Julia Kern is the Managing Director of Kaufland Australia, set with the goal to provide Australians more choice of quality products, at a competitive price. She is responsible for building Kaufland Australia’s solid foundation, implementing strategies to achieve growth targets and overseeing all aspects to ensure sustainable and long-term success in the Australian retail sector. Julia joined the Schwarz Group in early 2013 as a Sales Operation Manager for Lidl in Germany. After gaining a breadth of experience across business operations, she became a Consultant for the Inhouse Consulting team of the Schwarz Group, before being sent to Italy as a Sales Director for Lidl in the region of Rome. Prior to her current role, she was responsible at Kaufland Germany for 57 stores across Northern Germany, overseeing sales, logistics, supply chain management, strategic expansion, human resources, as well as budget and investment planning. Before commencing with the Schwarz Group, Julia worked across various industries including Business Development at Ernst & Young, and Information Technology in the Digital Brand Management sector. She currently resides in Melbourne, Australia.

David Boynton is Chief Executive of iconic British brand The Body Shop, where he has responsibility for the company’s business strategy, execution and growth in more than 65 markets worldwide. He took the role in December 2017 following the acquisition of The Body Shop by Brazil’s best known beauty brand and sustainability leader, Natura Cosmeticos. David previously held senior positions at a number of major high-street retailers, most recently as CEO of menswear retailer Charles Tyrwhitt. He was also formerly at natural beauty brand L’Occitane for ten years, his last role at the group being Chief Executive of the western hemisphere where he was operationally responsible for a geographically diverse group of over 600 boutiques.

He has also held a number of senior management roles across Asian markets. David has over 30 years’ experience in the retail sector and has expertise spanning operations, real estate, e-commerce and CRM, brand-building, operational marketing and sales development. “Throughout my career, my passion has been to create working environments where everyone has the chance to fulfil their potential – irrespective of whether you went to Harvard or Haverhill Secondary Modern: if you bring creativity, energy and a strong sense of accountability to your work, you will be able to do spectacularly well. Although I still feel as though I’m at the start of my career, it turns out that for more than three decades I have been supporting institutions that protect the world we live in and aim to deliver equality of opportunities. Leading The Body shop as it rediscovers its purpose is incredibly rewarding: everyday gives me a beautiful opportunity to make a difference to the things I care most about, in a business that was born to be a force for good.”

Michael Schneider was appointed Managing Director Bunnings Australia and New Zealand in March 2016. Prior to this Michael led Store Operations teams across Australia and New Zealand after joining Bunnings in 2005. Before joining Bunnings, Michael held a range of senior operational, commercial and human resources roles across regional and national markets, both in retail and financial services businesses.

Michael is committed to developing diverse teams that challenge the status quo and embrace innovation to drive high performance which is critical in today’s competitive retail environment. As a leader, he is known for his collaborative, genuine and honest style and for having a real passion and energy for the Bunnings business. This has fostered Bunnings’ supportive culture which empowers team members to take responsibility and have ownership in how the business delivers its customers’ a unique and compelling proposition.

Michael believes that team members’ ability to connect with customers and the local community is key to the business’ success and that this requires an ongoing investment in building the best team as well as creating a culture that builds trust, inspires action, develops people and drives performance. He is a strong advocate for emerging talent and believes in giving young leaders every opportunity to realise their full potential and develop their careers across a range of disciplines within the business. Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of NSW and has completed the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD, and the Advanced Strategic Management Program at IMD.

Why do we behave the way we do? In a rapidly changing world shaped by technology, the rise of tribalism and shifting demographics this question has never been more relevant. Katharina has worked with some of the world’s biggest brands to not just answer this question but to drive strategies that help positively influence their people, their customers and their broader role in society. She’s one of APAC’s leading neuroscientists, published author, keynote speaker and an expert in tapping into the non-conscious nature of human decision-making. Her mission is to create emotional connections and personalisation at an unprecedented, deeply human level. Her work as Chief Strategist of the Winning Group combines science, technology and strategy to drive the growth and development of the Group’s e-commerce, technology, logistics and retail brands. Most recently, Katharina has lead a transformation of Winning Group’s workplace culture and been selected as number #5 in Internet Retailing’s Top 50 People in E-Commerce for 2019.

As Managing Director for Spotify Australia and New Zealand, Karen leads a team to grow Spotify’s market-leading position, implementing the commercial model, partnerships, and overall market approach. Karen is an award-winning business executive and leader in the digital, technology, and startup industry who uses her experience in driving reinvention and transformation to help the world’s biggest brands stay ahead of disruption.

Prior to Spotify, Karen held the role of CEO of Slingshot, where she grew the business to become the #1 corporate accelerator in Australia. She has also served as General Manager of Yahoo! 7, and CEO of CareerOne, where she forged a new digital strategy and reinvented the traditional “job board” into a leading targeting and digital business. With experience leading companies through change; motivating and developing cross-functional teams to peak performance, Karen is extremely passionate about D&I, delivering results and helping others achieve their true potential.

Karen is constantly learning and credits podcasts such as Stuff You Should Know, and Freakonomics, as an important part of her daily routine. As a graduate of the Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) Karen continues her commitments to the startup sector, as an advisory board director to The Sydney Startup Hub, Ribit and also mentors leaders with a special focus on female founders. She is also a huge ‘foodie’ and has been a food and luxury travel journalist for over thirteen years, writing for a diverse range of publishers. She balances this by being an avid runner and has completed both New York and London Marathons.

Anthony is a highly experienced retail executive with a strong digital and marketing pedigree and a track record of growing businesses. He joined Super Retail Group as a member of the Group Leadership Team in April 2015 and was appointed the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in February 2019. Super Retail Group is ASX-listed, one of Australia and New Zealand’s largest retailers and the proud owner of four iconic brands: Supercheap Auto, Rebel, BCF and Macpac. Comprising more than 12,000 team members, their collective purpose is to inspire their customers to live their leisure passions – whether that’s proudly looking after their car, running a marathon, catching a ‘barra’ or reaching a mountain summit.

In the 2019 financial year, Super Retail Group generated more than $2.7bn in sales. Across the four brands and an omni-retail offer including 690 stores, Click & Collect and home delivery, the Group handles more than 46 million customer transactions per year and has more than 6 million active club members. In his previous role as Managing Director – Outdoor Retailing, Anthony was responsible for the BCF, Rays and Macpac businesses. As part of the overhaul of Rays and BCF, he unveiled an innovative format and streamlined the store network. Anthony initiated and directed the April 2018 acquisition of Macpac, integrating the brand with the Rays business and spearheaded the plan to grow Macpac into the leading outdoor adventure retail specialist across Australia and New Zealand.

Before Super Retail Group, Anthony held a number of senior management roles at Pacific Brands Limited, most recently as Group General Manager of Underwear, responsible for the flagship Bonds underwear business. In this role, he led the transition of the business model from a wholesale operation to a direct-to-consumer business and expanded the network of retail stores from one to 75. Anthony was previously Global Marketing Director for Foster’s Group Limited, at the time one of the largest executive marketing roles in Australia. This role followed more than a decade at advertising agencies George Patterson and McCann-Erickson, where he served as Managing Director.

A creative expert in sports retail, Bob has extensive experience in both Global fields and Asia Pacific. Born in France, educated in the United Kingdom, Bob has occupied his roles in Hong Kong, Asia Pacific and Globally for the last 25 years. With his name, behind over 10,000 concepts in stores around the world, Bob has developed an understanding of the international market and the specific nuances in cultures worldwide. Being formally trained and versed in Three Dimensional, Product and Retail Design has given Bob an extensive skill set in translating brands into the retail space with self-evident bottom line growth.

Mark is the Chief Digital Officer of Accent Group Ltd, Australia’s largest footwear retailer with over 440 stores across Australia & New Zealand. Mark has extensive experience in a variety of retail disciplines including Merchandise, Marketing, eCommerce, CRM, and Omni-channel retail. Mark has developed a reputation as a change agent, leading several high-profile change management and strategic projects at Accent Group through digitising the organisation and re-imagining retail. He is responsible for the Group Digital Strategy and execution for 9 retail and wholesale brands including, The Athlete’s Foot, Platypus, HypeDC, Skechers, Vans, Timberland, Merrell, Sperry, Saucony & CAT. Mark holds a Masters of Management and MBA from MGSM, and is a non-executive director of not-for-profit board.

Danny Celoni is Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo Australia and New Zealand. He has responsibility for PepsiCo’s snacks and beverages business and its portfolio of successful brands including Smith’s, Doritos, Red Rock Deli, Bluebird, Pepsi Max and Gatorade.

Group CEO and co-founder of the Big Red Group, established July 2017 alongside business partner Naomi Simson. David directs a hungry and dedicated leadership team who are committed to delivering value to BRG business partners, stakeholders and employees. Together, the BRG mission is to lead the digital transformation of online retail marketing in Australia with the vision to shift the way people experience life. The BRG was established to provide an Integrated Shared Services team, which wraps around various Marketplaces to provide specialised skills and services. This structure provides an entire infrastructure for the BRG marketplaces to run their businesses, scale and make a profit – to ‘focus on their knitting’ and what they do best; deliver incredible experiences.

As creative as she is data-geek, Nicole is a unique marketing leader, bringing a deep passion for technology and human behaviour to every customer interaction. With 20+ years of marketing and advertising experience, she has lead brands such as Dell, Pandora, eharmony and Woolworths towards transformative growth and financial success. Now Director of Marketing and Commercial at WW ANZ (formerly weight watchers), Nicole is tasked with amplifying the WW vision “To inspire healthy habits for life” and grow the global brand locally to ensure more Aussies and Kiwis are reaping the benefits of the wellness and healthy habits the WW experience brings.

Peter Birtles was the CEO of Super Retail Group from 2006 until early 2019. During this time he oversaw the development of the Supercheap Auto and BCF businesses and the acquisition of the Rebel and Macpac businesses, increasing Group sales from $500 million to $2.7 billion. Peter was named 2013 CEO of the Year by The Australian Newspaper’s Deal Magazine and 2014 Retail CEO of the Year by the National Retail Association. In 2017, Peter was recognised for his outstanding contribution to the Retail Industry by the National Retail Association. Peter is now a non executive director of the publicly listed GWA Group and Metcash and the privately owned APG&Co (the owner of the Sportscraft, Saba and Jag businesses). He is also a non executive director of Good 360 a not for profit distributing excess inventory from retailers and consumer goods companies to charities.

Jonathan Waecker is the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for The Warehouse Group. In this newly-created role he oversees all of the group’s marketing and communications activities, leading brand strategy and driving customer engagement for the group and its brands, including The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Noel Leeming, Torpedo7. Prior to joining The Warehouse Group, Jonathan was based in San Francisco as Vice President of Marketing Communications at Yahoo, the fourth largest online property in the world, reaching over one billion users every month. In that role Jonathan led the fully-integrated team responsible for delivering all marketing communications during a critical turnaround period for the company, winning numerous industry awards, while driving revenue and results for the business and brand. Prior to Yahoo, Jonathan spent time in global marketing, brand strategy and business development roles at Zynga and The Walt Disney Company, two of the world’s most engaging and digitally innovative consumer brands. He has been named one of Brand Innovators 40 Under 40, received an MBA in Corporate Strategy from HEC Paris, a second MBA in Global Finance from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and graduated from San Diego State University.

In 2011 Mark co-founded Temple & Webster, a listed entity and Australia’s largest online retailer of furniture and homewares, and was appointed the group’s CEO in 2016. Previously Mark worked at News Limited where he was Director of Strategy for the Digital Media properties, and managed a portfolio of businesses including Moshtix, the digital ticketing company. Mark was also a solicitor at Gilbert + Tobin and management consultant at McKinsey & Company and holds a Bachelor of Laws, Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry) and Grad Dip (Psychology). Mark is passionate about new retail and was a founding director of the National Online Retailers Association (NORA). Mark believes that a workplace culture that truly fosters diversity is a competitive advantage.

Tim MacKinnon is the Managing Director of eBay Australia & New Zealand. Tim joined eBay in 2011 working in the Sydney office across a variety of roles including Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Director, Verticals and Retailer Growth – leading both the seller and marketing teams in those six years. He was appointed MD in September 2017. Tim is well-known to the Australian eBay seller community and is well-respected by them for his deep e-commerce insight and passion for growing Australian businesses. Prior to joining eBay Tim worked in corporate strategy and market entry for Intuit – based in Mountain View, California. He has also worked as an advisor to the Australian Government on innovation and IT industry and as a Senior Associate in an Australian corporate law firm. He has an MBA from Oxford University and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Western Australia. On weekends Tim follows his three children around and, if lucky, runs and surfs.

Steve Cox is a highly accomplished retail leader with over 25 years experience in retail management across leading brands in Australia and the United Kingdom. Today Steve is Managing Director of Dymocks Retail; a position he has held for over 7 years. Taking on the challenges of the book retailing industry, Steve has direct experience in managing change through a disruptive retail environment. He has successfully steered Dymocks to sales and profit growth, delivering a strategy which has transformed direct customer communications and significantly increased customer loyalty to the 140 year old iconic brand. He continues to seek innovation in the operation of the locally owned network of stores, and delivers on the company mission of ‘inspiring more book lovers’.

As part of the Dymocks Retail growth strategy, in November 2015 Steve managed the acquisition of stationery and lifestyle gift supplier Telegram Co. This acquisition was soon followed by the launch of a new high-end stationery brand ‘Milligram’, with both an online presence (milligram.com) and the opening of physical stores in the Melbourne region. Today this business, as part of the Dymocks Group, is enjoying strong growth across both the wholesale and retail verticals.

In 2018, Steve led the launch of a new Dymocks owned tutoring business known as ‘Potentia’ with two tutoring hubs located in the Sydney region. Potentia provides tutoring services to school aged children, helping them achieve their academic potential, inspiring confidence and a lifelong love of learning. Steve is also on the Board of Dymocks Children’s Charities, a not for profit organisation specialising in literacy support for disadvantaged children in priority areas across Australia. In the last financial year, Dymocks Children’s Charities programs delivered 44,970 books to 39,950 students in 148 schools and community organisations across Australia, delivering on its vision to “change kids’ lives, one book at a time”.

An avid reader, cyclist, family man and Sydney Swans supporter, Steve holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Macquarie Graduate School of Management.

John is Non-Executive Director for Zip Co, Foodco, General Pants Group and HRI. He has cross sector experience across Marketing, Digital, Customer Experience, and General Management previously holding the position of Director of Marketing and Digital for Westfield/Scentre Group and the Regional Managing Director of the Wrigley Company. John holds a Masters in Management from MGSM majoring in Human Resources, a Bachelor of Business degree majoring in Marketing and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Jonathan Reeve leads the ANZ operations of Eagle Eye, a Software as a Service that enables businesses to create intelligent digital connections with their consumers. Eagle Eye’s customers include Asda Walmart, Coca-Cola, Diageo, John Lewis, Loblaw, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. Jonathan has worked in retail businesses on three continents for over 17 years and was part of the team that developed the operating model for Tesco.com, a global pioneer of online grocery retail. Jonathan is also the author of Retail’s Last Mile: Why Online Shopping Will Exceed Our Wildest Predictions, a book which explores the disruption of store retail by online shopping.

After an initial management experience in underground coal mining, Mr. Powell has over 25 years’ executive experience in retail, logistics and wholesale distribution in the UK, Spain, North America, Australia and New Zealand. This includes being UK Logistics Operations Director for Tesco Plc, running Wal-Mart Canada’s logistics operations, CEO of Warehouse Stationery in NZ and five years as Group CEO for The Warehouse Group, a New Zealand listed retail group. This group includes Noel Leeming, NZ’s largest technology and appliances retailer. Mark was an advisor to the board of The Good Guys for 18 months prior to their acquisition by JB Hi-Fi. He is also currently on the board of NZX listed Kiwi Property Group, is an Adjunct Professor at Auckland University Business School and involved on a voluntary basis with several not-for-profit organisations.

With fourteen years of experience in analytics, data science & strategy in top tier consulting firms as well as industry experience in Australia’s largest bank and retailer, I’ve developed a professional practice that encompasses leadership, sophisticated analytics, commercial acumen and applied expertise required to drive strategic change. Currently heading Big W Digital’s Data Science & Analytics function, my responsibilities include working with senior leadership in formulating effective business strategies, driving insights based decision making, leading deep dive digital analytics, embedding data science initiatives and commercially analyzing the Digital P&L. Previously at Woolworths, I was leading a strategic analytics team which delivered & optimized marketing strategies like SoW based targeting, proximity driven offers, category stretch and competitor combat. I was responsible for projects involving advanced analytics like customer segmentation, personalisation engine and the customer engagement framework.

Kshira Saagar (Shee-Rah Sa-Ga) has been with the Analytics/Decision Sciences industry for almost a decade now having worked across Americas, Asia, Europe and more importantly Australia. The bulk of his work has been focussed on developing solutions for the Data Science and Analytics problem spaces of the Retail, Telecom and Insurance marketing departments at some of the leading Fortune 100 clients. In his other roles, he has also enabled decision making through data for clients from the Media, Healthcare, Aviation, Logistics and FMCG organisations. Kshira believes in making data everyone’s job at an organisation and not have it just as a specialty role. In his current role at Global Fashion Group (the parent company of THE ICONIC), as the Director of Analytics and Data Science, he’s responsible for enabling data driven smart-decision making across 14 different countries within the fashion e-commerce space. Previously at Datalicious & prior to that at Fairfax, he was responsible for institutionalising data-driven analytics across the company’s core competencies and building new-age analytical products for the organisation.

Matt Croasdaile is the Chief Financial Officer of RM Williams. After a successful career at Macquarie Bank covering investment banking through to principal investing, he joined RM Williams as the CFO with a clear focus on making an impact at the iconic South Australian company. Matt believes that the CFO, and the Finance team more broadly, can play a leading role in an organisation given its unique position at the centre of all business units, especially where the business is experiencing substantial growth and opportunity. Matt is a qualified Chartered Accountant and holds the following degrees: Master in Finance (INSEAD) and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) (University of Sydney).

David Black is the Chief Data Scientist at Vicinity Centres. He leads a team responsible for delivering cutting-edge data science solutions that produce key metrics, actionable insights and support tools for Vicinity’s three strategic pillars— consumers, retailers and business optimisation. David has extensive experience developing economic models, forecasts, behavioural models, predictive analytics, data visualisations, recommendation tools, decision engines and prescriptive algorithms. And he has experience working with data from a wide variety of sources, such as customer surveys, banking transactions, telecommunications networks, WiFi networks, website analytics, public transportation, superannuation funds, retail industry and government agencies. David has worked in data science—data, analytics and research—for over 15 years, with the last 6 years spent building and leading data science teams in large organisations. David holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree and a PhD in Economics from The University of Melbourne.

Karen is a senior retail and consumer executive who has worked in some of Australia’s most iconic retail brands: Woolworths, BIG W, Caltex and Rebel Sport. Karen has been a CFO, COO, GM of Strategy, GM of Transformation and Replenishment in public, private and private equity environments. Karen is a CEW scholar, having completed the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD in France in 2019, as a result of winning the Chief Executive Women’s scholarship. Karen is passionate about retail, people and diversity.

Dean Salakas is the Chief Party Dude at The Party People. Dean has pioneered in retail launching Australia’s first online party store in 1999, being Google Australia’s First Advertiser and more recently trialing Scan & Go as well as Magic Mirror technologies. Dean was named 2018 Retail Leader of The Year by The Australian Retail Association and 2019 Inspiring Retail Leader by Retail Doctor Group.

Damian Madden is an award-winning global executive with close to twenty-years of experience in digital transformation, emerging technologies, operations and marketing. A recognised expert in empowering innovation, Madden is regularly sought as a keynote speaker and has spoken around the world on the topic as well as how to prepare your business for the customer of tomorrow. He regularly donates his time within the creative sector to help artists, museums and galleries to better engage with their patrons and integrate technology into their practice.