Keynote Speakers
Janine Shepherd
Janine Shepherd is an inspirational speaker and writer whose books have become classics in the survivor genre. A champion cross-country skier in training for the 1988 Winter Olympics, Janine’s life changed forever when she was hit by a truck during a bicycle training ride in the Blue Mountains of Australia. Doctors warned her parents that—even if she somehow miraculously survived her massive injuries—Janine would almost certainly never walk again.
After a risky procedure to rebuild her shattered vertebra and almost six months flat on her back in a hospital spinal ward, Janine came home to heal. With the promise of a career as an elite athlete now gone forever, Janine faced a daunting recovery and an uncertain future.
Struggling to rehabilitate with permanent disabilities, Janine rekindled her defiant spirit in a dramatically improbable way. Sitting outside in her wheelchair one day and watching a small plane fly overhead, she declared, “That’s it! If I can’t walk, I’ll fly!”
Still encased in a full body cast, Janine had to be lifted into an aircraft for her introductory flight lesson. But within a year she had defied the odds and succeeded in gaining her private pilot’s license. Her talent and skill as a pilot subsequently earned Janine a commercial pilot license and ultimately, her flying instructor’s rating. She then decided to learn to fly upside down, and finally, to teach aerobatic flight to other pilots.
Janine went on to succeed not only as a professional pilot but also to attain her university degree, raise three children, and author several best-selling books. Her remarkable life story ultimately captured the interest of a prominent film company, which produced the feature-length movie aptly titled Never Tell Me Never.
Glenn McGrath
Glenn McGrath has achieved many milestones throughout his illustrious cricket career and through his role as President of the McGrath Foundation.
Glenn and his late wife Jane commenced The McGrath Foundation to address the chronic shortage of Breast Care Nurses throughout Australia particularly in Rural and Regional Australia. The foundation currently has over 100 McGrath Breast Care Nurses throughout Australia and has helped change the lives of Australian women fighting breast cancer.
McGrath’s success to date has seen him become one of Australia’s most popular and well respected athletes. His personal courage and on field success has seen him constantly sought after by the media and he is one of the most iconic faces in Australia today. In 2009 and 2010 he was named as one of Australia’s most trusted people.
McGrath has taken more wickets than any other Australian bowler in One Day Internationals and is currently fifth on the all time Test Match wicket list. Glenn was the first Australian bowler to play in 200 One?Day Internationals and the first Australian Fast Bowler to play in 100 Test matches.
Glenn announced his retirement from Test cricket at the end of 2006. His Test career came to an end after the 5th Ashes test in Sydney, while the 2007 World Cup marked the end of his One?Day career.
In 2008 Glenn was named as a member of the Order of Australia for ‘service to cricket as a player’ and later that year he was the recipient of the NSW Australian of the Year Award in recognition of his dedication to the McGrath Foundation and his contribution to cricket.
Glenn also played in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 Tournament for the Delhi Daredevils in 2008 and 2009.
Naomi Simson
Naomi Simson is the Founding Director of RedBalloon and co-founder of Big Red Group (BRG). Recognized as one of Australia’s leading business voices, she inspires audiences on leadership, innovation, growth mindset, and customer experience with humor and practical strategies.
Before entrepreneurship, Naomi held corporate roles at Apple, KPMG, IBM, and Ansett Australia. She appeared as the #RedShark on four seasons of Shark Tank Australia, is a prolific blogger, podcaster, and author of two best-selling books: Live What You Love and Ready to Soar. Her podcast Handpicked has four seasons.
Naomi serves as a non-executive director at Big Red Group, Australian Payments Plus, Colonial First State, Weebit Nano, and on advisory boards for the University of Melbourne and UTS. She is also involved with the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation.
With 2.8M+ LinkedIn followers, Naomi is a sought-after keynote speaker on topics like intentional leadership, inclusion, wellbeing, AI in business, scaling growth, and building customer-centric brands. Her sessions are known for being engaging, insightful, and actionable, leaving audiences energized and ready to create change.
Client Speakers
Aaron Bailey
Aaron Bailey is one of Australia’s foremost cybersecurity leaders, known for his innovative approach to solving complex security challenges. As the Chief Information Security Officer at The Missing Link, Aaron has built and guided the company’s Security division since 2013, helping it become the trusted advisor to some of Australia’s largest corporations and government organisations.
With over 25 years of experience spanning engineering, consulting, architecture, and executive leadership, Aaron excels at delivering tailored strategies and robust solutions. A self-professed “cyber enthusiast,” Aaron thrives on the dynamic, puzzle-like nature of cybersecurity, continuously staying ahead of evolving threats.
Beyond safeguarding digital environments, Aaron is a captivating speaker, renowned for translating complex cybersecurity issues into actionable insights for diverse audiences.
Craig Tiley
Craig is recognized as one of Australia’s most innovative and forward-thinking chief executives. His charismatic and passionate nature, together with his business acumen, has leveraged him to the forefront of sports administration and the leader behind Australia’s largest and most successful international sporting event.
He has been the driving force behind the growth of the Australian Open into a truly global brand and one of the biggest sporting events in the world. Craig’s incredible relationship with the players has long been a key to the success of the Australian Open right from when he was appointed Tournament Director for his first event in 2006. He was later appointed CEO of Tennis Australia in 2013.
In that time, he has led unprecedented growth in the event’s global awareness and audience, revenue, player compensation, facilities and on-site activities for fans. As a result, the Australian Open has continually broken attendance records with the 2025 event attracting more than 1.2 million people across three weeks. The event also delivered record economic benefits to Victoria, injecting $565.8 million into the state’s economy – cementing its position as Australia’s biggest annual event with a global audience of more than 1.9 billion viewers.
As Tennis Australia CEO, Craig has led the introduction of successful initiatives to shift the historical decline in tennis participation including the rollout of digital platforms, which has increased access to courts by over 350%. He has led the diversification of Tennis Australia with the creation of a global production unit, development of music and food partnerships, the launch of a venture capital fund and a successful incubator partnership.
He also serves as the Chair of the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports (COMPPS) in Australia and is on the Board of Safety Culture and Rising (Melbourne’s International Arts Festival).
Danielle Di Pilla
Danielle Di Pilla is a qualified pharmacist with a strong entrepreneurial background and a distinguished career across Australia’s pharmacy and healthcare sectors. She brings deep expertise in retail pharmacy, brand development, and executive governance, underpinned by a people-centered leadership approach.
She founded DPP Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd in 2000 and has served as Managing Director since its incorporation, leading the creation and growth of successful consumer health brands, including the internationally recognized Goat Soap. DPP is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Sigma Healthcare, reflecting the strategic strength and long-term value of the business she established.
Danielle currently serves as Chief People Officer at Chemist Warehouse and Sigma Healthcare, where she plays a key role in shaping organizational culture and workforce strategy across one of Australia’s largest pharmacy retail groups. Following the transformational merger between Sigma Healthcare and the Chemist Warehouse Group, she was appointed Executive Director of Sigma Healthcare in February 2025.
In addition to her executive responsibilities, Danielle is a member of Sigma Healthcare’s Risk, Compliance and Sustainability Committee and serves on the Board of Gotcha4Life, a leading mental health and suicide prevention charity.
Michael Ruttledge
Michael Ruttledge is the Chief Information Officer and Head of Enterprise Technology & Security for Citizens Financial Group. He oversees all aspects of the bank’s Technology, Security, Data engineering and Risk, from customer- and client-facing applications to the people, processes and infrastructure supporting Citizens’ day-to-day business operations. He spearheaded Citizens Next Generation Technology transformation to modernize the bank and deliver personalized, digital solutions for customers and delivered a major up-skilling initiative and strong culture of learning through immersive Engineering and Architecture Academies, digital credentialing and building of critical skills for the future such as AI, blockchain, modern API’s and cloud.
Before joining Citizens in 2019, he previously held the position of Chief Information Officer of American Express Co. He has more than 20 years of experience in infrastructure and engineering roles within the financial services industry including payments, merchant services, customer service, risk, fraud, banking, and finance. He has been recognized for developing the vision, strategy and innovative culture to execute new digital capabilities, big data, payments, and next generation analytics platforms that advance business strategies. He received a graduate degree in Information Systems from the University of Brighton in the United Kingdom.
Jason Paris
Jason Paris is a proud New Zealander and Southlander, currently leading One New Zealand (formerly Vodafone NZ) as CEO. Jason was part of the Infratil and Brookfield transaction team that bought Vodafone New Zealand from Vodafone Group in 2018, which was the 2nd largest M&A transaction in New Zealand. Since then, he and the team have guided the company through consecutive years of customer and commercial success which includes providing the largest ever capital return to shareholders in New Zealand history, lifting EBITDA margin by 50% and partnered to become a world leader in Agentic AI and satellite technology.
Jason has held executive roles in Europe and New Zealand with Vodafone, McDonald’s, Nokia, TVNZ, and Spark. Beyond his professional life, he is a dedicated family man and sports enthusiast, especially passionate about the One NZ Warriors. He is also a committed advocate for community and culture, serving on the board of Ngāi Tahu Holdings and previously with Make-A-Wish NZ.
Jason believes that New Zealand is the greatest country on the planet and is dedicated to doing everything he can to keep it that way.
Infosys Speakers
Inderpreet Sawhney
Ashiss Kumar Dash
As the Global Head for a business portfolio that comprises over 12 industry verticals, Ashiss Kumar Dash (“Dash”) is helping navigate the digital future for leading Fortune 500 and Global 2000 enterprises. A seasoned digital transformation leader with over 3 decades of experience, Dash is focused on driving transformation strategies and shaping the future of industries through the adoption of emerging technologies.
Drawing from over 30 years of diverse roles and responsibilities, Dash amalgamates his varied skills into straddling delivery, operational, and financial excellence for his industry group. In addition to driving revenue growth, he is also focused on institutionalizing innovation, AI-led re-imagination, and the future of work within his teams.
Dash believes the more varied a perspective, the broader one’s vision can be. He actively contributes to global conversations on energy transition and sustainable development through prestigious forums like the World Economic Forum and the UN’s Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance. He also represented Infosys at the B20 Summit 2023, the official G20 forum representing the global business community.
Dash serves on several Boards including Health Sigma, enabler of intelligent healthcare using AI; Simplus, an Infosys company providing Salesforce quote-to-cash solutions; BlueAcorniCi, an Infosys company leading digital experience design that empowers global brands; and Infosys Public Services, a subsidiary of Infosys that provides next-generation digital services and consulting to public sector organizations in North America. Dash is also a Trustee of Infosys Foundation USA, a foundation with a mission to expand access to computer science and maker education for K-12 students and educators across the USA, while working to digitally upskill communities.
Dash is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. He has also completed the Global Leadership Program from Stanford University.
An avid reader, Dash is based in Los Angeles. He enjoys running, swimming, and practicing mindfulness.
Anant Adya
Salil Parekh
Sumit Virmani
Sumit heads marketing and communications at Infosys, with responsibility for realizing Infosys’ brand ambitions globally.
A transformative marketing leader, Sumit has, for over 25 years, shaped brand experiences and narratives across industries and geographies. He joined Infosys in 2004 and has since helped navigate Infosys into the league of the world’s Top 100 brands, and to evolve into the fastest growing IT services brand globally.
He champions the role of brand purpose, brand promise and brand performance as the foundational pillars that position the business for short-term growth and long-term market share gains. Sumit is also the Trustee at Infosys Foundation and serves on the Board of WongDoody – Infosys’ experience design company. Prior to joining Infosys, Sumit worked with Polaris Software and the Tata Group where he honed his skills in business development, brand strategy, marketing effectiveness and corporate communications. Forbes ranked Sumit among the top 50 most influential CMOs globally in 2023. CNBC Storyboard 18 recognized him as a global marketing visionary in 2024.
He serves on the steering committees of The Drum, International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and the Association of National Advertisers to help further the marketing agenda in boardrooms.
Raja Shah
Raja Shah, Executive Vice President and Industry Head at Infosys, is an accomplished business leader. He has over 27 years of diverse experience and consistent track record of scaling trusted client relationships and building high-performing teams. He leads the CMT & SURE sectors (Technology, Media, Energy, Utilities, Communications, and Services) across global markets, helping clients leverage Infosys' vast expertise to drive innovation and growth. At Infosys, Raja has been instrumental in transforming the company into a trusted advisor and strategic partner, and helped secured numerous industry awards and Industry first for its clients.
As a senior leader for global markets, Raja also serves on the Board of Directors for Infosys Malaysia and Infosys Thailand along with leadership council for Asia Pacific and Middle east. A strong advocate for Diversity and Inclusion, he actively promotes an inclusive workplace culture within Infosys.
Raja holds a Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering. He has also completed the Global leadership programs at Stanford university and Harvard Business School. Based in Melbourne, he enjoys spending time with his family, watching live cricket, and playing the sport in his spare time.
Dennis Gada
Dennis Gada is the Global Head of Banking & Financial Services and part of the Executive Committee at Infosys. Dennis serves on the Boards of EdgeVerve Systems Limited, a products and platform subsidiary, and Infosys Compaz Pte. Ltd (iCompaz), a joint venture with Temasek Holdings. Overseeing the company’s largest business unit, Dennis leads a high-performing global team and is responsible for defining strategy, driving growth and innovation, ensuring operational excellence, and managing all commercial and financial aspects of the global financial services business. Dennis has over 25 years of international experience across APAC, Europe, the US, and continues to travel extensively while currently residing in Charlotte, North Carolina.
A recognized authority in financial services transformation, Dennis has deep domain knowledge across Consumer and Commercial Banking, Wealth and Asset Management, Investment Banking, Custody Services, Cards and Payments, and Market Infrastructure. Dennis is known for helping global financial institutions to accelerate digital transformation and achieve quantifiable business value — particularly through the strategic application of AI, cloud technologies, and data-driven innovation in both technology and operations.
Dennis is a frequent speaker at global forums including the World Economic Forum, Milken Institute, and Sibos, and is regularly featured in leading publications such as American Banker and Global Finance. Mr. Gada also contributes to the community as a member of the Board of Trustees at the Discovery Place Museum, a nonprofit organization and hub for education and exploration in the Carolinas.
Prior to Infosys, Dennis worked at Accenture and PwC. He is a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and an alumnus of Narsee Monjee College, Mumbai University.
Emcee & Entertainment Act
Melissa Doyle
An accomplished and awarded journalist with more than 30 years experience, Melissa is one of the best-known and trusted voices and faces in Australian media.
A graduate of Charles Sturt University with a degree in Broadcast Journalism, Melissa began her career in Canberra in 1990, working as a reporter and presenter for WIN TV and Prime TV before joining the Seven Network in 1995. She went on to co-host Sunrise from 1997 to 2013, transforming it into Australia’s leading breakfast program and covering some of the world’s most significant events — from the Beaconsfield mine disaster and the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, to Olympic Games, natural disasters, and historic elections.
Melissa later anchored Seven News and Sunday Night, earning numerous accolades including a Walkley Award, a Logie, and three international Edward R. Murrow Awards for her team’s coverage of the Lindt Café siege. She has also hosted This Is Your Life, The House of Wellness, and Smooth FM’s weekend breakfast, winning multiple Australian Commercial Radio Awards.
An accomplished author of four books, including 15 Seconds of Brave and How to Age Against the Machine, Melissa was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2016 for her significant service to the community and the broadcast media.
A passionate advocate for children’s and humanitarian causes, she serves as National Patron of Make-A Wish Australia and as Ambassador for World Vision, The Alannah and Madeline Foundation, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, and Adopt Change. Above all, Melissa is a devoted wife and proud mother of Nick and Talia.
Andy Nunn
A mindset and performance speaker who reveals how to rewire the way you think, adapt under pressure, and thrive in a world that never stops changing. A professional mentalist with more than 20 years on stage, Andy helps people master their mindset, communicate with impact, and take smarter risks.
Andy Nunn is a sought-after keynote speaker for leading organisations including Google, Amazon, SAP, Sony, and Ralph Lauren — delivering interactive sessions that spark self-awareness, connection, and change.
Andy’s reputation grew from his acclaimed TEDx talk, “Seeing Is Believing,” which explored how perception shapes trust, decisions, and performance. His keynotes aren’t lectures — they’re immersive experiences where audiences don’t just learn about mindset and bias, they feel them in real time. Blending neuroscience, psychology, and performance, Andy reveals how small shifts in perception can create powerful results in leadership, communication, and culture. Whether speaking on mindset, communication, or risk, he leaves audiences entertained, challenged, and inspired to think differently.
Described as “a speaker who makes insight tangible,” Andy combines warmth, intelligence, and energy to help people master the one thing that drives every result — how they think.