Casey SME AI Forum

Details

Speakers

Aaron Violi MP

Federal Member for Casey
Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Tech and Innovation

Aaron Violi first entered Parliament as the Liberal Member for Casey in May 2022. In his role as MP, Aaron has launched the Parliamentary Friends of AUKUS, focusing on fostering bipartisanship for the trilateral security agreement and building relationships with our US and UK counterparts.

He also co-chairs the Parliamentary Friends of Organics and Parliamentary Friends of Youth Mental Health, while sitting on the Standing Committee on Agriculture, the Select Committee on Workforce Australian Employment Services and the Joint Committee on Public Accounts and Audit.

Prior to entering Parliament, Aaron spent 15 years working in and with small business, leading teams before transitioning into the digital economy at a tech start-up. He is a third-generation resident of Casey and has close ties to his local community through his involvement in local sport and his previous role as Chair of the Lilydale Township Action Group.

Merlin Luck

Regional Vice President of Small Business

Salesforce

Merlin oversees the small and medium business segment in Australia and New Zealand. He leads teams assisting local SMEs, start-ups, and scale-ups in achieving growth through comprehensive customer relationship management solutions.

Prior to his tenure at Salesforce, Merlin gained entrepreneurial experience, navigating the challenges of starting and running businesses, which provided him with valuable insights into the needs of small and medium enterprises.

Andrew Lai

Managing Director

SMEC AI

Andrew is the Managing Director at the Small to Medium Enterprise Centre of AI (SMEC AI) an Australian Government funded program helping SMEs to adopt AI technologies.  Over the past decade Andrew has led a range of programs that have supported and invested over $20m of venture capital funds in AI technology companies that solve the problems of Australian businesses.  Prior to running SMEC AI, Andrew was the Ventures Director at Deakin University. 

About SMEC AI:

The Small to Medium Enterprise Centre of Artificial Intelligence (SMEC AI) accelerates SME AI adoption by offering free one-on-one consultations, AI short courses and innovative AI programs that match SMEs with AI innovators to solve industry problems.  SMEC AI is an initiative funded by the Federal Department of Industry, Science and Resources.  Visit https://smecai.au to book in a free and fully funded AI consultation.

Jeff Baars

Chief Commercial Officer

Urban Rest

Jeff leads commercial operations across Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the UK. With a background in hospitality and digital transformation, he has helped scale the business and strengthen its position in the corporate extended-stay market.

Previously, Jeff was Chief Marketing Officer at Quest Apartment Hotels and held senior roles at GLH Hotels and IHG, focusing on brand strategy and guest experience. He also worked as a Consultant at Adelphi Digital (now EY), advising hospitality businesses on digital transformation.

A board member of the NCCA since 2022, Jeff is committed to fostering international business connections while driving growth and innovation in hospitality.

Facilitator

Nadine “Noodles” Groves

COO & Co-Founder

Natural Velocity

Noodles has 3 decades experience in technology leadership across Optus, Vocus and Google with a focus on the Public Sector. Recently pivoting to a portfolio career as COO and Co-Founder of Natural Velocity – an ecosystem skyrocketing technology innovation, and Founder of advisory firm, Stand Tall And Own It. 

A Director on the national board of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) Australia’s peak body for the ICT, Noodles also serves on the Victorian State Council as Deputy Chair, guiding a prosperous future for Australians through technology.

An avid porphyrophile (purple lover) Noodles is a bubbly, collaborative, passionate and curious individual, focussed on digital skills advocacy, connecting silos and challenging norms in her own Noodley way!

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Thank you to our Partner Sponsor