Strategic thinker and technology leader with a strong background in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Systems Engineering, Site Reliability Engineering, Infrastructure Architecture, and DevOps Engineering. Heading Kohls Engineering and Operations Excellence teams as a hands-on Engineering Director, in design, development and building cutting edge strategies for AI, Engineering Innovations and Operational excellence

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.