
Sydney CISO Community
Executive Summit
14 November 2024 | Sofitel Sydney Wentworth
14 November 2024
Sofitel Sydney Wentworth
Collaborate with your peers
Get together with Sydney's top CISOs 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 CISOs today:
Delivering Digital Innovation to Drive Value Across the Enterprise
Maximising Existing Resources to Optimise Emerging Costs
Securing the Organisation Through Advanced Technology Adoption
Sydney CISO Governing Body
The Governing Body Co-Chairs shape the summit agenda, ensuring that all content is driven By CISOs, For CISOs®.
Governing Body Co-Chairs

Venkat Balakrishnan
TAL Life
CISO

Susie Costa
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
SVP, Head of Security Management

Ben Doyle
Thales Australia
CISO Asia Pacific

Daniela Fernandez
PayPal Australia
Head of Information Security Australia
What to Expect
Agenda
08:00 - 09:00 Registration & Breakfast
09:00 - 09:45 Keynote
Enhancing Operational Resilience to Accelerate Digital Transformation of Tomorrow
Hosted by Hitachi Vantara

Rodrigo Castillo
Chief Technology Officer
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
As technology evolves, it’s crucial for organisations to transform and modernise their ways of working to ensure they can support operations at scale with security, reliability and agility. At CBA, we are transforming the way we deliver technology in a secure and resilient manner, empowering teams to design, change and operate products and services end-to-end with the customer at the centre of everything they do.
Join this session with Rodrigo Castillo, Chief Technology Officer, CBA as he shares his vision and learnings on:
- Building modern operating models to fuel digital initiatives and drive business value
- Identifying and responding to evolving changes to minimise business impact
- Leveraging AI to elevate the customer experience and sustain competitive advantages
09:45 - 10:15 Break
10:15 - 11:00 Breakout Session
Navigating the AI Journey — From Experiment to Execution

Daniel Pettman
Chief Information Officer
BaptistCare

Melanie Evans
Group Executive, Digital Services
Ventia
As organisations race to leverage the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI), IT and security leaders are actively capitalising on AI’s capabilities to drive new business growth. How can your organisation take advantage of AI as a value-add strategy and unlock new growth opportunities? How have other organisations successfully optimised their business performance through AI?
Join this session to explore two compelling AI use cases on how other organisations navigated the AI journey:
- Identifying high-impact AI use cases and align your AI investments to your AI ambition
- Strategically plan your AI execution and governance
- How to measure and realise value from AI investments?
10:15 - 11:00 Executive Boardroom
Reshaping IT Operations with a Hybrid IT Strategy
Hosted by Kyndryl

Jim Freeman
CTO, ANZ
Kyndryl

Matthew Duckworth
Director IT Risk and Security
MetLife Australia

Stoyan Assenov
Director Information Security
Fiserv
Organisations are urged to modernise IT operations to keep pace with the rapidly evolving business landscape. IT and security leaders are at the forefront of this initiative, tasked with building out an efficient and optimised operational model to prepare for the challenges of tomorrow.
Join this interactive session to discuss:
- Using a hybrid IT strategy to build resilient systems that ensure business continuity
- Addressing mission critical systems as part of an overall hybrid IT strategy
- Optimising business process performance by improving business observability
10:15 - 11:00 Executive Boardroom
Risk to the Nth-Party Degree
Hosted by RiskRecon, a Mastercard Company

Cassie Roberts
Product Sales Director
RiskRecon - A MasterCard Company

Jihad Zein
Head of IT Governance, Risk and Assurance
Toll Group

Susie Costa
SVP, Head of Security Management
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
Third party relationships are closest and may prove to be the most tangible risks to your business, yet the whole supply chain of your business partners still pose a substantial threat. Most organisations’ vendor relationship extend to the 8th party. IT and Security leaders need to understand this web of connectedness in order to better manage and communicate enterprise risk.
Join this session to discuss:
- Gaining visibility into risk across the whole supply chain
- Strategies for effective risk management and monitoring business partners
- Overcoming resource challenges to prioritise third party risk
11:00 - 11:30 Networking Break
11:05 - 11:25 Peer-to-Peer Meetings
Peer-to-Peer Meetings
11:30 - 12:15 Breakout Session
Driving Innovation for Transformative Digital Solutions

Kurt Brissett
Chief Technology and Innovation Officer
Transport for NSW
In today's digitally interconnected world, the imperative for innovation has never been more crucial for leadership and organisational success. As technology evolves at an unprecedented rate, organisations must continuously adapt and innovate to stay ahead in the digital race. How can CIOs and CISOs maintain a constant innovative mindset and drive business value?
Join this session with Kurt Brissett, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at Transport for NSW, as he unfolds:
- Optimising the use of technology to enhance the user experience
- Securing digital products and services while ensuring safe and reliable transit solutions
- Investing in innovative tools and processes for long-term growth
11:30 - 12:15 Executive Boardroom
Steady Modernisation to Optimise Legacy Technology
Hosted by Freshworks

Andrew Phillips
Country Manager & VP, Australia & New Zealand
Freshworks

Mathews George
Chief Information Officer
Cancer Council

Francesco Oliveri
Chief Information Officer
Perfection Fresh Australia

Morgan Storey
Chief Information Security Officer
Sonic Healthcare
As digital enterprises evolve to stay competitive, continuous modernisation is imperative to minimise cost, risk and impact of legacy technology. Leveraging new technologies and innovation can become a challenge in legacy environments. What is the CIO’s best path forward to successfully allow legacy systems to coexist with new digital products?
Join this session to discuss:
- Keeping legacy systems agile to meet business needs
- Prioritising which legacy systems to modernise
- Freeing up budget to implement AI solutions
11:30 - 12:15 Executive Boardroom
Building Cyber Resilience in an Increasingly Connected World
Hosted by CloudFlare

Ben Munroe
Vice President Marketing, Asia Pacific
Cloudflare

Frances Bouzo
Chief Information Security Officer
Ampol

Graham Thomson
Group Head of IT Security
A2 Milk Company
Did you know that over 85 percent of firms in APAC have reported being hacked? Moreover, the average data breach costs organisations upwards of AUD$6.3 million. For many organisations, the question isn't if they'll be attacked, but when and how it will happen. With the increasing accessibility of certain attack types and the complexities introduced by distributed work, cloud adoption, and third-party code, achieving cyber resilience is more critical than ever.
This session will delve into strategies that IT and security leaders can use to preserve business operations and protect sensitive data in a world where attacks are inevitable. Join this interactive roundtable to discuss:
- Understanding your risk profile – what’s your tolerance for downtimes on business-critical systems?
- Business continuity management – what is your minimum viable level to ensure continuous operation despite cyber threats?
- Managing risks and costs – how can you optimise costs while improving security?
Apply to Participate
Apply to participate in the Sydney CISO Community Executive Summit.
Gartner facilitates exclusive, C-level communities by personally qualifying and understanding the priorities, challenges and interests of each member.
Our selective approach maintains the high quality of the network and ensures top-level discussions with peers from the world’s leading organizations.
Each application will be reviewed, and once your participation is confirmed, you will have access to year-round community programs.
Location
Venue & Accommodation
Sofitel Sydney WentworthParking: The hotel car park is owned and operated by Wilson Car Parking located beneath the hotel with entrance at 2 Bligh Street (rear of hotel). Car park spaces are subject to availability. Please validate your parking ticket at the hotel concierge desk to receive the $65 conference rate.
Hotel Delegate Offer:
- The hotel is delighted to offer a 10% discount on best available flexible rate advertised on hotel website
- Discount available for stay on 12th November 2024 to 14th November 2024
- To redeem this discount, please quote 2411EVANTA by contacting the in-house reservations team via phone on 02 9228 9188 during business hours or e-mail on H3665@sofitel.com (this discount code is not redeemable online)
Terms and conditions:
- Rooms are to be booked on a "first come, first serve" basis
- Rooms will be subject to availability at the time of enquiry
- A credit card is required to guarantee reservations
- If you need to cancel your reservation, please let us know 24 hours prior to your arrival date to avoid a cancellation fee of the first night’s stay, or in the event of a “no-show”
Community Program Manager
For inquiries related to this community, please reach out to your dedicated contact.