Speakers
Business leaders who bring deep, real-world experience to the stage. Focused on practical insights over theory, they share case studies, lessons learned, and candid reflections from inside today’s most ambitious companies. You’ll hear directly from those shaping and executing strategy at scale — with a sharp focus on what works, what doesn’t, and what’s next.
Phil Phelan
Chief Strategy Officer
Publicis Sapient
Phil Phelan is the Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer at digital business transformation partner Publicis Sapient. He has more than 25 years of experience in strategy and technology consulting and innovation. In the last decade Phil has helped many Australian clients grow through the journey of digital transformation working across government, financial services, retail, energy, CPG, transport and media. He also plays a pivotal role in the development of Publicis Sapient’s own corporate strategy, setting long term market strategy, identifying merger and acquisition opportunities and executing strategic investments and partnerships.
Vivian Miles
Chief Strategy Officer
NRMA
Vivian is the Chief Strategy Officer at The NRMA - Australia's largest member-owned organisation that operates a range of businesses including roadside assistance, EV charging, SIXT vehicle rental, holiday parks, lodges, cruises and ferries. She leads strategy, policy & advocacy, corporate affairs and ESG. Vivian is on the Board of the EV Council. She previously worked in strategy consulting with Booz & Company, investment banking with Deutsche Bank, and in carbon markets with GreenCollar.
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Alex Shnaider
GM of Strategy & Operations
Tesla
A principal leader in AI, IoT, and Connected Transport, with end-to-end ownership of product and technology strategy across Intelligent Transport Systems, V2X, and CAV enablement.
Proven track record in incubating and scaling industry-first platforms, transforming $1.25B+ portfolios, and delivering significant commercial and operational outcomes through cloud, SaaS, and AI innovation.
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James Anderson
Chief Product Officer
Bank of Queensland
a career banker, turnaround businesses, started customer businesses inside banks, transformed customer and technology led businesses, led strategy at a business, divisional and group level and transformed divisions from a product leadership perspective reducing risk and driving balance sheet and revenue growth.
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Marc Thiebaut
Head of Strategy
Essential Energy
Marc is a strategy specialist with deep expertise in the energy industry. Over his career, he led multiple strategy functions including Market insights, Corporate strategy, Business development, M&A and Transformation for large infrastructure businesses such as NBNCo, Ausgrid and now Essential Energy.
He currently provides leadership across Strategy and Sustainability and his passion lies in building strategies that resonate from the Board room to the Front line and align everyone in between.
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Lorna Ash
Head of Strategic Innovation
Pact Group
With over 20 years diverse Sales, Marketing and General Manager experience in FMCG across foods, homecare and health and personal care Lorna Ash is a passionate consumer goods professional. Lorna has worked at Reckitt Benckiser and Unilever and recently joined Pact Group as Head of Strategic Innovation
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Joshua Carless
GM, Strategy
QBE Insurance
Joshua Carless is a seasoned finance and strategy executive with global experience across QBE Limited, Credit Suisse AG, Westpac, and Lloyds Banking Group. He has led enterprise-wide strategic reviews and multi-year transformation initiatives, delivering measurable improvements in performance, alignment, and long-term impact. His strategic work spans both domestic and international contexts, including the development and execution of country-level plans and value creation strategies. With a focus on unlocking growth and operational efficiency, his approach combines analytical rigor with practical leadership across complex environments. Joshua holds an Executive MBA from HEC Paris and is a Chartered Accountant. He is also an Industry Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney Business School
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Jim Hogan
Former Chief Innovation Evangelist
Google
Jim Hogan is an innovation strategist, global thought leader, and doctoral candidate at Griffith University specializing in the intersection of cognitive diversity, organizational agility, and economic impact. With a career spanning executive leadership roles in Fortune 100 technology companies and deep expertise in building high-performing, innovation-driven teams, Jim now focuses on helping organizations embed neuroinclusion as a core business strategy.
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Rob Findlay
Head of Innovation
Amazon
Rob is the Head of Innovation Programs for the Australia and New Zealand market, spearheading initiatives to evangelise Amazon's culture of innovation and facilitate innovation strategy and design thinking engagements with AWS customers across diverse industries and sizes.
Rob previously served as a Managing Director at Accenture Digital, and has held innovation, design, and customer experience roles at leading financial institutions such as NAB, OCBC Bank, and DBS Bank, as well as in tech firms and digital agencies across Australia, Singapore, and Europe.​
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Elaine Zhuang
GM, Strategy & Transformation
nbn™ Australia
Elaine Zhuang is a global executive with over 15 years of experience in leading growth, transformation and innovation across top-tier consulting firms like McKinsey, large corporates, and SMBs, including C-level and Board positions.
Elaine excels at leading enterprise-wide transformation – from shaping the strategic vision, building bankable transformation plans, to driving scalable and sustainable impact through integrated solutions across data, technology, people, and process.
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Jason Juma-Ross
Director of Tech Industry Strategy
Meta
Jason is Meta's regional Director of Technology Strategy. He works on innovation and commercialization of Meta's family of products, apps & services. He has hands on experience in platforms, applied machine learning, data science, mixed-reality, growth, and product development gained over 20 years' work in the tech industry.​​​​
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Brenden Varcoe
Chief Strategy Officer
Dabble
An established Executive Manager with extensive global gaming, sports, media and entertainment experience (10+ years) in senior strategy and commercial roles, in addition to considerable experience advising Boards and Executive level management of large corporates regarding strategic, operational and profit improvement initiatives
Jack Dan
Chief Strategy Officer
CDC Data Centres
Dr Jack R Dan is the Chief Strategy Officer at CDC, leading the company’s strategy, growth, sustainability and engagement. Previously, Jack spent over 20 years in leadership roles in diverse environments, ranging from start-up companies and academia, to government, international organisations and large multinational companies, in Australia and abroad. Jack is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Canberra and the University of New South Wales, a member of the UNSW School of Business Advisory Board and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Charlie Newark-French
Chief Executive Officer
Cascade
Charlie Newark-French is a seasoned enterprise software CEO with a track record of scaling and transforming high-growth companies, including Sharpen, Hyperscience, and Fuze. He specializes in building, selling, and deploying next-generation technology—particularly AI-powered solutions—for large and mid-sized enterprises.
Charlie brings deep expertise across both SaaS and on-premise models, with a customer-centric leadership style and a strong command of go-to-market strategy, operational scaling, and enterprise adoption.
Prior to his operating roles, he was an investment partner at a growth equity fund, where he led deals resulting in two IPOs and three strategic acquisitions.
He began his career in strategy consulting with McKinsey & Company in London and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics and Management from the University of Oxford.
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Caroline Ottmann
Head of Strategy
AGL
Caroline brings 15 years of experience in consulting, strategy, and industry roles within the energy and energy management sectors. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Management and Economics and a Master's degree in Strategy and Management. Caroline has worked globally, including in Europe, Asia, and Australia, and has developed business strategies for the Pacific, Middle East, Africa, and South America regions. Passionate about energy transition, she has been actively involved in decarbonisation initiatives in Australia for the past five years and has served as a Board Director of the Australian Energy Efficiency Council for three years. Since January 2024, Caroline has been leading AGL's corporate strategy.
Robert Marshall
Chief Strategy Officer
St Vincent Health
Rob joined St Vincent’s Health Australia in 2022 and as Chief Strategy Officer has responsibility for strategy development and delivery across SVHA. A medical doctor, Rob interrupted his training with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians to pursue a Master in Public Administration (Health Policy) at Columbia University, supported by a Fulbright Scholarship. From there, he joined Boston Consulting Group where he led strategy efforts for governments (in Australia and the UK), hospital providers, private health insurers and other large corporates. He has also worked on cost-effectiveness analyses as a Consultant to the World Health Organization and on health system reform as a Policy Advisor to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Yianna Papanikolauo
Former Chief Transformation Officer
Yianna is a transformation and growth leader in financial services, with 20 years making global banks simpler, and more customer-focused through the use of new technologies. Equally passionate about scaling grassroots innovation and driving enterprise strategy and change, she blends strategic vision with execution discipline and introduction of new capabilities. Most recently, as Chief Transformation Officer at Westpac, she led a $500m comprehensive turnaround of the bank's structure, governance, risk management, and execution disciplines, with measurable improvements for customers, employees and shareholders.
Previously, she held global roles at Deutsche Bank, RBS, and Accenture. A technologist at heart, she is passionate about using technology and data to empower better choices, and building inclusive, high-performing teams that deliver lasting impact.
Alex Krawchuk
VP & General Manager, APAC
Shibumi
Alex is the APAC VP and GM at Shibumi, a cloud-based Strategic Program Management platform that helps organisations manage complex portfolios, programs, and strategic initiatives with agility, transparency, and alignment to business outcomes.
Alex is an engineer by training with a keen interest in helping organisations use technology to deliver improved business outcomes. Over the last 20 years Alex has focused on business leadership across APAC at high growth technology companies, from start-ups to industry leading brands such as Cisco, Salesforce and Coupa.
Richard Fennell
Head of Strategy Development
JLL
As the Head of Strategy Development, as well as the Head of Property and Asset Management, I'm focused on developing our future client solutions across all business lines. Working with the Australian CEO, my role is to develop market-leading strategies across all business lines with a focus on Proptech and client-centric strategies to deliver great services that add value to ourcustomers.
Melinda Lang
Strategy Director
Clemenger BBDO
Melinda is Strategy Director for Clemenger BBDO and leads their activation offering with a focus on shopper and experiential marketing. Prior to returning to Sydney in 2023, Melinda spent 10 years working in the UK across network and independent agencies, in client-side roles and a strategic consultancy, shaping the strategies of over 100 brands. With a background in brand and comms, she specialises in activating brand equity in key moments to move people into action and grow brands.
Chris Petzoldt
Leading Monetisation Strategy Expert
Chris Petzoldt is a Sydney-based expert in monetisation strategy with over 25 years of global experience. As the former Managing Partner at Simon-Kucher & Partners, he led more than 200 growth projects across 20 countries and founded the firm’s Australia/New Zealand operations, growing it to over 30 people. Chris has worked with dozens of companies across industries and is a passionate supporter of the local tech ecosystem — from start-ups to unicorns. His core expertise spans pricing strategy, product value creation and packaging, AI monetisation, and go-to-market strategy. A frequent speaker at VC and PE events, he now serves as a venture partner and continues to advise founders on scaling revenue. Chris studied business in Germany and Sweden and is a graduate of Harvard’s Advanced Management Program (AMP).
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Yin Yu
Director of Strategy & Operation
GitLab
Yin is part of the Office of the CEO at GitLab, the most comprehensive AI-powered DevSecOps platform and one of the world’s largest all-remote companies.
In this role, Yin leads and supports cross-functional initiatives, with a focus on managing joint venture and inter-company matters.
Mark Comer
Head of Strategy & Transformation
AustralianSuper
Mark is a seasoned senior executive with a strong track record of enterprise-wide leadership across highly competitive industries. With deep expertise spanning strategy, corporate affairs, M&A, sales, marketing, product development, and digital transformation, Mark has driven significant growth in customer engagement, revenue, and margin.
His leadership experience covers both domestic and international markets,
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David Krawitz
Former Chief Transformation Officer
Allianz
David is a globally experienced C-suite executive with experiencing working at top-tier consulting firms and leading global insurers, including serving as Allianz’s Chief Operating and Transformation Officer here in Australia.
Since leaving Allianz in 2021, David has been doing Board and advisory work and has worked with a number of private equity firms on opportunities ranging from fintech investment to business transformation. David is also a non-executive Director at Honey Insurance.
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Shankar Siva
Interim Executive | GAICD | Former MD, Macquarie Group | Enterprise Resilience Architect | Board & PE Advisor
Shankar Siva, GAICD, is an architect of enterprise resilience and value creation, helping strategy leaders turn strategic risk into competitive advantage. He is a former MD/Division Director at Macquarie Group with 25+ years’ cross‑industry experience. Shankar has led programs that cut material incidents by 80%, optimised risk‑reward across a 300‑project, $1.3B annual capital expenditure portfolio, and built high‑impact in‑house strategy teams. Shankar advises boards and PE sponsors on digital transformation, strategy execution and risk governance, while mentoring startups as a Sydney Angels investor. Combining corporate, PE and entrepreneurial insight, he equips APAC Chief Strategy Officers to design resilient operating models and lead transformation in complex, regulated markets.
Patrick Lloyd
Head of Strategy & Innovation
TPG Telecom
Patrick is a strategic leader with extensive experience in shaping strategy, driving innovation and high-impact organisational transformation. Currently serving as the Head of Technology Strategy & Innovation at TPG Telecom, Patrick leads an internal management consulting function that supports the executive team in driving strategy, transformation, and people initiatives.
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William Loh
Executive Director of Group Strategy
Foxtel
William Loh is the Executive Director of Group Strategy at Foxtel Group, where he leads the Strategy, Research, and Ratings teams across a diverse portfolio including Foxtel, Kayo, BINGE, Hubbl, and Foxtel Media. With over eleven years at the company, William has played a pivotal role in shaping long-term strategy, driving M&A and corporate development initiatives, and supporting executive leadership across finance, commercial, and content divisions. His experience spans group-level strategic planning as well as hands-on leadership in digital streaming and entertainment programming.
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Rahul Shankar
Head of Group Strategy
Lion
Rahul is a skilled strategist and leader known for driving sustainable success in challenging and dynamic industries. He was a wealth of cross-sector experience, spanning Energy, Technology, Travel and Consumer Products. Currently, Rahul leads strategy at Lion, where he champions strategic value creation and transformation from the boardroom to the cool room. He is passionate about fostering proactive curiosity, embracing adaptive leadership, and placing consumers and customers at the heart of decision making.
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Milda Vait
Director of Innovation & Strategic Initiatives
ANZ
Milda Vait is a seasoned banking executive with over a decade of experience driving innovation and strategic transformation within the financial services sector. As Director of Innovation & Strategic Initiatives at ANZ Institutional Banking, she leads the development and implementation of forward-thinking strategies that enhance operational efficiency and customer experience.
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Veeman Buell
Global Head of Strategy & Product
Hitachi Energy
Veeman Buell is the Global Head of Strategy & Product Management – Grid and Power Quality Solutions at Hitachi Energy. An entrepreneurial leader with strong commercial acumen and a track record of delivering results in global markets, he leads a ~$3.5B portfolio focused on power quality and grid connection solutions. Known for inspiring high-performing, multinational teams around a shared vision, he drives innovative strategies and business models that support the energy transition across utilities, renewables, transportation, and industry sectors.
Andrew Ko
Head of Group Strategy Aware Super
Andrew Ko is a strategy and finance executive with over 25 years of experience across Australia and South East Asia, including an established career in investment banking focusing on M&A advisory and capital raising transactions for companies in the financial services and telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) sectors.
As the Head of Strategy at Aware Super, Andrew is responsible for the 2030 enterprise strategy of one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds (~$200B in funds under management and 1.1 million members). In his role, Andrew leads the development and execution of corporate strategy at the fund and works closely with the Board and management to provide strategic thought leadership and analysis to inform critical decision-making.
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Chris Harvey
Head of Consumer Mobile
Optus
Chris manages a P&L exceeding $2 billion, with end-to-end accountability across pricing strategy, product development, customer offers, distribution, and growth investments. He plays a key leadership role in driving commercial performance and market expansion through data-driven decision-making and cross-functional execution.
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Zach O'Neil
Director of GTM Strategy
Squarespace
Zach O'Neil is a growth oriented strategy leader with over a decade of experience driving expansion and innovation at top consumer and marketplace tech companies across APAC, EMEA, and NORAM. As Director of International & GTM Strategy at Squarespace, Zach leads global growth initiatives overseeing international strategy, marketing, market research, competitive intelligence, and customer insights to drive market expansion. Prior to Squarespace, Zach held a number of senior roles at Booking.com in strategy & operations, product, marketing, and finance. He has a proven track record leveraging data to fuel product innovation, new market entry, and revenue growth.​​​
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Josh Blandy
Head of Market & Commercial Strategy
Telstra
Josh is the Head of Market and Commercial Strategy for Telstra Enterprise focused on driving improvement in end-to-end go to market performance.
From a start in high tech manufacturing and action sports, Josh has over 20 years experience spanning consulting and corporate roles leading and contributing to driving large scale transformation, plus product, go to market and business model evolution for consumer, mid-market and enterprise businesses.
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Arjun Maharaj
Head of Strategy & Transformation
CHEP
Arjun's the Head of Strategy and Transformation at CHEP, a Brambles company, for APAC, Middle East, Turkiye and Africa. With a global career spanning seven countries across three continents, he has held numerous leadership positions over his 20+ years in the industry. Before joining Brambles, Arjun served as the Global Head of Digital Strategy, Products, and Data at DSV A/S in Denmark and held several senior leadership roles within the A.P. Moller Maersk group
Mike York
Chief Strategy Officer
Aphex
Mike York is CSO at Aphex, where we help site teams from the world's largest construction companies plan and deliver work together. With 15+ years leading organisations from startups to large multinationals through profitable expansions, he's found his sweet spot in dynamic businesses ready to scale. His passion lies in developing leaders throughout organisations as the single biggest growth vector, particularly in tackling the challenges of distributed leadership across global teams. Mike thrives working with the ambitious folks that high-growth companies attract, leading people and guiding strategy to create the right conditions for sustainable next-level growth.
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Rashell Habib
Head of Digital News & Strategy
Paramount
Rashell Habib is one of the few women in Australia leading the news agenda.
Rashell began her career at News Corp as a cadet journalist, where she worked for local newspapers and The Daily Telegraph. She then pivoted her skillset into online and was the first News Local social media manager. She later joined news.com.au as their social media editor, then went on to become the social media editor for Netflix ANZ before joining Network 10 as deputy news editor and eventually taking up the role of head of digital news and strategy at Paramount.
Richard Kelly
Director & Founder
Team Strategic Thinking
Richard Kelly helps organisations across the Asia Pacific strengthen profitability and performance by building strategic leadership and business acumen. He specialises in using business simulations to embed value-creating behaviours that align strategy and culture, enabling leaders to drive transformation. With experience spanning industries from finance and insurance to energy, manufacturing and telecommunications, Richard is recognised as a thought leader in strategic leadership and culture alignment. He is associate faculty with Melbourne Business School and Duke Corporate Education, and lectures in strategy on the University of Sydney MBA program.
Emma MacCulloch
Head of Program Management Office
Intellihub Group
Emma MacCulloch is the Head of Program Management Office at Intellihub Group, where she leads enterprise-wide strategic project delivery and governance. With over two decades of experience spanning energy, logistics, and financial services, Emma has held senior leadership roles at Australia Post, Credit Suisse, AGL Energy, and GE Capital. She brings deep expertise in portfolio management, transformation strategy and execution, and cross-functional team leadership. Emma integrates human-centred design principles into program leadership, fostering innovation that is both practical and people-focused.
