National Tech Summit 2024 | Tech Council of Australia

Event Details

From November 11th to 13th, 2024, the National Tech Summit will present an inclusive and exciting vision for Australia's tech future. The summit will focus on identifying critical policy areas for future-enabled tech ecosystems and outlining pathways to enhance capability and attract investment in evolving and emerging industries.

The program explores the challenges and opportunities Australia faces on its path to becoming a global tech hub. Fostering a regulatory environment that drives growth, attracts investment and ensures success throughout the innovation lifecycle is critical to enabling Australia to be a global tech leader.

We will bring together industry leaders, policymakers and entrepreneurs across diverse industries, they will explore key areas that can make Australia the best place to launch and scale tech businesses.

Join us in Melbourne this year to be part of the conversation shaping the future of Australia's technology landscape.

Tickets on sale now!

Program

Speakers

Tim Allen

National AI Skills Director, ANZ of Microsoft Australia

Amanda Anderson (USA)

Head of Global Public Policy & Government Relations at Block

Peter Anstee

Acting First Assistant Secretary at Department of Home Affairs

Dr Catherine Ball

Associate Professor at ANU School of Cybernetics

Andrew Barnes

Director Investment, Americas, Critical Technology Lead of Austrade

Blair Beaton

Group Executive, Listings at ASX

James Bergin

Executive General Manager, Technology Research & Advocacy at Xero

Craig Blair

Co-founder and Partner of AirTree Ventures

Aubrey Blanche-Sarellano

VP Of Equitable Operations at Culture Amp

Dr Jess Blomfield

Head of People and Culture at AirTree Ventures

Dr Philip Bos

Managing Director of BlueKee Pty Ltd

Sebastian Brash

Policy Manager at Tech Council

Mike Cannon-Brookes

Co-founder & CEO of Atlassian

Dr Andrew Charlton MP

Special Envoy for Cybersecurity and Digital Resilience, Federal Member for Parramatta (NSW) at Parliament of Australia

Jeremy Chetty

Co-Founder & CEO of Student Edge

Bronwen Clune

Startups and VC correspondent at Capital Brief

Lou Compagnone

Director - AI of Datacom

Dr Kate Cornick

CEO of LaunchVic

Nick Crocker

General Partner at Blackbird Ventures

Robyn Denholm

Chair, Tech Council | Chair at Tesla

Victor Dominello

Director, Tech Council I Founder of ServiceGen

Jo Dooley

General Manager, Enterprise Commercial Australia and New Zealand at Microsoft Australia

Andrew Downes

Vice President Strategy - Australia / NZ at Thales

Tom Duff Gordon (UK)

Vice President International Policy at Coinbase

Peter Dunne

General Counsel & Head Of Corporate Development at Safety Culture

Anthony Eisen

Director, Tech Council I Afterpay Co-Founder and Afterpay Co-Lead of Block

Didier Elzinga

Director, Tech Council I Founder & CEO of Culture Amp

Eglantine Etiemble

Director, Tech Council I Group Chief Technology Officer of PEXA

Scott Farquhar

Director, Tech Council I Principal of Skip Capital

Sophie Farthing

Head, Policy Lab at Human Technology Institute, UTS

Madeline Ferguson

Landing Pads Program Director of Austrade

Shivaune Field

Business Journalist at Forbes Australia

Mark Finn

Co-Founder & CFO of ROLLER

The Hon Paul Fletcher MP

Federal Member for Bradfield, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy, Shadow Minister for Science and the Arts at Parliament of Australia

Nicholas Flood

Managing Director (Australia & New Zealand) of IBM

Laura Ford

Managing Director of Indeed

$Dino Georgiou (Executive Customer Success & Sales at Telstra Infraco)$

Dino Georgiou

Executive Customer Success & Sales at Telstra Infraco

Mark Gibson

Global & US Technology, Media & Telecommunications Leader (USA) at KPMG

Amy Glancey

Chief of Staff & Director of Office of the CEO at Atlassian

Harry Godber

Head of Policy & Strategy at Tech Council of Australia

Annie Haggar

Partner | Head of Cybersecurity - Australia at Norton Rose Fulbright

Ahmed Haider

CEO of Zookal

Prashant Haldankar

Co-Founder and Managing Director of Sekuro

Bronwyn Halfpenny MP

Parliamentary Secretary for Jobs at Parliament of Victora

Stewart Hay

Managing Director of Intopia

Dr. Cecelia Herbert

Principal Behavioural Scientist at Qualtrics

Brendan Hopper

GM CIO Technology Distinguished Engineer at Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Madeleine Houghton

Policy Manager at Tech Council of Australia

The Hon Ed Husic MP

Minister for Industry and Science at Parliament of Australia

Dean Jagger

General Manager of FCX at FinClear

Matthew Jensen

Senior Director, Government Relations and Public Policy of Indeed

Chris Jewell

CEO & Co-Founder of Zepto

Emma Jones

CEO of T-EDI Standards

Kate Jones

Board Director | Senior Advisor of SODA

Damian Kassabgi

Director & CEO of Tech Council

Simon Kennedy MP

Federal Member for Cook at Parliament of Australia

Wendell Keuneman

Managing Partner at Tidal Ventures

Abdullah Khan

Partner & Head of Advisory at IBM

Steve King

Director of Business Impact at Atlassian Foundation

Nicole Kleid Small

Partner at The Planet Fund at Ecotone Partners Pty Ltd

Andrew Leong

CTO Fixed Networks and EGM Artificial Intelligence and Automation at nbnco

Dr Belle Lim

Associate Director of MindTribes

Julian Lincoln

Tech Partner at Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF)

Erika Ly

Policy Manager at Tech Council of Australia

Jared Lynch

Technology Editor at The Australian

Sally McCutchan

Chief Asset Management Officer at Breakthrough Victoria

Tom McMahon

Partner at Mandala Advisors Pty Ltd

Ed McManus

Senior Operating Partner at The Riverside Company

Jamie Morse

Head of Industry & Policy at Macquarie Technology Group

Ben Moxey

Emerging Technology and Accessibility Manager at Guide Dogs

Dr Daniel Mulino MP

Federal Member for Fraser (VIC), Co-chair for Parliamentary Friends of Fintech and the Digital Economy at Parliament of Australia

Sarah O'Carroll

Editor in Chief at Forbes

Chris O'Connell

Chief Business Officer at Tech Council of Australia

Roisin O'Neill

Head at _nology

Cliff Obrecht

Director, Tech Council I Co-Founder & COO of Canva

Antonio Pangallo

Principal Psychologist & Global Employee Experience Advisor at Qualtrics

Roisin Parkes

Director Of Engineering of Google

Taryn Pieterse

Partner at Rampersand

Danielle Rajendram

Associate Director, Advisory & Insights of Asialink Business

Vinisha Rathod

Managing Director and Founder of p3 Studio

Tim Reed

Co-Managing Director of Potentia Capital | Former President of the Business Council of Australia

Tony Saliba

Head of Sales - APAC at Annalise.ai

William Scheer

CEO of Reason Group

Shannon Scott

SVP, Global Head of Product at Airwallex

Peter Scougall

GM for Business Development at Ventia

Emma Seymour

Chief Financial Officer at Deputy

Sanford Sham

Head of Technology at AGL

The Hon. Bill Shorten MP

Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and Minister for Government Services at Parliament of Australia

Jarrad Skeen

Founder | CEO of affix

Chenoa Stockton

Board Director of Deadly Coders

David Swan

Technology Editor at The Age and Sydney Morning Herald

Sarah Tinsley

General Counsel and Company Secretary at Culture Amp

Michael Tolo

Partner at Blackbird Ventures

Gemma Toogood

Head of Partnerships at _nology

Aengus Tran

Co-Founder and CEO of Harrison.ai

Susan Travis

Head of Research at Tech Council of Australia

Katrina Troughton

Vice President and Managing Director, ANZ of Adobe

Nikki Tugano

Founder & CEO of SeenCulture

Georgie Turner

Partner at Tidal Ventures

James Tynan

Partner at Square Peg

Dr. Tanvir Uddin

Founder and CEO of Wholesum Responsible Fund

The Hon. Gabrielle Upton

Non-executive Director of The Florey Institute of Neuroscience, Netball Australia and O’Connell Street Associates

Aaron Violi MP

Member for Casey (NSW), Co-chair for Parliamentary Friends of Tech and Innovation at Parliament of Australia

Jodie Vujasinovic

Entrepreneur, Advisor, Investor Talks about startups, innovation, fashion

Paul Warren-Tape

GM Global Risk and Compliance at IDVerse

Marc Washbourne

Co-Founder and CEO of ReadyTech

Philippa Watson

CEO of ubank

Johanna Weaver

Founding Director Of The Tech Policy Design Centre of Australian National University

Angharad 'Rad' Yeo

Presenter, Critic, Journalist ABC

Jakub Zverina

Program Manager of People & Culture at CyberCX

Peter leads the development and coordination of national cyber security policy, security measures for critical and emerging technologies and the Commonwealth’s protective security agenda, including Commonwealth cyber security uplift. In this role, Peter also oversees the implementation of the 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy and supports a number of key international cyber engagements including through the Quad and International Counter Ransomware Taskforce.
Prior to this role, Peter was an executive director at CyberCX, Australia’s largest cyber security professional services firm. Peter led the company’s public policy, corporate affairs and crisis communications functions.

Peter was a senior adviser to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull where he led key areas of Prime Minister’s foreign affairs and national security agenda including cyber security, counter-terrorism, immigration and international trade. He led the Prime Minister’s policy development, political strategy, and communications and in these areas and worked with the Australian Government’s senior leadership, national security agencies and other relevant stakeholders to successfully implement the Government’s agenda.

Dr Catherine Ball is an academic, company director, bestselling author, futurist and visioneer working across global projects where emerging technologies meet humanitarian, education and environmental needs.

Having been called a ‘social architect’, Catherine also likes to create businesses and champion movements, search for unicorns, collaborate with peers, and advise current and future game-changers. A champion of diversity and inclusion, Catherine believes we need points of difference to truly innovate and curate the changes we want to see in the world. Catherine’s latest business ventures span angel investments and advisory across the broad emerging technology sector, from insect protein to personalised brain health through AI and neuroscience. Her internationally recognised work on drones and robotics community engagement via the World of Drones and Robotics Global Congress continues and is
evolving. Catherine is also proud to be a member of Australia’s Robotics Advisory Council

Craig Blair is the Co-founder and Partner at Airtree, a leading venture capital firm backing Aussie and Kiwi founders building the iconic technology companies of tomorrow. With $1.3bn funds under management, Craig has led investments in Canva, Pet Circle, Go1 and Employment Hero, which have delivered 100x returns to investors. Before Airtree, Craig was a Partner at Netus, a venture fund that delivered top-decile returns to investors. Prior to his VC career, he was a founder of several startups including Travelselect, Beamly Australia and founding chairman of Pet Circle.

Outside of Airtree, Craig is an active philanthropist through the Blair Caffrey Foundation which supports indigenous, women's and humanitarian causes and the arts.

Aubrey Blanche-Sarellano is the The Mathpath (Math Nerd + Empath), CEO of her eponymous equitable design consultancy, and the VP of Equitable Operations at HR technology firm Culture Amp. Through all her work, she seeks to question, reimagine, and redesign the systems and practices that surround us to ensure that all people can access equitable opportunities and build a better world. Her work is undergirded by her training in social scientific methods and grounded in her belief in the fundamental dignity, value, and wisdom of every person.

Her professional expertise focuses on designing and implementing equity-creating solutions to varied aspects of enterprise operations from talent programs and communications to sustainability, philanthropy, and artificial intelligence. Her experience in business development and product management has helped her design effective go-to-market strategies and launch multiple successful DEI-focused products. Her work has strong underpinnings in her academic training, which has helped her bring significant original research on trends, attitudes, and investments on global diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts to light.

Mike Cannon-Brookes is the CEO of Atlassian, a company he co-founded alongside his university friend, Scott Farquhar, in 2002 from Sydney, Australia. Over the next 20 years, they built Atlassian to be a leader in collaboration software, focused on unleashing the potential of teams around the world. Today Atlassian has over 300,000 customers across all company sizes and industry sectors.

In his role as CEO, Mike is responsible for the overall strategic direction and product strategy for Atlassian. He continues to grow Atlassian’s product portfolio, which started as a bug-tracking tool for developers called Jira, to a suite of solutions to support every type of team.

Mike is on the Board of Directors for a number of organisations including Blackbird Ventures and is the Chair-Elect of Room to Read, a non-profit committed to improving literacy and gender equality in education in the developing world. A passionate clean energy evangelist, he continues to invest in sustainable solutions through Grok Ventures, and his philanthropic initiative, Boundless Earth. He is also a member of Australia's Nation Brand Advisory Council and serves as an adjunct professor at the University of New South Wales' School of Computer Science and Engineering.

He is a global technology leader, passionate philanthropist and a sporting enthusiast, with minority ownership in sporting teams across Australia and the US.

Before entering parliament, Dr Andrew Charlton was a successful entrepreneur, academic and economist.

Dr Charlton was a Rhodes Scholar and graduated with a PhD in economics at Oxford University. He wrote two books on the economy and co-authored ‘Fair Trade for All’ with the Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.

In his role as Senior Economic Advisor for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, he helped navigate Australia's way through the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis and travelled across the world, working with other economists to save thousands of jobs and businesses. While in government, he was appointed Australia’s senior official to the G20 Leaders Summits and represented the Prime Minister at the United Nations Climate Conference.

As an economist, Dr Charlton worked at the London School of Economics, Oxford University and the United Nations. He was named by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader.

Lou Compagnone is the Director of AI at Datacom, Australasia’s largest homegrown technology services provider. In her role, she combines artificial intelligence, service design, and futures thinking to help organizations create, shape, and prepare for their human-driven future. For the past two decades, Lou has assisted organizations around the world to help solve a diverse range of challenges – from helping citizens access better services to helping singles find their someone.

With a deep commitment to using AI for good, her approach focuses on leveraging AI to create meaningful solutions that solve genuine problems, elevate experiences, improve services, drive positive change, and deliver tangible value for both businesses and the people they serve.

Robyn Denholm is a leading global technology executive. She is Chair of the Board of Directors of Tesla Inc., Operating Partner of Blackbird Ventures and Chair of The Technology Council of Australia.

Robyn joined the Tesla Board in 2014 as an Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee. She was appointed to serve as Independent Chair of the Board of Directors in November 2018 and re-elected as Chair in 2020.

She joined Blackbird Ventures as an Operating Partner in January 2021, in this role she works with the founders of later stage technology companies to help them scale and succeed. In addition,

Robyn is actively stewarding the Australian technology sector as Chair of The Australian Tech Council which was launched in 2021, with an ambition to get 1 million people into Australian tech jobs by 2025.

Victor Dominello is a former senior minister of the NSW Government. In July 2022 he was recognised by The Australian newspaper as one of the country’s top 100 innovators.

In 2019 Victor was appointed the world’s first Customer Service Minister. During his 12 year cabinet career he held a range of other portfolios including, Digital Government, Innovation, Finance and Aboriginal Affairs.

He was part of the leadership group that led the state through Covid and he drove digital solutions such as QR check-ins, vaccine certificates and dine and discover vouchers via the ServiceNSW app.

Victor is recognised globally for the role he played in transforming public service delivery in NSW through initiatives such as the Department of Customer Service, Service NSW and the Digital Restart Fund.

Jo Dooley is an Executive General Manager for Microsoft Australia and New Zealand, leading the Commercial enterprise business. She received a Bill Gates Platinum founders award in 2020 for her outstanding customer focus and performance.

Jo has over 25 years of experience in retail, electronics, and tech, having worked for Big W, Leo Burnett, IBM, and Seek in various leadership roles across Australia, New Zealand, and the Asia Pacific. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Western Sydney University and has a CEW Scholarship from Wharton Business School and is also a member of CEW.

Jo is passionate about the career development of teams and leaders, especially in digital skilling and promoting women. She is an executive sponsor for the Military at Microsoft Employee Resource Group. Jo is also a member of the Monash advisory tech council and the board of Gallipoli, and a supporter of the REACH foundation.

Tom Duff Gordon is Vice President of International Policy at Coinbase, where he drives the company’s engagement with policymakers in global markets across the UK, Europe, APAC, LatAm, and the MENA region.

Tom previously served as Managing Director at Credit Suisse, Head of Public Policy Europe and UK, where he had responsibility across all areas of regulatory policy and government affairs and chaired the internal global Credit Suisse policy committee, which coordinates positioning on international and cross-border issues. In that capacity, Tom’s areas of focus included EU and UK competitiveness post-Brexit, UK / Swiss trade deal, bank capital reforms, market access and secondary markets, ESG and FinTech. Tom has spoken at many of the key ﬁnancial services regulatory policy conferences, and also supported Credit Suisse’s most prominent global client relationships with political and regulatory updates. He is on the Board of the International Regulatory Strategy Group (IRSG), the leading, cross-sectoral UK regulatory policy trade association, where he chaired one of the standing committees. For three years he co-chaired the main policy committee for the Association of Financial Markets in Europe (AFME).

Tom holds an MA degree from the University of Oxford. He began his career as a consultant at Accenture.

Anthony has over 25 years’ experience in investing, building companies, maintaining public company directorships and providing corporate advice.

Anthony is the Co-founder and Co-CEO of Afterpay, which he launched in 2014 with Nick Molnar and listed on the ASX in May 2016. Prior to his current role, Anthony was Executive Chairman of Afterpay Touch Group for two years.

Prior to co-founding Afterpay, Anthony was the Chief Investment Officer at Guinness Peat Group (GPG). He was actively involved in a number of financial services, software and technology companies in which GPG was a major shareholder.

Prior to GPG, Anthony was involved in investment banking, specialising in mergers and acquisitions in Australia and the United States.

Before entering Parliament, Natalie worked as a Union organiser. She then served as senior advisor to former Premier Steve Bracks. Natalie was also chief of staff to the then Minister for Education and ran a small business specialising in research and communications. Natalie also became the first woman elected as assistant secretary of the Victorian Trades Hall Council.

Natalie’s vision for Victoria’s future is for everyone to have equal access to a decent job, excellent education and first-class healthcare.

The areas of public policy that she is most passionate about are providing world class quality education - accessible for all Victorians, establishing a Treaty with the states’ Traditional Owners, improving conditions for vulnerable workers, and ensuring that women have equal pay and an equal voice in government.

Madeline Ferguson is Austrade’s Landing Pad Program Director, responsible for managing the global program to support Australian technology companies to realise international growth opportunities. Most recently, Madeline has been leading the program’s expansion into Indonesia and Vietnam as part of the Australian Government’s economic strategy to increase two-way trade in the region.

Madeline has spent the last decade in project management through a range of roles across government and international development, including supporting one of Australia’s largest health NGOs to launch into Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. During this time she also secured over $100million in government funding for health programs across Africa, South Asia and the Pacific.

Paul Fletcher has been the Member for Bradfield since 2009. From 2013 to 2022 he was successively a Parliamentary Secretary, Minister and Cabinet Minister. Apart from nine months as Minister for Social Services, Paul’s front bench service was largely in communications and infrastructure. He was Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts in the Morrison Government.

Paul is now Shadow Minister for Science, Arts, Government Services and the Digital Economy. Before politics Paul’s extensive private sector experience included eight years on the Senior Management Team at Optus.

Paul has dual first class honours degrees in law and economics from Sydney University and an MBA from Columbia University in New York where he was a Fulbright Scholar.

Harry Godber is a technology executive and economic policy adviser whose work has helped shape the Australian innovation ecosystem.

Harry ran the sale of fintech unicorn Flare to KKR in one of Australia's largest ever fintech transactions. As General Counsel and Head of Strategy, he helped scale the business with the backing of major super funds and global investors; Flare's platform is now used by half the Australian workforce to access their pay and benefits when they start a job.

Harry now leads the policy, strategy and international practice for the Tech Council of Australia. He is also Co-CEO of the Spark Festival, the largest tech sector network in Australia – spanning over 40,000 founders, investors, policymakers, academics and corporate innovators; and sits on the board of Fintech Australia.

Ahmed Haider is a well-established entrepreneur at the forefront of technology disruption. Whilst still a university student, he co-founded an innovative EdTech company, and has successfully led navigating challenging market dynamics and disruptions for over a decade.
Under his leadership, the startup has raised $55M AUD in venture capital and, in collaboration with his co-founder, launched one of the world's first AI education apps in 2017. Ahmed grew the company from $10,000 in its first year to a peak of $28 million in revenue, establishing Zookal as an education sector leader and positioning it at the forefront of AI innovation.

Further to his work in the education sector, he co-founded one of the world's first drone delivery service which was accepted into Y-Combinator, and also founded the Australian Collaborative Entrepreneurial Society at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), a not-for-profit initiative supporting aspiring student entrepreneurs.

His companies and efforts have garnered recognition from major publications like TIME Magazine, Forbes, Bloomberg, and the BBC. His achievements earned him a spot among the inaugural 30 under 30 Forbes list for Asia Pacific and placed him among the top 100 entrepreneurs in the region. Driven by a desire to facilitate change, he pursues entrepreneurial endeavours that make a positive impact on the lives of others.

Before entering Parliament, Bronwyn worked as the Assistant Secretary of Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union Food and Confectionary Division, and Industrial Officer at Victorian Trades Hall Council.

Bronwyn wants to be a voice for working people and disenfranchised groups in society. This is what prompted her to run for Parliament.

The priorities Bronwyn has for her community are to ensure better services and infrastructure, including a balance of resources to meet the needs of both established suburbs and growth areas. She wants to work towards progressive legislation reform which will create a better society.

Bronwyn’s vision for Victoria’s future is that we all have access to quality education and health care, as well as jobs with decent pay and conditions. She also wants to see better connection and access to information, and free expression of cultural and religious diversity.

The areas of public policy that she is most passionate about are education, workplace safety, social support, and multiculturalism.

Ed has a strong interest in Australian tech and digital endeavour and been vocal about the need for our country to think ahead about the impact of technology on jobs and communities – to help prepare and get the most out the changes ahead.

For example, he has joined with business and community organisations to set up tech hubs to help 4,000 local public school students become familiar with the technology that will shape their lives in the years ahead.

Since his election, Ed has held a number of positions prior to becoming Minister for Industry and Science, serving within Labor’s Shadow Ministry across a range of portfolios, including Employment Services, Human Services, the Digital Economy and the Future of Work.

Matthew Jensen is the Senior Director for global government relations and public policy at Indeed, a leading job matching and hiring platform. In this role, he focuses on digital and workforce policy, including artificial intelligence, platform responsibility, trust and safety, workforce development, and skills-first hiring. Matthew serves as Vice Chair and board member of Internet Works, an industry trade association representing mid-sized technology companies.

Before joining Indeed, he held public policy positions at eBay and spent nearly a decade in government, including roles as Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director in the U.S. Senate. Matthew holds a Master’s degree in International Business and Policy from Georgetown University. Originally from California’s Central Coast, he currently resides in the Washington, D.C. area with his family.

With over 30 years of experience in talent management and people strategy, Emma has developed a deep understanding of the unique subculture of technology within organisational structures and the approach required to solve diversity challenges. Emma founded Project F with the express purpose of reducing the number of women abandoning technology mid-career, by addressing the systemic and cultural barriers that prevent their advancement and retention.

Project F operates a unique Diversity Equity Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) accreditation program, focusing on the tech sector. The program helps leading organisations to level the playing field for women in technology, by offering a range of products and services that assess, improve, and showcase their DEIB performance.

Abdullah is a partner and head of advisory across ANZ in IBM consulting with over 20 years of experience in the industry. Prior to joining IBM, Abdullah held various senior leadership roles in banking and finance sector leading large- scale digital transformation programs to deliver future- ready technology and organisation. As a former CTO of an ASX-listed financial services company, Abdullah brings client’s perspective with an executive lens and lived experience of delivering major transformations to guide and support clients to achieve sustainable business outcomes.

Abdullah is passionate about making the complex simple, and the simple compelling through adoption of human centric transformation enabled by hybrid cloud, data and AI to reimagine new ways of working to create lasting value for business and communities.

The nbn network is the digital backbone of Australia and is constantly evolving to keep communities and businesses connected and our nation advancing.

Andrew leads the key functions that bring together the technology and architecture decisions for the future of the nbn and is also responsible for enabling nbn to embrace emerging AI and automation to improve customer value, optimise the business and drive the industry forward.

Prior to this, Andrew was based in Silicon Valley, California where he was Meta’s Global Group Engineering manager leading the research, design and delivery of highly scalable and reliable backbone network solutions to connect Meta’s Datacenters to over 4 Billion global users.

Andrew brings extensive experience in scaling and optimising complex networks and systems through automation, webscale software solutions and deep technology expertise.

Dr. Belle Lim is an Associate Director at MindTribes, a DEI consulting firm specialising in intersectionality. She is also the Founder and Chair of Future Forte, a charity organisation promoting diverse women and youth leadership particularly in the Asia Pacific region.
Belle is a member of the Victorian Gender Equality Strategy 'Our Equal State' Reference Group, Welcoming Universities Advisory Committee, Scanlon Foundation Grants Committee, and Museum Victoria Inclusion Working Group.

Belle obtained a PhD degree at Monash University on the topic of breast cancer genetics in 2022. She has been recognised as Global Citizen Youth Leader 2024, IEAA Tony Adams Rising Star Award 2024, and Asia Society's Asia Game Changer Finalist 2023. Belle was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2024.

Sally is responsible for Breakthrough Victoria’s portfolio management across all five priority sectors. Prior to joining Breakthrough Victoria, Sally was a founding partner and the inaugural CEO of Bridges Australia, an affiliate of a global leader in impact investing, Bridges Fund Management.
With extensive experience in finance, funds management and strategy, Sally has spent many years working in and understanding Asia Pacific markets in senior roles at Accenture, JP Morgan Investment Management and SBC Warburg (now UBS).

Sally holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Graduate Diploma in Accounting and Finance from Monash University and was recognised in 2020 with an Order of Australia award for her work in ethical investment. She is also a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA) and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).

Cliff Obrecht is one-third of the founding team behind Canva, the globally recognized design and communication platform that has become one of Australia’s most successful start-ups. Born and raised in Perth, Western Australia, Cliff graduated from The University of Western Australia with an Arts and Education degree.

He is known for his focus on business operations, partnerships, and scaling the company's offerings and is deeply passionate about education and strives to help students and teachers unleash their creativity through Canva.

Cliff is a driving force behind initiatives such as providing free access to Canva for all schools and districts, as well as creating specialized education templates. Currently, over 30 million students and teachers are using Canva.

Danielle is the Associate Director of the Advisory and Insights team at Asialink Business. In this role she leads evidence-based strategy and market insights projects to support Australian organisations capitalise on opportunities with Asia. She has a background in management consulting and government, with significant experience in enhancing Australia’s engagement with Asia.
Prior to joining Asialink Business Danielle was a Senior Consultant at Nous Group, where she worked on a range of public policy and strategy projects for clients in government, non-government organisations and the private sector. Danielle has previously held Asia policy roles at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Department of Defence, and worked as a Research Associate at the Lowy Institute for International Policy. She was a Steering Committee member of the Australia India Youth Dialogue and has published widely on Asian strategic and economic policy.

Vinisha is the Managing Director and Founder of p3 Studio, specialising in helping businesses scale through people, partnerships, and purpose. With experience across corporate, government, and tech sectors in Australia, the UK, and the Middle East, she brings deep expertise in human behavior and commercial strategy. 

Vinisha's career has spanned political campaigns, strategic roles at Ernst & Young and Boston Consulting Group, and recent culture work in the Middle East. She works with leaders to align their teams, design organisations, and navigate growth challenges, always with a focus on driving sustainable growth. 

As someone that can see multiple sides and the impact of human behaviour on decision making, Vinisha collaborates with leaders to shape their strategies, grow their brands, and build impactful companies. Some of the ways she has helped include endgame clarity, co-founder alignment, M&A due diligence, training and culture uplift.

She is a vocal advocate for diversity across all ecosystems and raising awareness on the impact of domestic violence in the community. She is also the co-host a podcast “The Growth Cartel” – where she educates the ecosystem on trends and interviews local and global talent. She is a trusted and inspiring speaker and works closely with startups, scaleups, and large enterprises.

Tim holds the role of Co-Managing Director of Potentia Capital, an Australian private equity firm that invests in and grows local software businesses. Tim is also a non-executive Director of Transurban Ltd. From 2019 – 2024, Tim was also the President of the Business Council of Australia, Australia’s premier business lobby group.

Prior to assuming these roles, Tim spent 12 years as CEO of MYOB - a leading provider of online accounting, payroll and tax solutions to SMEs and their advisers. During Tim’s tenure MYOB was regularly named as one of Australia’s most innovative companies, was awarded the prestigious Canstar award for a best in category product, doubled team engagement, saw small business subscribers grow eightfold to over 800,000 and enterprise value grow sixfold to over $2.5Bn.
In earlier years Tim’s career has spanned the markets of Asia, Europe and the USA, including eight years in Silicon Valley. During this time Tim was a Founding Member of the Internet Advertising Bureau where, along with other internet pioneers, he wrote the first set of advertising measurement standards for the web.

With a career spanning 20+ years, Anthony Saliba has mastered the art of bridging healthcare's past and future - from developing X-ray films to driving the adoption of digital Health & medical AI innovation.

A trained diagnostic radiographer from St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, and an MBA graduate from the University of Adelaide, Anthony has held senior roles with Siemens, Carl Zeiss, and Philips.

Now heading Annalise AI's APAC sales, he champions growth and partnerships with leading healthcare providers and technology companies to drive expansion across the region. Known for launching innovative health tech and AI solutions, Anthony is dedicated to empowering healthcare providers and expanding AI-driven innovation throughout diverse APAC markets.

Shannon is responsible for product strategy and delivery across multiple Airwallex domains including card issuing, online payments, business accounts, and platform infrastructure.

Shannon was an early employee of Palantir Technologies, where he founded Palantir's international operations in both Australia-New Zealand and Europe. He was responsible for building out the initial business development and delivery teams in both regions, where clients spanned both government and large commercial enterprise. Shannon has a combined degree in Computer Science and Mechatronic Engineering and has focussed on the intersection of software engineering and technical business development throughout his career, including in an advisory capacity to numerous Aussie startups.

Chenoa Stockton is a proud Waka Waka and Kalkadoon woman with a deep commitment to advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in education, sport and technology. During her university years, Chenoa volunteered extensively, teaching in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory and abroad in countries such as Vanuatu, the Maldives, and the Philippines. Her passion for digital excellence began with internships at the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence, where she worked closely with the Indigenous Digital Excellence team.

Starting her career as a high school Health, Physical Education, and Maths teacher, Chenoa quickly developed a specialisation in engaging students with diverse learning needs, especially those who struggled in mainstream classrooms. Her focus on differentiated learning led to a career shift into DEI roles, where she worked to foster inclusion and equity in both sports and education.

Currently, Chenoa brings her unique perspective and experience to Deadly Coders, where she is focused on creating culturally safe and supportive pathways for First Nations students to excel in STEM and technical careers. She is passionate about empowering Indigenous youth and advocating for structural changes that ensure long-term diversity and inclusion across industries.

Sarah is the General Counsel and Company Secretary at Culture Amp Pty Ltd, a technology start-up founded in Melbourne with employees based in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Berlin and London. Culture Amp developed the leading employee feedback platform and actively engages with employees to improve workplace culture across more than 7,500 companies worldwide. Culture Amp raised its Series F in 2021 at a valuation of USD$1.5billion.

Sarah has managed teams across legal, corporate development, bizops & strategy, security and technology and has seen the company grow from circa 300-1000 employees across 3 fundraises, secondaries and a bunch of fun acquisitions along the way.

Sarah was previously the General Counsel & Business Affairs Director for the Australian Radio Network andheld previous roles as Senior Counsel at Fairfax Media and General Counsel and Company Secretary at Nova Entertainment, a media & broadcast group owned by Lachlan Murdoch.

Sarah is always happy to give you legal advice as long as you barrack for Hawthorn.

Katrina is an experienced, creative and outcome-focused leader with a proven track record of delivering results and transforming businesses for sustainable growth. She has over thirty years’ experience in the global technology sector, previously holding senior leadership roles in Australia, New Zealand, China, and the USA.

In her role as Vice President and Managing Director for Adobe ANZ, Katrina is responsible for Adobe supporting clients to drive their digital engagement to new levels, and customers’ success across Adobe Experience Cloud, Adobe Creative Cloud, and Adobe Document Cloud.

Katrina is passionate about career development and digital skilling within the IT industry, also serving on the TAFE NSW Advisory Board, a Careers NSW Ambassador, and supporting the development of women leaders through Chief Executive Women. Her passion for culture, diversity, and inclusion in high-performance organisations saw her recognised as ‘CEO of the Year’ at the 2021 Australian LGBTQ Inclusion Awards.

Dr. Tanvir Uddin loves innovating at the intersection of access to financial services, technology and sustainability. He is the Founder & CEO of the Wholesum Responsible Fund which helps investors obtain competitive returns and positive societal impact through investing in small business and microfinance assets, particularly in emerging markets such as Indonesia and Middle East. Previously, Tanvir was Co-Founder and CFO of Vyro, a VC-backed sustainable mobility platform that uses technology to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles. He is a former management consultant at McKinsey where he worked with Kate Pounder and a Commercial Manager at Australia's leading green fintech, Brighte.

Tanvir holds a PhD from the University of Sydney where he examined the intersection of Islamic law and sustainable development through microfinance programs in Indonesia and Bangladesh. He also holds First-Class Honours degrees from the University of New South Wales where he was a Scientia Scholar. Tanvir completed a Masters of Islamic Finance from IE Business School as part of the Islamic Development Bank’s Islamic Finance Talent Development Program in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Gabrielle Upton has 30 years combined experience as a lawyer, banker, government minister and university Deputy Chancellor.

Gabrielle serves as a Non-executive Director of The Florey Institute of Neuroscience, Netball Australia and O’Connell Street Associates. She is a Strategic Advisor at King Wood Mallesons and Proto Axiom, a medical biotechnology investment incubator, and an Advisory Board Member of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Quantum Biotechnology.

From 2011 to 2023, Gabrielle served in senior NSW Government roles including as the first female NSW Attorney General, Minister for the Environment, Local Government and Heritage, Minister for Family and Community Services and Minister for Sport and Recreation.

Gabrielle was Deputy Chancellor of the University of New South Wales from 2006 until 2009 and served on the University Council from 2002.

Jodie Vujasinovic (Fox) is a seasoned entrepreneur, fashion industry disruptor, and sought-after advisor to venture scale startups.

In 2009, Jodie cofounded Shoes of Prey, a platform that allowed customers to design their own shoes. A fully vertically integrated business that raised over US$27 million, designed over six-million shoes, Shoes of Prey made significant contributions to the world of fashion and e-commerce. While scaling the business globally, she was named the Elle Magazine Fashion Innovator of the Year, one of the Top 10 Australian Female Entrepreneurs, and Telstra Businesswoman of the Year.

Jodie has now turned her attention to the creation of her next venture while advising and investing in startups.

Marc Washbourne is the Co-Founder and CEO of ReadyTech (ASX:RDY), a global vertical SaaS powerhouse that has achieved remarkable growth since its inception in 1999.

With over 25 years of leadership in business and technology, Marc is responsible for shaping ReadyTech’s strategy and vision for excellence – guiding a team of 500+ ReadyTechers, delivering mission-critical technology solutions to 4,600+ customers.

Under Marc's leadership, ReadyTech has become an ASX-listed entity with a global presence that supports critical human-led sectors to thrive – from job seekers and apprentices, through to citizens and employees.

Recognised for his remarkable entrepreneurial journey, Marc was recently awarded the coveted title of Technology Entrepreneur of the Year 2024. This prestigious accolade acknowledges visionary leaders who boldly redefine industries – serving as a testament to Marc’s transformative impact on the technology sector, as well as his relentless pursuit of purpose, excellence and innovation.

In 2020, Marc also joined the board of the Federal Government’s Digital Skills Organisation. Here, he passionately advocates for digital skills in Australia, contributing his expertise to shape the nation's Skills Reform agenda, ensuring that Australia remains at the forefront of technological innovation and digital literacy.

Accommodation Hubs:

Crown, South Wharf (MCEC) 10 mins by car

Docklands 10 mins by car

Southbank 15 mins by car

South Melbourne, Albert Park 15 mins by car

Parking:

200+ unmetered and untimed spaces on Plummer & Smith St

Public Transport:

Bus Route 234 & 235

and 5 min on foot

Time to Airport:

20-25 min by car

Time to CBD:

10 min by car

Sponsors and Partners

Exhibitors

Summit Exhibitors

Victorian Government

The Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)

FCX (from the Finclear Group)

IDVerse

Tesltra Infraco

Project F

Agenda

November 11, 2024
November 12, 2024
November 13, 2024

November 11, 2024

Registration

12:30 - 17:00

Registration

Registration open from 1230pm

Social Events

17:30 - 18:15

Partners Summit: Launch of Technology-Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Standards (T-EDI)

This panel will mark the launch of the Technology-Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Standards developed by ProjectF in collaboration with the Tech Council. It will explore the significance of the standards in an Australian and global context and build on the earlier panel session on diversity and inclusion.

Amanda Anderson (USA)

Eglantine Etiemble

Laura Ford

Emma Jones

18:30 - 20:30

National Tech Summit Welcome Drinks

Sponsored by Stand with Crypto, celebrate the opening of the 2024 National Tech Summit.

Included in National Tech Summit ticket. See ticket page for all ticket options.

Tom Duff Gordon (UK)

Simon Kennedy MP

Track 1 Plenary - Warehouse Space

12:30 - 17:30

TCA Partners Summit

Launch of the TCA Partners Forum

Session 1:
Diversity & Inclusion – An Imperative for the Growing Tech Workforce
This panel will explore the development of industry-wide standards aimed at increasing the employment and retention of women in technical roles. With input from leaders who have successfully transformed their organisations’ approaches to diversity, the session will examine how to implement concrete, measurable standards that can uplift women in tech, drive inclusion, and ensure long-term success.

Session 2:
Showcasing Australian Tech Innovation
This panel will explore how emerging technologies are transforming industries beyond traditional tech sectors. With leaders from companies that have successfully integrated cutting-edge technologies into their operations, the session will focus on how tech innovations such as AI, automation, and data analytics are driving growth and improving efficiency across various industries, from finance to retail to manufacturing.

Collaboration Session:
With challenges too complex for one organisation to solve on their own, this collaborative session will bring together a diverse group of partners and members to help set the agenda for the TCA Partner Forum.

The session will comprise of four rounds of active discussion (15 mins) across 10 tables with each table working to identify issues and the opportunities to address them through practical initiatives under four key workstreams – Tech Talent & Skills, Tech Investment, Tech Innovation and Tech Adoption.

TCA Partners Summit ticket $275. See ticket page for all ticket options.

Tim Allen

Amanda Anderson (USA)

Dr Catherine Ball

Blair Beaton

Aubrey Blanche-Sarellano

Anthony Eisen

Eglantine Etiemble

Laura Ford

Brendan Hopper

Emma Jones

Kate Jones

Damian Kassabgi

Andrew Leong

Julian Lincoln

Chris O'Connell

Vinisha Rathod

Peter Scougall

Chenoa Stockton

Jakub Zverina

The Hon. Bill Shorten MP

Track 2 - Workshop Space

No Scheduled items for this day

Tech Council of Australia

Contact us

Event Details

Tickets

Program

Speakers

Tim Allen

Amanda Anderson (USA)

Peter Anstee

Dr Catherine Ball

Andrew Barnes

Blair Beaton

James Bergin

Craig Blair

Aubrey Blanche-Sarellano

Dr Jess Blomfield

Dr Philip Bos

Sebastian Brash

Mike Cannon-Brookes

Dr Andrew Charlton MP

Jeremy Chetty

Bronwen Clune

Lou Compagnone

Dr Kate Cornick

Nick Crocker

Robyn Denholm

Victor Dominello

Jo Dooley

Andrew Downes

Tom Duff Gordon (UK)

Peter Dunne

Anthony Eisen

Didier Elzinga

Eglantine Etiemble

Scott Farquhar

Sophie Farthing

Madeline Ferguson

Shivaune Field

Mark Finn

The Hon Paul Fletcher MP

Nicholas Flood

Laura Ford

Dino Georgiou

Mark Gibson

Amy Glancey

Harry Godber

Annie Haggar

Ahmed Haider

Prashant Haldankar

Bronwyn Halfpenny MP

Stewart Hay

Dr. Cecelia Herbert

Brendan Hopper

Madeleine Houghton

The Hon Ed Husic MP

Dean Jagger

Matthew Jensen

Chris Jewell

Emma Jones

Kate Jones

Damian Kassabgi

Simon Kennedy MP

Wendell Keuneman

Abdullah Khan

Steve King

Nicole Kleid Small

Andrew Leong

Dr Belle Lim

Julian Lincoln

Erika Ly

Jared Lynch

Sally McCutchan

Tom McMahon

Ed McManus

Jamie Morse

Ben Moxey

Dr Daniel Mulino MP

Sarah O'Carroll

Chris O'Connell

Roisin O'Neill