Speakers
Mark is an Industry Analyst and Executive Consultant focussed on working with leading Technology providers to drive opportunities for growth and transformation. An experienced board level executive and CEO with over 25 years experience spanning markets in Asia Pacific and Europe and businesses from large multi-national corporations to small/mid cap private equity ventures. Mark has held key roles including CEO & Company Director (Private Equity), Managing Director / Country Manager, Chief Commercial Officer, Sales/Marketing Director and Services Director. Mark has developed extensive experience in strategic and operational planning working for some of the world’s largest companies including Microsoft, Vodafone and Juniper Networks. Mark’s roles have also encompassed significant transformation programs with a focus on new markets and GTM strategy including channel development and effectiveness.
Nancy has over 20 years of experience in how technology was and is transforming society, working for different IT companies, amongst which five years for Microsoft in the Netherlands and Europe. She loves to share her passion for technology and combines that valuable inside information with her experience in training and education.
She inspires companies how to survive in the The Beyond and travels the world taking business leaders to innovation hubs like Silicon Valley, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Berlin, using that first-hand inspiration as a continuous and valuable source, thus keeping the keynote content and examples on the cutting edge of the latest technologies, developments, and disruptive new business models.
David Shein built Australia's first tech unicorn, network integration and distribution services company, Com Tech Communications in July 1987 that was later sold to Dimension Data for an enterprise value of more than $1 billion. Shein has since been founding, mentoring and investing in start-ups and is the author of The Dumbest Guy at the Table: How I Founded Australia's First Tech Unicorn.
Stela Solar is the inaugural Director of Australia’s National AI Centre, with the mission to accelerate positive AI adoption and innovation that benefits business and community. Currently, Stela also serves as Co-chair of the Commonwealth AI Consortium.
She has previously held roles at Microsoft including Global Director of AI Solution Sales, as well as roles across IT distributors and technology startups. Over the past 15 years, Stela has led business model transformations which enable organisations to capture new revenue opportunities and build competitive advantage with emerging technologies such as Cloud, IoT and AI.
With a background in sustainability and creative industries, Stela thrives in ambiguity, change and purpose-led organisations. Outside of the technology arena, Stela enjoys the challenge of competitive sailing and tries to find time to play cello and piano.
Sample presentation topics:
Amidst an accelerating and shifting global AI landscape, Australia holds an opportunity to build on its strengths, find new advantage, and accelerate economic impact through AI adoption and innovation. In this session we will share AI trends from Australia’s industry, the imperative for Safe and Responsible AI, and reveal a growing AI industry that’s solving Australia’s greatest challenges.
We live in a world of high complexity. From the data jungle and growing population, to process complexities and some of the most existential challenges facing our society. In this context of grand challenges, we need a grand tool to help us navigate the complexity. AI is one such tool. AI can be our co-pilot in this complex world, helping us lead our lives in accordance with our human values.
We live in a world of high complexity. From the data jungle and ageing population, to process complexities and some of the most existential challenges facing our society. In this context of grand challenges, Australia holds unique advantages and opportunities that could bring economic and social benefit to Australians and the world. We will discuss AI as our co-pilot through complexity and Australia’s unique advantages during this accelerating AI wave.
We live in a world of high complexity. From the data jungle and growing population, to process complexities and some of the most existential challenges facing our society. In this context of grand challenges, we need a grand tool to help us navigate the complexity. AI is one such tool. AI can be our co-pilot in this complex world, our opportunity is helping us lead our lives in accordance with our human values.
Brad Clarke is a veteran of the ANZ channel and Microsoft Partner Management Leader whose team is responsible for the strategy and growth of Distribution, Telco's & their resellers. With over 15 years of experience at Microsoft, he has held various roles in Sales and Channel Leadership in Australia. Brad values strong partnerships and is committed to supporting the success of Microsoft's partners across the region.
Mark Manglicmot leads Security Services delivery at Arctic Wolf, the leader in Security Operations. A US Air Force Veteran and executive consultant, his experience is concentrated in enterprise security strategy, APT incident response, adversary hunting tactics, security operation centre (SOC) formation, Red Teaming and security analytics.
Mark’s USAF service of nine years included over five years in the Air Force Computer Emergency Response Team (AFCERT) where he was certified as a “Combat Mission Ready” Crew Commander and Assistant Director of Operations to direct real-time cyber-response actions across the DoD.
He has taught USAF course lectures and college seminars on network warfare and is a published Author.
Mark also serves as the current Vice President of the Cyber & Analytics Board of Advisors for the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Craig Scroggie is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of NEXTDC, Australia’s leading Data-Centre-as-a-Service provider. Prior to becoming CEO in June 2012, Mr Scroggie served on the Board of Directors since the IPO (2010) as a Non-Executive Director, including as Chairman of the Audit and Risk Management Committee.
Mr Scroggie has more than 25 years’ experience in the ICT industry, having held senior positions with Symantec, Veritas Software, Computer Associates, EMC Corporation and Fujitsu. Prior to joining NEXTDC, Mr Scroggie was Symantec’s Vice President & Managing Director for the Pacific Region.
Mr Scroggie currently serves on the Board of Sovereign Cloud Holdings (ASX:SOV) and also serves on the University of Southern Queensland Business School Advisory Board and is Chairman of the La Trobe University Business School Advisory Board and holds the position of Adjunct Professor.
Mr Scroggie is a Graduate of the University of Southern Queensland and holds an Advanced Certificate in Information Technology, a Graduate Certificate in Management, a Postgraduate Diploma in Management, a Master of Business Administration; and is a Graduate and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
In 2013 Mr Scroggie was awarded the University of Southern Queensland Faculty of Business & Law Alumnus of the Year and in 2015 was inducted into the ARN ICT Industry Awards Hall of Fame.
Greg Sharp, with a robust 30-year tenure in the IT industry across the UK and New Zealand, stands out as an exemplary leader in contract management for MSPs. As a CISSP-certified IT security engineer, he currently spearheads ZenContract as its Managing Director, coordinating a skilled team across New Zealand, Australia, Philippines, United Kingdom, and Canada. His insight is valued on advisory boards for notable industry giants such as Datto, Autotask, Dropbox, Microsoft, and Cisco in the APAC region, and he maintains active roles on three MSP advisory boards. Additionally, Greg contributes his expertise as a director in various businesses.
His passion for the MSP industry is not just theoretical; Greg has practically demonstrated his acumen by successfully building and selling three MSP businesses. His most recent venture set a record in New Zealand, being acquired by a government division, a testament to its exceptional people, culture, systems, and streamlined business processes. One of these innovative processes evolved into ZenContract, a solution revolutionizing how MSPs manage contracts and agreements, ensuring complete ownership and efficiency in these critical operations.
Greg’s journey is characterized by a deep commitment to enhancing MSP efficiency, particularly in contract and agreement management, making him a pivotal figure for businesses seeking to optimize their service delivery in the IT sector.
I started my career before computers were a thing and have enjoyed being part of the digital revolution. It was exciting being part of Telecom’s first computer system implementation - ICMS (Integrated Customer Management System) into New Zealand. I then worked on some global implementations.
We then became a part of EDS, which gave me great exposure into disciplines and methodologies that resulted in my in-depth knowledge of Software Development Life Cycles (both AGILE and Waterfall) and ITIL Quality frameworks, enabling me to deliver exceptional services within many different environments.
With over 20 years’ experience in leading Technology teams for companies such as TOWER, Vodafone, Mercury and Downer NZ. I believe I bring a level of sensibility and effective decision making that ensures technology enables the business outcomes. I have been able to use my experience and ‘can do’ attitude to turn hairy projects around and also to improve the level of service being provided to both internal and external customers. My philosophy on ‘keeping it simple, factual and focused’ this has helped in many difficult situations.
I have a very open and humanistic leadership style with a proven ability to take on significant challenges. I am deeply passionate about developing high performing teams that have a focus on service excellence. I achieve this through building credibility with team members, peers, and customers. I demonstrate integrity and provide an environment that allows for collaboration, open and honest communication. Success for me is seeing delight in the customer’s eyes and a sense of achievement/pride in the team.
Currently as the CIO for Abano Healthcare, I lead the trans-Tasman Technology function to enable Abano to achieve its aspirations as a strategic enabler across all elements of the organisation, not only the employee experience, but creating differentiation in terms of the ongoing development of services, products, and customer experience.
Matthew is a Partner with KPMG New Zealand and leads their cyber security practice nationally. He’s also part of KPMG’s global network of cyber security leaders and the wider consulting and digital practices in New Zealand. He has recently come from Datacom where he led their connectivity and security practice nationally, including managed cyber security across Australia and New Zealand.
Matthew’s goal is to support the evolution of organisations within a constantly changing high-risk environment, and to enable this with outcome-focused digital services and technology. He’s based in Wellington with his wife and three children, but you’ll often bump into him in Auckland and other centres around New Zealand and Australia. If you enjoy snow sports, catch-up with on Mt Ruapehu every winter.
Michael Fagan, CEO of Quitch, brings over 25 years of experience as a seasoned Non-Executive Director and advisor to CEOs and Managing Directors. At Quitch, he leads an educational technology platform used globally, including by over 30 top-200 universities. As Chief Transformation Officer at Village Roadshow, he transitioned the company to Private Equity ownership, focusing on digital transformation and premium experiences across cinemas, theme parks, and hospitality venues. Formerly CTO of Kmart Group, he led IT and operations for a $10bn retailer, achieving a 700% online business growth and world-first cloud migration. Michael has also held significant roles at Accenture and has a Bachelor of Engineering from University College Dublin and an MBA from Deakin University. He is a Six-Sigma black belt and AWS Cloud certified.
Scott is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in building IT companies across the Asia Pacific region. In 2008, he founded iasset.com, the world's first channel-friendly revenue and sales automation platform designed specifically for IT vendors, distributors, resellers and MSPs. Today, iasset.com is trusted by leading tech industry brands, managing over $20 billion worth of assets across its global customer base.
Before iasset.com, Scott co-founded and served as Executive Chairman of Distribution Central. Under his leadership, the company grew from a five-person team with a $1.7 million turnover to an organization with more than 160 employees across two countries and revenues exceeding $520 million. Prior to that, Scott established other successful technology businesses that were later acquired, including consulting firm MarketEntry and network distributors LAN Systems and Micro Networks.
Dave Howden is the CEO of SupaHuman AI, a NZ company at the forefront of automating complex work using Generative AI. With over two decades of experience in the tech industry, including key roles at BT, Orange UK, Umbrellar, and Pax8, Dave is a seasoned technology executive, with the DNA of an Engineer.
At SupaHuman AI, Dave leads a team dedicated to freeing smart minds from tedious work. Using AI to automate the compilation of complex reports, response to sales RFPs, and creation of long-form documents, all while ensuring security, accuracy, and seamless integration with clients' unique operating environments.
Jacqui is one of Australia’s most experienced cyber security and risk professionals, with a career spanning nearly three decades. She is currently leads Accenture’s Security business for Australia and New Zealand. Prior to taking on this role as head of one of the largest security services businesses in Australia, she was a partner at EY, working with financial services clients. Prior to this she led Telstra’s cyber security business and previously held various leadership roles in startups and larger technology companies such as IBM and HP both here and in the UK.
Jacqui is an advisory board member for UNICEF and Coco, both organisations with a powerful intent and ability to make the world a better place for less privileged people. She also regularly briefs board members on cyber security and risk and has been closely involved with training and uplift programmes for non executive directors in these areas.
Jacqui is a passionate supporter of Inclusion and Diversity, and Chair of Australia’s largest and longest running network for women in IT and telecommunications, FITT. She is a founding member of the CyberShift Alliance, a group of senior industry experts working to implement cultural change around the experience of working in the cyber industry for women and diverse minorities. She is a founding member of the Better CyberSecurity Coalition, a global organisation committed to changing the way businesses approach cybersecurity challenges.
Jacqui is often asked to speak on current events in cyber and industry dynamics by the media and at cyber conferences here and globally.. She has been involved in several confidence building measures and country to country engagement initiatives. In 2019, she was recognised for her industry contribution as an inaugural Fellow of the Australia Information Security industry, the peak body for cyber and risk professionals in Australia. Jacqui began her career as a military intelligence officer.
Sandip Kumar is an Executive Director and Chief Digital Officer at Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service. Sandip was the inaugural Executive Director for Transformation and Digital and has since had his portfolio expanded to provide executive leadership and oversight of several strategic divisions. These include Strategy and Service Planning, Transformation (Advisory and Delivery), Research (Operations and Development), Digital, Information, Major Capital (Planning, Delivery and Commissioning). Sandip has established a number of unique capabilities including functions like Digital Experience, Data Science and Operations, Transformation Advisory, Transformation Delivery. These capabilities enable Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service to co-design, build and deploy digital products and new models of care that are bringing to life the future of healthcare. Sandip also oversees the Health Centre of Digital Experiences, a new function aiming to export digital solutions prototyped and validated at Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service to the marketplace. Sandip brings a diverse background, previously having held roles across public and private sector, including consulting and advisory, corporate finance, finance, strategy, transformation, infrastructure, research, executive and operational management. Driven by a profound sense of purpose and desire to make a positive impact, Sandip strives to leave a last legacy whilst delivering industry firsts.
A former editor of Computerworld and the Sunday Star-Times business section, Rob O'Neill has been covering business and technology issues since the mid-1990s. A two-times Qantas award winner, Rob also spent several years as an IT industry principal analyst covering the Asia-Pacific region with Sydney-based Strategic Research, now Fairfax Business Research. He then joined the Sydney Morning Herald as deputy editor of its Next technology section before returning to New Zealand in 2005. He has written for ZDNet, currently writes news for IDG's Reseller News and has an MA in History from the University of Auckland.
Cathy O’Sullivan is Editorial Director A/NZ for Foundry’s flagship enterprise brands, CIO and CSO, as well as its Channel publications, ARN and Reseller News.
Based in Auckland, Cathy has worked in digital, print and broadcast media for almost two decades in newsrooms in New Zealand and Europe. She has held senior news leadership roles at NZ’s largest media organisations, including the New Zealand Herald, Stuff and Newshub.
She is an experienced event host and moderator and leads the prestigious CIO50 and CSO30 awards program in both Australia and New Zealand.
Cathy is a founder of the Irish Business Network of New Zealand, a mentor for children’s charity Pillars New Zealand, and a board advisor for Take2, a social venture that helps those going through the prison system create better lives by teaching them valuable web development and life skills. She also sits on the advisory panel for Enterprise Ireland in ANZ.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Sociology from University College Cork and a postgraduate certificate in Human Potential for the Digital Economy from Tech Futures Lab.
Stephen, the CEO of Qrious and a chartered member of the Institute of Directors, has over 25 years of experience in the tech industry, with the last 7 focused on AI.
His purpose-driven leadership targets projects of national significance, creating diverse talent pathways and helping New Zealand businesses embrace emerging technologies.
Do you have a passion for beer and cybersecurity? Then you’ve likely heard of Kendra Ross, a dynamic leader, entrepreneur, and community builder in the cybersecurity space.
Kendra co-founded Duo NZ Ltd, New Zealand’s first and largest cybersecurity distributor, and PS Duo, a cybersecurity resourcing company. After a successful sale in 2019, Kendra exited both businesses in 2021, leaving behind a legacy of innovation and growth.
Seventeen years ago, Kendra envisioned a vibrant cybersecurity community, rich with industry growth, skill development, and informal intelligence sharing. In 2008, she brought this vision to life with the founding of 1st Tuesday, a forum now supporting over 1,500 senior security professionals. In 2016, she co-founded Project Wednesday, a platform inspiring careers in cybersecurity with foundation partners like Xero, TradeMe, BNZ, and KPMG.
Kendra’s dedication didn’t stop there. In 2014, she co-founded and currently chairs the Information Security Awards NZ (iSANZ), celebrating excellence in the InfoSec and cybersecurity sectors. Her leadership extended to the appointment on New Zealand’s first CERT Board in 2016, and she has served on several government task forces in recent years on cybersecurity.
Her influence continues as a member of the Tech Futures Lab Advisory Board, shaping Masters and Postgraduate Programs in Technology and Innovation. Currently, she serves as an Independent Director on the board of Infometrics, New Zealand’s premier economist, and advises numerous other boards. Kendra is also the lead seed investor in the cybersecurity startup Onwardly, further demonstrating her commitment to fostering innovation in the industry.
Among her many accolades, Kendra is particularly proud of being the first female inducted into the NZ Reseller Innovation Hall of Fame in 2018. A frequent speaker, panelist, and media commentator, Kendra is celebrated not only for her expertise but also as an inspiring role model for women in governance, entrepreneurship, and cybersecurity.
Kendra Ross is a name synonymous with leadership, innovation, and community in the cybersecurity world.
Julia Talevski is a senior journalist for ARN responsible for producing content and covering stories on a wide cross section of the IT industry, businesses and upcoming trends in the market. Julia has spent more than 10 years developing her storytelling skills and continuously builds upon a strong network across the industry.
Nyssa Waters is a Co-Founder of Being AI and CEO of Being Customer Solutions, where she leads a dynamic firm driving transformative business solutions through Artificial Intelligence and other accelerating technologies. With over 20 years in emerging technologies, Nyssa has held sales and technology leadership roles at Google, Telstra and Spark NZ across NZ & Australia.
Nyssa is known to be an innovator, challenger, futurist and customer outcome advocate. Nyssa's most important role as a mother to 2 young children motivates her to leverage new technology to create a better future for humans to 'be' again.