Melbourne CIO Community
Executive Summit
10 November 2026 | Crown Conference Centre, Melbourne
10 November 2026
Crown Conference Centre, Melbourne
Collaborate with your peers
Get together with Melbourne's top CIOs to tackle shared business challenges and critical priorities facing your role today. Participate in this one-day, local program with peer-driven topics and interactive discussions with your true C-level peers.
Join your peers to discuss the most critical issues impacting CIOs today:
Lead Strategic Technology Alignment to Establish an AI Operating Model
Manage Costs Strategically to Maximize Business Value
Elevate Cybersecurity as a Core Driver of Business Value, Resilience and Growth
Melbourne CIO Governing Body
The Governing Body Co-Chairs shape the summit agenda, ensuring that all content is driven By CIOs, For CIOs®.
Governing Body Co-Chairs

Frank De Sa
Premier Retail
CIO

Tracey Evans
Virtus Health
CTO

Martha O'Sullivan
Wesfarmers Health
GM Technology
What to Expect
Agenda
08:30 - 09:00 Registration & Breakfast
09:00 - 09:45 Keynote
Simplification as Strategy — Reshaping Operating Models and Technology Estates
Mark Gay
Group Executive, Technology
Australian Unity
As organisations accelerate AI adoption, strengthen cyber resilience and modernise legacy environments, many are discovering that complexity itself has become the greatest barrier to transformation. The next generation of technology leaders will differentiate not by adding more technology, but by simplifying technology estates, streamlining operating models and creating the foundations for resilience, agility and sustainable growth.
Join this session with Mark Gay, Group Executive, Technology, Australia Unity he shares his vision on:
- Reduce complexity to accelerate transformation
- Redesign operating models for greater accountability and execution
- Simplify technology estates to strengthen resilience and scalability
09:45 - 10:15 Break
10:15 - 11:00 Breakout Session
AI Adoption Without Breaking the Bank — A Case Study on Balancing Risk and Outcomes
Hosted by Cloudflare
Volker Rath
Field CTO
Cloudflare
Matt Neubauer
Chief Information Officer
Morgans Financial
The use of AI for business-critical workflows is a reality across all industries, but highly regulated industries can't apply the same approach to AI adoption everywhere. Organisations often find it hard to develop a suitable position on risk appetite because moving fast while remaining secure and compliant is not always easy to achieve simultaneously.
This case study with Morgans Financial will examine:
- Establishing a risk-aware mindset for AI adoption
- Aligning AI investments to business outcomes
- Building foundational controls and safeguards for sustainable AI operations
10:15 - 11:00 Executive Boardroom
Cloud Security When Everyone Is a Builder
Hosted by Orca Security
Avi Shua
Chief Innovation Officer & Co-Founder
Orca Security
Frontier AI is changing both sides of the security equation. The cost and expertise required to build sophisticated software has collapsed, empowering almost anyone in the enterprise to become a builder. At the same time, the cloud is expanding beyond AWS, Azure, GCP and the traditional SaaS estate to include AI-native platforms and services. IT and security leaders must enable the business to embrace AI while protecting a broader technology surface from increasingly accessible and commoditised attacks.
Join this interactive session to discuss:
- Securing an enterprise where everyone can build, deploy and automate
- Extending cloud security beyond AWS, Azure and GCP to a new generation of AI-native platforms and services
- Defending against sophisticated attacks and zero-day exploitation as frontier models reduce their cost and complexity
11:00 - 11:30 Networking Break
11:05 - 11:25 Peer-to-Peer Meetings
Peer-to-Peer Meetings
Connect with like-minded peers in a one-on-one setting through Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.
11:30 - 12:15 Breakout Session
Explore Cyber Resilience and Recovery with Rubrik
Hosted by Rubrik
Niraj Naidu
Head of Sales Engineering & Regional CTO (ANZ)
Rubrik
Join this session to explore one of the community's top priorities this year: cyber resilience and recovery. Gain insights into key challenges, emerging approaches, and practical applications to help you navigate what's next.
11:30 - 12:15 Breakout Session
Explore Defining Vision, Strategy & Operating Model with Sophos
Hosted by Sophos
Join this session to explore one of the community's top priorities this year: Defining Vision, Strategy & Operating Model. Gain insights into key challenges, emerging approaches, and practical applications to help you navigate what's next.
11:30 - 12:15 Executive Boardroom
Data Exposure in the AI Era — Governance, Trust, and Cost
Hosted by Nuix
Alexis Rouch
CTO
Nuix
Access is no longer the problem. Every AI tool can open a document or summarise an email. The problem is that access without governance produces outputs that are unreliable, indefensible, and dangerous in regulated environments. 80 to 90% of enterprise data is unstructured, yet only 26% of data leaders able to use it confidently. With regulators and boards demanding greater AI accountability, governance and chain of custody are becoming non-negotiable.
Join this interactive session to discuss:
- Closing the gap between AI accessing your data and producing defensible outcomes
- Why do governance and chain of custody matter more than access?
- Scaling AI across sensitive, unstructured data without creating regulatory exposure
Apply to Participate
Each application is carefully vetted to ensure members meet established criteria, preserving the quality of the network and enabling meaningful, peer‑level discussions among leaders from the world’s leading organizations.
Once you submit your application, a Community Program Manager will schedule a conversation to understand your priorities and interests and complete onboarding, including access to year‑round community events.
Location
Venue & Accommodation
Crown Conference Centre, MelbourneCommunity Program Manager
For inquiries related to this community, please reach out to your dedicated contact.
