Stuart Rose has worked in retail since 1971 when he joined Marks & Spencer as a management trainee.

After holding a number of senior positions he then moved to the Burton Group in 1989 becoming Chief Executive of the Multiples Division in 1997. He was subsequently CEO of Argos plc and Booker plc, returning to M&S as CEO in 2004. He became Chairman and CEO in 2006 before leaving the group in 2010.

He is currently Chairman of Ocado plc, Zenith Automotive, and MAF Retail in Dubai.

He was Chairman of the British Fashion Council from 2004 – 2008 and Business in the Community from 2008 – 2010.

He was knighted for services to the retail industry and corporate social
responsibility in 2008 and created a life peer in 2014.

Ms Sabrina W. Fung is the Group Managing Director of Fung Retailing Group and the CEO of Asia Retail Company Limited, a Fung Group company focused on supporting and growing international brands in Asia. She also serves as the Chair of Wellness Med Limited, a newly formed Fung Investments company that serves the growing global health and wellness market.
Currently, Ms Fung is the Investment Director of Fung Investment Management Limited. She started working in the family business since 2000 as Investment Manager at the private investment arm of Fung Group running the family’s investments. Prior to joining the Fung Group, Ms. Fung worked for Brown Brothers Harriman & Co in New York and later held the position of Assistant Manager at its Hong Kong office until 1999. Ms Fung is experienced in the retail industry and also held positions in marketing and public relations for Salvatore Ferragamo Asia, merchandising and sourcing for Li & Fung (Trading) Limited and wholesale branding for Li & Fung USA. In 2017, Ms Fung was named in the Business of Fashion 500, and Women’s Wear Daily 10 of Tomorrow.
In Hong Kong, Ms Fung is on the board of Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, the Advisory Panel of IBM Collaborative Innovative Program, the Advisory Committee of the Tanoto Center for Asian Family Business and Entrepreneurship Studies at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), the University Court of The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the Executive Committee of the International Advisory Council of the Faculty of Business and Economics of HKU, the Hong Kong-Europe Business Council and the Hong Kong-France Business Council respectively. Ms Fung was a member of the Mainland Business Advisory Committee of Hong Kong Trade Development Council.
Internationally, Ms Fung is a member of the McLaren Advisory Group, Harvard Global Advisory Council, the Board of Trustees of The Carnegie Hall Corporation in New York. In addition, Ms Fung is the Co-Chair of Asia Council of St Paul’s School in New Hampshire, US, and previously served on its Board of Trustees.
Ms Fung graduated from Harvard University, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1993.

Sarah Hunter has been Managing Director, Officeworks since January 2019, during which time she has overseen a business that has undergone significant change and growth.
Before being appointed to Officeworks, Sarah was Demerger Program Director at Coles, overseeing the successful implementation of the demerger of the business from Wesfarmers in 2018. Sarah joined Coles in 2010, and held various senior positions.
Sarah holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Bond University, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and a Masters of Commerce from the University of NSW. In addition, she is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australia and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Jack Gance is a qualified Pharmacist. He is the co founder and Chairman of the Chemist Warehouse group. From the first store in 1972 to date he and his partners have opened almost 500 Pharmacies. In 1975 Jack and his wife and family created a distribution business with award winning marketing and products including Le Specs (Sunglasses) Le Tan (Suntan lotion) and Australis Fragrances and budget cosmetics. After selling the distribution business in 1991, Jack set about revolutionising and disrupting the Pharmacy Industry. In spite of the fact that Pharmacy is a heavily regulated and controlled industry, Jack and his partners created the largest and most successful Pharmacy chains in Australia, My Chemist and in 2000 Chemist Warehouse. Chemist Warehouse is a category killer with huge stock levels, large footprints and incredible sales. With over 70% of all the $6 billion sales being front of shop, Chemist Warehouse has the largest share of sales in all its categories. The average Chemist Warehouse has over $12M annual turnover. Chemist Warehouse is dominant in the China cross border trade having sold over 100 million RMB last singles day in the first hour. Additionally there are 3 bricks and mortar stores in mainland China. With over 20 stores in New Zealand and over $20M annual sales per store Chemist Warehouse is set to dominate in NZ. Late in 2010 Chemist Warehouse opened its first store in Europe in Ireland. The success overseas in China, New Zealand and now Ireland reinforces Jack’s belief that the stunningly successful model will work in any country that it enters.

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.

Katie Hunt is the Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of SHOWFIELDS, The Most Interesting Store in The World. She began her career as the third employee of Warby Parker, served as Chief Brand Officer for Hinge, where she led the charge for their relaunch and rebrand, and has worked extensively with startups in branding, product development, marketing, operations and fundraising. Additionally, Katie is the Co-Founder of The Fund, which is a VC fund made up of a community of founders and operators that invests and mentors early stage companies in NYC, LA and London.

Andrea leads digital transformation for Walgreens stores, including efforts to bring innovation into new store formats as well as leading the exploration of digital initiatives and new emerging store technologies. As Head of Solution Planning and Partnerships, Andrea collaborates with Value Proposition teams to define, evangelize, and prioritize key customer solutions. He supports the solution development work across the company. Prior to Walgreens, Andrea spent 14 years at Accenture, architecting and implementing large scale digital transformations across the Communication and Retail industries.

The WBA Digital organization brings together all of the capabilities required to assess opportunities, and quickly build and iterate products or services that can be tested in the market and, if successful, be scaled up. This division of work has created a step-change in WBA’s innovation capabilities and the Company’s ability to quickly build unique, customer-centric experiences.

Elle Roseby is the Managing Director of Country Road. Named the most influential retailer in Ragtrader’s Power 30, she is regarded as an authority in strategic brand development and retail management.

Elle has forged a remarkable career through fostering positive, results-driven cultures with a focus on innovation and collaboration. Over 30 years, she has risen through the ranks of some of Australia’s most respected retailers, including Myer, Sportsgirl and Supré, her tenures at the latter two cementing her reputation as someone who can orchestrate a rapid brand turnaround.

Known for her ability to redefine and reposition retail brands, Elle is regularly called upon to share her expertise and insight with audiences across Australia including Inside Retail events, WGSN, Melbourne Fashion Week, women’s leadership panels and private mentoring sessions.

At Country Road, Elle has been influential in repositioning the brand as a leader in sustainable design, both in fashion and retail environments. Her guidance in this area has led to brand partnerships with Oritain and Landcare in recent months, as well as the launch of Our World, a dedicated platform for Country Road to share its sustainability journey with the wider community. Under Elle’s leadership, the brand’s Chadstone flagship became the first fashion retailer in Australia to achieve a 5 Star Green Star Design Review rating with the Green Building Council of Australia.

The mother of two is passionate about community enterprises and has spearheaded initiatives through The Butterfly Foundation and collaborated with charities like Redkite, Headspace, Dignity Dreams and the Graeme Dingle Foundation. An advocate for local talent, Elle has been involved in the RMIT TRI Project and remains a committee member of the RMIT School of Fashion Industry Advisory Group. Her support for community-based projects has led to an ongoing partnership between Country Road and the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation.

Alongside these projects, Elle is busy reinvigorating the lifestyle brand famous for its quality, design and effortless style. She has embedded a fresh leadership team and delivered a clear brand vision, which aims to inspire modern Australian living every day.

Reuben was appointed CEO of the Outdoor division of the Kathmandu Group (global responsibility for Kathmandu and Oboz brands) in October 2019 following the Groups acquisition of Rip Curl.
Prior to this Reuben had been the Group COO and Group CFO after joining Kathmandu in 2010 as Group Financial Controller. Before joining Kathmandu, Reuben held a range of senior financial management roles including Taylormade Adidas Golf, Meridian Energy and KPMG.

Reuben has a Bachelor of Commerce, a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Canterbury and has completed the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD.

Ms Winn is currently a Non-Executive Director for Coca Cola Amatil Limited, Ampol Limited, Goodman Group Limited and CSR Limited.

She has over 30 years of experience in retail with a focus on supply chain, digital strategy and business transformation in senior management roles in Australia and overseas. These roles included Director Group Retail Services with Woolworths Limited where she was responsible for leading the Logistics and Information Technology divisions, Online Retailing and the Customer Engagement teams across the organisation; Executive Director of Merchandise and Logistics for Myer Limited; and Director of Strategy and Change for ASDA Walmart UK.
Penny has a Bachelor of Commerce degree (Australian National University), a Masters of Business Administration (University of Technology Sydney) and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Paul Tinkler, Managing Director of lululemon Australia and New Zealand, brings with him 20 years’ experience in the consumer goods industry.
Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, Paul paid his way through university by working the shop floors for iconic Australian retailers such as Marcs and Country Road. This ignited a passion for the science of retail and consumer behavior, setting a trajectory that would see him leading the strategic direction of global brands both domestically, and across the APAC region.
It was in Hong Kong that Paul Joined lululemon as Area Director for the Asia business. Responsible for the retail channel in the organisation’s fastest growing market, it was only six months before Paul transitioned to his current role of Managing Director for the Australian and New Zealand business, based in Melbourne.
Paul oversees the Store Support Centre team of 60, over 40 retail stores across Australia and New Zealand, as well as a rapidly expanding E-commerce business.
Prior to joining lululemon, Paul spent over seven years based in Asia. Joining the Deckers Group in 2010 in Hong Kong, Paul was responsible for the expansion of the UGG Australia brand across the APAC region. The UGG Australia brand covered 10 markets including both subsidiary and distributor models.
He was also responsible for launching the UGG retail strategy for the influential Hong Kong and Macau markets. Perhaps most notably, Paul co-led the launch of a dual platform approach to E-commerce in China, one of the fastest growing revenue opportunities for global brands in the region.
Earlier in his career, Paul also held several roles at True Alliance, a market leading distributor of global brands for Australia and New Zealand. Here he worked on popular brands such as Teva, Reebok, The North Face and Speedo.

David Reeve is an experienced, customer focussed CIO and leader who thrives on business transformation. David has over twenty years of experience gained across a wide spectrum of industries including Retail, Financial Services, Education, Defence and Aviation. His career has been defined by utilising digital capabilities to deliver improved organisational agility
and increased engagement with Customers.

David has held Executive roles around the globe and since moving to Sydney, he has worked for some of Australia’s most iconic brands including QANTAS, ANZ, Macquarie Group and now Metcash. At Metcash David is responsible for the delivery of solutions driving world-class supply chain enabling the success of thousands of independent retailers.

Steve began his retail career at Myer/Grace Bros on the Management Development Program, where he held various roles from Stores Management to Buying during his twelve years with the company.

He then joined Nike Australia where he took on the role of Retail Director. Shortly after, Steve was offered the opportunity to move to NIKE’s world headquarters in the U.S. to head up the retail division for North America, including the iconic NIKETOWN flagship stores.

After seven years with Nike, Steve moved to eyewear giant Luxottica in Sydney to head up the Sunglass Hut brand and led the entry of the Brand into Asia.

Steve then moved to Melbourne three years later to take on the role of CEO for denim specialist Jeanswest, which was positioned as a key player in the Jeanswear market. He held that position for four years.

For the past ten years Steve has held the role of Co-founder and CEO of Retail Prodigy Group, which holds the master retail franchise for NIKE Stores across Australia and New Zealand together with the distribution rights for U.S. Brand TOMS.
Steve more recently was elected as a council member for the Australian Retailers Association and is looking forward to contributing to the growth of the Retail Industry.

Anna is the COO for Australia & NZ’s leading online fashion and sports retailer, THE ICONIC. She joined in 2014 as CFO, a role she held for three years. Anna started her career journey over 24 years ago and has since paved a successful career. From ‘Big 4’ to high-growth corporate environments across Australia, NZ and APAC, Anna has focused on building best practice finance and operational functions by establishing, leading and developing high performing teams. Anna has sat on Executive teams for over 16 years managing broad remits including Supply Chain, Customer Service, Finance, People & Culture, Legal, Risk and Compliance, IT and Office Management functions.

Anna was the finalist for the Thomson Reuters Accounting Excellence Awards for both CFO of the Year and Finance Team of the Year in 2015. She contributes to the industry as brand ambassador for causes for which she is passionate including the CA (Chartered Accountants) Program and Dress for Success. She is a mentor as part of the CA ANZ Mentor Exchange Program, and the NORA Talent Network.

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, Transformation and Replenishment and is now the Group CEO of Australia’s largest born and bred quick service restaurant group: Craveable Brands, who operate 600 Red Rooster, Oporto and Chicken Treat restaurants. Karen is a CEW scholar, and is passionate about retail, people and diversity.

Mariano Favia has spent 10+ years in retail E-commerce, with roles at Dell (NYSE: DELL), Mercadolibre (NASDAQ: MELI), Temple & Webster (ASX TPW) & MYOB (former ASX: MYO). A former E-commerce assistant professor at Buenos Aires Institute of Technology University and Public speaker at Google Academy – Mobile Specialist (Melbourne & Sydney, Australia). Currently the Head of Marketing at VInomofo, Mariano is passionate about product development, advertising and disruptive technologies.

Richard is an experienced CEO and Board member across the Retail and Logistics sectors, with particular expertise in eCommerce and in leading major change.
He was until recently based in Europe working as a senior executive in supermarket retailer Kaufland's International division, and prior to that held the role of CEO and MD at Australian department store chain Myer.
 
Richard was previously the CEO of international express logistics provider StarTrack and the Executive GM for Parcel and Express Services at Australia Post.
 
He previously also held other MD and GM positions in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) retailing with roles at Woolworths both in Australia and New Zealand, and at Aldi in the UK and Republic of Ireland.  

 
Richard is married, with three adult children and lives in Melbourne.

Travis Wright was most recently named #7 in Inside Retail's Top 50 In E Commerce Report. She landed this spot for overseeing the Esther & Co. turnaround amidst the 2019 wildfires and 2020 pandemic. In the final quarter of 2020 Esther & Co. saw revenue up by 436% year on year and so far this FY Esther & Co. is up over 3000% in profit. In her career, Travis has had the privilege of working across all areas of an online business. Understanding all of the essential moving parts allows her to rapidly execute projects and push Esther & Co. forward. Esther & Co. was named Best Small Retailer in the 2020 NRA Awards. In 2019 she founded Travel By Travis Customised Coordinate Jewellery for which she was named in the Top 50 Small Business Leaders 2020 Report. Wright says the additional knowledge gained through owning her own business has been invaluable. Between her full time General Manager role at Esther & Co. and side hustle, Travel By Travis she genuinely lives and breathes ECommerce.

Rolee Satyam is a data, analytics & insights leader with 15 years of extensive experience in delivering innovative insights to drive the organization’s transformation from analog business practices to digital. In 2017, Rolee was the finalist for Australian Digital leader of the year. In 2018, she was also nominated as top 100 global retail minds by Asia Retail Congress. She represented Australia in “retail forum for senior leaders” executive education course by Harvard and holds an MBA degree in marketing and finance. She has presented in multiple conferences on diverse topics ranging from data to artificial intelligence to customer experience.
At present, She is working with BIG W as Data, Analytics and Insights Partner. In this role, She is conduit for BIG W X, Marketing, Rewards and Customer Transformation & Strategy and the Data, Analytics & Insights Center of Excellence to improve the way business uses data, analytics and insights to make better, more informed strategic customer and business decisions and deliver capabilities to automate tasks and accelerate progress towards customer goals through the use of artificial intelligence.

Prior to BIGW, she was working with WooliesX as Head of Growth & Insights. In this role, she was responsible for leading data & insights efforts to help WooliesX continually hone and shape the most compelling and relevant customer value proposition and to guide the team in developing a rigorous test/learn framework for on-going optimization of digital experience.

Prior to WooliesX, she has worked with Wal-Mart as Senior manager, customer proposition & analytics and Madison Reed (Silicon Valley tech startup) as Director, analytics in California where she built the team ground up and established the technology foundation to support the digital business.

Steffen serves as Chief Marketing Officer at Australia's largest online bookstore; Booktopia and was named #15 Top People in Ecommerce in 2021.

Arriving in Australia in 2014 after having sold and exited his last company in Indonesia he joined The Co-op to drive digital growth and in his latest role as General Manager Digital & Marketing was responsible for omnichannel growth across 2 websites and 120 stores before joining Booktopia in 2018.
Prior to arriving in Australia Steffen founded an online electronics retailer in Denmark in 2006, and a digital agency helping more than 300 SMBs grow online through Conversion Rate Optimisation, Strategy, Design/Development and Digital Marketing.

Rick is a sustainable development specialist with over 15 years’ experience in research, teaching, management consulting and corporate sustainability roles. He currently leads the development and implementation of Kmart Group's sustainable development program (Kmart, Target and Catch - part of Wesfarmers Group), with a focus on policy, strategy, partnership development and program management in relation to human rights (living wage, modern slavery, women's empowerment), environment (materials, waste, water and chemicals) and circular economy. He is passionate about the role that inclusive and responsible businesses can play in achieving poverty alleviation and sustainable development goals.

Jo Devery is the Chief Executive Officer of Winning Retail, part of family-owned, Australian retail entity, Winning Group. Jo holds executive accountability for the day-to-day operations of the Group's businesses; including Winning Appliances, Winning Commercial, Rogerseller and Customer Experience.

Jo is focused on the fast growth and transformation of our constantly evolving business model. Jo's success lies in her ability to deliver business goals through the understanding of the end to end retail supply chain and her ability to lead & engage stakeholders.

Previously GM for Lux Group’s consumer products division and held senior management roles locally and across Asia at global corporate retailers, pure play e-commerce and multi-brand wholesale businesses. Worked with brands including Kmart, Myer, and Pacific Brands.

Brett Spinks operates with a vision, sharp agility and a people focused approach. With over 10 years’ experience in the jewellery retail industry, Brett has led Swarovski Australia to new heights with record sales year-on-year since taking his role as Managing Director in 2017.

Currently, as Managing Director at Swarovski, Brett identifies opportunity and talent within the organization to drive excellence and results. He has a hands-on management style and has spearheaded the business’ dynamic shift to focus on retail and people; customers and the Swarovski team. He’s an inspirational and credible leader, with exceptional business acumen from his extensive retail experience. Swarovski Australia continues to gather momentum under Brett’s watch.

Previously, Brett spent seven years at Pandora rising through the ranks to become Vice President of Sales in 2015. Stepping into the business, he was integral to the extraordinary strategic change and business growth before taking on the VP of Sales role, maximizing revenue by driving a team of sales leaders.

Accent group (ASX:AX1) is a leading listed retailer in the lifestyle and activewear market and is the largest lifestyle footwear group in ANZ. With revenue approaching $1 billion, Accent has 600 stores, 19 websites, more than 6000 team members and 17 owned and distributed brands (including The Athletes Foot, Platypus, Hype DC, Skechers, Vans, DR Martens, Stylerunner, Exie, Subtype, Trybe, Pivot, Merrell, CAT and Timberland)
Matthew (FCPA, MBA) is senior finance and operations leader with over 30 years’ experience in retail, gained through leadership, strategy, merchandise and operational roles at Accent Group, The PAS Group, David Jones and Myer. His passion and core strengths include strategic thinking, building and leading strong motivated teams and driving best in class operational capability and performance.

Lee is currently leading the development of the IGA Online Shop for Metcash, a role that comes with great complexity with over 1400 independently owned and managed stores across Australia, each with their own local ranges and offering. But, with great complexity comes great opportunity and Lee loves working with independent retailers who give back to their communities and in many cases stand out from the crowd in a way chains never do. With a CV spanning marketing, loyalty, store-operations, customer service and digital transformation across Retail, Telco and Insurance on three continents Lee’s core focus always comes back to creating customer experiences that deliver on business goals.

Pamela is a senior executive with over 20 years’ experience in retail across Ireland and Australia, primarily working across retail pharmacy operations, merchandise, and marcomms. As the CMO at Blooms The Chemist, she leads brand strategy, corporate social responsibility, events, and all aspects of marketing and communications. Pamela is known for her work ethic and her ability to stay true to a greater vision. She thrives when collaborating and implementing change.
Pamela has travelled extensively studying best in class retail and views travel as a wonderful learning opportunity to discover different markets, retail trends, businesses, and cultures. She mentors in her spare time, is an avid supporter of female empowerment, and is passionate about responsible business. Pamela is backed by an EMBA and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Outside of work, Pamela loves to travel. When she’s not globe-trotting, she can be found enjoying quality time with her family and friends.

Thinus has considerable commercial experience in the retail, strategy and liquor sectors, and since joining Coles in 2010, has held various senior leadership roles across the business.

In his role, Thinus is accountable for delivering innovation and transformation of the domestic store network as well as the international development of the Coles Export business. He also leads the Coles sustainability strategy, transforming the way in which we engage with our partners and communities, produce and source our products and services and the impact we have on our environment.

Thinus is a member of the Capital Approvals and Cost Leadership committees and he leads the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander plan for Coles.

Thinus’ qualifications include a Master of Commerce from the University of Stellenbosch and a Master of Science from HEC, University of Lausanne.

Angus is the Chief Executive Officer at Barbeques Galore, a national retailer with over 90 stores across Australia, and is also a member of the NORA Advisory Board.

Prior to joining Barbeques Galore in July 2019, Angus spent 11 years at Super Retail Group, working across areas including retail operations, merchandise and ecommerce. Throughout this time, Angus led initiatives which resulted in Supercheap Auto being recognised on a number of occasions as Australia's best multichannel retailer, and was also included in the 2018 list of the top 50 people in ecommerce.

Aaron is currently the AI & Advanced Analytics Manager at Country Road Group and David Jones. He loves to uncover what it is that makes customers tick, and strives to use his data science expertise to provide the best possible customer experience to them. Having started his career life as a Games Designer with very strong mathematical prowess in the Gaming Industry, he quickly came up with a range of creative ideas based on a range of statistical models. This has led to a variety of AI use-cases, from facial recognition time-carding to fraud detection to omni-channel personalization, now implemented throughout a number of different retailers.

Frances is the VP of Operations and Enablement for Consumer Optus Pty Ltd. She is responsible for the overall, distribution, design, operational support, compliance, communications and importantly the development and capability of the Sales Channels.
Frances has been with Optus for 8 years and has spent over 20 years in the telecommunications industry, holding roles across all sales channels, sales management, transformation and customer experience, as well as holding Board positions on industry forums. Prior to Optus, she worked with Vodafone for 15 years with several Senior Management Roles.
She is passionate about the customer experience and how we redefine our engagement via new innovation that excites and inspires and the ongoing development for employees and their personal growth.

Jonathan Reeve leads the APAC operations of Eagle Eye, a Software as a Service personalised promotions and loyalty platform. Eagle Eye’s customers include Asda, Coca-Cola, Diageo, JD Sports, Loblaw, Sainsbury's, The Warehouse Group and Woolworths.

Jonathan has worked in retail businesses on three continents for over 18 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.

Paul leads the technology capability for Craveable Brands, home to 580+ Red Rooster, Oporto and Chicken Treat restaurants across Australia. As customers expect digital interaction, Craveable Brands continue to add and enhance digital customer channels to drive further growth. At Greencross, Paul supported continued growth and integration of the pet retail (Petbarn, City Farmers) and veterinary businesses. Paul previously led digital transformation at APG & Co, home to iconic Australian brands Sportscraft, Saba, JAG & Willow. Retailers can successfully combine the best of online and stores to deliver better customer experience and business results, as demonstrated at John Lewis with over 30% of sales online and a strong focus on omni-channel. At Warehouse Express, Paul was CTO in a turnaround team returning an online retailer to profit in a tough sector. Previously he worked with online pioneer figleaves.com, Avanade and Mincom.

James Bartle is the founding CEO of Outland Denim, the denim brand making jeans differently and setting a new standard in fashion manufacturing. Driven by the desire to curb the trafficking of young girls into the $99 billion illicit commercial sex industry, Bartle created Outland to generate training and employment opportunities for women vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Over six years Bartle developed a unique business model that would enable each of his seamstresses to gain a covetable sJames Bartle is the founding CEO of Outland Denim, the denim brand making jeans differently and setting a new standard in fashion manufacturing. Driven by the desire to curb the trafficking of young girls into the $99 billion illicit commercial sex industry, Bartle created Outland to generate training and employment opportunities for women vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Over six years Bartle developed a unique business model that would enable each of his seamstresses to gain a covetable skill set in tailoring while earning a living wage, receiving ongoing support and life-enhancing education, and crafting artisan quality jeans to compete in the global premium marketplace. In 2016, he took Outland to scale, securing international investment and distribution to further the company's mission to employ more young women while concurrently investing heavily in supply chain and environmental stewardship. With a background in manufacturing and start-up ventures, Bartle has taken a hands-on approach to developing Outland's signature jean styles, eschewing automation in favour of craftsmanship.

Timothy De Coster is currently the Group Supply Chain Design & Planning Manager for Asahi. To inform his strategies, Timothy conducts capacity and capability assessments for Asahi's vast supply chain network, taking into consideration the different economic, political and social challenges each jurisdiction brings. Timothy has 5 years’ experience in manufacturing, logistics and supply chain management in operational, tactical and strategic roles. In these roles, Timothy has been recognised for his skills in future proofing and leading continuous improvement projects for multi-echelon supply chains. Having started his career in Belgium in Europe’s largest brewery, Timothy has taken on roles in Prague and Amsterdam before joining Carlton United Breweries in Melbourne in 2017. Timothy has a Master’s Degree in Business Engineering from the University of Ghent (High Distinction) and has obtained his Green Belt in Lean Six Sigma Methodology. Outside of the office, Timothy can be found rock climbing or training for obstacle races.

Ash Saini was appointed General Manager, Sales and Distribution at Vodafone in July 2020 and is responsible for 375 Vodafone outlets and a further 12,000 points of presence with other retailers.
Prior to this role, Ash led the Lebara Australia mobile business from 2016. During 2016, Ash played an instrumental role in the sale of the Lebara Australia business (previously a wholesale partner of Vodafone) and worked with the team in Vodafone to establish Lebara Australia as an independent and wholly owned business unit of Vodafone Hutchison Australia (now TPG Telecom). Ash has had 10 years tenure at Lebara, initially holding the position of Finance Director from 2010 to 2016. Ash’s previous experience includes senior commercial finance and strategy roles with Asciano, Qantas, Yum! Brands, Barclays Bank (UK) and Goodman Fielder.
Ash is committed to challenging legacy business and retail practices by embracing new digital technologies for both unassisted and own retail channels.
Ash holds a Bachelor of Economics degree from Macquarie University and is also a Chartered Accountant (CA).

After joining Honey Birdette in 2019 as its CFO, Kim took the reins of the luxury brand less than a year later. Her aim was simple - to make Honey Birdette the most talked about lingerie label in the world. Kim has an impressive background in high-end retail, and was formerly the finance and IT director at L'Occitane en Provence. She has never needed convincing as to the power of digital, and it was under her direction that Honey Birdette achieved colossal growth in that sector despite the challenges presented by COVID. That experience only strengthened her resolve to bolster Honey Birdette's online presence, knowing it's crucial to the label's success in new and emerging markets. As she helms the brand on the brink of explosive expansion across the United States, Kim is a champion for teamwork and female empowerment throughout the company and beyond.

Kurt is the Director of Ticketing Solutions at Transport for New South Wales. As the Head of TfNSW’s Digital Payments business unit, Kurt is responsible for delivering innovative digital and payments products across a variety of channels to over 4 million regular customers that take over 670 million trips annually, equating to over $1.5 billion in annual revenue. Kurt is responsible for overall delivery accountability of the Opal network which is geographically the world's largest electronic ticketing system covering 40,000 square kilometres, 318 train stations, 44 wharves, 29 light rail stops and 39,599 bus stops.
During his time at TfNSW, Kurt achievements include the successful delivery of Australia's largest contactless payments system, with TfNSW being Australia’s largest payment merchant with approximately 25,000 contactless payment terminals deployed across the Opal network. He also delivered the world's first fully integrated revenue protection app that reads both contactless payment cards and also closed loop Opal transit cards.
Other achievements have included Australia's first transit agency initiated mobility-as-a-service pilot integrating onDemand and regional and rural services with the broader Opal network. He also delivered the first remotely controlled railway station solution for payments and gate access in the Southern hemisphere.
Kurt led the delivery of a series of business intelligence products that have leveraged near real-time Opal data, fused weather and event data sets, and used machine learning to predict future transport network patterns and expected patronage. This has enabled TfNSW services to be better tailored to meet the needs of its customers.
Kurt has over 20 years’ experience delivering complex technology programs both internationally and domestically in both the private and public sector. Kurt was formerly an Army officer where he served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Solomon Islands and Indonesia, prior to working for Deloitte in business and technology transformation. From there Kurt worked with ASX listed infrastructure firms Leighton Group and Lendlease where he lead large global technology delivery teams prior to joining TfNSW. Kurt brings a unique blend of experience and pragmatism to the delivery of customer centric digital products.

Sally Townsend is a passionate Sustainability and Communications professional. She has 20 years of experience in the retail and healthcare sectors and specialises in developing strategies with a strong corporate narratives and deep alignment throughout organisations.

In her current role as Head of Sustainability for Blackmores Group, Sally has responsibility for the Group Sustainability Vision aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and is working to integrate these commitments into the core business strategy to deliver on the company’s vision for a world where people and nature thrive together. In 2020, Blackmores committed to Net Zero Emissions by 2030 and has progressed the journey to have a deeper understanding of human rights, climate resilience and biodiversity impacts across their global supply chain.

Jeremy is the Chief Innovation and Disruption Officer at Global Retail Brands (GRB) GRB incorporates House, Robins Kitchens, Pet House, THE CUSTOM CHEF TM My House and Global Media Brands. This includes 189 Homewares retail outlets and 13 web assets. Jeremy is a passionate driver of change and innovation and has developed a love for learning new things and being inspired by the challenge of disruption. Jeremy has a yearning to communicate the power of quality content and enrich peoples lives through fun, engaging, educational and inspiring ideas utilising technology at its core. The world of Retail is facing a new normal and the opportunity is there for the taking to innovate and drive change in a Digital savvy world whilst also balancing a grow bricks and mortar footprint.

Ron Hurley has 25+ years’ experience in Supply Chain Management, including working in the Automotive Industry for a Tier 1 supplier, supplying Toyota, Holden, Ford and Mitsubishi OEM and Part and Accessories (Gates Rubber Company). Working in the electrical wholesale and retail (HPM Legrand), Printing and Service industries for Fuji Xerox and now Pernod-Ricard FMCG.
Ron is an industry leader in areas of inventory planning and supply chain transformation having been involved in some very successful network transformation projects within the companies he has been employed,
Ron is a regular speaker at industry forums both in Australia and internationally, taking pride in the supply chain industry and is passionate about the growth and improvement of the industry as a whole. Ron has a unique experience set, working in many business areas throughout his career including IT, Finance and Supply Chain.
This has developed a different perspective on supply chain and how it fits into the business structure with a solid understand of the balance of operations and business objectives.
Ron joined Pernod Ricard Winemakers in July 2018 as the Director of Supply Chain: Pernod Ricard Winemakers Previous to this role Ron held he position as the General Manager of Supply Chain ANZ a domestic and APAC combined role for Fuji Xerox, Ron is in charge of Supply Chain & Customer service across ANZ and International customer service for all other global markets.

Kobie Taylor, Head of People & Culture at Metcash, has spent over 13 years working for some of Australia’s most iconic brands and partnering with leaders on strategy, transformational change, organisational effectiveness and talent management. At Metcash, the priority is shifting the business and the iconic IGA brand into growth, in what is a complex business model and a highly competitive market. With a new strategy, transforming how the business operates, and how it how it leads its people, was quickly identified a critical enabler to achieving their ambitious vision and purpose.

Natalie Ellis serves as Vice President, General Manager, Foot Locker Pacific since May 2017. Her previous leadership positions at Foot Locker, Inc. include Vice President, General Manager, SIX:02 and Lady Foot Locker from October 2012 to April 2017, as well as Vice President, Corporate Strategy from September 2011 to September 2012. Natalie also serves as part of Foot Locker, Inc.’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Council. She previously held executive operational and strategic roles at L Brands and the Boston Consulting Group. Natalie holds an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, an MA from the School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, and an AB from Princeton University.

Renee Gamble is Google’s Industry Director of Retail, CPG, QSR, Automotive, Technology, Telecommunications, and Media & Entertainment where her responsibilities include growing and stewarding Google’s customer relationships with CxOs of some of the largest organizations in ANZ. Renee is a member of Google’s APAC Retail Leadership Steering Committee and leads the APAC Omnichannel Retail priority. Renee joined Google in 2015 to head up the ANZ Google Cloud business, before taking on her current role in 2017.

Renee brings an extensive track record of technology and business innovation leadership. Before joining Google she spent over 10 years at Microsoft in Singapore and Australia in various sales and business leadership roles. She previously worked as an industry analyst and business leader with IT & Telecommunications research advisory firm International Data Corporation (IDC) across Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore. Earlier experience included IP start-ups and software firms.

Renee has a Bachelor of Arts (Social Science) from the University of Technology Sydney and a Masters of Commerce (Electronic Commerce) from Curtin University, Australia. Away from the office, Renee enjoys family life with her husband and teenage daughters and escaping for short breaks to travel and explore.

Having worked across television, tech and fashion, Matthew Iozzi at the age of 26 is now the Head of Marketing and PR for international fashion giant, Superdry. Recognized in Ragtrader and CMO’s Top 10 marketing minds in Australia, Matthew is responsible for the voice, presentation and direction of the Superdry brand across the Australian and New Zealand territories. Matthew leads the brand’s influencer relationships, rollout stratagem and social teams whilst simultaneously cultivating the brands PR presence across both territories in-house. Noted for his innovative marketing stratagem, Matthew seeks to blend traditional and contemporary techniques to reach designated audiences. As such, Matthew has a strong history of effectively executing global first initiatives and partnerships including Superdry’s sponsorship of the Invictus Games Foundation (2018), launching a world first partnership between Subaru, STA Travel and Superdry (2019) and launching the brand’s official global presence over TIKTOK and WeChat.

John is a Non-Executive Director for Zip Co, Foodco Group and General Pants Group/Ksubi and advisers a range of start-ups. He has 28 years of experience across Research, Marketing, Digital Innovation and General Management with organisations like Westfield, Interbrand, Wrigley and PepsiCo. He has a Masters in Management, a Bachelor of Business, a ADMA Certificate in Digital Marketing and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Michelle is the Retail Lead for Accenture Australia and New Zealand and has over 20 years of hands-on experience in the retail industry. Based in Melbourne, Michelle has worked across major CGS, Pharma and Retail sectors and has senior management experience with brands including Billabong International, Country Road Group, Pacific Brands and Myer both domestically and globally in the United Kingdom, Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Michelle has a passion for helping retailers understand the future of their industry.

As Shopify’s regional head of marketing, Robin is responsible for ensuring that Shopify’s stories of empowering entrepreneurs, businesses and consumers resonate with local audiences by delivering a transparent and cohesive brand experience that moves beyond the product. He specialises in connecting the brand, data, people and processes together, in order to create tailored, relevant and meaningful experiences for the customer, especially in a region as highly diverse like APAC.
Robin has nearly two decades of marketing leadership experience and a track record of delivering growth across tech start-ups, publicly traded, private equity backed and mature organisations.

Kate works with industry leaders and retail businesses to grow understanding of how consumers interact, entertain and shop in a world of increasingly endless options. She loves to unpack how businesses can thrive when they understand these consumer behaviours and the solutions being built to support them. Kate has over 25 years of experience working in finance, marketing and advertising. Prior to joining Facebook in 2011, Kate led the Social Media GTM at Microsoft Advertising UK and also worked client side for Sensis, McDonald’s and Tabcorp.

Gary Starr is leading the evolution of Australia Post’s sales, marketing and customer service teams to drive its transformation to become a best-in-class customer-led organisation that delivers compelling end to end service experiences customers advocate for.

Gary is an accomplished business leader with experience spanning 25 years in the telecommunications and technology sectors across a range of sales, marketing and operations leadership roles. Most recently, he held senior executive roles leading organisations through significant cultural change with a focus on driving a solutions-based, customer-centric orientation.

A strategic and creative thinker with a verifiable track record in increasing performance through dynamic leadership, innovation, strategic planning, and change management, Jarrod Kinchington works closely with business and IT stakeholders to develop and implement options that satisfy a range of competing objectives. He brings more than 20 years of experience across a number of industries, including telecommunications and utilities, transportation, the public sector, and financial services. With a proven track record in achieving measurable outcomes, Jarrod has a strong background in enterprise applications, integration, managed services, and migrating organisations from legacy environments to consumption-based cloud services across both infrastructure and application platforms.

As organisations and business enterprises face increasing demands to do more with less, requiring they look beyond traditional methods, Jarrod helps them to ignite innovation and operational agility, and take advantage of best-of-breed technologies in order to drive and support growth. Jarrod is passionate about bringing together innovation, culture, and strategy, and has a strength for developing high performing-teams whose members become leaders in their respective industries.

Deborah is responsible for relationship management with Rest’s employers, as well as industry associations. Her responsibilities also encompass Rest Advice, business development, service delivery and employer channel management.

Deborah joined Rest in 2015, as the National Manager, Advice and subsequently served as the Head of Advice and Education from March 2017. In May 2018, she was appointed as interim General Manager Brand, Marketing and Communications.

Deborah has extensive experience working with board, executive and professional teams on customer experience strategies in the financial services and superannuation industries. Prior to working at Rest, she worked at BT Financial Group and AMP Corporate Super.

Bede Hackney has over 25 years of experience in the IT and security industries, working with high growth companies and large multinationals, focusing on software and hardware solutions for big data, networking, security, storage, server virtualisation, desktop and mobility across public, private and hybrid cloud.

In November 2019, Bede joined Databricks to bring his extensive expertise to help expand the company’s presence in Australia and New Zealand markets. He is acutely focused on driving data innovation forward and helping the success of Australian and New Zealand customers in their digital transformation efforts with data and AI.

Prior to joining Databricks, Bede held roles as Managing Director for Tenable and Nimble Storage in ANZ and Director of Product Sales at VMware. Bede also worked in several strategic management roles for multinational software company, Citrix and served as the ANZ Country Manager for Packeteer.

In addition to Bede’s cross-technology leadership experience, he comes from a strong technical background - focused mainly in the networking arena where he holds a CCIE and was awarded a US patent for management of network quality of service.

Mats is a recognised thought leader in the unified commerce retail space and has a sharp focus on seamlessly merging the digital and physical worlds for retailers.

Drawing from many years working with global brands, Mats understands the challenges facing retailers in today’s landscape. In order to survive and thrive into the future, there is a need to seriously assess how technology supports a retailer’s future needs. He believes that the best approach is to leverage an eco-system of best-of-breed technology solutions that integrate seamlessly together. This gives retailers exceptional end-to-end capability and the ability to quickly adapt and react - focusing on specific areas, allowing you to prioritize and reduce risk.

As CEO and founder of GOC Retail, one of the region’s leading retail consultancies, he guides iconic retailers such as R.M. Williams, and GANT in global expansions across multiple continents. Mats applies his passion for innovation, deep retail experience, and outstanding business and technical knowledge to deliver exceptional results for retailers.

Working from a philosophy of unified retail, he knows that successful loyalty programs rely on a seamless merging of the digital and physical retail worlds – across the entire supply chain.

Having joined dunnhumby in 2018 in a role devoted to bringing the benefits of customer data-science to new countries, Kylie launched dunnhumby into the Australian and New Zealand markets, securing major clients and growing both markets rapidly. Previously the Global Commercial Director for Friesland Campina (a Dutch FMCG with annual revenue in excess of (€11 Billion / AUD$16 Billion), and with a background of leadership roles at several highly respected businesses including Nestle, Coca-Cola, Kantar Retail (TNS, Fonterra, J&J, BAT) - both within Australia and Internationally (Asia, Africa, Middle East & Europe), she brings extensive experience across FMCG, retail and foodservice.

With a deep understanding of utilising data analytics and customer insights to build effective business strategies for large-scale, customer first transformations. Based in Sydney, Kylie has a passion for fostering a culture of continuous learning & coaching within business teams in a continuous effort to support, inspire and guide upstream innovation and strategic thinking.

Having spent her career in the technology sector across industries - telecommunications, legal, payments and eCommerce, Hannah has a deep understanding of multiple industries and how digital continuously aides transformation. Ultimately Hannah is truly passionate about growing presence within ecosystems and creating cross functional enablement strategies. Currently, Hannah is responsible for the growth and management of Enterprise partnerships for Worldpay in the APAC region. She has immersed herself in the eCommerce ecosystem and enjoys working with partners and merchants.

Callum has over 20 years’ experience working with Australia’s largest retailers, payment customers and financial institutions. He is currently our Business Development Director, leading a team who are bringing Worldpay’s cutting edge payment expertise Down Under.

Andrew Myers is the VP APAC & Global Digital Strategy at WorkJam. Andrew, a former retail industry executive, has deep experience across all aspects of a retail organization. Before joining WorkJam, he was the chief operations officer at Target Australia where he pioneered their Digital Workplace strategy and deployed WorkJam across the organization. Myers and his team were successful in helping Target Australia regain market prominence that they won the 2018 National Retail Association of Australia’s “Innovator of the Year” award. Andrew and his wife split their time between Sydney and Melbourne where they spend time enjoying what both amazing cities have to offer along with supporting the Seeing Eye Dogs and Red Cross.

Dan Robathan is a digital experience leader who believes in the continued application of design thinking and technology to make organisations, people and things work better for their end customers. Passionate about the intersection of the role customers (humans) and enablement (technology) play in driving positive organisational change to deliver leading brand experiences. Dans is a future focused leader who is driven by both the simplicities and complexities of designing and delivering enterprise level transformation solutions for some of Australia’s largest brands including Bunnings, Myers, Pizza Hut, David Jones, Coles and Woolworths.

Diana has over 20 years of experience working in the global retail Industry. With 14+ years specifically in Retail IT Consultancy, her focus has been managing multi-national and global enterprise accounts, leveraging her well-rounded understanding of the complexities of various workforces to drive and deliver change. She holds deep domain knowledge and experience in retail IT architectures, with an intimate understanding of stores, merchandise, supply chain, CRM, and digital channels. Diana demonstrates a strong work ethic and leads by example with an assertive, customer oriented, and honest outlook. She has exceptional planning, communication, and analytical skills, and is always seeks to challenge the norm whilst building strong partnerships and introducing innovative technologies and methodologies for transformational organisation change.

Angus is co-founder of Sonder, the global authority on owned media, which has unlocked over $8 billion in owned media value for the likes of Telstra, Coles, American Express, KFC, Virgin, Commonwealth Bank, Myer and Stockland.

Having worked in the UK in both domestic and international media and led some of the largest media buying agencies in Australia, Angus knows the true value of media. With his unique insight, he is helping retailers leverage owned media to increase revenue, improve customer relationships and reduce costs.

In the relentless pursuit of growth, Angus helps businesses to find the fortune that lies within their organisations.

Daragh is CEO of Enablo. Enablo's mission is to digitize the world of work, enabling new work experiences that are accessible to everyone, anywhere. Through partnerships with Workplace from Facebook, Google Workspace and Asana, Enablo's helped hundreds of organizations, including Freedom, Super Retail Group, David Jones, Officeworks, The Coffee Club and Bunnings transform their culture and the way they work.