Mike Schneider was appointed MD of Bunnings ANZ in February 2016 & the wider Bunnings Group in May 2017. After joining Bunnings in 2005, Mike previously led various operational teams across ANZ. Building on Bunnings’ proud history as a pure home improvement & outdoor living retailer, Mike is evolving the business into an integrated group that spans the full needs of
consumer DIY customers through to end-to-end solutions for trade & commercial customers. The group employs more than 50,000 team members & generated revenues in excess of $18.9bn & earnings of $2.2bn in financial year 2024. Key to this business evolution is driving a diverse Bunnings’ offering including Bunnings Warehouse, Trade Centres, Bunnings Frame & Truss sites along with standalone brands Tool Kit Depot & Beaumont Tiles. This deep transformation has also seen the evolution of the group’s online & marketplace offers as well as significant enhancements to technology & the digitisation of the business to boost customer experience. Mike’s overarching priority as the organisation grows & evolves continues to be preserving & enhancing the unique
Bunnings culture which plays such a vital role in the organisation’s success. Prior to Bunnings, Mike had a diverse career across retail & financial services holding senior roles in operations, human resources & strategy.

With over 20 years’ experience in the home furnishing retail sector, Mirja’s journey at IKEA began in 2011 in Germany.

She relocated to Asia in 2014 to take up a management opportunity with IKEA Japan, before returning to Germany as Country Deputy Retail Manager, while also leading the transformation process of Service Office corporate services for IKEA Germany.

Moving to Australia to step into the role of CEO in September 2021, with leadership experience from the biggest IKEA retail market globally, Mirja’s focus has been on accelerating the transition as an omni-channel retailer and increasing accessibility for more Australians, and now New Zealanders, to shop with IKEA, wherever and however they choose.

Mirja also leads the integration of the sustainability agenda into the core of the IKEA business in Australia and New Zealand.

Jack Gance opened his first pharmacy store in 1972, promptly developing a distribution business through pharmacy. He created the Le Specs, Le Tan, Australis and Colours of Australia brands of sunglasses, suntan lotion, fragrances and cosmetics. Through his operation, Jack created the largest pharmacy distributor business in Australia. He sold that business in 1991, and after completing an MBA at Monash and NYU Stern School of Business, he returned to pharmacy to revolutionise the industry.

By 1993, Jack was running 35 stores through the My Chemist Pharmacy chain. This had phenomenal growth over the years, with 50 stores by the year 2000. It was then that Jack decided to radically change the face of pharmacy. Chemist Warehouse was created, becoming a major industry disruptor of the industry. Chemist Warehouse took the industry by storm, allowing Jack, his partners and team create a multibillion-dollar chain, commanding over 50% market share front of store and around 20% of all prescriptions.

Today, Chemist Warehouse dominates the pharmacy markets in many countries and is continuing to expand by growing markets and growing market share. Chemist Warehouse is looking to IPO in the next few years so that the families can continue to own and benefit from the huge pharmacy business that Jack, his partners and team have created.

Before being named CEO and launching Transcend, Oliver was the Strategy and Transformation Director at Tesco, one of the largest retailers in the world, recently reporting sales of £61.5bn, employing over 330,000 people and trading in five countries.

Oliver has many years of experience in the Fulfilment, Distribution and Supply Chain space and his passion lies in the eCommerce aspect of customer fulfilment and in grocery more specifically – known for its huge complexities.  His customer first approach focusses on creating future-proof businesses, which balance automation with humans, and efficiency with safety and sustainability, and puts the customer experience ahead of everything.  Oliver played a leading role in Tesco’s Covid response, in which Tesco were able to double the size of their online business in just six weeks, responding to the crisis at pace, ensuring Tesco’s customers, especially their most vulnerable had access to groceries.

Oliver has previously held several leadership roles in Amazon in Fulfilment, Operations and Supply Chain.  He studied Economics and Business in Germany, his home country, and holds a PhD in Statistics.

Daniel “Pancho” Gutstein is a revered retail business professional with over 20 years’ industry experience.
Since the turn of the century, Pancho has led strategy, marketing and merchandising teams for brands across Australia and the United States.

Growing up in New York with his older brother and twin sister, Pancho studied at Princeton and Columbia Universities and explored an interest in acting before finding an enduring passion and knack for digital marketing. His career started at Doublespace, a digital brand agency based in New York City, before joining Graco Children’s Products (A Newell Rubbermaid Company) where he went on to become Director of Global Brand Marketing.

In 2009, Pancho made the move into sportswear by joining PUMA North America as Senior Director of Strategic Planning based in Boston, Massachusetts. Within two years, he was promoted to Senior Vice President of Merchandising, reporting into the President of the region. Following almost a decade of building impressive brand momentum and sales, Pancho was appointed General Manager of PUMA Oceania and relocated to Australia with his family in 2017. Over the past six years, Pancho has tripled the market’s turnover, led local teams through a global pandemic, and had the brand’s APAC region twice recognised by the Top Employers Institute.

Pancho commenced as CEO, Forty Winks Franchising Pty Ltd. from mid-January 2024. Outside of work, Pancho is a keen basketballer and enjoys Yoga and lazy Sundays with his wife and two young daughters.

Kyle is the CEO of the PepsiCo ANZ BU leading the strategic agenda across both the food & beverage businesses, & the CEO of the PepsiCo Indochina Foods BU. He is passionate about developing teams, driving transformation for positive purpose & winning in the market.​

Kyle has a wealth of experience in the FMCG industry. He joined PepsiCo in 2007 & has a variety of end to end experiences of increasing responsibility across field operations, strategic account leadership, field GM, go to market design, sales strategy & enterprise customer leadership.​

With a keen focus on the customer and the consumer, Kyle’s previous position as VP & GM for Frito Lay–Walmart (a $4 billion annual business), led to his appointment as PepsiCo ANZ CEO in January 2022. In this role he established an Omni-Channel team, creating breakthrough innovative solutions for the retailer & their consumers to strengthen PepsiCo’s position as Walmart’s leading supplier, which led to the team being awarded Walmart’s prestigious Supplier of The Year award in 2021.

Kyle is passionate about driving sustainable growth & steering PepsiCo toward its vision to: ‘Be the Global Leader in Convenient Foods & Beverages by Winning with PepsiCo Positive’. He believes a strong customer & human-centric strategy that executes innovative solutions will position the ANZ & Indochina businesses as indispensable in the marketplace. ​

Kyle is a purposeful leader who intrinsically fosters a people-first culture to inspire both joy & professional fulfillment in the workplace. He sees diversity as a competitive advantage & is inspired by his ANZ executive leadership team who come from a range of backgrounds, nationalities & are 60% female.​

Originally from Missouri, USA, Kyle & his husband currently live in Sydney. Fans of travel, being outdoors & on water, they enjoy spending time traveling & experiencing the amazing sights of Australia & New Zealand.

With more than 20 years of retail and consumer goods executive experience, Richard is recognised for leading complex transformations driven by a new consumer purpose. Richard joined Wesfarmers Health in 2023 and oversees the Retail division, including Priceline Pharmacy, Priceline corporate stores, eCommerce and Sister Club. Prior to this, Richard was the Managing Director of Target Australia and has worked at other Australian retailers including Coles, Caltex and Mecca.

Tom Gleeson is an experienced global executive with a proven track record in technology sales, business transformation, and strategic leadership. Currently serving as the CEO of Kepler Analytics since March 2023, Tom leads the company’s mission to empower retailers with cutting-edge analytics and insights that optimize performance and enhance customer experiences.

Tom began his career in the Royal Australian Air Force, where he served as a fighter pilot, flying instructor, and executive, including several operational deployments. After leaving the Air Force in 2005, he completed an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) before joining McKinsey & Company as a management consultant. At McKinsey, Tom gained diverse experience across industries and functions, laying the foundation for his leadership in complex global environments.

Since 2009, Tom has held senior executive roles in global organizations, including General Electric, where he contributed to their Aerospace and Additive Manufacturing divisions. Additionally, he has successfully led multiple tech startups in renewable energy and software, demonstrating his expertise in innovation and business growth.

Tom’s leadership at Kepler Analytics reflects his commitment to driving data-driven transformation in the retail sector, combining his rich background in technology, strategy, and operational excellence.

Andrea Morgan-Vandome is Chief Innovation Officer of Blue Yonder. In this role she is responsible for industry strategy, product strategy, roadmap direction and acquisition strategy, go-to-market packaging and messaging, and new product introduction. Andrea will also partner with Blue Yonder’s product management team on innovation development and adoption in market.

Andrea has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the enterprise software, supply chain and the retail industry. She previously held executive roles at Nike, IBM Watson, Celect, Oracle, and Retek. Prior to joining Blue Yonder, Andrea was the Vice President of Product Management, Portfolio and Program at Nike, where she was responsible for the digital transformation across all technical products including planning, manufacturing, supply chain, and AI. Prior to Nike, Andrea served Chief Marketing and Product Officer at Celect (an AI/ML supply chain software company), which was acquired by Nike. She also served as Vice President of Product and Design for IBM Watson where was responsible for product strategy, product management, user experience/ visual design, and go to market approach for all Watson solutions. She has also held strategy, product management, consulting, and engineering positions at Oracle and Retek.

Andrea holds a degree in Astrophysics from the University of Cape Town. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband Steven and two crazy border collies, Dax and Jessie. In her free time, she enjoys running, traveling and spending time with family and friends.