AIIA and KPMG: Navigating AI Report Roadshow – Sydney

Overview

Speakers

Dean Grandy

Lead Partner, Technology – Infrastructure, Government & Healthcare

KPMG Australia

Dean is a government digital and business transformation specialist with extensive experience in the Federal Government domain. He delivers management consulting engagements to a wide range of public sector clients both nationally and internationally, with a focus on the design and delivery of government programs of scale, complexity, and national significance.

Based in Canberra, Dean is the Lead Partner for KPMG Australia’s Technology for Infrastructure, Government & Healthcare (IGH) group, and leads the Modernising Government strategic initiative within Management Consulting.

Dean began his career as a non-politically aligned Ministerial advisor. Prior to KPMG, he worked as a Lead Partner in Federal Government for an advisory firm, and a Senior Executive at a global systems integration firm.

Simon Bush

Chief Executive Officer

AIIA

Simon is an experienced business leader and strategic thinker with a career covering government, ICT, management consulting and media sectors. Simon has advised many of the world’s leading business consulting and technology companies in developing and implementing business strategies including assisting clients win large transformation deals as well as shape government policy and procurements worth billions to the industry.

Simon joined the AIIA as Head of Policy and Advocacy in 2019 before being appointed, via a competitive process, to the role of CEO in 2022. Simon’s early career included being a senior ministerial adviser in the federal government and held a senior management role at Accenture before setting up his own advisory and consulting business in 2003. Prior to joining the AIIA, Simon was also the long-term CEO of the Australian Home Entertainment Distributors Association (AHEDA). Representing the $1.2 billion Australian home entertainment film and TV industry with members including: Disney, Foxtel, Warner Bros, Sony, Universal, Roadshow, Madman, Paramount and Fetch TV.

Simon has an Honours degree in Political Science from the Australian National University and the University of California, San Diego. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Panellists

Dr. Ian Oppermann

NSW Government Chief Data Scientist and Industry Professor

University of Technology Sydney

Dr. Ian Oppermann is the NSW Government’s Chief Data Scientist working within the Department of Customer Service. He is also an Industry Professor at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). He heads the NSW government’s AI Review Committee and Smart Places Advisory Council.

Ian is considered a thought leader in the area of the Digital Economy and is a regular speaker on “Big Data”, broadband enabled services and the impact of technology on society. Ian has an MBA from the University of London and a Doctor of Philosophy in Mobile Telecommunications from Sydney University. Ian is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Australia, a Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, is a Fellow and Immediate Past President of the Australian Computer Society, Fellow of the NSW Royal Society, and a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors

Edward Santow

Director, Human Technology Institute

University of Technology Sydney

Edward Santow is the Director – Policy & Governance at the Human Technology Institute, and Industry Professor – Responsible Technology at the University of Technology Sydney.

Ed co-founded the Human Technology Institute, which he leads with Prof Nicholas Davis and Prof Sally Cripps. Ed is leading a number of major initiatives to promote human-centred artificial intelligence. Focus areas include digital government, the future of AI regulation, and facial recognition and digital identity.

The Human Technology Institute’s approach promotes human rights in the development, use, regulation and oversight of new technology. HTI has three interconnected laboratories: the Human Technology Skills Lab, Tools Lab and Policy Lab. Ed’s areas of expertise include human rights, technology and regulation, public law and discrimination law.

From 2016-2021, Ed was Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner, where he led the Commission’s work on AI & new technology; refugees and migration; human rights issues affecting LGBTIQ+ people; national security; and implementing the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture.

Ed is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Human Rights and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and of the NSW Government AI Review Committee. He is a patron of the Refugee Advice + Casework Service, and serves on a number of boards and committees. At UTS, he is a Fellow of the Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion.

In 2009, Ed was presented with an Australian Leadership Award, and in 2017 he was recognised as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Ed previously served as chief executive of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and was a Senior Lecturer at UNSW Law School, a research director at the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law and a solicitor in private practice.

Rowena Westphalen

Senior Vice President, Solutions & Customer Advisory APAC

Salesforce

Rowena Westphalen is Senior Vice President, Solutions & Customer Advisory APAC at Salesforce. Her talented team of business advisors, solution engineers, and architects helps organisations achieve customer-centric digital transformation at scale, resulting in increased revenue and customer satisfaction.

Rowena is passionate about emerging technology and innovation, ethical artificial intelligence, and customer experience. She believes businesses have the power to improve the world, and envisions a future where technology and human-centred design create positive change for individuals, organisations, and society.