The Data & AI Summit VIC 2026 brings together data, analytics, and AI leaders to discuss machine learning, data strategy, and the impact of AI-driven innovation across industries in Victoria.
250+
Delegates
25+
Speakers
8+
Sessions
Exploring machine learning, data strategy, and AI-driven innovation with data, analytics, and AI leaders across industries.
The pace of change in data and AI is redefining how organisations operate, compete, and create value. The Data & AI Summit brings together senior data, analytics and AI leaders across generative and agentic, to explore how emerging technologies are reshaping business models, decision-making, customer experiences, and enterprise operations.
Designed to foster cross-industry collaboration and practical insight-sharing, this Data & AI event will examine how organisations are moving beyond experimentation to embed big data and AI into the core of strategy, operations, and innovation, driving data driven outcomes at scale.
Across the day, leaders will gain insight into the latest advancements in modern data foundations, governance, and operating models, alongside the real world practical lessons, challenges, and opportunities shaping the next era of intelligent business. We will dive deeper into AI and ML innovation, including neural networks and reinforcement learning.
Meet our Speakers
Chief AI Officer & Chief Data Officer
Chief AI & Brand Officer
Chief AI Governance Officer
Principal Product Manager
GM Retail Transformation
Assistant Commissioner, Senior Director - Data Management
Head of Data, AI and Technology Advancement
Head of Data Science & AI
Head of Data Science
Head of Analytics Enablement & Engagement
Senior Director, R&D Data Excellence CoE Lead
Head of Data Retention
Featured Topics for the Day
View Agenda
8:30 am
Registration & Refreshments
9:00 am
Welcome Remarks
9:15 am
Keynote
In conversation with NASA’s Acting Chief Data & Super Intelligence Officer, Kevin Murphy
Unpacking the data infrastructure and AI powering humanity’s return to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
Kevin Murphy (Virtual)
Acting Chief Data and Super Intelligence Officer
NASA
Dr Boris Kelly-Gerreyn
Chief Data Officer
Australian Bureau of Meteorology
9:40 am
Panel Discussion
In the Room with 4 Executives: Where Data Investments Pay Off (& Where They Don't)
Honest reflections on which bets are actually delivering ROI, and which have been costly distractions
The hidden costs of scale – from talent and infrastructure to governance and change management, what leaders wish they’d known earlier
Redefining value beyond efficiency, and where the next big wins (and pitfalls) are likely to emerge
Melina Cruickshank
Chief AI & Brand Officer
Built
Glenn Waterson
CEO, OVO Energy Australia
GM Retail Transformation, AGL
Michael Mintrom
Chief AI Governance Officer
Monash University
Sandhya Iyer
General Manager - Data Science
Sportsbet
Simon Trilsbach
Regional Vice President of Sales
Tealium
10:20 am
AI Made Building Cheap. It Didn't Make Owning Cheap
AI has made it easy for data and product teams to build their own AI analysts and agents. But building is 10% of the work. You own the other 90% forever. This session shares a simple framework for deciding what your team should build, and what it should never own, with lessons from Macquarie, ELMO, Verisk and CWT.
Ivan Seow
Senior Director, Product Marketing
ThoughtSpot
10:40 am
Morning Tea & Networking
Stream A: Strategy & Execution
11:20 am
Panel Discussion
Rethinking Data Governance for a More Distributed Enterprise
Adapting governance models as data ownership and decision-making become increasingly decentralised across the business
Balancing self-service access and speed with trust, accountability and consistency at scale
Improving visibility, stewardship and responsible data usage without creating unnecessary friction
Daniel Lichtenstein
Head of Data Retention
Bupa
Craig Davis
Head of Data & Insights
Racing Victoria
Belinda Campbell
Director, Environment Data Governance
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Jon Benson
National Leader, Data Governance and Privacy
PwC
12:00 pm
From Experiment to Production: A Guide to Trustworthy, Resilient AI Agents
AI agents are becoming the new front door to businesses, often serving as the first or only interface customers use to get help, complete transactions, or make decisions. The session focuses on the risks of AI agents giving incorrect answers, misreading intent, or degrading over time, and the impact this can have on business processes and customer trust.
Haydn Bowers
Observability Advisor
Splunk
Stream B: Data Infrastructure & Engineering
11:20 am
Panel Discussion
Managing Scale, Complexity & Performance Across Modern Data Platforms
Managing growing complexity across modern data platforms while supporting increasing demands for scalability, performance, governance and real-time access to data
Lessons learned around interoperability, platform sprawl, observability and balancing flexibility, cost and standardisation across evolving data environments
Veli Fikret
Assistant Commissioner, Senior Director - Data Management
ATO
Mark Sergeant
Head of Data Platform & Engineering
EnergyAustralia
Dipika Padhi
Head of Data Platforms
Bendigo Bank
Dr. Christopher Moore
General Manager, Corporate Strategy, Data & Analytics
ComfortDelGro Australia (CDC)
12:00 pm
Building the Foundation for Agentic AI
Explore the journey from Data Labs to AI Sandboxes and the rise of Agentic AI. Learn how leading organisations are balancing innovation with governance, security, and operational control, building the trusted platforms and frameworks required to safely scale AI experimentation and unlock business value across the enterprise.
Matthew Drayson
Senior Consulting Partner
Nexon
12:20 pm
Lunch & Networking
Stream A: Strategy & Execution
1:10 pm
Under Pressure: Decisions in Data & AI
1:40 pm
Panel Discussion
Moving Beyond AI Pilots: Lessons From Organisations Seeing Real Impact
Lessons from organisations that have successfully moved beyond isolated AI pilots to deliver measurable operational, customer and commercial impact across the business
What failed early, what changed along the way, and the key decisions around ownership, governance, adoption and scaling that helped turn experimentation into long-term value
Phoebe Twiggs
Head of Data Science & AI
Allianz
Sean Lee
Head of Analytics Enablement & Engagement
Cleanaway
Dominique Barker
Chief Information Officer
Australian Institute of Family Studies
Simon Wilson
Head of Gen AI Data Science
Telstra (Former)
2:20 pm
Scaling AI Responsibly: How Governance Drives Growth and Innovation
AI governance is no longer just about putting guardrails around risk. As organisations scale AI across copilots, agents, analytics, and business workflows, the real challenge is creating governance that keeps pace with growth in data, faster deployment cycles, and changing regulation.
Blair Hasforth
APJ Director
OneTrust
Stream B: Data Infrastructure & Engineering
1:10 pm
Under Pressure: Decisions in Data & AI
1:40 pm
Panel Discussion
Engineering Enterprise Systems for Agentic AI
Building memory, orchestration, evaluation and control frameworks for production-grade AI agents
The infrastructure, data and governance challenges of deploying agents that can execute work across enterprise environments
Ashish Garg
Principal Product Manager
Walmart
Leo Lopes
Head of Data Science
SEEK
Serena Yau
Head of Architecture and Data - Enterprise Customer Contact
ANZ
Michael Adams
Learning Analytics & AI Engineering
Balwyn High School
2:20 pm
Attendee Spotlight
2:40 pm
Afternoon Tea & Networking
3:00 pm
Sovereign AI: What it means for Australia and why it matters to you
Simon Kriss
Australia's Leading Voice in AI Adoption
Sovereign Australia AI Founder & CEO
