Pre-Conference Workshop - 28th July

Leading Growth and Transformation Through AI Disruption

AI is forcing every organisation to change. The pressure is real, and the instinct is to chase the technology, which is exactly the wrong place to start. The leaders who pull ahead treat this as what it really is, a transformation of how the business grows, makes decisions, and brings its people with it.

This practical masterclass is about leading that transformation for growth, not just surviving the disruption. You'll look at how ready your culture is for change, where to focus your innovation so it drives results and not just activity, and how to build a plan your team will follow through on. You'll leave with a clear transformation plan for the biggest growth opportunity in front of you.

Key Learning Outcomes:

• Diagnose where your culture is ready for change and where it's blocking new ideas
• Focus your innovation where it drives growth, across your offering, operations, and customer experience
• Balance engagement and results so your people are bought in and the business sees the value
• Make sharper strategic decisions when the path forward isn't clear
• Work through the barriers that slow change
• Lead the transformation AI demands through your people and business model, not just the technology
• Leave with a practical transformation plan for your biggest growth opportunity

Summit Day 1

9:00 AM: Welcome to Country

9:05 AM: Opening Remarks from Chair

She is a staunch advocate of equality for women in business and believes women should be helping other women every chance they get. 

Dana established Konnect Learning in 2013 and the Leadership Institute in 2017. Since then she has advocated for equality for women in all aspects of her entrepreneurial and professional life – in particular by chairing and assisting the production team in the development of TLI’s Women in Leadership line of events.

SESSION 1
9:10 AM: Opening Keynote: Making AI Work Beyond the Hype. What Leaders Need to Get Right Before Scaling AI

Organisations across every sector are investing in AI, yet many are still struggling to turn pilots, tools and experimentation into measurable business value.
In this opening keynote, Jon Whittle draws on three decades in AI, his leadership of CSIRO’s Data61, and the practical frameworks from his new book AI for Business. A Guide to AI Adoption to explore what separates successful AI adoption from costly distraction.

Jon will examine where AI is creating real value, why some initiatives fail to move beyond proof of concept, and what leaders need to get right before scaling AI across the organisation. From choosing the right use cases to building responsible governance, managing risk, improving productivity and aligning AI with organisational purpose, this session gives leaders a clear, practical foundation for making AI work in the real world.

10:10 AM: IT’S TIME FOR NETWORKING!

10:30 AM: Morning Tea

SESSION 2
10:50 AM: From AI Ambition to Business Value

Artificial intelligence is no longer an emerging technology. For many organisations, the challenge is no longer whether to invest in AI, but how to turn that investment into measurable business outcomes.

Drawing on his experience leading enterprise transformation and innovation initiatives across complex organisations, Ketan Chowhan explores why many AI projects struggle to move beyond experimentation and what leaders can do differently.

This session examines the foundations required for successful AI adoption, from identifying high value use cases and aligning technology with business priorities to managing organisational complexity, scaling innovation, and delivering measurable operational improvements.

Attendees will gain practical insights into how organisations can move beyond pilots and proof of concepts to create sustainable business value through AI enabled transformation.

SESSION 3
11:40 AM: From AI Curiosity to Enterprise Capability

Artificial intelligence is capturing the attention of every organisation, yet many leaders are still grappling with the challenge of moving beyond curiosity and isolated use cases to create lasting enterprise capability. Successful AI transformation is not achieved through technology alone. It requires a clear strategy, workforce confidence, trusted governance, and a culture that embraces continuous learning and innovation.

Drawing on her experience leading AI transformation across Australia and the Asia Pacific, Charmaine Zets explores how organisations can build the foundations for sustainable AI adoption at scale. This session examines how leading organisations are developing AI capability across their workforce, embedding responsible AI practices, and aligning technology investments with long term business priorities.

Attendees will gain practical insights into creating organisation wide readiness, building trust and confidence in AI, enabling leaders and teams to adopt new ways of working, and transforming AI from an emerging technology into a core organisational capability that delivers measurable business value.

12:40 PM Lunch

SESSION 4
1:40 PM Why Most AI Strategies Fail And What The Top 5% Do Differently

Investment in AI keeps growing, yet many organisations still chase technology before clarifying the problem it solves, leaving strategies stalled in pilots and inconsistent results.

Fahim Khondaker, Partner, Data and AI at BDO, draws on 17 years advising executive teams and boards on turning complex data and AI initiatives into defensible, commercially grounded decisions. This session unpacks why so many AI strategies stall, and the disciplined focus on outcomes over technology that separates organisations scaling AI successfully from those stuck in experimentation.

Attendees will leave with practical approaches for building organisational confidence in AI, sharpening commercial decision-making, and creating conditions for AI strategies that deliver.

SESSION 5
2:30 PM: AI That Earns Its Place

Artificial intelligence is moving rapidly from experimentation into everyday business operations. Yet many organisations are discovering that successful AI adoption is not defined by the latest technology, but by its ability to solve real business problems and deliver measurable value.

Drawing on his experience leading enterprise AI, data and technology strategy across one of New Zealand's largest retail organisations, Ankit Gupta shares what it takes to make AI earn its place within a modern organisation.

This practical session explores why many AI initiatives fail to reach production, the critical role of leadership judgement, governance and data readiness, and how organisations can move beyond isolated pilots to embed AI into core business operations. Through real world examples, Ankit will examine how leaders can align AI with business priorities, build organisational readiness, and bring people with them as transformation accelerates.

Attendees will leave with practical insights into turning AI ambition into lasting organisational capability, creating measurable business outcomes, and building the foundations for AI that delivers value at scale.

3:20 PM Afternoon Tea

SESSION 6: The Decision Advantage
3:40 PM: Using AI to Improve Human Judgement, Not Replace It

As artificial intelligence becomes embedded in everyday business operations, leaders are increasingly relying on AI to inform decisions that shape strategy, operations, customer outcomes and organisational performance. The challenge is no longer whether to use AI, but how to ensure it supports better judgement, builds trust, and delivers decisions that are transparent, accountable and aligned with business objectives.
Drawing on his experience advising executives and leading responsible AI innovation across Australia and New Zealand, Jonathan Butow explores how organisations can use AI to strengthen decision making without losing the critical role of human judgement. This session examines the importance of AI governance, decision intelligence, executive oversight and responsible implementation, while exploring how organisations can confidently scale AI in increasingly complex and regulated environments.

Attendees will gain practical insights into building trust in AI enabled decision making, balancing innovation with governance, establishing the foundations for responsible and scalable AI adoption, and empowering leaders to make faster, smarter and more confident decisions in an AI driven world.

4:30 PM Close of Conference

Summit Day 2 

9:00 AM: Opening remarks from chair

SESSION 1
9:10 AM: Making AI Transformation Work Across Your Organisation

Many organisations are discovering that the hardest part of AI transformation isn't the technology, it's the people. Moving from ambition to adoption takes trust, engagement, and real organisational alignment.

Drawing on her experience leading applications, information and AI enablement at the Attorney-General's Department, Brianna Carter explores how leaders in complex, highly regulated environments can build workforce confidence during rapid technological change. This session looks at how to bring employees through transformation rather than create resistance or change fatigue, and how governance can be built in from the start rather than added later.

Attendees will leave with practical insights into leading AI-driven change under scrutiny, building genuine workforce buy-in, and balancing innovation with the trust and rigour regulated organisations require.

SESSION 2
10:00 AM: Case Study: Making Digital Transformation Work for People and Performance

Digital transformation often fails when organisations focus too heavily on systems and not enough on people. Sustainable innovation requires workforce trust, adaptability, and cultural alignment.

In this session, Paul Murphy explores how organisations can balance innovation with human impact while navigating transformation at scale. Through practical case studies and operational insights, this session examines how leaders can build cultures where employees feel supported, engaged, and capable of adapting to change.

10:50 AM: Morning Tea

SESSION 3: From Personalisation to Prediction
11:20 AM: How AI Is Transforming Customer Experience

Artificial intelligence is reshaping customer expectations, moving organisations beyond traditional personalisation towards intelligent, predictive experiences that anticipate customer needs, simplify decision making, and deliver more meaningful interactions. The challenge for leaders is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how to apply it in ways that create genuine value for customers while building trust and long-term loyalty.

Drawing on his experience leading Product, Customer Experience and AI at one of Australia's leading digital travel businesses, Samuel Drown explores how AI is transforming the way organisations design products, personalise customer journeys, and deliver seamless digital experiences at scale. This session examines how leading organisations are using AI to better understand customer behaviour, improve search and recommendations, optimise customer engagement, and create products that continuously learn and evolve.

Attendees will gain practical insights into embedding AI across the customer experience, balancing innovation with customer trust, identifying high-impact opportunities for AI driven personalisation, and building products that create measurable value for both customers and the organisation.

SESSION 4: From Concept to Production
12:10 PM How Leading Organisations Are Turning AI Ideas Into Operational Reality

Many organisations have embraced AI experimentation, yet only a small number successfully transition promising ideas into scalable, enterprise-wide solutions. The challenge is no longer generating AI use cases. It is identifying the right opportunities, validating business value, and delivering AI solutions that become trusted, measurable parts of everyday operations.

Drawing on his experience leading enterprise AI transformation and large-scale deployment programs, Amit Agarwala explores what it takes to move beyond proof of concept and successfully embed AI across complex organisations. This session examines the practical steps required to prioritise high-value use cases, modernise data foundations, rapidly test and refine AI solutions, and scale successful initiatives into production with confidence.

Attendees will gain practical insights into building an enterprise AI roadmap, accelerating deployment through pragmatic experimentation, avoiding the common barriers that prevent AI initiatives from scaling, and creating AI solutions that deliver measurable productivity, operational efficiency and long-term business impact.

1:10 PM Lunch

SESSION 5
2:10 PM: When Failure Is Not an Option: Leading AI in High-Stakes Environments

In environments where mistakes carry real human consequences, adopting AI isn't optional, but it demands uncompromising rigour around safety, accountability, and trust.

Mike Moroney, Executive Director of the Defence AI Centre, draws on 23 years in the Royal Australian Air Force and his work embedding Responsible AI into Defence capability, sustainment, and operations, including deployment on Operation ASTUTE, to explore how leaders adopt AI in high-consequence settings without cutting corners on governance or safety.

Attendees will gain practical insights into building trust in AI-enabled systems, embedding responsible AI practices from the outset, and leading workforce adaptation when the cost of getting it wrong is measured in more than dollars.

SESSION 6: EXCLUSIVE KEYNOTE
3:00 PM: Zero to 200,000 Agents: Building the Data Function at a Fortune 500

Frameworks for scaling AI are everywhere. Harder to find is a candid account of what it takes, including what goes wrong.

Arvind Bhatt, Chief AI & Data Officer and Founder of Skillo Tech, shares the inside story of building the data function from scratch at Anywhere Real Estate, a Fortune 500 company spanning 200,000 agents globally: what worked, what failed in the first six months, and the decisions that compounded most. He translates that US playbook for Australian leaders adapting fast in the age of AI.

Attendees will close the summit with a practical, honest playbook for building lasting capability, not just proving a concept.

4:00 PM End of Conference

Post-Conference Workshops - 31st July

HUMAN LEADERSHIP IN THE AGE OF AI

As artificial intelligence reshapes the workplace, human capability is becoming more important, not less. Organisations are rapidly adopting AI to improve efficiency, automate processes, and accelerate decision making, but leadership, creativity, communication, and human judgement remain critical to long term success.

This practical workshop explores how leaders can strengthen the human capabilities that organisations need most during periods of rapid technological change. Delegates will examine how to build adaptable, collaborative, and high trust teams while navigating uncertainty, workforce disruption, and evolving ways of working.