology and to women. 

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Carrie Mott CEO at FlyWheel Marketing
With 20+ years’ experience in leading marketing & communications teams in the B2B technology sector, I have led high-performing marketing & sales... More

With 20+ years’ experience in leading marketing & communications teams in the B2B technology sector, I have led high-performing marketing & sales development teams for Tier 1 technology brands including FullStory, Dynatrace, PagerDuty, Okta, Salesforce, Infor, Intel Security, McAfee, EMC, VMWare, IBM and Gartner.

As an award-winning, customer-focused professional, my roles have focused on pipeline generation, differentiated brand awareness & thought-leadership creation across all channels (direct, partner, social & digital).

You can count on a curious, technology-obsessed, passionate, people-focused, results-driven & inspiring leader with a strong work ethic & great sense of fun!

EXPERTISE:
– Pipeline generation & growth strategy
– Strategic marketing & business planning for Global & APJ
– Integrated marketing communications programs
– Social and digital marketing
– Channel & partner marketing
– Thought leadership research & content creation
– Public & government relations
– Account Based Marketing
– Leading, developing and motivating high performance SDR/BDR Teams
– Stakeholder management, teaming & cross-functional collaboration
– Team development & cross-functional business leadership

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Dr. Gayan Benedict CTO - ANZ at Salesforce
Gayan is an experienced technology leader with a proven record of delivering technology change and digital transformation, innovation, resilience, research collaboration and... More

Gayan is an experienced technology leader with a proven record of delivering technology change and digital transformation, innovation, resilience, research collaboration and talent development.

Gayan is member of the global ISO Technical Committee TC/307 for Blockchain and DLT Standards, a 2023 Fulbright Scholar and an Industry Research Fellow at the MIT Sloan Center for Information Systems Research.

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Dom Price Work Futurist at Atlassian
Dom is proud to work at Atlassian, as the Work Futurist and in house “Team Doctor”, designing collaborative patterns which are easily... More

Dom is proud to work at Atlassian, as the Work Futurist and in house “Team Doctor”, designing collaborative patterns which are easily adaptable for any purpose. What sets Dom apart is his ability to inspire people to transform their working lives, and with it, their futures.

This person-centred approach has established him as a thought leader, at the forefront of the zeitgeist that is life at work in the years ahead.

His experience in global strategic positions across the fields of technology, finance and gaming, as well as extensive travel throughout over fifty countries, has informed a unique perspective on the future of work. One which values interconnectedness, but never forgets the individual at the core of even the largest scale operation.

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Byron Connolly Head of Programs & Value Engagement at ADAPT
Byron is a highly experienced technology and business journalist, editor, corporate writer, and event producer.​ Prior to joining ADAPT, he was the... More

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. He completed the North Face 100km ultra marathon in the NSW Blue Mountains in 2012 and 2013.​

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customer experience data modernisation